You will take your Bibles and
turn with me to Isaiah chapter 55. I'm going to use here in a little
bit verse 3 as the subject of these verses. Incline your ear
and come unto me and hear, and your soul shall live. Isaiah
55, beginning with verse 1. Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye, buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have
given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander
to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run
unto thee because of the Lord thy God. and for the Holy One
of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while
he may be faint. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God For he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the
rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not
thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent
it. For you shall go out with joy
and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come
up the fir tree, instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle
tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting
sign that shall not be cut off. May the Lord add his blessing
to the reading of his word. I invite you to turn back with
me to Isaiah chapter 55. In Isaiah 53 and 54, the Holy Ghost inspires his prophet,
versed in chapter 53, to tell us of our coming redeemer. He's going to tell us something
about the Redeemer. He tells us that this one promised
of God will bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. He'll be wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace
will be upon him. With his stripes, he said, you
will be healed. God will see the travail of his
soul as he's been sacrificed on the cross of Calvary. God
will look down and see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Then in chapter 54, he talks
to us about his church, this one who died, this redeemer.
the Maker, the Creator of all the earth. And He says, Thy Maker
is thine husband. This one I've been talking to
you about is your husband. He's the husband of God's elect. The Lord of hosts is His name. And thy Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. He is the God of the whole earth,
and that's how he shall be called. For the Lord hath called thee
as a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth,
when thou wast refused, saith thy God. She's forsaken. Why? Either because he left her
being dead, or he has forsaken her while he lived. which is
what I think he's talking about here. Being rejected by him, having
a bill of divorcement from him. And she grieves over his unkindness. She suffers the reproach left
upon her. And here's the church, unconverted,
not yet called, seemingly under the curse of
God. Children of wrath, even as others. a cruel husband under the law,
never satisfied, never affectionate, never merciful, never kind, demanding
all but giving nothing. But Christ is the husband of
his church and he's her husband from everlasting. By the fall,
a bitter Bill of Divorcement was, as it were, written and
she was put away. But by the intervention of God
and His mercy and grace and Christ, she's brought to Him again. She's brought home again. Never
to be separated from Him again. You can read the story in the
book of Hosea. That tells the story, don't it?
She shall be nourished Because of this redemption, because of
this accomplished redemption in Christ, she's going to be
nourished. She always was. She just didn't know it. She
thought her lovers laid all that stuff by the door. It wasn't.
It was her loving husband. She'll be nourished here and
cherished by grace now and forever. He said, for a small moment have
I forsaken thee. You ever been there? Have you
felt yourself forsaken of God? Huh? But it's just for a small
moment. Just for a small moment. For
a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies
will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee. Just for a moment. But with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. So he tells us about the Redeemer,
the promised Redeemer, the Messiah, the Christ. And then He tells
us about His bride, who she is. Tells us something about His
dealings with her and His way of dealing with her. And then
in Isaiah 55, having so clearly set these precious promises before
us, were called by faith in Christ. And he begins with a statement
declaring the accomplished redemption of Christ. That's how he begins
this chapter. He's going to tell us about the
benefits of this accomplished redemption, but to do that he
has to declare to you the redemption itself. Redemption means to buy
back. To purchase something that was
taken away. And we're told to come, now listen,
buy. This thing has to be bought.
It has to be purchased. It has to be a real purchase.
You have to understand what the purchase is. You go into a store
and you buy something, you don't walk out of the store until you
get what you bought. Is that right? And he's telling
us here to come and buy. and eat to buy wine and milk
without money and without price. What's he saying? Well, he's
bidding us here to buy what is priceless. He's not saying the
same thing here, come and buy wine and milk without money and
without price. What he's telling you is, you
have nothing to buy with, and what it is you're coming to buy
is priceless. It's without money, because you
don't have any. And it's priceless. It's priceless. And he's telling you, come and
buy. Come and buy. Buy this wine and milk without
money and without price. It's priceless. Who can set a
price on the love, mercy, and grace of God? Huh? Can God be swayed by money? Can
God's affection be merited by something we offer or even promise
to give? God forbid. His kindness, love,
and mercy is priceless. Then what is he calling us to
buy? Wine and milk. Wine and milk
are symbols of the gospel. Wine is a drink of celebration
and milk is the stable drink. You're not just going to drink
the wine and celebrate, but you're going to drink the milk. And
you're going to drink it every day. As newborn babies desire
his mother's milk, the sweet milk of Christ. That's the stable. of the believer. He drinks that milk. Boy, he
loves it. He'll drink it over and over
and over. And he drinks that wine, the drink of celebration.
We're to buy these things and not to sell them. Listen to this. I'm telling you, these things
are symbols of the gospel. Solomon says, buy the truth and sell it not. And again I say, what price could
you set on the truth? So what on earth is he talking
about? He's talking about the benefits of accomplished redemption. It's the life, death, and resurrection
of Christ that gave us the right and privilege to hear, believe,
and repent. All of the means of grace, the
providence of God, and even the presence of God's Spirit comes
as a result of Christ's accomplished redemption. He purchased the
right for you to be here this morning and hear the gospel. In fact, the only reason why
God didn't burn this world to a cinder at the fall of Adam
is the redemption purposed of God in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Paul said, God saved us, Timothy. Not this little peewee God the
world talks about. Not all these different gods. The God of the sky, the God of
the rain, the God of the sea, and it goes on and on and on.
The dung beetle and all these gods that people make up. The
living God saved us. And then He called us, not according
to our words, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world. But now, He said, now, made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, He manifested this
redemption. And He abolished death and brought
life and immortality to life through the gospel And Paul said,
that's where I come in. I was appointed a preacher. I'm
here to tell you about this accomplished redemption. I'm here to tell
you who your Savior is and who the church is and the benefits
of this accomplished redemption. That's what Isaiah was doing.
That's what Paul was doing. That's what every preacher does. Preaching and hearing is a privilege
bought for us by the accomplished redemption of Christ. In fact,
so broad is the privileges purposed by Christ that Paul said, when
I come unto you, he said, I determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Was that all Paul ever talked
about? No. No. He talked about the second
coming of Christ, didn't he? He talked about how to behave
yourself in the house of the Lord. He talked about how to
behave yourself in society. He talked about all these things.
But he was determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. And I tell you, whatever it is
you learn, if you don't learn it in the light of that, you
haven't learned it. You haven't learned it. You just got some
words in your head spinning round and round. That's all you got.
The gospel wine and milk is to be bought. It's a thing purchased. But now listen to the words he
uses, without money and without price. There's nothing that you
have or ever will have or even have the potential of having
to merit the right to partake of this wine and milk. You can't
do it. It's a privilege given. It's been bought for you and
given to you. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power. What's that word mean? I asked
Don one time, I said, does that mean ability or permission? He
said, yes. It means everything you think
power means, that's what it means. Just take it in any context you
want to, because it covers the whole. To them gave He power. He gave them the ability. He
gave them the privilege, the right. to become sons of God. And he's telling these people,
come and buy what cannot be bought. But it was bought. It was purchased. Buy it and eat it. Let it become a part of you.
Take it within. Swallow it down. And then secondly,
Isaiah tells us of a foolish tendency One of which all men
are guilty. He said, wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread? Huh? And you labor for that which
satisfies not. Now listen to me. God said, eat
ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in practice. Why don't you eat what's good? Approach it, what's good? The
gospel. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, eat it. We don't eat his flesh and drink
his blood, we have no part in him. And it's ever the tendency
of men and women to buy what can never satisfy this flesh.
I lived beside a guy and he, in the last days of his life,
he was panicking the way men do and he was trying to acquire
some security for his family, and he started buying property.
And we lived just down the road from him, but he bought property
all the way around us. And I said, what are you doing? Oh, he said, I'm not greedy.
He said, I just want the land next to mine. Well, that's the
flesh. You can't satisfy this flesh.
Russell, he bought you a new truck. You know how long it's
been new? About a month. Then it ain't
new no more. You're not satisfied. That same
satisfaction ain't there. Especially after you make three
or four payments. It's ever the tendency of men
and women to buy what can never satisfy the flesh. And I'm not
suggesting that you don't buy stuff. Don't get me wrong. It's
not going to satisfy this flesh, ever. If the flesh owned the
whole world, it would lust after another one. You cannot satisfy a covetous
nature. But what we need, what do we
need? We need bread. What's that? We need that heavenly
bread sent down from God, that's Christ. We need food and drink and clothes.
We need shelter and sometimes medicine and care. And everything
else is what we want. It ain't what we need. Wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not meet? Frivolous things
that, oh, they just don't last and they don't have a meaningful
end. And you labor for that which
satisfies not. The second phrase, if not both,
are talking about works salvation. That's what they're talking about.
Nothing you can do will merit anything from God. And if it
doesn't come from God, it cannot satisfy a needy soul. What you need has already been
purchased and what you need is already actively engaged. to
save the souls of chosen sinners. Don't follow the tendency of
your nature. It'll always lead you astray.
It'll always have you working for something that you can't
buy. And it follows and walk, according
to Paul, the course of this world. It's what everybody does. So
that's what I'm going to do. Don't reason that way. Just don't
do it. It follows and walks the course
of this world. It reasons with the philosophy
and vain deceit. It figures things out by the
basic principles of this present evil world. And it walks according
to the traditions of men and not the Word of God. You want
an answer? Look in this book. Look in this
book. That's where the answer is. I'm
telling you, this world don't even know the question, let alone
the answer. They were just firing stuff at the Lord, this one thing
rises to the other. Boy, they're going to really
show their wisdom and put him to shame. They were going to
expose his ignorance. Did it work? Here's the question,
they didn't even know the question. Here's the question, what think
ye of Christ? There's the question. And you
ain't going to find the answer in yourself. You're going to
find it right here. Believers are only here for a
short time and then gone. Live that way wisely. Labor in
that direction. And then thirdly, this redemption
does not, as some believe and preach, give a universal invitation. Everyone, everyone. I hear them
say it. I used to hear them in religion.
Boy, they get on that everyone or whosoever will. On and on
and on they go. This does not give a universal
invitation. There's no such invitation ever
given in the Word of God. This redemption and its privileges
are particular. And as you have a certain love
for a certain woman and a certain inheritance for certain children,
even so the bride of Christ is loved by none other but Him. He loves her. And He don't love
another. He loves her. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. And those bidding to buy, well
doesn't it say everyone? No. It says, everybody thirsty. Oh. Oh. Is everybody thirsty? Uh-uh. No, they're not. But some are. Those bidding to buy are thirsty
sinners. How come they'd be thirsty while
the rest of the world's not? How come you got thirsty? David said, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul
thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee. In a day, in a dry and thirsty
land, my soul longeth, my thirst. But why? Why him while others
were satisfied with things just the way they are? Why did David
thirst after God? Well, he tells you in Psalm 63,
because I've seen thy power and thy glory in the sanctuary. That's why. That's why. God called him to a place to
hear. He called him to a place and
sent a man to tell him the truth. Believers are said to work out
their own salvation. That is, reason things out, have
a good understanding, because it's God that worketh in them,
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Paul said, I'm
not afraid to submit what I say to you. I commit it to your conscience.
Huh? You gonna commit this to a condemned
man's conscience? If you know it's God that worketh
in them, both to will and to do of his good pleasure, you
can. Solomon said, the preparations
of the heart in men and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
It's from the Lord. And thirsty sinners are chosen
sinners, made thirsty by the gospel of Christ and the Spirit
of the living God. They're made thirsty. But the
natural man, listen, he receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He's never made thirsty. You couldn't make him, I don't
care what you do, you couldn't make him thirsty. Hearken unto me, God says. Now
listen. Hearken diligently, he said unto
me, and eat ye that which is good. Chosen sinners become willing
sinners in the day of his passing. I'm not afraid of that word whosoever
will or you. God's not going to call anybody
unwilling. They'll be willing. All who come
to Him in the past and all who come to Him in the future, all
of them will be willing. Whosoever will, let him take
of the water life-friendly. I'm not opposed to that. All
I'm saying is he'll become willing in the day of his power. Until
then, he's not willing. He's not willing. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed. What power? Where's his power
come from? He talked about some invisible
force. What's he talking about in the
day of his power? Well, Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. This is a power that won't turn
you loose. It won't drop you. Don't you
hate it when you're talking Don't get me wrong. I like my iPhone. But I'll tell you, you'll be
talking to somebody and click. It just drops you. All of a sudden,
you're just talking to a device. You ain't talking to anybody.
Then you have to call them back. I'm sorry. My phone dropped you. Well, when you hear the gospel
and the Holy Spirit takes that gospel home, it won't drop you.
It keeps right on working. That power keeps right on working.
It stirs the heart. It convinces of sin. It convinces
of righteousness and judgment. It keeps right on unto salvation. To who? Everybody? No. All them
that believe. And now what Paul says, To them gave he power to become
the sons of God. And the gospel actually is the
seed of regeneration. I'm so tired of hearing intellectuals
talk about, well first he makes you live and then he makes you
to hear. Try that philosophy out on a
baby and see if anything happens. Ain't gonna be no life till the
seed is sown. Is that right? Come on. Is there going to be
life in a woman until the seed is sown? None. You can talk to
her all you want to. You can flower it up as thick
as you want to get it, but there ain't going to be no baby until
the seed is sown. And he tells us in 1 Peter 1,
23-25, that that seed, that semen, that's what he's talking about
there, is the Word of the Lord. And this is the word, he said,
verse 25, which by the gospel is preached unto you. That seed
has to be sown. Not gonna be a plant come up
till the seed's sown. Is that right? That's right. All through the... I'm convinced
that's why we got plants out here, to teach us that. Huh? You don't go plant peas and then
corn comes up. You plant corn and corn comes
up. That's what he tells you over in Genesis. He put that
seed within that plant to bring up after its kind. And Paul said
this to the Corinthians. This is a bold statement. I tell
you, they'd run me out of town if I said this. But I have said
it and I'll say it again. I have begotten you through the
gospel. Boy, that's a bold statement
there. But that's what he told them. He said, you've got a lot
of instructors in Christ, but you've just got one Father. Won't
bother. I have begotten you in the gospel. The gospel is the seed of regeneration. And redemption is particular
redemption. And particular redemption is
the basis of the gospel call. And then fourthly, how does this
great work take place? Isaiah 55.3. Incline your ear. and come unto me, hear, hear,
and your soul shall be healed. You believe that? That's what
it teaches. Whether you believe it or not,
that's what it teaches. We'll go everywhere else, but
we won't go there. What do I need? I'm hurting,
I'm tormented at this problem, that problem, some other problem.
Everything, my whole life is, you think I haven't been there?
I've been there. I dare say any adult in here's been there. You
go through that, don't you? What's gonna straighten it out?
Huh? Hearing. Hearing. That's what it takes, ain't it?
What will we do? Everything else. Huh? What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying Sunday morning, I don't care what's going on. Be here. And be ready to hear. Don't come
here working crossword puzzles and talking about this, that,
and the next thing and the economy and who's going to be president.
Come here and incline your ear, he said, diligently. And hear,
if you can. I'm not saying you will. But
the only thing that's going to help you is to hear. The only
place you're going to hear is where His Word is being preached. He that hears you hears me. Isn't
that what you see? And close your ears. Hear, and
your soul shall live. Calls my soul. There are many things used to
describe the sinners coming to Christ, but none more often than
the ear. All through, this is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. What phrase do you hear more
than anything in the book of Revelation? He that hath ears
to hear what the Spirit saith to the churches, let him hear.
Let him hear. How shall you call on Him in
whom you have not believed? And how shall you believe in
Him of whom you have not heard? And how are you going to hear
without a preacher? I didn't ask that, God did. God the Holy
Ghost asked that question. Our Lord said to those He sent
out with His gospel, He that heareth you, heareth me. And you hearken unto Him when
you incline your ear and come to Christ. These preachers are
preaching Christ. They don't preach themselves.
Paul said, we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord. And those who have ears to hear,
hearken to Him and come to Christ. And those who come, come, he
said. And your souls shall live here.
And all those who come, truly come. They come with broken hearts. They come with understanding.
They come in the power of God's Spirit. They enter into an everlasting
covenant. God begins to teach you something
about His covenant. Those provisions made for you
before the foundation of the world. Secured for you in the
surety of that everlasting covenant. Purchased by the blood of the
everlasting covenant. I'll make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Now let me tell you
something, if you go over to Acts chapter 13 and hear what
Paul's preaching to those Gentiles and Jews, you'll find out what
that phrase means. He said, when I give you the
sure mercies of David, if you go over to Acts 13, what he's
talking about is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's when
God justified all his elect, when he raised him from the dead.
He justified them. He justified them. That was an
announcement. I don't even know the word to
use. This is a guarantee. He's the
guarantor. And here's the guarantee. I'm
raising Him from the dead. If my hope's in Christ, the security
of that hope is in the resurrection of Christ. He's the living Savior,
isn't He? Yeah. His preachers preached Christ.
Concerning when they raised him from the dead, Paul said, No
more to return to corruption, he saith on this wise, I'll give
you the sure mercies of David. And then lastly, what am I to
do? What am I to do? Me, not somebody else. What am
I to do? Isaiah 55, 6. Seek ye the Lord. Seek the Lord. Now listen, while
he may be found. There was a group in the nation
of Israel when he delivered them out of Egyptian bondage. And they grumbled, and they mumbled,
and they rejected everything that God said to do. And finally,
he said these 10 times, he said, you went against me. You rejected
me. You would none of my counsel.
These 10 times, he said, I'm going to swear to you in my wrath,
you're not going to enter into my rest. Your carcasses are going
to fall in the wilderness. You're not coming in. You're
not going to be heir of my mercy and grace. Now if you don't believe
that's what that is, you go to Hebrews 3 and 4 and read what
it says. Under them the gospel was preached
as well as under us, but it did not profit them not being mixed
with faith in them that heard it. Therefore he said, I swear
in my wrath you're not going to enter in. Beware lest there
be found in you also an evil heart of unbelief. Seek the Lord while he may be
found and call you upon him when he's near. Where is the Lord
to be found? Right here. Up in Ashland on Sunday morning.
Up in Virginia on Sunday morning. Maybe Wednesday night. Wherever
God's saints are assembled, that's where you're going to find him.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there will
I be in the midst. where his people are assembled
to worship him. When? When they assemble in his
name. That's when, whenever, whenever
that is. The Holy Ghost says in Hebrews
3 verse 7, today if you'll hear his voice, harden not your heart
as in the provocation. That's what I was just telling
you about. Don't harden your heart like
they did. If you hear his voice, well,
when did they hear his voice? When Moses spoke. When Aaron
spoke. When they assembled themselves
together, they heard. He told them what it meant. He
told them all about it. The Lord spoke. The Lord did
marvelous works before their eyes. But they wouldn't hearken
to it. He said, exhort one another,
why it's called today, lest any of you be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin. Today, he says it again. If you
look it up, actually in Hebrews chapter 3, every time he says
it, the word's capitalized. You go back to Exodus where he
said it, it's capitalized. Today, if you hear his voice,
harden not your heart as in the provocation. For not everyone
that come out of Egypt entered into his rest. He tells you why. Paul tells us in Romans 3.11,
there's none that understandeth and none that seeketh after God.
But you're telling us to seek after the Lord. And if God leads
you to yourself, you'll never seek Him. But if He does intervene,
if He does arrange for you a favorable providence, if He does for you
send somebody to tell you the truth, if He does for you visit
you with His Spirit, Enable you to seek Him. Don't harden your
hearts. Don't resist it. Don't resist
it. There may come a time when the
Lord will make Himself to be found. Wouldn't that be something? Wouldn't that be something? There may be a time when He'll
draw near. A precious time. The philosophers
on Mars Hill heard Paul preach. They wanted him to preach. They
heard what he preached and never heard anything like it. None
of those religious men were saying anything close to what Paul said. He dumbfounded the philosophers.
And they come down there and they said, how about you come
and speak for us? And Paul said, OK. And he did. He preached for them.
And when he preached the resurrection, they said, well, whoa, whoa,
whoa. That's enough for now. That's enough. That's enough.
We'll hear you again on this matter. Did they? No, they didn't. No, they didn't. Felix, Paul reasoned with him
out of the Scriptures. He reasoned with him about righteousness
and temperance. He reasoned with him over the
gospel of Christ, and Felix trembled This governor trembled before
Paul. You think God was gone now? They trembled. Here's this king
and his knees are knocking together. And he said, after hearing him
for a little bit, he said, go thy way for this time. And when it's more convenient,
I'll call for you. But he never did. You see what
he's saying over here in Hebrew, don't harden your heart. And
here in Isaiah, when he says, call you upon him while he's
near, he's not always near. Not always near. He comes near
in the gospel when the Spirit of God moves. That's when he
comes near. The disciples, they pleaded for
the Pharisees. They just kept pleading for them,
leaning toward them, listening to them, trying to honor them.
And finally the Lord said, leave them alone. Leave them alone. They'd be blind leaders of the
blind. And what's taking place here
this morning is the most real and necessary thing you will
ever experience in your life. And yet some of you will say
within, for another time. I'll wait. I'll put this out
for a little while. And one day I'll come and talk
to you, preacher. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't
do it. Oh, may the Lord overcome our
resistance. Call us with an irresistible
calling. Work that power in our heart
that we can't resist. Bring us to Him. Present us to
Him. And if He does, we'll seek Him. And we'll find Him. And He'll
come near. He'll come near. He'll take up
His abode in you. And He said, I'll never leave
you, and I'll never forsake you. Oh, don't harden your heart against
Him.