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We may turn in your Bibles to 
Isaiah the prophet, chapter 55. Last week we considered Isaiah 
54. Both chapters grounded upon and based in the realities of 
Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, we are told that redemption 
is secured by the atoning death of the servant of the Lord, which 
is Jesus Christ. Based on that glorious reality 
in Isaiah 53, the prophet then foretells or sets forth promises 
to Zion, promises to the Church of Jesus Christ in chapter 54. He promises increase or multiplication. He promises stability and blessing 
and security. And here in Isaiah 55, the prophet 
functions as an evangelist. Based on the finished work of 
Christ, he calls sinners and invites them to come and to seek 
the Lord while he may be found. We'll pick up reading in Isaiah 
55 at verse 1. Ho, everyone who thirsts, 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 
carefully to me and eat what is good and let your soul delight 
itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to 
me. Here and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting 
covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given 
him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the 
people. Surely you shall call a nation 
you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run 
to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, 
for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be 
found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and 
he will have mercy on him. and to our God, for he will abundantly 
pardon. For my thoughts are not your 
thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the 
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your 
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes 
down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but 
water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it 
may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall 
my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return 
to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper 
in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out with 
joy and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall 
break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the 
field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come 
up the cypress tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the 
myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an 
everlasting sign that it shall not be cut off. Amen. Well, let 
us pray. God, what a wonderful passage 
of Holy Scripture, and I pray it would serve as a great encouragement 
to us tonight. I pray, Father, for any who have 
not come to the Lord. that your word and your spirit 
would be at work in their hearts. God, we don't trust in man. We 
don't trust in his ability. We don't trust in his decision 
making or free will. We trust in the power of a sovereign 
God who sends forth his word to accomplish his purpose by 
his spirit. And we pray tonight, Father, 
to that end. We pray that you would receive glory and honor 
and exaltation, that, Father, you would be praised by people 
here. And we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. As I said, Isaiah 53, 54, and 
55 are intimately connected, all rooted upon and grounded 
in the finished atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ. As 
we approach chapter 55 this evening, we'll look at three particulars. 
First, there is an invitation to participate in gospel blessings, 
verses 1 to 5. Secondly, there is instruction 
to assist the comer in verses 6 and 7. And then there is information. to amaze us in verses 8 to 12. So we'll take up first of all 
this invitation to participate. Notice the invitation proper. He says, Oh, everyone who thirsts, 
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. E.J. Young comments on that introductory 
particle, that ho there. He says it's mainly an attention-getting 
device based on the atonement, based on the promises of God. 
He now issues this call to his audience. Ho! He wants your attention. He wants you to listen. He wants 
you to respond to the glory of God Most High. He says it's mainly 
an attention-getting device, but it expresses a slight tone 
of pity. The prophet is an evangelist 
with a concern for the souls of men and a realization of their 
desperate condition without the blessings that the servant has 
obtained. And as we consider this invitation, 
we note that it is universal. He says, Ho, everyone who thirsts. This isn't uniquely for the Jews. It is for Jew and Gentile. It 
is for sinners. It is akin to what we see in 
Isaiah 45 at verse 22. In Isaiah 45, 22, it says, Look 
to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and 
there is no other. This gospel is to be preached, 
as Jesus said, to every creature under heaven. He says this in 
Mark chapter 16. He says it at the end of Matthew 
28. He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Preach to them the glorious truth. that through Christ is forgiveness 
of sins. So it is a universal invitation. We notice as well that it is 
a gracious invitation. He's addressing those who are 
bankrupt, those who have no money. He doesn't mean physically. He's 
not talking about the money that's in your pocket. He's not talking 
about your credit card. It is obviously spiritual in 
nature, spiritual in import. What He is saying is that you 
who have nothing, come. to the Lord God, and He will 
supply all your need. This is what grace is all about. We are not brought into the sphere 
of salvation because of our contribution, because of what we give or what 
we offer to the Lord. No, it is solely by God's grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Later on 
in the prophet, in Isaiah 66, verse 2, God says that heaven 
is his throne and earth is his footstool. But on this one will 
I look, to him who is lowly and contrite in spirit, and to the 
one who trembles at my word. God does not look for the righteous 
because there are none. God addresses sinners. Jesus 
says this. It is a defining characteristic 
of his mission. He said, I did not come to call 
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And then we notice 
that it's a complete invitation. All the various items that he 
highlights here, it's not for no reason or just for some filler, 
but it says here, he says, come to the waters. He says, come, 
buy wine and milk. When we compare Scripture, we 
see that water is that refreshing agent that sinners desperately 
need to hear. Remember Jesus on that last day 
of the great feast in John 7. He said, if any man thirsts, 
let him come to me. The idea behind wine in the Psalms, 
in Psalm 104 specifically, it says it makes glad the heart 
of man. So the water refreshes. The wine 
exhilarates and the milk of the gospel nourishes the needy sinner. So it is complete in its orientation. God deals with every need that 
a sinner has. And then the prophet moves on, 
after giving this invitation, to ask the question. Notice in 
verse 2, Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your 
wages for what does not satisfy? There is a sinful inclination 
in man. It's an unfortunate question. 
I'm sure that you've all thought about this as you look at unconverted 
people. You wonder why. Why don't you 
believe the gospel? Why don't you come to the Lord? 
Why don't you go to that one who grants life and grants it 
abundantly? Why are you chasing shadows? 
Why are you chasing after garbage cans? Why are you chasing after 
drugs or sex or rock and roll or whatever it is that you think 
satisfies? This is what the prophet is saying. 
Why do you spend money for what is not bread? And why do you 
spend your wages for what does not satisfy? John Calvin said 
men are so enchanted by the devil that they choose rather to wander 
through deserts and to vex themselves in vain than to rely on the grace 
which God offers to them. C.S. Lewis said sinners are like 
people that want to play with mud pies in a gutter than enjoy 
a holiday at the seaside. Why is what the prophet is saying? If you're here tonight, why are 
you not coming to the Lord Jesus? Why are you pursuing those things 
which cannot satisfy? Why are you looking to soulish 
comfort in things that cannot deliver? This is what the prophet 
is saying. This is what our generation needs 
to hear. We live in an affluent society. 
We live in a place where people spend more money on cars than 
people in the third world have ever and will ever see. I mean, 
we spend more money at Tim Hortons as a people in a given month 
than many people will ever make in the entirety of their lives. And in a fluent society where 
people are not hurting physically, we need to ask the question of 
them, why do you spend your money for what is not bread? Why do 
you pour out your wages for that which does not satisfy? Have 
you ever seen that? A man who makes a lot of money, 
a man who has a lot of resources, It doesn't automatically bring 
soul comfort. Remember that man in Luke 12. He thought he had everything. He had many goods laid up for 
many years. And then he tells himself, Saul, 
take thy knees. But God said, you fool, tonight 
your soul is required of you. This is a great passage to take 
an affluent society to, and to ask the question, is all what 
you're living for able to provide that satisfaction that the Bible 
says is to be found in God alone? That's the prophet's question. Notice the incredulity in his 
voice. And your wages for what does 
not satisfy. It is folly to pursue idolatry. It is folly to turn away from 
the Lord God. Notice how he goes on in verse 
2. Listen carefully to me. Don't make the mistake that so 
many have made. Don't reject so great a salvation. Later on, he's going to say, 
call upon the Lord while he is near. What's the implication? There's a day coming when he 
won't be near. There's a day coming when he's 
going to withdraw. There's a day coming when you 
may die in your sin. You don't have forever. You're 
not eight foot tall and bulletproof. You can get into a car wreck. 
You can drop dead. There are innumerable ways, as 
Edward said, of wicked men going out of this world. He says, listen 
carefully to me and eat what is good. Let your soul delight 
itself in abundance. Don't reject these things. I 
know some of you have heard this message several times in your 
lives. I know you've heard it many, 
many times, both in this pulpit and probably at home, in your 
living rooms. Your fathers, your mothers have 
urged you to listen carefully to me. Listen carefully and seek 
the Lord. Call upon Him while He is near. 
Don't reject this. Don't despise this. Don't forsake 
this. Whatever it is that you are pursuing 
that is not Jesus Christ cannot satisfy you. It cannot bring 
peace. It cannot bring hope. It cannot 
bring joy. It's no surprise that the chapter 
ends with the people of God rejoicing, and the people of God knowing 
peace, and the people of God knowing hope. They have responded 
by God's grace to this blessed invitation. They have tasted 
and they have seen that the Lord is good. And notice the specific 
blessings highlighted in this invitation. The satisfying food. Again, verses 1 and 2. Water. 
wine, milk, everything that a sinner needs in order to have abundance 
and satisfaction. The delight of the soul. Look 
at verse 2 at the end. And let your soul delight itself 
in abundance. Don't you hear Jesus in this 
statement? I came that they might have life 
and that they might have it more abundantly. He doesn't come just 
to miserly apportion out some of the grace of God so that you 
can respond in kind and contribute your lot. No, He comes with abundance. He comes with everything that 
a sinner desperately needs. He speaks of fellowship with 
God. Verse 3, Incline your ear and 
come to me. In Revelation 1, where is Jesus 
to be found? In the midst of the lampstand. 
I hope that's your view of corporate worship. I hope that's how you 
understand this particular place. At times it may be dry. At times 
it may be difficult. At times our minds might be wandering. 
But the New Covenant worshipper finds Christ corporately in the 
gathered church. That's what is so blessed about 
this activity. We're not here simply to encourage 
one another. We're not here simply to get 
our batteries recharged. We are here to meet with the 
triune God. There is no greater privilege 
that a sinner can have than to meet with his God. He says the 
blessing of spiritual life, verse 3b, here and your soul shall 
live. What's the implication? Until 
you hear, until you come, your soul is dead. Paul says this 
in Ephesians 2, he says, and you being dead in your trespasses 
and sins. So we need to understand that. 
That's our spiritual condition. That's our plight. That's our 
lot. That's our position before regeneration. We are dead in our trespasses 
and sins. But by God's grace, when we come 
to Him, He makes us alive together with Christ. According to Paul 
in Ephesians, we are seated with Christ at the right hand of God, 
Most High. And then notice the fifth blessing 
he highlights is this everlasting covenant. Chapter 3, I'm sorry, 
chapter 55, verse 3. And I will make an everlasting 
covenant with you. You see this running through 
this section. This persistent covenant. God's not going to let you go. 
Psalm 80 is based on God's covenantal mercies, God's dealings with 
his people. in and through the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Go back for just a moment to 
see this persistent covenant in Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 at verse 
6. It's the first servant song. Isaiah 42, verse 6. I, the Lord, 
have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will 
keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to 
the Gentiles. speaking here to the servant 
of the Lord, even Jesus Christ. Again, in Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49, 
verse 8. In an acceptable time I have 
heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. 
I will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people 
to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate 
heritages. And then over in Isaiah 54, we 
saw it last week in our Sunday evening message. Isaiah 54, verse 
10, For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but 
my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant 
of peace be removed, says the Lord who has mercy on you. This 
persistent covenant is the backbone of God's redemptive plan to save 
His people in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. This everlasting, 
or new covenant, confirms the promise made to Abraham. Notice 
in verse 5 of Isaiah 55, Surely you shall call a nation you do 
not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you. So based on the finished work 
of the Lord Jesus, that promise made to Abraham that the nations 
of the earth would be Christ's, and so it is. That is an invitation 
to participate. And before we move on, I want 
you to consider that. I want you to ask yourself the 
question, have I come? Notice that in the space of three 
verses, the prophet says, come. Come. Come. Come. What's the point? I hope you 
say, to come. Right? He says it three times 
in verse 1. Come! Come! Come! He says it once again in verse 
3. Come! Based on what the servant 
of the Lord has accomplished, based on the blessed prospect 
for the church in the future, Based on that reality, sinner, 
you need to come. You need to taste and see that 
the Lord is good. You need to come to the one alone 
who is able to give you life. So ask yourself before we proceed 
in Isaiah 55, have I come? Am I alive? Do I know what abundance 
is? Have I tasted the refreshment 
of the gospel? Have I been exhilarated by the 
gospel? Do you feel a certain sense of 
exhilaration as you're singing these hymns of praise unto God? Do you sense the nourishment 
of God's Word? Can you echo what Jesus said 
and what was told to Israel in the wilderness? That man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from 
the mouth of God. If you don't read your Bible 
for a day or a few days, are you feeling it? Do you want that? Do you want that nourishment 
and that satisfaction that God's Word provides? Have you come 
to the Savior? Have you come to the Lord Jesus? 
Do you know what gospel blessing truly is? Can you say, He is 
mine and I am His? Can you rejoice in the forgiveness 
of sins? Can you rejoice in the imputation 
of righteousness? Do you have that blessed hope 
that one day you'll stand before God Most High clothed in a righteousness 
not your own? You won't have filthy rags. You 
won't have filthy garments. but you'll have something that 
avails with God because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. 
Have you come to this Savior? Notice, He instructs, or He gives 
us instruction to assist us. Notice in verses 6 to 7. You 
might hear those four words, come, come, come, come. You say, 
well, how? How do I come? What does that 
mean? Do I go to church? Do I give? 
Do I participate? Do I go to the youth night? Do I lead the youth night? Do 
I go to the confession class? Do I go on Wednesday night? I 
want to come to the Lord. How do I come to the Lord? Faith. Faith. That's the grand instrument. That's what God uses to bring 
us into living contact with the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek the Lord, 
He says in verse 6, while He may be found. Call upon Him while 
He is near. in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Bible everywhere 
sets forth. We call it justification by faith 
alone. It means to hear the gospel and 
to believe the gospel. That's how you seek. That's how 
you call. It is by faith in the risen Savior, 
the one who was delivered up because of our offenses and who 
was raised up because of our justification. You need to believe. You need to believe the gospel. 
It's not by words. It's not by your righteousness, 
because you have none. You need to cast your soul upon 
another. You need to cast yourself upon 
the Lord Jesus. You need to look to His doing 
and His dying and His rising. It's all about Christ. Faith 
causes a man to look outside of himself to the Lord of glory. That is God's design. It is to 
seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He 
is near. Again, don't leave that verse 
quickly without reflecting on the fact. He's near now. He's 
near in gospel preaching. He's near while you're breathing. 
He's near while you're enjoying this current life. There's a 
time coming that He won't be near. There's a time coming that 
He will withdraw. There is a time coming, the final 
judgment, when it will be too late. You need to believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't tarry. Don't wait. I love 
393. What's it say? Venture on Him. 
Venture holy. Isn't that beautiful? Venture 
on Him. Venture holy. Throw yourself 
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He says faith, but notice as 
well, repentance, verse 7. Let the wicked forsake his way 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts. You need to repent. The ways 
of man are wicked. The thoughts of man are wicked. We are dead in our trespasses 
and sins. Faith in the Lord, calling upon 
the Lord, looking unto the Lord necessarily involves leaving 
sin behind. You walk down that aisle to get 
married to your new bride, you don't bring a harlot on your 
arm. What do you think your bride would say? What do you think 
the pastor would say? Hopefully the pastor would say, 
leave her outside. Actually, he'd probably say, 
we need to call this off. You're obviously not ready for 
this transaction. You want to bring that girl along 
to your wedding day? You don't know what repentance 
is. You don't know what to forsake your way is. You don't know how 
wicked your thoughts are. You don't bring your girlfriend 
to the altar when you marry your bride. You leave her. That's 
what repentance is. It's leaving sin. It's first 
and foremost a change of mind. You see, very often we look at 
the fruits of repentance as repentance. Repentance is first in the head. 
It is to change one's mind. And then the Bible envisages 
that when we change our mind about something, then the fruit 
will come. You change your mind about that 
girlfriend, and you leave her at the door. You change your 
mind about that sin, and then there are fruits. Faith and repentance, 
two sides of one coin. It is believing repentance. It 
is repentant faith. These two things go hand in hand. And by God's grace, and grace 
alone, Sinners can engage in these things. So the necessity 
of repentance. And then notice at the end of 
verse seven, in case we've forgotten how gracious and how glorious 
and how good God's invitation is. Notice at the end of verse 
seven, after highlighting the place of repentance, it says, 
let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and 
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. It's not good news. Abundant 
sinners need abundant pardon. Right? When you're weighed down 
with sin, you don't need a miserly God. You need a God with abundant 
grace, a God with abundant mercy. That's what He's saying here. 
He's saying, let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man 
his thoughts. Everything about you is sinful. 
Everything about you is tainted. Everything about you is diseased 
and broken and bruised by the fall. But come to our God because 
He abundantly pardons. It's beautiful. You bring your 
sin. See, this is the devil's logic 
out there. I've got to clean up my act before 
I come to Jesus. That's the devil's logic. Go 
clean up your act and then come to Jesus. You know what you're 
going to ever think? Is that it was your act of cleaning 
up that secured your favor with God. That's not the case. The Bible says, bring your sin, 
bring your wickedness, bring your vileness. Jesus gives you 
forgiveness. Jesus puts in you repentance 
so that you will leave that garbage. God abundantly pardons. Notice the logic of the Gospel. Great sin brings great pardon. Do you ever meet somebody who 
says, oh, I'm too sinful for that Christianity? You tell him 
you're so sinful that Christianity alone is what you need. I love 
Psalm 25, verse 11. The psalmist says, For your name's 
sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Isn't that beautiful? Pardon my iniquity, Lord. Why? Because I've cleaned up my act? 
Because I've resolved not to do it again? Pardon my iniquity, 
O Lord. Why? For it is great. If you 
don't pardon it, I will die in it. There is one to whom I can 
flee, and it is the Lord God Most High. So that is instruction 
to assist the sinner. And then thirdly and finally, 
notice this information set to amaze us, verses 8 and 9, the 
ways of God. For my thoughts are not your 
thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the 
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your 
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Unfortunately, these 
verses are oftentimes taken right out of the context and set forth 
to teach that we can't understand God. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. 
We can't understand anything about God. That's not the point. It's a gospel invitation. It's 
a call to come. What has He just said? The wicked 
has to get rid of His thoughts. has to get rid of his ways. Why? Because God's thoughts and God's 
ways are different. And in order to be in God's camp, 
you need to forsake that sin, and you need to think His thoughts, 
and you need to engage in His ways. You need to leave all that 
muck and garbage behind by His grace, so that you will walk 
as He has called you to do. This is not a promise or a statement 
concerning the unknowability of God. It is rather a contrast 
between the thinking process and the doing process of unregenerate, 
wicked men with God Himself. We need to forsake these things. 
We need to come to God. We need to be taught by God. 
We need to be instructed by God. We need to learn God's thoughts. 
I believe it was Augustine that first sat or first coined the 
phrase, We need to think God's thoughts after Him. And we do 
that by God's grace through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 2 says, 
for the Christian, we have the mind of Christ. It's a blessed, 
blessed statement. The sinner is to renounce his 
ways and thoughts and partake of God's ways and thoughts. And 
we ought to know and observe the kindness of the Lord. The 
kindness of the Lord, He enables us to do this. It's His power 
and His grace. And I think that's what the prophet 
wants us to appreciate now in verses 10 and 11. Verses 10 and 
11. For as the rain comes down and 
the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the 
earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed 
to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that 
goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, 
but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper 
in the thing for which I sent it." Isn't that great? Success 
with reference to gospel preaching depends not upon man, depends 
not upon the sinner, depends not upon your free will, but 
on the power of the sovereign God and upon His word. He accomplishes 
the salvation of His people by the preaching of His Word through 
the power of His Spirit as the glory of His Son is set forth 
in His Gospel. The necessity of the gospel is 
everywhere held up in the scripture. We must believe on Jesus as the 
Bible sets him forth. We must understand those great 
redemptive events associated with the life and the death and 
the resurrection of Jesus. We need to understand that he 
died for our sins, that he was buried and that he rose again. 
that He was brought up from the dead in order to secure the salvation 
of His people. We trust not in the free will 
of man, we trust not in the power of man, but we trust in the preaching 
of God's Word attended by God's Spirit. And we have that blessed 
statement of verse 11, So shall my Word be that goes forth from 
my mouth. It shall not return to me void, 
it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing 
for which I sent it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1.21, 
For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did 
not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the 
message preached to save those who believed. Romans 10.17, Faith 
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Ephesians 
1 verse 13 necessitates belief in the gospel. James 1.18, of 
His will, He brought us forth, by what? By the word of truth, 
that we might become the firstfruits among His creatures. And 1 Peter 
chapter 1 verses 22 and 23 highlight the necessity of belief in the 
gospel. That is God's power. That is God's display. That is God's doing when sinners 
respond favorably to this blessed invitation of Isaiah 55. And 
it ends on that high note of joy and of praise and of peace. Verses 12 and 13, For you shall 
go out with joy and be led out with peace. The mountains and 
the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the 
trees of the field shall clap their hands." Isn't that a beautiful 
picture? This is what happens when sinners repent, when they 
come to the Lord Jesus. You go out with joy. You're let 
out with peace. The mountains, the hills, they 
break forth into singing. The trees of the field clap their 
hands. Instead of the thorns shall come 
up the cypress tree. What's he saying here? That as 
believers, as those who have come, those who have sought the 
Lord, those who now think His thoughts, those who now engage 
in His ways, you're fruitful. You produce. You bear. You do good works. Not because 
God demands it for your salvation. but because God calls you to 
as an expression of your salvation so that you can serve your fellow 
man. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and 
instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall 
be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall 
not be cut off. Lots of gospel, lots of promises 
associated with the gospel of Jesus Christ here in Isaiah 55. There is a four-fold hum. Come, come, come, come. Take 
that away if you take nothing else tonight. What did you hear 
tonight at church? I heard I need to come to Jesus. 
Then you've heard well. That's what you need to get. 
There's several reasons based in the text on why we ought to 
come. Four of them are God's grace, God's mercy, God's power, 
God's blessing. Reasons to come. The agent of 
salvation. Verses 3 to 5 is the linchpin 
in this invitation. Verses 3 to 5 is the linchpin 
in this invitation. Notice in verse 3, incline your 
ear and come to me. Hear and your soul shall live. Do you see that? Justification 
by faith alone. It's not by you listen and do. It's by faith. It's by listening. 
It's by hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing 
by the Word of God. Now notice, Verse 3, And I will 
make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of 
David. Indeed, I have given him as a 
witness to the people. Who is he speaking about here? 
This is Jesus. Acts 13, the Apostle Paul is 
preaching in a synagogue in Pisidian, Antioch, and in Acts 13.34, he 
says of Christ, And God raised him from the dead, no more to 
return to corruption. He has spoken thus, I will give 
you the sure mercies of David. The linchpin in this gospel invitation 
is the one whom the gospel focuses upon, the Lord Jesus Christ. I will make an everlasting covenant 
with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given him, 
this is Christ, as a witness to the people. Christ is our 
prophet. He speaks the truth in the name 
of the Lord God, Most High. Christ is a king, a leader and 
commander for the people. And we know from Isaiah 53 that 
Christ is a priest. He offers up Himself for sins. And it is Christ as the agent 
of salvation who carries out the promise made to Abraham. 
Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations 
who do not know you shall run to you. It's not a blessed image 
to the preaching of the Gospel. Nations are running. They're 
being taught of God. They're coming to Zion to learn 
the law of the Lord. because of the Lord your God 
and the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you." Verses 
3 to 5 center in upon the agent of salvation, who is Jesus Christ 
the Lord. So, hope. Everyone who thirsts, 
come to the waters. You who have no money, come buy 
and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk, 
without money and without price. Verse three, incline your ear 
and come to me. Here in your soul shall live. Jesus sounds, or Jesus must have 
this in the backdrop when he says in Matthew 11, verses 25 
to 30, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for 
you did hide these things from the wise and prudent, but you 
revealed them unto days. He says based on that declaration 
of God's absolute sovereignty, come, come, come, come to me. all you who are weary and heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." The very one whom Isaiah prophesies 
concerning, the very one whom the prophet calls sinners to 
repentance and faith in, is the one who tells sinners in Matthew 
11, come to me and I will give you rest. Praise God for the 
Lord. Praise God for Jesus. Praise 
God for the gospel. And if you have not come, please 
take this message home, consider it and think and come to the 
Lord while he may be found. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for this passage of Holy Scripture. We thank you 
for the unity in these chapters, these several expressions of 
the servant of the Lord and the great work that he would do in 
his ministry. How we thank you, Father, that we have the entirety 
of the Word of God, how we see the promise and we see the fulfillment. 
And Father, how we thank you that you've opened our eyes, 
that you've given us new hearts, that you've given us faith and 
repentance, those graces, God, that are not inherent in man. How we praise you that you have 
not dealt with us according to our sin, but you have granted 
us the ability, by your grace and for your glory, to come to 
the Lord Jesus. We pray for others. We pray that 
a multitude would turn unto Him and be saved. We ask now that 
you would go with us again, watch over the various people who have 
need. We thank you for Ray Bolt and 
the fact that he's at home now. We pray, Father, for Stormy, 
that whatever is troubling her ears, they would be able to determine 
this. God, we pray for Ray and the girls. We pray for the Neufeld 
family. Just ask God in heaven that you 
would watch over the saints of Christ in this local body, that 
you would cause your face to shine upon us, that you would 
grant us peace and joy and happiness in the things of the Lord. And 
we ask in his most blessed name. Amen.