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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 55. A passage 
we have looked at before, a passage that ought to be looked at frequently. 
Essentially what you have in this section. In Isaiah 52, redemption 
and deliverance are promised. In Isaiah 53, redemption is secured 
by the atoning death of the servant of the Lord. In chapter 54, there 
are four promises made to the church. grounded in that finished 
work of Christ. And chapter 55, redemption is 
offered to sinners, and we ought to remember and rehearse the 
blessing of God in our salvation so that we do not forget the 
various things that the Lord has conveyed to us. So let's 
begin 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 let 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 shall not be cut off. Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father, thank you for the 
written word, and thank you that all scripture is given by inspiration 
of God, and that all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for 
correction, for reproof, and for instruction in righteousness. 
And tonight, Father, as we ponder this passage in the prophet Isaiah, 
she would help us to see Christ, help us to delight in Christ, 
help us to see the great blessings associated with that gospel of 
Jesus Christ. And may we stand in awe that 
you, a holy God, would redeem guilty sinners like us, that 
you would call us to this table tonight, that you would call 
us to rehearse the fact that your Son lived and that He died 
and that He was raised the third day, and that you have ordained 
this for the good and the benefit of your people in the church 
of Jesus Christ. God, we do love you, and we do 
praise you, and we thank you. And we would ask again for the 
forgiveness of sins and for the power of the Holy Spirit to be 
at work in our hearts. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, we want to look first at 
this invitation to come in verses 1 to 5, and then secondly, if 
we have time, the call to believe and repent in verses 6 to 13. 
But there are several things going on in verses 1 to 5. In the first place, we have an 
invitation. In the second place, there is 
an interrogation. Thirdly, there are blessings 
listed and indicated. And fourthly, there is a guarantee 
provided for the blessings promised by God. to those who come. But 
note this invitation proper found in 55 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. Notice the threefold emphasis, 
the threefold repetition on the verb come. He is not telling 
sinners to stay away. He is not telling sinners to 
keep their distance. He is not demanding that no sinner 
ever comes to him, but rather, three times, God the Lord, through 
his prophet, calls upon sinners to come. Again, we need to remember 
the context. Isaiah 53 is a record of the 
atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ, that great servant of 
Yahweh that would lay down his life for the sheep. Based on 
that reality, God now offers that salvation to sinners. And 
the intensity of the invitation is seen in the thrice-repeated 
come, Alan Harmon points out. Note that it's a universal invitation. He says, ho, everyone who thirsts. E.J. Young, in his wonderful 
commentary on the book of Isaiah, he says the introductory particle, 
this word ho, is 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. So it's a universal invitation 
to everyone who thirsts. but as well, as he points out, 
it is tinged with pity. In other words, everyone should 
come because you're sinners, you stand in need of redemption, 
and the means by which redemption is achieved has been achieved 
by the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. So, based on that reality, 
come unto the one who has given his son for sinners. And as those 
who have been by God's grace conquered, those who have been 
constrained by God's grace to come, we ought to praise the 
Lord for his having brought us nigh, having brought us out of 
darkness into marvelous light. Notice as well that it's a gracious 
invitation. The invitation is addressed to 
those who are spiritually bankrupt. Notice the language. Oh, everyone 
who thirsts, come to the waters. And then it says, and you who 
have no money, come buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without 
money and without price. Every sinner ultimately is spiritually 
bankrupt. We have nothing with which to 
please God. There is no money that we can 
provide that would secure favor with God. There is nothing we 
can offer Him. We cannot barter with Him. We 
cannot trade with Him in order for Him to save us from our sin. Everything mentioned here, everything 
indicated here is ultimately provided by Him to us. He constrains the one that has 
no money to come. He constrains the one who has 
no money in price to come. And another commentator, Alec 
Motier, makes this observation. Because the language is conspicuous, 
there is this buying, there is this transaction. And yet, the 
persons buying have no money. The persons transacting are destitute. The persons coming are bankrupt. Listen to what he says. Alongside 
the emphasis on freeness, the verb buy is repeated. The thought of purchase is not 
set aside. In other words, there is a purchase 
price. There has been a transaction. 
There has been something in exchange. It was satisfied by the suffering 
servant of Isaiah 53, so that we, based on that, can now come. Those of us without money can 
make good on this transaction by God's grace because of what 
the servant has accomplished. He says, the thought of purchase 
is not set aside. This is no soup kitchen. Even 
if the clients are beggars, there is a purchase and a price, though 
not theirs to pay. They bring their poverty to a 
transaction already completed. Contextually, this is another 
allusion to the work of the servant. His the price, ours the freeness. Now, you may not fully appreciate 
that when you're kind of tired at 520 on a Sunday night. Email 
me and I'll send that quote to you. It should buck you up during 
the week, because that is a great and a blessed reality. The thought 
is not God has suspended the purchase price. The thought is, 
the servant of the Lord has satisfied the purchase price. Because of 
what he's accomplished, based on what we read in the prophet 
Isaiah 53, it is this, or it is now the case, that the bankrupt, 
the poor, the destitute, the needy can come to the Father 
through the Son. And then notice in terms of this 
invitation, it is complete. Look at how the prophet describes 
what is offered in the gospel. This is sort of a metaphorical 
way to explain what Paul says in Ephesians 1. Paul says, blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed 
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. 
God has given us every spiritual blessing. For those who are theologically 
minded, you can ponder that and start to tease that out and start 
to realize that, hey, those spiritual blessings certainly include justification 
by faith. That's something secured for 
us by our Redeemer King. They can start to ponder, after 
justification comes sanctification, another spiritual blessing secured 
for us by our gracious God. And then glorification, that 
reality that when we breathe our last, we will enter into 
Emmanuel's land. Those are the spiritual blessings 
that Paul is highlighting there in Ephesians chapter 1. Well, 
the prophet does something similar, though metaphorical, in Isaiah 
55 at verse 1. Notice, "'Ho, everyone who thirsts, 
come to the waters.'" Now, the waters speak to the refreshment 
of the gospel. the refreshment of the gospel. 
You see this in John chapter 7, that last great day of the 
feast. What does Jesus say? He cries 
out, if any man thirsts, let him come to me. Refreshment comes 
in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Can we not affirm that, 
brothers and sisters? Is that not something that is 
a spiritual blessing? The refreshment of knowing that 
our sins are forgiven. The refreshment of knowing that 
we're heaven-bound. The refreshment that we know 
that our account is settled by the redemption of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. But it's not just waters. Notice, 
and you who have no money, come buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine. It's an interesting thing. Wine. 
Well, in Psalm 104, at verse 15, we learn that God made wine. And God made wine to gladden 
the heart of man. Now, man takes that good gift 
from God, and he abuses it, and he misuses it, and he gets hammered. 
But Psalm 104, verse 15, tells us that the purpose of God in 
giving wine to man is to gladden their hearts. It's not to create 
Skid Row. It's not to create, you know, 
AA. It's not to create a bunch of people that would rather worship 
at the altar of vodka and beer than God the Lord. God gave this 
good gift. It's man who twists it. It's 
man who abuses it. But the idea is that it gladdens 
the heart. And brethren, a brief reflection 
on the gospel ought to remind you how it gladdens the heart, 
doesn't it? Not only refresh you in thoughts 
of, I'm okay with God, or I'm accepted in the beloved, but 
it's also a great gladdening agent. We can rejoice as we sing 
these particular hymns, as we sing these particular songs, 
as we rehearse Psalm 130, as we read at the outset of worship. 
If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could 
stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be 
feared. Now, David could have written that as a dirge. David 
could have written that as one who had a gun to his head. But 
I suspect David wrote that as a man rejoicing in the reality 
of what he just wrote. But in you, there is, or with 
you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared. It gladdens 
the heart. It makes men rejoice. It causes 
them to leave their beds of sleep, to enter into the house of God, 
to take their hymnals or their psalters, and to open it up, 
and to sing with thanksgiving and praise, because the gospel 
gladdens the heart. But notice, it doesn't stop there. The gospel answers to every need 
that man has. The waters refresh, the wine 
gladdens, and the milk nourishes. You see that in 1 Peter 2. The milk of the Word. It's a 
nourishing agent. It's not only the means or the 
vehicle by which we come into saving contact with God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord, but it's that which nourishes us on a 
daily basis. It's that which sustains us. 
And as this chapter in the prophet continues, he likens the Word 
of God to the rain or to the snow that comes down from the 
heavens. The rain and the snow that come down from the heavens, 
they don't return to the heavens. They accomplished the purpose 
for which the rain and the snow comes upon the earth. And the 
rain and the snow comes upon the earth to do what? To water 
the vegetation, to increase the life and to increase the vitality 
of the earth. That's what he likens God's Word 
to. Those who would ever neglect 
the Word of God are those who are neglecting that agent which 
is most calculated to nourish their hearts in the walk of faith. And the prophet says that all 
these things are answered in the gospel. It is the water that 
refreshes, it is the wine that gladdens, it is the milk that 
nourishes, and he tells sinners to come. Now, note the interrogation 
on the heels of that in verse 2a. Why do you spend money for 
what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? It's 
a good question, isn't it? This threefold emphasis on come, 
this great description of what you get when you come, the water, 
the wine, the milk, and those who would not come, this interrogation 
is most appropriate, most fitting. Why do you spend money for what 
is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? John Calvin said that 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. I think he is absolutely 100% 
correct. So I think I'll read it again. 
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. Why do you spend money for what 
is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Why 
do you continue to wander through deserts? Why do you continue 
to resist the gracious invitation of God Most High? Why do you 
continue to stiff-arm that glorious overture of the gospel? Why do 
you spend money on that which does not satisfy? Why do you 
glut yourself in sacks of drugs or rock and roll? Why do you 
glut yourself in prestige, or in work, or in whatever position 
at your company? Why do you glut yourself in that 
which does not satisfy? You see, it's maddening. It's 
madness, rather. It is something that is so futile 
when you look upon a people that are resisting and rejecting the 
glorious God of heaven and earth, and they were choosing, rather, 
to engage in vanity of entities. I mentioned in connection with 
this sermon, I spoke not so greatly of C.S. Lewis this morning. We'll 
give him a little bit of a better shout-out tonight. C.S. Lewis 
said that sinners are like persons who are offered a vacation by 
the seaside, but they'd rather make mud pies in the gutter. 
They are offered something so wonderful, so glorious, and so 
gracious, and they say, no, I don't want that. I would rather put 
together mud pies in my gutter than go and enjoy a seaside holiday. Now, some of the kids might be 
saying, the mud pies by the gutter sounds pretty fun to me. But 
you get C.S. Lewis's point, right? Why do 
you spend your money? Why do you waste your life? Why 
do you pour yourself into that which is never calculated to 
satisfy? When God the Lord has offered 
you the refreshing waters of the gospel, when God the Lord 
has offered you the gladdening wine of the gospel, when God 
the Lord has offered you the nourishing milk of the gospel, 
why do you resist that? Why do you reject that? Why do 
you forsake that? And why? Do you pursue that which 
does not satisfy? The incredulity of the prophet, 
why do you spend your money and effort on that which does not 
satisfy? Now note, in the third place, 
under the broader concern, verses 1 to 5, of the invitation to 
come, note the blessings that are promised here. The blessings 
that are promised. They've already been encapsulated 
in verse 1. The whole idea of refreshment, 
gladness, and nourishment. But he doesn't stop there. Notice 
in 2B. Listen carefully to me and eat 
what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. You see, there is soul delight. And it's not just a little bit 
of soul delight, but it's delight in abundance. Gotta see something 
in this chapter. God never does anything half-heartedly. 
This is why Christian service that is rendered half-heartedly 
is such an affront. It is just such an affront. God 
doesn't act half-heartedly toward us. God, in the prophet Jeremiah 
32, when he's looking forward to new covenant blessings and 
things that he is going to do, he says that he will plant them 
in the land with all his heart and with all his soul. Isaiah 
the prophet, 9, 6, and 7. You're going to hear a lot of 
those verses in the next month or so. But Isaiah 9 is the promise 
concerning the coming king, and 9.6 is the king, and 9.7 is the 
kingdom. And it's underscored, that blessed 
statement concerning the coming of the Messiah, in terms of who 
He is, verse 6, and in terms of the kingdom that He establishes, 
in verse 7. It's underscored at the end of 
verse 7 this way, the zeal of Yahweh of hosts shall perform 
this. Notice, in this particular section, 
we find that God lets us delight ourselves in abundance. Look 
at the next page. At least in my Bible, it's the 
next page. But if you look at verse 7, "...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 notice, he will abundantly 
pardon." God does things in abundance when it comes to saving His people 
from their sins. God does things whole soul-ish 
and whole heart-ish. As I said, it's an affront when 
we offer up such weakness to our God. But we are to let our 
soul delight in abundance. This is connected with what Jesus 
says in John chapter 10. The good shepherd comes that 
they might have life, and that they might have it what? that 
they might have it abundantly. And the abundant life that Jesus 
is talking about there isn't the abundant life of big houses 
and wives with big hair and big cars and big summer homes. The 
abundance is the refreshing waters of the gospel, the gladdening 
wine of the gospel, the nourishing milk of the gospel. That's the 
abundance that satisfies the heart of man. You can't get that 
elsewhere. There is one place for that type 
of abundant satisfaction, and it is with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Notice, we have as well fellowship 
with God. Verse 3a, incline your ear and 
come to me. You see, ultimately, that's what 
makes eternal life eternal life, isn't it? Is that we're with 
God. See, brethren, the blessings of the gospel, justification, 
sanctification, glorification, the blessings of the gospel, 
the water, the wine, the milk, those things associated with 
illustrating how great and glorious and wonderful it is to come out 
of darkness into marvelous light, the net effect of the end game 
is that we are with God. He is our possession. He is our 
strength. He is our prize. He is everything 
that any sinner could ever want. And that's what the prophet says. 
And then it's obviously spiritual life. The end of verse 3a, here 
in your soul shall live. In other words, what Isaiah is 
doing is highlighting the words of this life that the angel instructed 
the apostles to preach in Acts chapter 5. And then before leaving 
this section, note the guarantee. The guarantee is provided for 
us in verses 3b to 5. Let's just pretend for a moment 
you had never heard any of this. I don't think that's true of 
anybody here. In fact, you may have heard this 
very sermon back in 2016. But imagine somebody actually 
hears this for the first time. It really sounds too good to 
be true. And you're probably like me. 
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Not the case that people just 
offer you two weeks on a yacht. That just doesn't happen. There's 
always something attached. There's always a penalty or a 
presentation, which is a penalty. There's always some catch. You 
get a call from a radio station. We want to give you a million 
dollars. No, you don't. Nobody wants to give me a million dollars. 
I'm sure of that. 52 years in this world has taught 
me no one wants to give me. There's always a catch. So somebody 
might hear this, and they might hear of this refreshing water 
and this gladdening wine and this nourishing milk, and they 
might say, wait a minute, this sounds too good to be true. How 
can God the Lord afford to convey these gifts and blessings and 
privileges upon needy sinners? Well, that's what 3b-5 answers. 
First, this promise is pledged by covenant, 3B. Notice, and I will make an everlasting 
covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. This is the new covenant. This is the covenant of grace. 
This is the blessed transaction wherein God has purposed to save 
a great multitude that no man can number. This is what Christ 
accomplishes. This is what He inaugurates on 
the night of His suffering. This is what comes into fulfillment 
and realization in the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
God can provide the blessings listed because He's a covenant-keeping 
God. Notice, secondly, the promise 
is secured by the Davidic king. This is another reference to 
our Lord Jesus. Notice verse 4. Indeed, I have 
given him, David, as a witness to the people, a leader and commander 
for the people. This is a reference to Christ. 
The prophets, when they speak concerning the new covenant, 
oftentimes identify David as the king in those latter days. What we know from scripture, 
David was given the promise that from his line, one of his sons 
would rise up and would be that king of kings, that lord of lords 
that would rule over an everlasting kingdom. Well, that's Jesus. 
So the promise offered by God in verses 1 to 3a are secured 
by the covenant-keeping God, secured by the Davidic king. 
And then notice, the fact is, is that God himself fulfills 
the promise. Verse 5, "'Surely you shall call 
a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall 
run to you.'" It's already spoken of in Isaiah 2 too, when the 
nations of the earth will stream to Zion to be taught the law 
of Yahweh. Well, why do they do that? Notice, 
because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, for 
He has glorified you. In other words, all of this is 
not too good to be true. It's so wonderful, it's so awesome, 
it's so glorious, but it's secured by the covenant-keeping God. 
It's secured as a result of the Davidic king who would live and 
die and rise again, and it's secured by the power and provision 
of God Himself. Well, let's look quickly at the 
last section there. I don't want to leave anything 
undone. Notice the call to believe and repent in verses 6 to 13. 
Verse 6 and 7, when it says, Seek the Lord while he may be 
found. Call upon him while he is near. That's faith. Remember, 
we're justified not because of our works. We're justified not 
because of our good deeds. We're justified not because we 
perform well. We don't hear sermons and then 
go home and, you know, correct our lives. No, that's not the 
way it works. Moral reform is a good thing, 
but moral reform will never end one in heaven. Moral reform is 
just another vain attempt on the part of man to try to achieve 
God in his own strength and by his own words. No, we are saved 
freely by his grace, justified by faith, and that's what verse 
6 emphasizes. Seek Yahweh while he may be found, 
Call upon him while he is near. The next verse speaks to repentance. 
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. Spurgeon said, oh, there 
be men that quite misunderstand the gospel. They think that righteousness 
qualifies them to come to Christ, whereas sin is the only qualification. for a man to come to Jesus. That's great, isn't it? Not that 
we sin, not that we continue to sin, but that is the qualification 
to get to Jesus. He goes on, and this is intriguing 
because he quotes a fellow by the name of Tobias Crisp, and 
Tobias Crisp was notoriously known as an antinomian. Yet in 
this case, what Crisp says is absolutely spot on. I've often thought when persons 
spend a lot of time listening to what Fisher would call legal 
preachers, they should read some Crisp. They should read some 
Philpott. They should just immerse themselves 
in those old brothers that spoke only of Christ and his beauty. 
If that reference is lost on you, don't be alarmed. But there 
are those that preach in a legal vein and basically lay the people 
of God very low. You've never done enough. You'll 
never do enough. Well, that stuff always needs 
to come and then have the balm of Gilead applied. You don't 
bruise and batter sinners and then leave them there. you point 
them to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. But back to Spurgeon 
here. He says, Oh, there be men that 
quite misunderstand the gospel. They think that righteousness 
qualifies them to come to Christ, whereas sin is the only qualification 
for a man to come to Jesus. Good old Crisp says, righteousness 
keeps me from Christ. The whole have no need of a physician, 
but they that are sick. Sin makes me come to Jesus when 
sin is felt. And in coming to Christ, the 
more sin I have, the more cause I have to hope for mercy. Amen, 
a hundredfold. Remember that on Wednesday night, 
we're considering the sad end of Noah. Noah, that godly man, 
that man that found grace in the eyes of Yahweh, that man 
who was perfect in his generations, that man who walked with God, 
gets out of the ark, grows a vineyard, and gets drunk. He uncovers himself 
in his tent, and then his son Ham looks upon him in a wicked 
and perverted way. Thankfully, his sons Shem and 
Japheth cover him up. But all of that, not to disgrace 
Noah, as John Gill says, but to show that the best of men 
are men at best, but as well to encourage needy sinners to 
come to God for forgiveness. And I mentioned offhandedly, 
but it was absolutely right, I think, John Gill would go to 
that sad end of Noah and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to 
a needy sinner. See, brethren, the God with whom 
we have to do is the God of Isaiah 55, 6, and 7. Seek Yahweh 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 Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him and 
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Now, at times we think 
of the pardon of sin that we enjoy. Do we ever think of the 
abundant pardon of sin that we enjoy? We are abundant sinners, 
and God has met us with abundant pardon. As John Newton was wont 
to say, I'm a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. That's 
the thrust here, brethren. Let the wicked man forsake his 
way. Faith and repentance, this is 
the means by which the grace is given by God to draw man to 
himself for salvation. And then note, the foundation 
of the promise is based on who God is, the power of God's Word, 
and then a promise concerning the future. And that's verses 
8 to 13. Quickly. Notice in verses 8 and 9. This is one of those passages 
that I think is grossly misunderstood at times. I think people take 
this verse when they can't understand something in the Bible, and they 
go to Isaiah 55, 8 and 9, and say, well, there it is. We just 
can't know anything. That's not what the prophet means here. 
If we can't know anything, then these 31,000 verses, you know, 
enclosed in the Old and New Testament are worthless. We can know a 
lot of things. We can know 31,000 propositions 
because God has given them to us in the inscripturated Word. 
The idea is not that we can't ever know anything the way, or 
we can't ever know anything because God is just so much above us. 
Now, God is so much above us, and God is the Creator, and we 
are the creature, and certainly there is a sense wherein we need 
to be spoken to as babies, but the Word of God does that, it 
provides that for us. I think this is the rationale 
for the emphasis upon repentance. In other words, you need to repent 
because you don't think the way God does. Your ways are not like 
God's. Notice. Four. That's a rationale. That's a reason. That's a justification. You need to believe on the Lord 
Jesus, and you need to repent for your sins. Why? Because my 
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says 
the Lord. In other words, when you're engaged 
in idolatry, that has nothing to do with God. When you're a 
blasphemer, a Sabbath-breaker, you're insubordinate to authority, 
or you're a murderer, or you're an adulterer, you're a liar, 
you're a thief, or you're covetous, all those things are not what 
God is about. Therefore, you must repent. You need to forsake your ways. 
You need to rethink your thoughts. You need to conform to the way 
that God has called you to think and to function. For as the heavens 
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your 
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. One commentator says, 
our ways and thoughts have been perverted by sin, and it is only 
as we turn from them to God and His mercy that we can ever have 
peace with Him and live the lives that will be truly productive. So it's not a statement that 
we can never know anything about God. It's a statement as to why 
we ought to repent, because our thoughts and our actions are 
nothing like God's. Therefore, we need to forsake 
those wicked ones and, by God's grace, start to think the proper 
thoughts. Vis-à-vis Romans 12, no longer 
be conformed to the world, but be transformed. By what? By the 
renewing of your mind. You spent all that time thinking 
contrary to God. Now that you're believers, Don't 
be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing 
of your minds. So the emphasis there is not 
on we can never know anything. The emphasis is on we need to 
repent. And then, as I mentioned earlier, 
the power of the Word of God, verses 10 to 11. He likens it 
to rain and snow. 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." That's a text that hopefully 
gets every preacher out of bed on a Sunday morning. It doesn't 
depend upon the preacher. It depends upon God and His Word. He sends it forth, and He accomplishes 
the purpose for which He sent it. It's up to God. We pray, 
we preach, we evangelize, we witness, we testify, we labor. 
But brethren, we really are those who affirm God's sovereignty. It is about Him. It doesn't depend 
upon Him who wills or upon Him who runs, but on God who shows 
mercy. Why do the nations flow to Zion? Because they have this collective 
enlightening moment? No, it's because of sovereign 
grace drawing them to Zion. Why is it that any of us miserable 
wretches ever believed, ever sought the Lord, and ever repented 
from our sins? Did we have an enlightening moment? 
Did we have some sort of a, wow, I should... No, it's God and 
His grace. These things, verses 6 and 7, 
are graces given by God, faith and repentance. That is never 
meant to discourage anybody, because in addition to the reality 
that God gives these, we need to underscore the equal reality 
that God delights to give these. that He's about this, that the 
mission of the Son of Man wasn't to come and to help men save 
themselves, but to save a great multitude that no man can number. It is the Lord God who grants 
these graces, but it is the Lord God who delights to grant these 
graces. That's why if we actually understand 
John 3, that it's not a command for a sinner to make himself 
born again, but rather it's highlighting that if a man is to be saved, 
something must happen to him from without. In other words, 
he must be born from above or born again. Some would say, well, 
if you preach it that way and you take it out of the realm 
of man's control, then there's not really a whole lot of hope 
or encouragement for man. No, it's completely hopeful and 
completely encouraging because God actually does want to make 
sinners born again. Sinners don't want to. Sinners 
don't make themselves born again. Sinners don't have the wherewithal. 
What's more discouraging? Telling a sinner, you have the 
ability, you have the power, but you'll never have the will? 
Is that hope? Is that encouragement? or telling 
them, you don't have the ability, you don't have the power, you 
don't have the will, but God Almighty does. And as the prophet 
Jonah confessed, salvation is of the Lord. You are in the best 
possible place casting yourself at His mercy and at His feet. That's what we need to appreciate. 
And then verses 12 and 13 point to the future. Notice in verse 12, 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. The joy and peace 
of God's people. We ought to be a people that 
are marked by joy and peace. We ought to take seriously those 
divine imperatives of the New Testament. Rejoice always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Now, there are sorrows. There 
are afflictions. There are trials, there are hardships, 
there are seasons where the people of God imitate their master, 
who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There 
is the darkness of depression, there are those times when we 
are destitute, and there are those times when we are hurting. 
But the general arc of the people of God ought to be joy and peace. Joy and peace. And then the reversal of the 
curse. I love the cosmic language of verse 13. 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. The 
prophets do this a lot, too. When they highlight the blessings 
of God that will come through Messiah, they speak in the language 
of the reversal of the curse. That curse was imposed by God 
upon the first Adam in Genesis chapter 3. This world would be 
filled with thistles and thorns. This world would be filled with 
heartache and hardship. But there's a time coming when 
the thorn shall come up, and 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." One man made this 
observation. He says, conquerors in the ancient 
world were accustomed to set up memorials that would preserve 
their names and tell of their conquests. They do the same thing 
today. They have their legacies, and 
they write their books, and they open up their libraries, and 
they do all that sort of thing because they want their name 
to stand through the ages. Well, conquerors in the ancient 
world were the same way. They'd set up memorials that 
would preserve their names and tell of their conquests. The 
transformed earth would be a memorial of God's victory. It's not going 
to be a tree here or a book there or a library. It's going to be 
a renewed earth. It's a new heavens and a new 
earth. It's a transformation that is the evidence of God's 
grace, power, glory, and majesty. Forever a sign of the power of 
the living God, a transformed earth, a transformed community, 
a transformed humanity. by virtue of what we find concerning 
the servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 53. Well, I just want to end 
with one particular thought for believers. First of all, we need 
to be encouraged. Isaiah 55 is a treasure trove 
of encouraging things for the people of God. It is a blessed 
and a wonderful statement of what God does for us in the Gospel. The graciousness of God in the 
Gospel. He not only calls us to come, 
He enables us to come. We see the provision of God in 
the Gospel. He gives us everything we need. 
We need that refreshment, the water is satisfied. We need that 
gladdening, the wine satisfies. We need that nourishment, the 
milk satisfies. Every spiritual blessing in the 
heavenly places in Christ. 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31, he 
has become unto us wisdom from God, that is, righteousness, 
sanctification, and redemption, that as it is written, let him 
who glories, glory in the Lord. God has conferred upon us everything 
that we need. And abundantly, even more. I 
mean, it's just beautiful. As well, the power of God in 
the gospel. The reality of verses 10 and 
11 in Isaiah 55 really ought to encourage each and every one 
of our hearts. We all have loved ones, we all have friends, we 
all have people that we hope will come to know Jesus Christ 
as Lord and Savior. We may have children or grandchildren 
or persons that are in our lives or that affect us or that we 
really care for, that we want them to come to know Jesus Christ 
as Lord and Savior. Brethren, trust in the power 
of the Word of God. Trust in the power behind that Word, namely 
God Himself. The God who sends the rain to 
cause the earth to grow is the God who sends His Word to bring 
sinners unto His Son. And it will not return unto him 
void. It always accomplishes the purpose for which he sent 
it. And remember, while there is breath, there is hope. While 
there is breath in the lungs, there is hope for sinners. And 
one final thought. If you're a sinner tonight, listen 
to the prophet. Why do you want to spend your 
money on that which does not satisfy? Why will you labor and 
pour into your efforts and do all those things that end in 
futility? God, in the gospel of His Son, 
offers a great abundance. Seek the Lord while He may be 
found. Call upon Him while He is near. That is a terrifying statement 
this way. It assumes a time when God may 
not. be near." In this New Covenant 
setting, under New Covenant preaching, we can affirm and testify that 
what the prophet is saying is good right now. Seek the Lord 
while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. But there is a day coming when 
He won't be near. There is a redemptively. He'll 
always be near, even in the punishment of sinners. But in terms of redemption, 
in terms of forgiveness, in terms of receiving sinners, call upon 
Him while He is near. Do not tarry. Do not wait. Do 
not say, well, when I'm an older man or I'm an older woman, then 
I'll make my peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You don't 
know that tomorrow's coming. Remember James, the apostle, 
little a says, you don't know what your life is. You're like 
a vapor. You're here for a time. and then you're gone. Do not 
waste time. Do not reject him who calls in 
the gospel of his son. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for the abundance that 
you give us in the gospel, and I pray that you would encourage 
our hearts now as we rehearse our our thoughts with reference 
to these things, and as we transition now into the supper, as we consider 
the death of our Lord on our behalf, God, may it just draw 
from us praise and worship and adoration. May it draw from us 
greater love for the one who laid down his life on our behalf. 
And God, for any here that are not in Christ, we pray that you'd 
open their eyes, open their hearts, cause them to reflect upon the 
prophets interrogating question here, cause them to ask themselves 
the same things. Why am I spending my life laboring 
for that which does not satisfy? May they come and may they taste 
and see that the Lord is in fact great and good and wonderful. 
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, you can turn in your 
Bibles to Matthew chapter 26.