All right, let's open our Bibles
now to Isaiah chapter 55. Now listen. Oh, everyone that
thirsteth, come to the waters. Who's saying this? Whose words
are these? Whose voice is this? Not Isaiah,
not one of the prophets. It's God the Heavenly Father.
Every word in this 55th chapter comes from the mouth of God Almighty
Himself. That's what makes this chapter
special and unique and have a message for you and me tonight. These are the words of the living
God. The Lord speaks, and it's evident
to whom he's speaking. He begins by saying, O everyone
that thirsteth, I'm talking to you, you who thirst, not in the
natural sense. God provides the water for people
to drink in the natural sense, but he's talking about the spiritual
sense here, you who thirst for God. You who thirst for forgiveness. You who thirst for the grace
of God. You who thirst for fellowship
with the living God. Jew or Gentile. Everyone that
thirsts. Old or young. Old granddad or
a young lad or lass. Male or female. Everyone who
thirsts. Everyone. Blessed are they who
thirst. Our Lord Jesus said, blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they're
going to be filled. They're going to be filled. And
that's what the Heavenly Father is talking about here. Are you
thirsty? Are you thirsty? Well, come to
the water. Come ye, everyone that's thirsty,
come to the waters. plural, waters, come to Christ. He said to the woman at the well,
if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's speaking to
you, you'd ask me and I'd give you living water and you'd never
thirst again. Come to Christ, He's the fountain.
He's the one to whom God has given all things. He's the one
in which God has vested all things. He's the one who said on the
last day of the feast, if any man thirst, come to me. Come to the waters. Come to me.
And out of his belly shall flow rivers, rivers, rivers of living
water. Waters, waters. Isaiah talks
about waters. Let me read you a passage over
here. He said, Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and
not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Jehovah, God is
my Savior. He's my strength and He's my
song. And He has become my salvation. The Lord Jehovah has become my
salvation. He has become a man in the flesh
and redeemed me. Therefore, with joy, shall I
draw water out of the wells of salvation. Listen again over
here in Isaiah. He says, Now strengthen ye the
weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees, and say to all of them
that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, behold,
your God will come, even God with a recompense, he'll come
and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then
shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall
sing. And in the wilderness shall waters break out with streams
in the desert." Come to the waters. Oh, everyone,
God says everyone that thirsteth come to the waters. And listen,
verse 1, and he that hath no money, he that hath no money,
he's poor, spiritually bankrupt, poor and needy. What does it
mean to be poor spiritually? Well, A.W. Pink says it's to
have nothing, be nothing, know nothing. Poor and needy, he that
hath no money, deeply in debt to God, bankrupt with nothing
to pay. Those who are most guilty, those
who fit the description in Revelation 3, 17, wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked. He that hath no money, nothing
to pay. When they had nothing to pay,
he forgave them. But you've got to come down to
that place with nothing, nothing to pay. And if you have no money
and nothing to pay, and you're thirsty, he said, come, come
ye, buy. Buy and eat. Well, how can you
buy when you've got nothing to pay? According to whose store
you're in. It all depends on who owns the
store. The prodigal son. Those over
there sitting on the fence of the pigpen, ragged and dirty
and poor, wretched, miserable, bankrupt, homesick, nothing to
pay, nothing. He took stock of his condition,
and he said, servants in my father's house have more than I have.
I'm going to go to my father, and I'm going to say, I've sinned against heaven and
in your sight. He got that right, hadn't he?
I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. And I'm not worthy
to be called your son. And I have nothing. I'm nobody. Make me a hard servant. What
did his father say? Bring the best robe. He doesn't
have anything, but bring the best robe. But he can't pay.
Bring the best robe. But he's got no money, bring
him the best robe, put it on. Bring him some shoes, shoes are
expensive, bring him some shoes. Put a ring on his finger, he's
my son. Kill the fatted calf. We've been
saving that, kill the fatted calf, my son's home. That's what
he's talking about here. You're thirsty, you're weary,
you're heavy laden, you're hungry, you're bankrupt, you have nothing
to pay, you're in debt. You willing to be made a hired
servant? He'll make you a son. Come buy and eat. Yeah, come. He says come three times. This
is the Father speaking. This is not an evangelist. This
is not somebody trying to get folks down the aisle. This is
not somebody trying to get professions of faith. This is not somebody
trying to build a church. This is the Heavenly Father.
the gracious God who delights to show mercy, he says, come.
Everyone that's thirsty, come to the waters. Waters cleanse,
waters refresh. If you have nothing to eat, nothing
to pay, no money, come and buy, come buy wine to gladden the
heart, to cheer the soul. Come buy milk. to give life and
health. Just come on, it's free. Come
on. And the Father says in verse
2, well, why do you spend money for that which is not bread?
Why do you spend money, time, labor, energy, efforts, your
whole lifetime For that which is not bread, it won't feed you
at all. It won't satisfy the soul. It
doesn't satisfy. You labor for that which satisfies
not. Why do you do that? I believe the Father is talking
about two things here that, in general, occupy the minds and
hearts and activities of people in this world. The two things. One is the world itself. The
world itself. What should it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his soul? It's not bread. And
it doesn't satisfy him. Turn to Luke chapter 12 and listen
to our Lord on this subject. Luke chapter 12, I believe it's
verse 15. Luke 12, verse 15. The Master says, the Master said
unto them, Luke 12, 15, Take heed, beware of covetousness. Why do you spend money and labor
and labor and strive and activities and planning for the things of
this world? For man's life consists not in
the abundance of the things which he possesses. That's not where
life is. That's not where life is. That's
not bread. That doesn't satisfy. That's materialism. And he spake
a parable to them, saying the ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, now what am I going to do? I have no room where to bestow
my fruits. And he said, this is what I'll
do. I'll pull down my barns and build greater barns. And there
will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I'll say to my
soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.' But God said to him,
You fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. And
then who shall these things be which thou hast provided?" The
world, the flesh, it doesn't satisfy them. It's not bread. The second thing that people
are actively engaged in is religion, false religion. False religion. Why do you spend your time and
labor and efforts for that which is not bread? It's not the living
bread. Religion's not the bread. Christ
is. Religion doesn't satisfy, doesn't
give peace. Christ does. Over there in Isaiah
45, listen, he speaks about these people here in Isaiah 45. He
says, in verse 20, In Isaiah 45, 20, "...assemble
yourselves and come, draw near together, you that are escaped
of the nations." They have no knowledge that set up the wood
of their grave and image and pray to a God that cannot save.
Why would you pray to a God that cannot save? People do. God's
done all He can do, now it's up to you. Why do you pray to
a God that cannot save? Why do you pray to a God that
cannot hear? He says down here further in
verse 21, he says, there's no God beside me. I'm a just God
and a Savior. There's no one beside me. Look
to me and be you saved. Look to me. Look to me. But these people
that pray to a God that cannot save and spend their time laboring
in a religion that does not satisfy and bread that does not profit. One day they'll say to
him, we preached in your name, did many wonderful works. And
he'll say, I never knew you. There's those two things. We
labor for the world and a man gain the whole world
and lose his soul. What's he got? We're laboring
religion, false religion, works, duties and deeds. And hear him
say, I never knew you. Never knew you. Now listen to
him. Verse 2, Why do you spend money for that which is not bread,
and you labor for that which can never satisfy? Hearken diligently. Oh, listen carefully, says to
me. Hearken to me. Eat that which is good, Christ,
the bread of life, I'm the bread of life. He that eateth my flesh
and drinks my blood will never thirst, will never hunger. Let
your soul delight itself in fatness. What is this fatness? The word
is abundance. And I'll tell you where it's
revealed to us in Psalm 36. Turn over there to Psalm 36.
Fatness. He said, now don't spend your
time trying to accumulate things in this world that rust, moth,
doth corrupt and thieves break through and steal. Don't spend
your time in a religion that's not bred and doesn't satisfy
and hear him say it that last day, I never knew you. Hearken
diligently unto me and come to me and eat that which is good. Christ is good. Eat Christ. Feast,
feed on Christ. And let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Now listen to Psalm 36, verse
5 through 8. Thy mercy, O God, is in the heavens. Thy faithfulness reaches unto
the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the
great mountains. Thy judgments are great deep.
O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is Thy living
kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings, and they shall
be abundantly, abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house,
and that you shall make them drink of the river of your pleasure. For with you is the fountain
of life, in your light we see light." There it is. There it
is. Why do you spend your money and
your time and your effort for that which is not bread and for that which satisfies
not? This is God speaking. Listen to me. Hearken to me. Eat that which is good. Feed
on Christ Jesus. And enjoy and revel in and feast
in the fatness of my house. my church, Zion, my people, where
the living water flows, where the bread of life is preached,
where the fountain of life flows freely. Let your soul delight
itself in the fatness of my house, the abundance, never run dry. These great hymns reading of
the word, praying of God's people, preaching of the gospel. Oh,
that's food for the soul. It makes tomorrow a better day
and tonight a better night. Verse 3, the faithfulness of
our God. Now, hear His instructions. This
is our God speaking. Hear His instructions now. Incline
your ears. He didn't say walk or work or
run or do or obey. He said, pay attention. Incline your ear. Incline your ear. Is that asking
too much? That's such a small thing. Just
turn your ear. He said, turn your ear now toward
me. Incline your ear. And secondly,
he said, and come to me. Incline your ear and come to
me and I'll sit at my feet." Oh, Mary chose the good thing,
didn't she? Sat at his feet. Every time they
mention her, she's the one that sat at his feet. Come to me. We have an altar. Yes, we do. It's Christ. We have an altar. That's what Paul said in Hebrews.
It's Christ. You come to the altar. We have
a priest. A great high priest, you come
to the priest, it's Christ. We have a church, it's his body. It's a temple of living stones,
you come to Christ. We have an atonement by whom
we have received the atonement, Christ Jesus. We have a hope,
come to me, incline your ear. Now listen, thirdly, hear me. Now that's the key. Hear me. How shall they call on him whom
they've not believed? How shall they believe in him
of whom they've not heard? Do you hear me, sir? Can you
hear me? He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me hath everlasting life. The Father said, turn your ear
my way now, and you come to me and hear me. Hear me. And your soul will live. The word is now unto thee, Paul
said. The word of faith is now unto
thee. It's in your mouth. It's in your heart. It's the
word of God. It's the word of Christ. If you
hear, you'll live. Your soul will live. Now, I'm
telling you, I do look at a while. Incline
your ear and come to me and hear me. And your soul will live forever. And more than that, I'll make
an everlasting covenant with you. I'll make an everlasting covenant.
He said over there in Jeremiah 30, let me just read it to you,
Jeremiah 30. Verse 9, I'll make a covenant with you. Jeremiah chapter 30, verse 32,
he said, I'll make a covenant with you. Verse 38, Jeremiah
32, you'll be my people and I'll be your God. And I'll give you
one heart and one way that you'll fear me forever for the good
of them and your children after them. And I'll make an everlasting
covenant with you. And I'll not turn away from you
to do you good. I'll put my fear in your heart
and you won't leave me. I'll make a covenant with you. I'll share a question. Even the
sure mercies of David. See that? Even the sure mercies of David. Now who's this David? It's Christ. It's Christ. That's where I was
looking at in Jeremiah. 30, verse 9, that's Christ is
called David in Jeremiah and Ezekiel time and time and time
again. This is after David was already dead and buried. But
he says here, they shall serve the Lord their God, and David
their king I will raise up under them. And then Ezekiel chapter
34, he says this, verse 23, And I'll set one shepherd over
them, and he'll feed them, even my servant David. And he shall
feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, will
be their God. And my servant David will be
a prince among them." In Ezekiel 37, verse 24, he says this, listen,
And David my servant will be a king over them, And they all
shall have one shepherd, and they shall all walk in my judgments,
and observe my statutes, and do them." The sure mercies of
David. I will incline my ear and come
to thee, and I'm going to hear and believe and trust And he says, and my soul will
live. And I'll make with you an everlasting
covenant, so when you lie down to die, you can say what David
said. I'm not afraid. Although it be not so with my
house, God made an everlasting covenant with me. I'll make an
everlasting covenant with you. And this is all my salvation.
and all my desire. A sure everlasting covenant with
all the mercies of David. Based on what? Look at verse
4. Here's the reason these mercies are sure. Because, behold, I
have given him. God so loved the world, he gave
his Son. I have given him. I have given
him. This is God speaking still. for
a witness to the people. He's our witness. That's what
our Lord said to Pilate over here. Let me read it to you. Pilate said to our Lord, listen,
Pilate said to him, Are you a king? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born. And for
this cause came I unto the world, that I should bear witness to
the truth, and every one that is of the truth will hear my
voice." God spoke to our fathers with
the prophets. He spoke to us by son. I've given
him for a witness unto the people. Listen, I've given him as a leader. He's the teacher. I've given
him a commander. He's the king. Prophet, priest,
and king. I've given him. Now then, the
Father speaks to the Son. Verse 5, Behold thou, the witness,
the leader, the commander, thou shalt call a nation thou knowest
not. That's the Gentiles. He knows them, but they didn't
know him. It didn't look like he knew them either back yonder,
nothing but the Jews had the law and the prophets and the
priests. And nations that knew not thee shall run to thee. Who
said so? God said, I did, because of the
Lord your God. That's the reason. Because I
willed it. I purposed it. They'll run to
thee because of the Lord thy God. They'll run to thee. They'll
come willingly. Do men come to Christ? Oh, yeah.
Do they come willingly? Oh, yeah. Are they brought against
their will? Oh, no. They'll be made willing
in the day of His power. They'll come running. You won't have to pull them and
drag them and beg them and bow them and bribe them and reward
them. They'll come running. Just come
running. They're going to run for the
Holy One of Israel. He hath glorified thee. Father,
glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee." And one day
a voice came from heaven and said, I've both glorified it
and I'll glorify it again and again and again. I've both glorified
it and I'll glorify it again. God has glorified him, the Son,
to be our Redeemer, our Savior. He glorified him when he made
him in human flesh. It says here, Christ glorified
not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto
him, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, he glorified
him. And he glorified him when he
raised him from the grave, and glorified him when he seated
him at his right hand. So you people, verse 6, all of
you that are thirsty and weary and heavy laden and have nothing
to pay, no money, tired of living on the husk of a pigpen, seek
the Lord. Seek ye the Lord, the gracious
God who delights to show mercy. But I seek him while he may be
found. Seek him while the gospel is preached. You may not hear
it down the road. Seek Him while others are being
awakened, because that's when the Spirit of God is moving. You see the movement of the wind.
It's not dry and parched and thirsty. It's moving. When others
are being awakened, seek Him while you can still hear Him. Seek Him while He may be found.
Seek him while he's near. That's what that says, while
he's near. Paul said he's not far from any
of us, because in him we live and move and have our being. You don't have to go down to
a building to find God. Just turn and there he is. There he is. In him we live and
move and have our being. Call on him. Bartimaeus did. Jesus, son of David, have mercy
on me. The Canaanite woman did. Lord,
have mercy on me. The leper did. He said, Lord,
if you will, you can make me whole. I'd sure like to be whole. If you will, you make me whole.
Seek him, for he may be found. Let the wicked forsake his way.
The unrighteous man is tossed. Now don't be offended by that
word wicked. That's what we are by nature. By Adam's fall, ungodly, don't
let that offend you. Christ died for the ungodly.
That's what we are by nature, ungodly. If a man doesn't have
God, he's ungodly. If a man's not holy, he's wicked. You can't be mid-ground, there
ain't no neutral in this deal. You're wicked. Let the wicked.
That's what we are by nature. We're either holy in Christ or
we're wicked out of Christ. We are either godly in Christ
or ungodly without Christ. There's no nice way to describe
sin. It's a state. It's a nature.
It's an attitude. It's a spirit. It's a spirit
that hates God. That's wicked. It's a spirit
that says, I'll be God. That's wicked. That's ungodly.
That's evil. That's what we are if we hadn't
bowed to him, if we hadn't submitted to him, if we hadn't surrendered,
laid down our shotgun. Let the wicked forsake his way,
his way, his way of flesh, his way of works, his way of self-righteousness,
his way of rebellion. Let the unrighteous man forsake
his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord. Let him return to the Lord. And you know what? The Lord will
have mercy. The emphasis here is not on how evil we are, it's
how good He is. That's what I'm trying to preach
tonight. I'm not trying to emphasize how evil we are. I think we know.
But I'm trying to show you how good He is, how gracious, how
faithful He is, how merciful He is. God is merciful. God delights to show mercy. Let
me ask you a question, two questions. In the parable of the lost sheep,
who's the main character? It ought to be the parable of
the shepherd, because it's not the lost sheep. It's the shepherd.
He's the main character. That sheep's out there wandering
around. He doesn't know who he is or where he is. But shepherd
knows. He's my sheep. I love him. I'm going after him, and I'll
hunt him till I find him, and I'll put him on my shoulders,
and I'll bring him home. The shepherd. His greatest glory
is His love for us, and compassion for us, and mercy to the lost
sheep. In the parable of the prodigal
son, who's the main character? The prodigal son? Oh, no. There's millions like him. They're
everywhere. There are a lot of prodigal sons. Worthless, no good. the compassion and mercy and
grace of that loving father who had days and months on end looked
for that son to come home with love and compassion and forgiveness.
And he finally saw him. And he was running out there
and fell on his neck and kissed him. He told everybody, rejoice
with me. My son, boy interrupt him, I'm
not worthy to be a son. You shut your mouth. I'm talking
now. This is my son. This is my son. He's lost. He's found. Strike
up the band. Bring in the guests. Let's have
a feast. Yeah, but I did not forget it. It's over. God's compassionate,
I tell you. Our God in Christ is gracious,
merciful, His promise of pardon is absolute, unconditional, and
eternal. He delights to show mercy, and
His chief glory is His goodness. The problem's with us. Christ
said, You will not come to me. You might have a lot. That's
where the problem is. It's with you. You will not. How oft would I have gathered
you, he said to Israel, as a hen doth gather her brood? You would
not. You would not. The real emphasis of this whole
chapter is the mercy of God, the compassion, mercy, graciousness
of our God. For he says in verse 8, he said,
Your thoughts are not my thoughts. You've got to leave your thoughts
and your ways. They're not my ways. What's this? As the heaven
is higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts and your thoughts. I'm telling you, one can't conceive
a greater distance than from heaven to earth. One cannot conceive
a greater distance than from heaven to earth. And I'm talking
about to space and spirit. Our thoughts are fleshly. His are spiritual. Our thoughts
are finite. His are infinite. Our thoughts
are evil continually. That's what it says in Genesis.
Man's imagination of his heart is evil continually. God's thoughts
are holy continually. Our thoughts are of self. His
thoughts are of his covenant and mercy and grace. Our thoughts and plans and ways
perish with us. His are from everlasting to everlasting. So ours have got to be forsaken.
Our thoughts and our ways have got to be put down, surrendered,
submitted. Look to Him. Thy will be done. Thy way, not my way, O Lord. Well, here's the big question
in closing. How does one find the thoughts
of God? How does one find the ways of
God? How does one find the will of
God? Well, he's going to tell us. You've got to forsake your
way and your thoughts. They're not my ways and my thoughts.
But here's where you'll find my ways and my thoughts. As the
rain cometh down from heaven, and the snow And returneth not
thither, but the rain and the snow watereth the earth. And
that rain and that snow makes the earth bring forth in blood.
There is life in the rain, life in the water, life in the snow.
Yet it may bring forth in blood and give seed to the sow and
bread to the eater. And so shall my word be, my word
that goes out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me,
boy, but it shall accomplish that which I please. It will
prosper in the things whereunto I send it. As God sends the rain
to nourish, give life to the sea on the earth that we may
have something to eat, so he sends his word. And his word
convicts and quickens of his own will, begat he us through
the word. We are born again of the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. His word is preached
and read, and it quickens, it convicts, it converts, it calls
out a people for His name. Now let me show you that right
here in this same verse. Verse 11. So shall my word. My word. It's my word. The Lord
Jesus said in John 10, they're my sheep. They're my sheep. My word, my sheep. It goeth out
of my mouth. They'll hear my voice, he said.
My sheep hear my voice. It goes out of my mouth, my word. It shall not return unto me void.
They'll follow me. You see that, Ronnie? He said,
my sheep, my word's intended for my sheep. And it goes out
of my mouth. They hear my voice. He that heareth
you, heareth me," he said to the Apostle. And he shall not
return unto me useless, void, it accomplished. They'll follow
me. It accomplished that which I
pleased. I give them eternal life. It
shall prosper in the things whereunto I sent it. They'll never perish. My word. Oh, I thought those
two, my word, my It goes out of my mouth. They'll hear my
voice. It won't return void. They'll follow me. It'll accomplish
that which I please. I'll give them eternal life.
And it'll prosper to the thing I sent it. They'll never perish. But that's the Word. Oh, the
power of it. The power of the Word of God.
It's the dunamis. It's the dynamite. It's the power
of God unto salvation. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. In closing, here's the
joy, here's the accomplishment, that God, our Father, is still
speaking. And you'll go out with joy, out of your bondage, darkness,
sorrow, curse of the law, joy in your heart. You'll be led
forth with peace, led forth by the Spirit of Christ to the Christ
who is the King of peace. And even the mountains. And the
hills will break forth in singing. You know, Paul wrote that in
Romans chapter 8. He said the creation is waiting
for the revelation of the sons of God. And the creation, the
mountains and the hills, are going to break into singing.
And all the trees of the field are going to clap their hands.
It's over. The curse is gone. Redeemed. Freed. Set free from
death. Never to die. Instead of the
thorn, God told Adam, the thorns will come up when you plant your
seed. Not anymore. Fir trees. Instead of the briar,
no more briars. The myrtle tree. I'll give you life and I'll give
the creation life. And this shall be to the Lord
for a name. To the Lord for a name. The Father
hath given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he's Lord,
and it'll be for an everlasting sign that'll never be cut off. That is, my friend, the Word
of God. I can't give you the Word of
God any more than what I've given you now. That's the Word of God,
a gracious God. Why do you spend money for that
which is not bringing, and you labor for that which satisfies
not? Come unto me, eat, and your soul will live, and I'll make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David. David never sung a song that
you can't sing, or prayed a prayer you can't pray, or entertained
a hope you can't have. Never did. It's for all the sons
of David. All right.