Let's look now at Isaiah, a very
familiar passage of Scripture. Let me read some verses to you
in Isaiah chapter 55 in verse 1. Isaiah 55 in verse 1. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye and buy, eat, Yea, come and 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
saith not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat you 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, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son. What a gift! 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 found, and 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." I want to confine my
comments this morning to verses 1 and verse 2 mainly. And he
says here, "...ho, every one that thirsteth." The thirsty
ones come you to the waters. They tell us that our bodies
are made up of a large percent of water. I forget now what percentage
it is, but a large percent of our bodies is made up of water. In other words, we need it. We
get dehydrated very easy. And when we sleep now, they're
telling us to, before we go to bed, to drink 8 or 10 ounces
of water. And as soon as you get up in
the morning, to drink water. Because we get dehydrated so
easy. Water is essential to our life. We can't live without water.
Here's my problem. I don't like water. If I'm not
thirsty, I can't drink it. I sometimes hold my nose and
force myself to drink water. And the reason I do that, I know
that my system dehydrates. I've got to have water. What
a blessing to be thirsty. What a blessing to have a thirst
for water. Some people thirst for colas.
They drank three or four or five a day, and they got to have them. Colas are addictive. The colas
aren't good for you, are they? Sodas aren't good for you at
all. It harms your system. They tell us the system don't
know what to do with some sodas, especially the diet sodas. And
you and I talk about sin and how it's affected every aspect
of our being. And it has, hasn't it? And here's
the thing, we often talk about how it's affected our souls,
our hearts, but you know it's affected every aspect of our
physical makeup. Even what we eat and drink, and
even what we want to eat and drink. They tell us that broccoli
is good for you. Do you like broccoli? You know
the only way I can eat broccoli? Is load it down with hot, thick
cheese. I love cheese, and I can eat
broccoli with cheese on it. But it's not so much good for
you, is it, when you load it down with cheese? But you know
what I do crave sometimes, and I have to fight the craving?
And when I begin to think about it, I have to resist the temptation,
and that's a Whopper at the Burger King. I love Whoppers. Same with certain drinks. Well,
I have to force myself to drink water. If I drank a soda every
day, I bet you it would take only a week's time that my system
would be crying out, Bruce, I need a soda. I've got to have a soda. And I've got to have it now.
Are you that way? Of course you're that way. Of
course you're that way. Wouldn't it be nice, brothers
and sisters, to have a physical system that was so finely tuned
and regulated that it would only hunger and thirst for that which
would be true nourishment to the body? Wouldn't it be wonderful
to have a system that way? It's a proven fact, and you know
it as well as I do, that we eat and drink too much. And we eat
and drink things that's not good for our bodies. It's detrimental
to our health. One doctor said, many Americans
are digging their grave slowly with a fork and a spoon. And
we know this, don't we? Why do we do this? Sin has affected
the body as well as the soul. Listen to Ecclesiastes chapter
10 and verse 17. It's a little reproof in this
direction. Blessed art thou, O land, when
thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season
for strength, and not for drunkenness. They eat for health. and not
because they're addicted to food. Why do we get addicted to these
things? Why do we have to resist the
temptation to be temperate and eat that which would be healthy
for us? Sin has affected our physical system, and therefore
we have to be careful. And our text is speaking of food
and drink, not for the physical man, but for the soul of a man. He says in the last part of verse
8, He is speaking here of bread for the soul and water for the
spirit or soul of a man. And you know something at this
point? That's what mainly matters, isn't
it? It's the soul of an individual.
Now, you and I are more concerned about the soul of an individual
than we are about the body. Why is that? Because the body
is going to live a few more days, and the body is going to die.
It's going back to the dust. It's going to cease to think.
It's going to cease to feel. But you know something about
the soul? It lives on. The soul will never die. That's
why we call it immortal. A never dying soul. You remember
the Lord Jesus told us about the rich man and Lazarus? That
they both lived upon this earth just like you and I lived? And
they both died. And they both were buried. But
the Scripture tells us that that didn't end the existence for
their soul. Both of them went into another
realm and they were conscious. They could feel, they could think,
they could know. And it was said of the soul of
the rich man that he lived up his eyes in hell and was in torment. And it was said of Lazarus that
he was born by angels into Abraham's bosom and there he was comforted. So this Scripture here, our text,
has this food and drink for our souls. Because the soul is immortal,
it will live on. Listen to what the Lord Jesus
said in Mark chapter 8 and verse 35. He is speaking of this very
thing, the true life. Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for My sake in the gospels, the same shall save it. For what
shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his
soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?" His immortal soul. And our text tells us of those
who are spending money, and they are laboring for that bread and
that water which does not profit or nourish or satisfy their soul. And let me be critical for just
a minute, but let me be true about this. There's many gathered
this morning in places of worship, and their souls are being amused. Their souls are being entertained
with carnal things. Listen to this. There's many
gathered this morning by the thousands to listen to a motivational
speaker. motivating men to do things that's
in the flesh. It may be good for business,
but it doesn't nourish. It will not give life to a man's
soul. There are many this morning that
are being told of their inherited goodness, of their power, and
in their ability even to save themselves. There are some this
morning gathered and being pumped up and fed self-esteem. They're taught to think highly
of themselves. Some are being told that they
can save themselves by making a decision for Jesus. Or they
can regenerate themselves by simply saying a sinner's prayer. Is that food for a man's soul?
Why do you labor for that which is not bread? Why do you spend
your money for that which is not? Some are being fed on the
rottenest meat this morning that we need a mediator between Jesus
Christ and us. And they tell us that mediator
is Mary. Others are drinking those bitter
waters that an earthly priest can absolve a man of his sin. Is that food for a man's soul?
Multitudes are spending their money this morning and their
labor to hear that the Son of God is a mere creature. That He's a creature of time. That He was created somewhere
in the past. What poisonous food and drink
that is. Some are feasting upon the food
of universal salvation. Their whole congregations are
being told, don't worry. Don't worry. Everybody is going
to be saved in the end except a few real bad individuals. Don't be disturbed about these
old Bible dogmas of redemption by blood and the need of a new
birth and to be justified by an imputed righteousness. Don't
worry about that. Almost everybody is going to
be saved, except some people like Saddam Hussein, or Stalin,
or Mao, or Genghis Khan, or some of those wicked people. Is that
food, brothers and sisters, for the soul? I listened to a man at my dad's
funeral. I had to listen to him because
I was going to preach the funeral, but they had a Mason funeral.
One of the men got up in that program and speech and he made
this statement. He said, because the soul is
immortal, it is precious. And therefore the soul could
never perish. It must be saved in the end. Now brothers and sisters, there's
poison in that pot. If you eat of that, you'll die
the death. that will not profit your soul.
The Lord Jesus said this, and He taught us that man is immortal,
and man is precious. I feel that, don't you? Don't
you feel your soul, that immortal part of you is precious? And
you don't want to lose it, but you have come to the realization
that outside Jesus Christ, the soul will be lost? But what makes
it so precious is that it can be lost. And you know it'll be
lost forever. Just because it's precious doesn't
mean it can't be lost. The Lord Jesus told us about
the man who built his house upon the rock. And He said, those
that built their house upon the rock, they hear My Word, and
they believe it, and they keep it. And then when the rains come
and the floods come up and the winds blow and beat upon that
house, it will stand because it's founded upon a rock. But
he said, those who will not hear my word, they won't believe it.
It's not in their hearts to love it and practice it. He said,
they're like building a house upon the sand. And then when
the rains come down and the floods come up and the winds begin to
blow, they beat upon that house. And what happened? It fell. And what did He say about it?
Great was the fall of that house. Because it's an eternal fall.
He'll never be recovered again. Once it's lost, it's gone forever. Yes, the soul is precious. But
it can be lost, can it not? It can be lost. And for those
to come to us and talk to us about a universal salvation,
That we shouldn't be concerned about our souls in eternity?
That's poison, brothers and sisters. That's poison. That won't do
your soul any good or won't do my soul any good. And that which
is immortal, which the soul is, can only be truly satisfied with
that which is immortal. The very fact that the soul is
immortal tells us that man-made religions and man-made efforts
and powers, anything man-made cannot satisfy the soul. It takes
something that's immortal to satisfy the immortal soul. This
life-giving bread and this drink that we read about in my text
comes from Jesus Christ, who is the Lord and Savior, and He
is the King, and He is eternal, and He is immortal and invisible,
and He is the only wise God. This bread and this drink comes
from Him. It comes from Him. Nothing else
can nourish the soul. Nothing else can give life to
the soul and satisfy it. Look how He says it here in verse
2 again. He says, Harken, incline your
ear, and come unto Me. Here and your soul shall live.
See where life is? It's in Him. Hearken diligently,
He said, and eat you that which is good. Incline your ear, He
says in verse 3, and come unto Me. And look in verse 7, seek
ye the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. And then verse 7, let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him
return unto the Lord. See where this water of life
is. It's Him, is it not? God made us, and He only is our
Creator. And these verses teach us that
we have fallen. We have become wicked in our
ways, unrighteous in our thoughts, and only the God-Man can redeem
us from sins and give us this life eternal and satisfy our
immortal souls, and He does it with Himself. He says here, that
which is good. Let your soul delight itself
in that which is good. What is good? He is good, isn't
He? The good is Jesus Christ Himself. The fatness that the soul delights
itself in is Christ Himself. Come unto Me and your soul shall
live. And Christ not only gives life,
listen, He is the life that He gives. He is the life that He
gives. This is the record that God hath
given to us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He is this water of life. The Lord Jesus told Martha, He
said, Martha, I'm the resurrection and the life. And she said, Lord,
I know that you're going to raise the body. At the last day, you're
going to be the life of the body, the resurrection of the body.
And he said, no, Martha, right now, I'm the resurrection and
the life of the soul. The soul. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Why to me? Because I'm the life. Come unto Me, and your soul shall
live. We can't have life apart from
Christ, because He is the life that He gives. But this is not
a physical coming, is it? It's the soul coming to Him.
It's the soul coming to Him by faith, not by sight, not by feelings,
but by faith. He that comes to God must believe
that He is. and that He's a rewarder of them
that diligently seek Him. This is why it's difficult for
a lost man to come to Christ. This is why it's impossible to
come except God gives him light and draws him because he thinks
of all kinds of different things to do. He can't find his way. He's ignorant. He's dead. So
when the Lord says, Come unto Me, incline. and to me, and your
soul shall live." At the same time He's saying that, the Holy
Spirit has to take and open the heart and give light to the mind
for a person to know to come to Christ, to come to Christ
by faith. Here in verse 1, when He speaks
of the waters, come ye to the waters, He is speaking of that
which represents to us life eternal. And this life is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. He's the God-Man. Listen to Jeremiah
chapter 2 verse 13. I love these passages. Listen,
if you want to jot these down and read them later, you can.
He's speaking of natural Israel. And here's what He said. They
have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain
of living waters. See who the Lord is? He Himself
is the fountain of living water. That's the first era, He said.
And they have hewed themselves out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water. He's the fountain of life. And listen to Jeremiah 17, verse
13. Oh Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be
ashamed. And they that depart from Me
shall be ridden in the earth, because they have forsaken the
Lord, the fountain of living water." So He's the fountain.
Remember that. He's the fountain. And listen
to this. He's not only the fountain, but
He's the well of water. Listen to John 4, 13 and 14. Jesus said unto this woman of
Samaria, Whosoever drinketh of this natural water shall thirst
again. But whosoever shall drink of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water
that I give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
unto life everlasting." A well of water. And listen to John
chapter 7 verse 37. He's not only a fountain, he's
not only a well, but he's rivers. He's rivers. Listen to this.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He
that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. And this He spake of the Spirit,
which He would give to them that believed on Him. The Spirit comes
to our hearts and brings to us Jesus Christ. And when He brings
Christ to our hearts, Shannon, He brings life. You can't have
Christ without having the Spirit. You can't have Spirit without
having the life. It all comes with the Lord Jesus
Christ. So sometimes this life, all he
that thirsteth, come to the waters. Sometimes it's called a well,
a well of water, because it's deep. And that water that comes
out of the deep is cold and refreshing to the soul, is it not? They
used to be around the springboard area. You had water so close
to the top of the ground, and they'd dig down just a few feet,
I mean ten feet, and you'd get water. But they say, you can't
stop there, man. You'll get that old surface water.
You go way on down, and you'll get that cold, clear water. That's what this well is. It's
called a well because it comes out of the deep and it's cool.
David said there's cold waters to the thirsty soul. So is good
news from a poor country. It's called a fountain because
it's opened. When you find a fountain that's
opened, you ever notice the water? It's gushing up, isn't it? The
prophet says, "...as a fountain cast out her waters. In that
day there shall be a fountain open." A closed fountain would
do us no good. It has to be an open fountain
so we can come to it and drink of it. And it's called a river
of waters because of its abundant supply. I am come that they might
have life and have it more abundantly. And did you notice there in verse
7, that He spoke of abundant pardon. This is the water of life. And
it's called the rivers of water because it can't be depleted. It's deep, and it's wide, and
it's long. You can't dip it out. Oh, a life-giving
flow of rivers. A river. River. How many sins
has He forgiven of you? abundant part. One of my favorite
verses is found over in Colossians. I don't know exactly what passage
it is, but it talks about you that were dead in trespasses
and sins, how He's quickened us together with Christ, having
forgiven you all trespasses. Can you imagine how many trespasses
you've committed against God? You can't even count them, can
you? I've often said, I can't remember when I first began to
sin. I can't remember the last sin I committed. Oh, just stack
them up, stack them up, and stack them up. And He has forgiven
you all transgressions. All of them. Every one of them. He abundantly pardons. Oh, what a wonderful passage.
Do you ever think about the sins of your youth? Humanly speaking, if I had it
to do over, I'd have been more careful in my youth. Because
I'm telling you, sometimes my mind goes back to my teenage
years and my sins that I committed when I was a teenager. And they
bother me today, and some of them were so wretched and miserable,
the thought comes to me, are you sure that that one has been
forgiven? You sure that one's not going
to follow you to your grave and get up with you and go up to
judgment? He's forgiven you all trespasses.
Because when He forgives, it's abundant. It's like a river that's
flowing. Abundant. Abundant. Don't tell
us about Jesus Christ giving life. A life that may dry up
and die. And those who have it may finally
perish. No, this life is a deep well
springing up. It's a fountain open. It's a
flowing river. Oh, are you thirsty? Come ye
to the waters. There's abundant supply. And
I love this. Listen to Revelation 22 and 1.
Go home this afternoon and meditate upon this a little bit. He showed
me. He showed me. Now, when I talk
about this water, I know that it's something He's going to
have to show you. He's going to have to show you this spring.
And here John said, John, what did he show me? He showed me
a pure river of water, of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Now, brothers and sisters,
it's not just eternal life. That's good enough. That's appealing
to think about the duration. But think of the quality. It's
the pure life. It's the very life of God. It's
the very life of the Lamb of God. And it proceeds out of His
throne and it flows to you and it flows to me who believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ. It don't have all this sediment
in it. It's not corrupted. It's a pure life. It cannot be
corrupted. And it never corrupts. It's incorruptible
life. And isn't it a joy to your heart,
rejoicing to the low bottom of your soul, that He's given this
life to you? Oh, we can't get over it, can
we? This life, this pure life. Oh, the life of God, the life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to how He says it
in Revelation 21.6, I will give unto Him that is a thirst, of
the water of life freely. You can't bring any money with
you because you don't have it. You can't buy this. It's not
for sale. It has to be given. And the only
way He'll give it is freely. And you can't do like I do with
water. You can't hold your nose and drink it. You've got to be
thirsty for it. He just gives it to those who
thirst for it. Is any man thirsty? Let him come
unto Me and drink. Listen to Revelation 22, 17.
The Spirit says, Come. And the Bride says, Come. And
let him that hears say, Come. Let him that is a thirst, Come,
and take the water of life freely. I missed a portion there, didn't
I? I missed a very important portion of that. Whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
free. And you know, that's one of the
most important aspects of that verse. I'm so glad that he didn't
say, Bruce Crabtree. Bruce Crabtree, if you will,
come and take this water. There may be another Bruce Crabtree
somewhere. But he said, whosoever will. Do you have a thirst? Then he said, come and drink
freely. May I drink? Yes, if you're thirsty. It's
free. Oh, it's a blessed thing to be
thirsty, is it not? To be hungry and to be thirsty
for that which truly nourishes a man's soul. Because if a man's
never hungry for this, if he's never thirsty for this, he'll
die without it. He'll die without it. We sometimes apply this to just
lost people. But you know, this applies to
everybody that's thirsty. I'm thirsty still, aren't you?
I have been drinking of this life-giving stream for forty-something
years. And you know something? I still
thirst for it. I don't thirst for anything else
in this world to satisfy my soul, because it's not there. My soul
is immortal. Only that which is immortal can
satisfy the soul. But I tell you, I thirst for
Him. David said, Lord, my soul thirsteth for Thee, for the living
God. Those who have drunk of that
life's giving stream want to keep drinking. And they have
come to Jesus Christ, they'll just keep coming to Christ. They
have tasted that the Lord is gracious, they just want to keep
eating of that bread that came down from heaven. Listen to how
the Lord Jesus said it. Oh, don't labor for that bread.
That satisfies not. Listen, He told us about the
true bread. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If a man eat of this bread, he
shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh. which I will give for the life
of the world, whosoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood
hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in me, and
I in him. And as the living Father hath
sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even him,
he shall live by me. This is the bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. Listen, he that eateth of this bread shall live forever."
That's wonderful, ain't it? I know of nothing that so delights
my soul. I'm the world's worst to try
something and try it for a month or two and say, I grew old. Get a car and it's clean and
smells like a new car. Six months, I don't care. Take
and let somebody else wash it and clean it up for me. I grow
tired of everything, don't you? But this. I've never found anything
that brought joy and peace and happiness and gladness to my
soul as these waters. With joy shall they draw water
out of the wells of salvation. And it's true joy because it's
joy of the heart. It's happiness of the soul. It's
the rejoicing of a man's spirit. And if you make a man's spirit
rejoice, you've done something. You've done something. The Kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost. Now the God of hope fill you
with joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. I want to read one passage and
close in the message. Look over in Psalms 36. In Psalms chapter 36. Look here
in verse 7. Psalms 36 verse 7. How excellent is thy lovingkindness,
O God! Therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly
satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make
them drink of the water, the river, of thy pleasure. For with thee is the fountain
of life. In thy light shall we see light. The river of pleasure. But did you know to who pleasure
it was? It was God's pleasure. It was His pleasure. I've jotted
down some things. One old writer said of this,
I don't even remember for sure where I got this, but he was
talking about this abundant satisfaction. And he said, Thou shalt make them drink of
the waters of thy pleasure." And here's what he said. That
God is a God of pleasure. Thy pleasure. Deep pleasure. We don't think that much. We
look at God like He's some stern, hard, indifferent being. He's a God of pleasure. At thy
right hand, there are pleasures forevermore that can't be searched
out. That His salvation brings us
pleasure. And thirdly, that His pleasure
is of the same kind and nature as that of God. His salvation
that comes to us brings us pleasure. But it's of the same nature as
His, for indeed it is His pleasure. You shall make them drink of
the mountain, the waters of Thy pleasure. And he said, fourthly,
that this pleasure is satisfying in its nature, for it meets the
real need of the soul. When the needs of the soul are
met, It's satisfying, ain't it? Are you satisfied this morning? Are you satisfied? I ain't talking
about with yourself. Are you satisfied with the life
that Christ gives? You ain't seeking any place else,
are you? Are you satisfied with His atonement that He's made
for sin? Are you satisfied with the reconciliation? He's reconciled
you to God? Are you satisfied with His promises?
With His intercession? Are you satisfied with Him? I
am, aren't you? Lord, just give me more of Yourself.
That's all I want. That will satisfy my soul. That
this pleasure is satisfying in its nature because it meets the
needs of the soul. That it is abundance. It's abundant pleasure and leaves
no want of the soul unsupplied. And this one he said that this
pleasure is to be found in an imminent degree in the house
of God. For it's closely connected with
the public worship of God. They shall abundantly be satisfied
with the fatness of thy house. For with thee is the fountain
of life. And that's what we thirst for,
isn't it? Life. And He's satisfied that thirst,
has He not? He's satisfied that thirst. I'll tell you another
thirst He's satisfied too. A hunger for the truth. That's
what He's talking about there, in thy light. What is light? It's the truth. God is light.
In Him is no darkness. You're searching for the truth.
You know how you're going to see truth? In His light. Christ
is light, and you see truth in His light. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and after life, and after truth,
for they shall be filled. Ho! Ho! Stop! Stop! Stop your mad dash through this
world. Stop running to and fro. Stop! Halt! Are you thirsty? Come to the water. Come to the
water. Lord bless His Word.