I invite your attention to the
prophecy of Isaiah chapter 55. My text will be found in verse
number 3, Isaiah 55 verse 3. This morning's message is titled,
Jesus Christ says, come to me. In Isaiah 55, we read beginning
in verse number one, ho, that is an interjection, an exclamation,
intended to obtain your attention. Ho, everyone who thirsts, Jesus
says, come to the waters. and you who have no money come
buy and eat yes come buy wine and milk without money and without
price why do you spend money for what
is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy listen
diligently to me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight
itself in abundance. And here's my text, incline your
ear and come to me. In our prayers, we pray that
God would incline his ear to us. When God inclines His ear to
us, it is as though He, there on His throne in glory, hears
us praying and bends forward and puts His
ear toward us so that He can hear every cry. Now, it is not
necessary for Him to physically do so, We nevertheless pray, incline
your ear toward me. Let me have your ear, oh Lord.
I have a supplication to make. Well, here is Jesus Christ using
the same expression to us. Incline your ear to me. Oh, stop
what you're doing. Incline your ear to me. Listen
to what I have to say to you. Come to me. Come to me. Consider two expressions repeatedly
heard from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first expression
I would have you to consider is, come to me. And the second
expression I would have you to consider is, depart from me. We here will observe that Jesus
Christ uses both expressions thrice. I'm going to give you
three examples in which he said, depart from me. In fact, he will
say, depart from me. This is yet future. And then
I'm going to give you three instances in which he says, come to me. But consider first that expression
from the lips of Jesus Christ, depart from me. They who hear him speak those
words to them will find those words depart from me to be the
most dreadful words they ever heard and they will hear them
at the final judgment. We read in Matthew's gospel chapter
25 that when the Son of Man returns in all his glory that he will
then sit on the throne of his glory. And all the nations, everyone
who ever lived, will be gathered there before him. And he will
step down from his throne and go through the mass of humanity
that is there before him. He will see this one that is
one of his sheep and say, you get on my right hand. There's
another one of the sheep. You also get on my right hand.
But here's one who would not believe the gospel. One of the
devil's goats. And Jesus will say, you get on
my left hand. And he will divide all humanity
in that manner. He will separate everyone who
ever lived by making this division, the sheep on his right hand and
the goats on his left. And then he will say to the sheep
on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And these who then hear him say, come, will go into everlasting
glory. And when they are gone, no one's
left except the goats, the unbelievers, they who refused to believe the
gospel, they will be on the left hand. And then he will say these
dreadful words to them, depart from me. Depart from me. You cursed into
the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,
and these will go away into everlasting punishment. Oh, my friend, when
Jesus says, depart from me, those who hear those words spoken to
them will find those words to be the most dreadful words they
ever heard. Who will they be? Everyone who
now refuses his call, come to me. If you will not obey Jesus
Christ's present call, come to me. He will at last say to you,
depart from me. But in Matthew's Gospel chapter
7 verse 22, we read that many will protest saying, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your
name, and done many wonders in your name? But he will reply to them, depart
from me, you who practice lawlessness. That's the second time he uses
the expression depart from me. The third time is in Luke's gospel,
chapter 13, verse 26. Also on the occasion of the final
judgment. Because others will protest,
we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets.
But he will reply to them, depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. My friend, I want you to learn
well this lesson from these two and or from the three instances
cited above. Coming to Christ is not the same
as calling yourself a Christian. Coming to Christ is not the same
as going to hear his preaching and teaching. Coming to Christ
is not partaking of Him in the Lord's Supper. Coming to Christ
is not professing to be Christ's prophet or preacher. Coming to
Christ is not claiming to have cast out demons and done miracles
in Christ's name. Because one may do all these
things and nevertheless hear Jesus say to him at the final
day, depart from me, you lawless worker of iniquity. Oh, I hope no one here today
will hear Jesus say those words to you. Depart from me. But you will if you will not
obey his call now to come to me." Now what is it to come to
Christ? Coming to Christ is believing
in him unto salvation. This we know from the instances
in which Jesus called men to come to him and then equated
coming to him with believing in him. I'll give you two instances. The first is in John chapter
7 verses 37 and 38. Jesus said, if anyone thirsts,
let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the
scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Observe this, coming to Christ is believing in him. The second
instance is in John chapter 6 verse 35, where Jesus said, He who comes to me shall never
hunger. He who believes in me shall never
thirst. You see, my friend, he who savingly
believes in Christ has savingly come to Christ because coming
to Christ is believing in Christ. Let me say this also about coming
to Christ. Coming to Christ is the longest
journey you will ever take because you are as far from Him as you
can be. However, coming to Christ is
also the shortest journey you will ever take because you will
arrive at Christ with your first step. Come to me. the longest journey you'll ever
take, the shortest journey you'll ever take, and once you come
to Christ, you will always be coming to Christ. This past week, I helped one of our members to
purchase an airplane ticket. She needs to make a trip to the
US, so she asked if I would help her to go online and get the
ticket. It's a long, long journey, and
she had to make a stop in an American city. It's a long journey, going to
take quite a few hours. complicated by the fact that
she's got to stop along the way and change planes. Coming to
Christ is not at all like that. It is a long journey, but you don't have to change
planes en route. You don't have to stop and make
preparations and go sit somewhere before you can resume your journey.
No, I'm telling you that if you come to Christ, When you take
the first step, you are there. Consider now the people to whom
Jesus Christ says, come to me, and who therefore may do so.
Consider three times Jesus Christ said, come to me. And undoubtedly,
undoubtedly, in one, if not all three of these instances, He
should be speaking to you. First, Jesus says, come to me
to the most sinful. We read this in Isaiah chapter
1 verse 18. Jesus says, come now and let
us reason together, says Jehovah. Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Come to me, I'll do this for
you. You may be the most sinful sinner
there is, but come to me, you'll be white as snow. and clean as wool. Now what are
sins that are like scarlet and red like crimson? Scarlet and
crimson sins are the worst of sins. Now I do not by that statement
imply that some sins are inconsequential. For every sin deserves the punishment
of death. But as surely as murder is considered
a worse sin than lying, so are sins that are like scarlet and
red like crimson worse than others. The color of these sins, scarlet
and crimson, denotes blood guilt. The state of being guilty of
murder for red is the color of blood. Jesus Christ here speaks
to people whose hands are red with blood. He here speaks to people, we
are told in verse number 15, their hands are full of blood. So remember that when Jesus says,
though your sins are like scarlet, though your sins are red like
crimson, he's talking to people whose hands are full of blood. Verse number 15. They're stained
with the guilt of murder because Jesus here speaks to murderers. Now you may say, ah preacher,
these hands have never committed murder, therefore I'm not guilty. Oh yes, you are. You may not
have committed murder with your physical hands, but in God's
sight, whoever hates his brother is a murderer. 1 John chapter
3 verse 15. Jesus taught in the Sermon on
the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, that he who lusts after a
woman has committed adultery with her. And also, Jesus taught,
he who thought about murder or hated his brother without cause
is a murderer. Every one of us, my friend, is
a murderer. We all have committed murder
in God's sight and our hands are full of blood and our sins
are like scarlet and red like crimson. The color of these sins
also denotes their permanence. For cloth dyed scarlet was double
dipped or double dyed by dipping it twice in the dye in order
to make it color fast. You probably are aware that red
is a beautiful color but red is one of those colors that will
fade faster than most other colors. Now when a clothing maker would
make a garment and wanted it to be dyed red, he would double-dye
the cloth. He would dip it twice in the
dye in order to make that garment of a permanent color in the hope
that the color red would remain with it. Now you and I are double-dyed
sinners. Because we are sinners first
by nature, and we are sinners afterward by our deeds. We are double-died sinners, sinners
both by nature and afterward by our deeds. We are permanent
sinners. And furthermore, we are colorfast
sinners. For we cannot absolve ourselves
of guilt by all the tears we shed, all the waters of baptism,
all the religious deeds we perform, and everything else we can think
of to do. Our sins are like scarlet and
crimson, denoting that they are permanent sins and colorfast
sins. But Jesus Christ here calls even
these worst of sinners to come to me. Notice he's talking to
people whose hands are covered in blood. They've got blood guiltiness
on their hands. They are the worst sinners that
you can imagine and yet he says to these kinds of sinners, come
to me. I'm so glad that Jesus Christ
calls the worst of sinners. Come to me. Come to me. And he assures all who come to
him that they shall be as white as snow and they shall be as
wool. Those two things he said. He
said they shall be as white as snow and they shall be as wool. Now, what is it to be white as
snow? It is to be innocent. through
justification and holy through sanctification. To be as wool
is to be as fleece from which all dirt and filth and stains
have been removed so that the wool is restored to its original
whiteness. One of our neighbors here raises
sheep. I've seen those wee lambs right
when they're born, just a little fluffy ball of white, as white
as they can be. But after a while, laying in the dirt and having the dust of the air settle
upon them, sometimes splattered by mud,
walking through the brush and getting the cockleburs in them.
And after a while, they're just not nearly as white as they used
to be. When the shearer removes that
wool, from the sheep, he takes the fleece, he cleans it, he
washes it, he removes all impurities from it. He removes from it all
its dirt and filth and stains. And when he is done, that fleece
or that wool is as white and clean as it was. on the first
day we saw that little lamb. Jesus assures us that though
we be the worst of sinners, if we come to him, we shall be as
white as snow and we shall be as clean as wool. And this is
what happens to all who come to Christ. When they believe
and trust in him, all their sins are washed away from them by
the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. When we realize what
sinners we are, we will pray with the psalmist in Psalm 51
verse 7, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. And Jesus
will do so. His people are identified as
these are the ones who washed their garments and made them
white in the blood of the lamb. My friends, you may be the reddest
the most blood guilty, the most scarlet, the most crimson sinner
that ever lived. But I'm telling you that if you'll
come to Christ, he'll cleanse you from all your sin. But if
you refuse to come to Christ today, you will at last hear
him say to you, depart from me. Second, Jesus says, come to me
to the heavily laden, weary toilers. We read this in Matthew's gospel
chapter 11 verse 28. Jesus says, come to me, all you
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He here speaks to people who
labor. These who labor are weary toilers. Now the Greek word here translated
labor means or refers not so much to actual exertion as to
the weariness that results from extreme straining. These are
heavy or these are weary toilers because they are heavy laden.
and overburdened. And I will show to you three
ways in which they are heavy laden and overburdened. Some are weary toilers under
their load of sin. Now these are not every sinner.
For some sinners delight in their sin, as do the sexually immoral
and liars and thieves and robbers. Some people just look for an
opportunity to sin. Some people just love their sin
so much. that they're always wanting to
do it. They are not weary of their sin. They are not toilers under their
heavy load of sin. They do not even consider their
sins to be a heavy load. but Jesus here speaks to those
who are weary from their sins. These are those who can confess
with the psalmist in Psalm thirty-eight verse four. My iniquities have
gone over my head like a heavy burden. They are too heavy for
me. Oh, my friend, I tell you that
if you are weary from your load of and I will give you rest. Second,
some are weary toilers under the law of Moses, which promised
life to all, who perfectly obeyed its ten commandments and kept
its Sabbath days and other legal requirements, including abstaining
from unclean foods, such as pork. Leviticus 18, verse 5. The law
promised that if you'll keep me, I'll give you life. And oh,
so many have tried. They have tried. Some have become weary with trying,
found that law to be a heavy burden. But these weary toilers
are not everyone under the law. for some delight in being under
the law and boasting of their legal self-righteousness as did
Pharisees. Pharisees were not weary of the
law. Pharisees loved the law because
they thought it justified them. They were not weary toilers under
the law. but rather Jesus here speaks
to those who find the law to be what Paul the Apostle called
a yoke, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. Oh, my friend, if you are finding
the law to be a heavy yoke and a great burden, Jesus calls you
to come to me and I will give you rest. Third, some are weary
toilers under their load of religion. Their leaders have heavily laden
them with sectarian laws and human traditions purported to
merit favor with God. Years ago, on the island of Tortola,
I had the blessing to preach the gospel to a woman who was
heavy laden with religion. She was told that she must beat
her children. She was told this by her religious
leader in order to try and get a profession of faith out of
them. I knew of a pastor on that island
who knew the payday of every member of his church. And he
would go to the members of the church on payday when they cashed
their checks and collect their tithe from them right on the
spot. Oh, what a heavy load of religion
is placed upon people by leaders in religion. They perhaps tell
their followers what they may eat and what they may not eat.
What they may drink and what they may not drink. What clothes
they may wear and what they may not wear. They tell them when
and how they must pray. Some even tell them in which
direction they must face when they pray. Jesus says, they bind heavy burdens
hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders, Matthew 23 verse
4. You would be hard pressed to
find a load in all this world heavier than the load of religion
made up of sectarian laws and requirements that religious leaders
place upon their peoples. Jesus does not here speak to
everyone under such religious requirements for some people
find this a strange delight in being slaves to their religion
and to their taskmasters. Oh, but rather Jesus here speaks
to those who are weary of their heavy load of religion. They
desire to be free from it and if you are such a person Jesus
Christ calls you to come to me, and I will give you rest. Now this rest that Jesus will
give to all comers is rest for your souls, he says in verse
29. Not a rest for your body, that
will come later, but right now if you'll come to Christ, he
will give you rest for your souls. He will take your load of sin
and all its burdensome guilt and pollution. He will make you
free from the law by giving you a righteousness that fulfills
all its requirements. He will liberate you from religion
and all its man-made laws, if you'll come. But if you refuse
Jesus Christ's call today, come to me. You will at last hear
Him say to you, depart from me." Consider now the third instance
in which Jesus Christ says, come to me. Jesus says, come to me
to the spiritually thirsty. And we here will consider two
texts. First, Jesus said in Isaiah 55
verses 1 and 3, our present text, He said, Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters. Incline your ear and come to
me. And second, Jesus said in John
7 verses 37 through 39, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and
drink. He who believes in me, as the
scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water. But this he spoke concerning
the Spirit, whom those who believing in him would receive. Now I want
you to observe here that Jesus Christ equates come to the waters
with come to me. When you come to Christ, you
come to the waters. This is true because Jesus is
the fountain of living waters. That's the name given to him
in Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13. Christ himself is the fountain
of living waters. And chief among these waters
is the river of living or the rivers of living water through
the Holy Spirit given by Christ. Here is the living water of life
that both gives life to the spiritually dead and sustains the life of
the spiritually regenerate. Notice, it's living water, it's
water that is alive and gives life and sustains life. And this
water of life is found in Jesus Christ, the fountain of living
waters. These waters are available to
anyone. and everyone who thirsts. Unhappily, not everyone thirsts. Jesus said in Jeremiah 2 verse
13, that my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken
me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns that can hold no water. Note the contrast between these
two waters. The fountain of living water. Jesus Christ is like a spring
that you see from which water gushes up out
of the earth. A fountain of living waters. refreshing water, living water,
life-giving water, life-sustaining water. And Jesus says, some people
forsook me. They do not want the fountain
of living waters. They have hewed themselves cisterns. They want the water from cisterns
they had themselves have hewn. Water of works that will eventually
dry up. Water from the broken cisterns
of free will and works religion. Here's what they've done. They had approached the fountain
of living waters. They had approached Christ. They
had come quite close to him. But then they left and went and
dug a cistern. They found a place where they
could dig a hole in the ground and maybe line it with stone
or perhaps they dug a place in the stone. That's the way they
made cisterns in some places. They hewed a cistern out of stone. Now I want you to contrast the
water of the fountain and the water of the cistern. This water
from the fountain gushes up from the earth Look at that water in the cistern.
They have hewn a place out of a rock. They've let water collect
there. The mosquitoes breed in it. The
dust falls in it. Livestock come to drink in it.
Livestock go to wade in it. And that is the water that people
in false religion, people in free will works religion, that's
what they want. That's what they want. And furthermore,
their cisterns are cracked. The water is always escaping
and they're always trying to fix them and making more cisterns. Oh, my friend, why would you
want that cistern water? when you can come to the fountain
of living waters and live forever and never thirst again. But if you refuse his call today
to come to me, you will at last hear him say to you, depart from
me. If you heed Jesus Christ's call
today, come to me, you will hear him say to you at the last day,
come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Notice, Jesus now
says, come to me. And if you obey, he at the last
day will say, come with me. Come with me. Come with me to
everlasting glory. Come with me to the Father's
presence. Come with me to the place where
there is no more sin forever. Come with me to the place where
there are no more tears, no more dying, no more sickness, no more
pain. If you'll come to Christ today,
He will say to you, come with me at the last day. Come to Christ. And come to Christ
right now.