[0:00] Let us now turn to the Old Testament Scriptures and the prophecy according to Isaiah. Prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 55.
[0:23] And we read from the beginning of the chapter. Isaiah 55. O every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat.
[0:41] Ye come buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
[0:55] 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.
[1:09] Hear, 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.
[1:24] 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.
[1:40] Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
[1:53] 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.
[2:09] 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.
[2:38] It shall not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.
[2:54] 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, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree.
[3:11] And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off. Amen.
[3:22] May God bless to us that reading from his word. To his name be all the praise. Let us now sing from Psalm 36.
[3:33] Psalm 36 and verses 5 to 10. Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens.
[3:50] Thy truth doth reach the clouds. Thy justice is like mountains great. Thy judgments deep as floods. Lord, thou preservest man and beast.
[4:01] How precious is thy grace. Therefore in shadow of thy wings men's sons their trust shall place. They with the fatness of thy house shall be well satisfied.
[4:13] From rivers of thy pleasures thou wilt drink to them provide. Because of life the fountain pure remains alone with thee. And in that purest light of thine we clearly light shall see.
[4:28] Thy lovingkindness unto them continue that thee know. And still on men upright in heart thy righteousness bestow. These tanzas, verses 5 to 10 of Psalm 36, to God's praise.
[4:42] Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens. Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens.
[4:57] Thy kingdom reach the ground. Thy justice is like mountains great.
[5:12] Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens. Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens. Thy thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens. God, is in the heavens. My mercy, Lord, is in the heavens.
[5:23] Thy이트ias. And glorious are the heavens. May the Mickie, Lord, is in the heavens. My grace, Lord, is in the heavens. mortified in earth.
[5:33] By the forestiano of my companions. Cause of the grace, Lord, is in heaven. The mountainous heart of Bethany. The earth is in heaven. The earth damn praise of 덕distribution. My grace, Lord, the earth is in the heavens. Clerk O'er Thee Thy pleasures of will, things do that go right.
[6:24] Because of life, the finding new, A Где my children's worth, Thy lovingkindness unto them continue that below, and still on men but right in heart thy righteousness bestow.
[7:31] Now as the Lord enables us, let us turn to consider words we have in this portion of scripture we've read in Isaiah chapter 55.
[7:50] And particularly focusing at the beginning of the chapter. Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat.
[8:06] Ye come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. And so on. I think it's very interesting to consider where this chapter appears in the whole of the prophecy.
[8:34] If you go back to chapter 53, you find there an account of the suffering servant, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[8:49] And at verse 5, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisment of our peace was upon him.
[9:01] And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[9:19] From the beginning of this prophecy, The Lord highlights the sinful lifestyle of the people to whom the prophet was sent.
[9:33] Even at the very beginning of the prophecy, chapter 1, verse 18, I think it is. The Lord says, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord.
[9:48] Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be like crimson, they shall be as wool.
[9:58] And it looks as if the people were not of a mind to do what the Lord there asked them. Because when you come to chapter 53, at the very beginning of the chapter, The prophet says, Who has believed our report?
[10:18] And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? It's as if he's been preaching to people who were not paying attention. People who just went on doing their own thing.
[10:33] But now in chapter 53, The prophet highlights the finished work of Christ As a sure basis for salvation To sinners such as we are.
[10:47] It says that all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[11:01] What an amazing verse and statement that is. And of course in chapter 54, Then you find reason. The reason for rejoicing is That the Lord has done A work of atonement.
[11:19] That he has worked On behalf of his elect people In such a way That they are now At peace with God And God is at peace with them.
[11:31] Chapter 54 Sing, O barren, Though thou didst not bear, Break forth into singing And cry aloud, Though thou didst not travail with child, For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married wife, Saith the Lord.
[11:49] Enlarge the place of thy tent And let them stretch forth The curtains of thy inhabitations. Spare not lengthen thy cords And strengthen thy stakes And thou shalt break forth On the right hand and on the left And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles And make the desolate cities To be inhabited.
[12:09] He's talking about the blessings, The gospel blessings That are going to follow The finished work of Christ. And then he comes toward the end Of the chapter And in verse 10 it says, This is chapter 54, verse 10, The mountains shall depart And the hills be removed But my kindness Shall not depart from thee Neither shall the covenant Of my peace be removed Saith the Lord That hath mercy on thee.
[12:43] The Lord is committing himself In covenant To these people On behalf of whom Christ has finished The work of atonement.
[12:56] And now, Against that backdrop Against the backdrop Of Christ's finished work And also the promises Of blessing That are to follow We come to chapter 55 And from the very beginning Of the chapter We find this word Whole Everyone that thirsteth Come ye to the waters And he that has no money Come ye Buy and eat Ye come buy wine and milk Without money And without price And so on The Lord Through the prophet Is addressing people Who have not yet Availed themselves Of the blessings Of the gospel The blessings That Christ has purchased As saviour of sinners And he says There are some of you
[13:57] Still out there And I'm calling to you Everyone that thirsteth Come ye to the waters And so on And I'd just like to say A few words Under three headings First of all Those who are being Addressed Here And he names them Those who are thirsty And then he goes on Those who have no money Those who are poor Or impoverished And then also In the following verse Those who are dissatisfied In verse 2 Wherefore do ye spend money For that which is not bread And your labour For that which satisfieth not So he's talking to People who are thirsty And people who are poor And people who are dissatisfied That's the first point The second point I have to highlight
[14:57] Is the command That he is giving them And the command is two sided First of all At the very beginning of verse 1 Everyone that thirsteth Come ye to the waters Come It's a command to come And then secondly Come ye buy and eat Come buy wine and milk Without money and without price As they come They are asked to buy It's as if the Lord Is laying before them This wonderful blessing This wonderful privilege To come and buy Without money And without price I'd like to say one or two words On that And thirdly and finally The promise that he gives It says here Incline your ear Verse 3 And come to me Here And your soul shall live
[15:58] And I will make an everlasting covenant With you Even the sure mercies Of David Your soul shall live And you shall have A covenant relationship That is Unbreakable You remember when King David was coming To the end of his life 2 Samuel 23 I think it is At the beginning of that chapter And he talks about His own life The Lord has Brought him And blessed him In so many ways And then he says He has made an everlasting Covenant with me That's ordered In all things And sure The Lord had given him promises And he had given him Wonderful promises That he would Continue to bless him And his blessings Would continue
[16:58] To be showered upon him And his house Well that's One or two things Under these headings And first of all then He's talking about The people to whom He sends this word And firstly He's talking about Those who are thirsting Those who are thirsting Now In these parts of the world Or those parts of the world I should say Where this scripture Was first written And where people lived It was Common for them To know What a wilderness Experience Was like Long periods Without rain Long periods With nothing Really Growing at all And people knew What it was like
[17:59] To be thirsty But I'm going to Raise that To another level And the level Is this That as individuals As people As sinners Made in the image Of God In Adam We fell From our state Of holiness And acceptance With God And we fell And became A wilderness Ourselves Sin Sin has ravaged Us In such a way That we are More like a wilderness Than we are Like a fruitful land Sin has Entered our thinking Entered our conscience Entered our will Our affections And devastated The face of that land That is our soul In such a way That we are
[19:00] In the far country Just like the Prodigal son Was In the far country So we also Are Not only are we In the far country But we are In a wilderness Situation Away from God Open to all The ravages That sin Can work in our lives And Somebody has Described That situation Using these words That's what sin Has done It has left A God Shaped Void In our soul Because God Has withdrawn From us And we have Withdrawn from him And the language Of our soul As sinners Is this We don't want Christ to be
[20:00] King over us We don't want Any part of him That's the way We speak As we are By nature We don't want him And that Attitude Was so clearly Displayed In the way People Dealt with The Lord Jesus In Crucifying him On Calvary They wanted him Out of the way That is the language Of the unregenerate Heart We don't want him But of course Those who don't Want Christ They want to Satisfy The carnal Bent Of their Fallen nature And they're Thirsting for Something In this world Maybe it's Thirsting for Money Or for fame Or for some Kind of Material security
[21:02] Maybe they're Thirsting For sins Of various Kinds To gratify The corrupt Nature that is Within them Maybe they're Slaves to drink Or slaves to Drug taking Maybe they're Slaves to this That or the Other thing Maybe they're Totally Given up In their lives To Following sport They couldn't Bear a day Without Involvement With some Sport Or other People are Thirsting for Something Whatever it is Everyone is Thirsting for Something And the Lord knows That And he sent The prophet Here and he Said You call To these People that Are so far Away They're in The far Country You have to Call loudly Oh Everyone That thirsteth Come ye Unto the Waters And also
[22:04] Those who Are so Thirsty They have No money Because They're Spending Their energy And spending Their lives Trying to Get satisfaction In areas And in Avenues That really Have nothing At the end Of them But a Disappointment And the Devil will Say go Along this Way And there's Something nice At the end Of it Well don't Listen to him Because at the End of every Godless avenue There is Destruction And he's Calling to the Dissatisfied Are you Dissatisfied With life Dissatisfied With yourself When you look At yourself In the mirror Of scripture What do you
[23:04] See Do you like What you see Well if you're Not happy With what you See Listen to What this Verse is Say Oh Everyone Who is Thirsty Everyone Who is Poor Everyone Who is Dissatisfied And then What does he Say Well he Gives a Command Come Ye To the Waters There's Nothing Is there More appealing To somebody Who is Almost Dying Of thirst Than to See Water Available To him This is Not a Mirage Like some People Used to See in The Deserts When they're Walking There Longing For a Drink And there's A mirage And they Think there's An oasis That's the Way sin Deals With you And that's The way The devil Deals With you But this Is a Real Source
[24:04] Of water Come Ye To the Waters He says One of Theologians Says If you Notice The word Waters Is in The Plural And he Says This is The plural Of Superlative Degree Waters Waters They're The very Best Waters They're Not Contaminated In any Way At all Even the Best waters In the World Have some Measure of Pollution Until they're Cleaned But this Water is The very Best It is Superlatively Pure And wonderful And also It is the Plural of Superlative Degree In that there Is such an Abundance Of this Water Supply Come ye
[25:07] Unto The waters There are Waters Cascading And available To you Where are These waters To be Found You remember That in the Gospel of John On the Last The great Day of The feast Jesus Stood up And he Said If any Man thirst Let him Come unto Me And drink Jesus Is the Living Fountain Head Able to Supply Water In abundance To supply The thirstiest Soul Do you Remember In the Wilderness Journeys Of Israel Israel The Israelites Were complaining There's not Enough water Here The Lord Commanded Moses
[26:08] To strike The rock And water Gushed Forth So it Was With Jesus He is Our rock And he Was struck As we Find it Written in Isaiah 53 He was Struck By God's Justice And he Was broken And as a Result of His being Broken In that Way Waters Have flowed To a Lost World In that Day Zechariah Says In another Context Zechariah 13 1 A fountain Shall be Opened For the Inhabitants Of Jerusalem And for the House of David For sin And uncleanness And you
[27:12] Remember In the Very last Book of The Bible In the Last chapter John Sees There A pure River Of water Of life Clear As crystal Proceeding Out of the Throne Of God And of The Lamb So there Is a Fountain Head In Christ Jesus Who was Broken So that Waters Come Through the Gospel To us So that The water Of life May come To us The Lord Said to The woman Of Samaria You remember The discussion He had With her There And he Asked her For a Drink And she Refused Him And he Said if You knew If you Only knew You would Have asked Of me And I Would have Given you Living water Isn't it a Wonderful interview He had with That woman Of Samaria She was
[28:13] Trying to Avoid him All the Time Just like Someone who Tries to Avoid Committing to Christ And eventually She said Well when The Messiah Comes He'll tell Us all These things I am He Who speaks To you That was Enough His Personal Self Revelation To her It's as If The waters Of life Cascaded Into her Very soul And she Couldn't Stay She left Her water Pot And went And said To the Men Come See a Man who's Told me Everything That I've Ever done Is this Not the Christ The command Is to Come Have you Come The Christ Of the Gospel Is calling
[29:14] You this Evening Are you Thirsty Are you Impoverished By sin Are you Dissatisfied Through your Involvement With sin And the World And everything Else that's Going on Well he Says to You Come Come And then He says Come buy Wine And milk Without money And without Price Isn't it Amazing He introduces Another two Elements that Are on this Wonderful table Of provision Wine And milk Wine is Often used As an Illustration In the Scriptures As a Source of Joy The Effect of The Holy Spirit's Blessing upon
[30:15] Our soul To impart Joy Joy of The Lord As our Strength But we Must always Remember That the Joy that The Scripture Speaks Of That's Experienced By the People Of God Is a Joy That Comes After Sorrow When the Lord reveals To you Your Lostness When the Lord reveals To you The extent To which You need To be Saved And the Things from Which you Need to Be Saved When he Shows to You the Standards Of holiness That you Just don't Come up To Sorrow Fills Your heart When you Survey your Life But then By the Work of The Spirit Of God He Comes And he
[31:15] Assures You That the Blood of Jesus Christ God's Son Cleanses You From all Sin And that Brings Joy In its Wake When he Speaks a Word in Season To your Tired And downcast Soul He gives You to Lift your Head And sing For joy This is What it Says Here Come By Water And wine And milk It's Interesting Isn't It These Drinks Are so Different And yet They all Have a Gospel Reference For us Milk As a Source Of Nutrition Is Interesting Constituents Of milk Are fat And proteins
[32:16] And lactose Which is a Sugar And minerals And the Youngest Newborn Babe Who is Healthy Enough To suckle His mother's Breast Thrives On that Milk Doesn't Matter who He is Or who She is There's a An innate Drawing To the Breast And to Suck The milk And you Know Peter In writing His First Epistle Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Verse 2 Says Desire The sincere Milk Of the Word That you May Grow Thereby You see In chapter 55 Here The prophet Is aware Of the Poverty Of these People And the Dissatisfaction
[33:16] That they Have with Life And the Thirstiness Of their Soul Longing To have Satisfaction And he Says I Am Presenting You With the Menu That the Lord Sees fit To provide Water From the Rock That is Christ Wine Of the Holy Spirit To give You joy And the Sincere Milk Of the Word That you May Grow Thereby But then The thing Is He commands Them to Come and Buy Without Money And without Price How is it Possible For me to Buy something Without Money And without Price Well If you Go into Our
[34:17] Shop And Whether It's A credit Card You Have A charge Card Or Cash You Expect To be Able To put Something Over the Counter In order To Receive What You're Buying Isn't That True And Something Like that Needs To Happen Here We Have The Same Kind Of Picture In The Book Of Revelation Chapter Three The Church Of Loud Adesia She Was Impoverished She Was In A Bad Shape But The Lord Said To Her In The Midst Of Her Poverty I Counsel You To Buy Of Me Gold Thried In The Fire That You Might Be Rich And So On How Could She Buy Gold Given That He Had Described Her As Being So Impoverished And Rock Bottom What Could She Give Well the
[35:19] Same Thing Is True Here What Can These Thirsty Dissatisfied Poor People Give What Can You Give If You're Going To Receive The Water Of Life The Blessings Of The Spirit And The Milk Of The Word To Sustain You And To Grow You What Kind Of Transaction Is It Well I Think It's As Simple As This And As Complicated As This You Have To Come And Give Yourself You Give Yourself To The Lord Nothing Else Will Pay No I Shouldn't Have Said That The Blessings Have Been Paid For Already But Nothing Else But You Giving Yourself Will Make Them Available To You They're
[36:22] There Bought And Freely Offered Forgiveness Of Sins Is Freely Offered Salvation Is Freely Offered But You Must Come And Receive It And How Are You Coming You're Going To Give Yourself To The Lord Jesus Christ Not To Sin Not To The World Not To The Things Of The World That Have So Long Been Dangled In Front Of You By The Devil And Asking You To Go For This And Go For That And You'll Be Satisfied And So On It Never Works But If You Give Yourself To The Lord Jesus In Submissive Faith You Will Receive The Blessings The Hymn Writers Put It This Way Nothing In
[37:23] My Hands I Bring Simply To Thy Cross I Claim We Hang On To Our Lord Jesus We Have Nothing Of Our Own With Which To Buy He Freely Gives Himself And His Salvation The Command Given Come And Buy Wine And Milk Without Money And Without Price Wouldn't It Be Wonderful This Evening If Each Of Us Had A Moment's Close Heart Fellowship With The Lord Drinking As It Were At His Table The Gospel Table And Eating At The Gospel Table And Enjoying His
[38:23] Fellowship And The Joy Of His Fellowship Together Thirdly And Finally He Gives A Promise And The Promise Says Verse Three Incline Your Ear And Come Unto Me Here And Your Soul Shall Live Your Soul Shall Live The Way We Are By Nature We Are Dead In Trespasses And Sin But If Our Ear Is Opened To Hear His Voice And If Our Heart Is Enabled By The Spirit To Close In With This Marvelous Invitation We Will Know What Newness Of Life Really Means The Half Was Not Told Me The Queen Of Sheba Said When She Had Heard So Much About The Wisdom Of Solomon And
[39:23] She Came Many Many Miles I Think Once I Calculated It As Something Like 1500 Miles That She Came To Visit Solomon The Queen Of Sheba And She Was So Taken With Everything She Saw And Heard The Bible Says There Was No More Spirit Left In Her It As As As As She Was Completely Overcome Overwhelmed By By By The Grandeur Of His Palaces And The Wisdom Of His Words And She Said I Heard A Lot About You But The Half Was Not Told Me And That's The Way You'll Find It When You Come It's One Thing Listening To A Sermon It's Another Thing Knowing What It Is To Close In With Jesus The Subject Of Every Good Sermon Is Jesus That's The First Thing The Next Thing Is You
[40:25] Will Delight Yourself In Fatness You Will Luxuriate In Gospel Blessings Now Think Of It From This Theological Point Of View You Will Know What It Is To Be Justified To Have A New Standing In The Presence Of God There Is Therefore Now No Condemnation To Them Which Are In Christ Jesus Who Walk Not After The Flesh But After The Spirit And You Are Being Sanctified That Is You Have The Holy Spirit And The Holy Spirit Will Sanctify You Step By Step Until At Last The Moment Of Your Passing Out Of This World The Souls Of Believers Are At Their Death Made Perfect In Holiness And To Immediately
[41:25] Pass Into Glory And Finally There Is This I Will Make An Everlasting Covenant With You Even The Sure Mercies Of David What an Amazing Statement That Is That The Lord Has Bound Himself To You With An Unbreakable Cord Of Love Nothing Can
[42:26] Separate Us From The Love Of God That Is In Christ Jesus The Lord Romans Chapter 8 Finishes With These Marvelous Words Of Encouragement To The People Of God Who Shall Separate Us From The Love Of God From The Love Of Christ And He Gives Through A Whole Long List Of Elements That Are Set To Try And Break The Connection And Try And Break The Bond Of Love And He Says Nothing Shall Separate Us From The Love Of God That Is In Christ Jesus Our Lord Because He Is A God Of Covenant Who Has Promised Never To Leave Us Never To Forsake Us Never Ever To Turn Us Back Upon His People Well It Says Here Ho Everyone
[43:27] Who Thirsts Come Ye To The Water Have You Not Yet Come The Waters Are Running Fast Available Freely To Those Who Truly Come And However Many Come There Is Still Ample To Satisfy All Doesn't Matter How Many Come I Came Across One Of The Theologians Who Said That And I Wondered Well How Does That Fit In But I Believe It's True Every One Of God's Elect People Will Come And They Will Find That There Is A Super Abundance Of Provision For Them None Perish Who Should Trust In Him None Will Say There Was Nothing Left For Me Remember
[44:30] In the Gospel Of Luke This Man Made A Large Feast And He Had Invited Some People To Come And Obviously Earlier On They Had Given Ample Encouragement That They Would Come But When The Time Of The Feast Actually Did Come The Servant Went Round And Each One Of Them Had A Different Excuse One Of Them Had Bought Some Land He Had To Go And See It Another One Had To Examine The Five Yoke Of Oxen He Had Bought Another One Had Married A Wife Couldn't Come Feeble Excuses They Didn't Want To Come That's The Reason Anyway The Master Said Go Out Into The Towns And Take In The Poor And The Lame And The Blind My House Must Be Filled And The Servant Did That And
[45:31] He Came Back And He Said Well I've Done What You've Asked Me To And Yet There Is Room Yet There Is Room And The Master Said Go Into The Highways And The Hedges And Compel Them To Come In And He Did That Maybe You're In Some Highway This Evening Or Under Some Kind Of Hedge Hiding From Something Or Afraid Of Something Whatever It Is I Don't Know But This Is A Relevant Invitation And Command To You To Come Everyone Who Thirsts Come To The Waters And He That Has No Money Come Ye Buy And Eat Come Buy Wine And Milk Without Money And Without Price What
[46:31] A What A Snub These Men In The Parable In Luke's Gospel What A Snub They Gave The Rich Man Who Had Prepared Such A Marable Feast For Them What A Snub Turned Up Their Nose At Him We Don't Care What Happens To Your Feast We Have Something Else Something Better To Do Well If That Was A Snub To That Man This Is A Snub To The Lord If You Don't Come My Friends If You Haven't Already Please Come Now For All Is Ready Come To The Feast Let Us Pray Help Us Lord Always To Be Ready To Obey Your Command And Invitations Always To Be Ready To Do What Pleases
[47:32] You And Not What Pleases Ourselves We Pray For Your Blessing Upon This Congregation And Those Who Are Seeking A Sign Of Encouragement From Yourself We Pray That You Would Give It To Them Give Them Strength Give Them To Walk In The Ways Of Obedience All Other Ways Are Counter Productive But The Way Of Obedience Is The Way Of Life Go Before Us Now We Pray And Cleanse Our Sins In Jesus Name Amen