Scripture reading this morning is Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 55. The text for the sermon is the first verse. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? 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, here and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people, Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God. And for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith 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 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. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace. 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. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. So far we read God's holy word. The text for the sermon is verse one. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, Come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the word that Isaiah spoke in this text came in an unusual circumstance for the people of God. When he spoke it, it was a time of outward peace and prosperity in the land of Judah. King Asa was a wicked king, but his son that followed him was Hezekiah. And you children remember that Hezekiah was a godly king. The nation seemed strong, especially with Hezekiah seeking the Lord. But it was not as it appeared. The people formally served God with their gifts and offerings that they brought to the temple, but their heart was not right. That was manifest in their life. They flagrantly, openly violated the law of God through the rest of the week, and their hearts were set upon the idols of the nations around them. Judgment was coming. God had warned them very forcibly through the nation of the Assyrians that came and took many of their cities, even came up to Jerusalem for a time. God did not give Judah into the hand of the Assyrians, but through Isaiah, he's warning them that judgment is coming yet through Babylon that will even take Jerusalem. Eventually that happened, and therefore chapters 40 to the end of Isaiah, which includes this text, is spoken, though it was heard by the people of Judah initially. Isaiah has in mind the captives far off in Babylon when that would occur. Lest they be carried away with the pursuit of sin and pleasure and love of money in this rich and prosperous Babylon, God calls them to the waters. Ho, it starts out. That's kind of an unusual word. in the Bible. What does that mean? Why is that there? Well, actually, the sound HO is exactly the Hebrew. It's exactly what Isaiah said when he started. And the purpose of that little interjection is to say, Are you listening? Are you paying attention? I have something extremely important that I do not want to have you miss. HO! That's the idea of that. Sometimes, more often, the Bible uses the word behold in that same sense. Well, that's the idea here. Calling attention to something that God does not want us to miss. This text applies very well to us. We live in the Babylon of this world, and we are able to worship God freely. And we come to God's house regularly to worship. We all know how easy that can be a matter of habit. And that we do not come here with a heart full of zeal, wanting to worship God and wanting to be fed by the word. So God comes to us with the text this morning as well and says, Ho! Come ye Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. The text has a deeper meaning for us even than it did for the people of Judah, because since the time this was spoken, Christ has come and he has accomplished salvation. It's all freely available to God's people. Nothing can be added to it. And today we have the privilege of partaking of the Lord's Supper. And that is a way for us to enjoy the benefits that Christ has earned for us in the cross. That's the significance of the call. Come ye to the waters, partake of the blessings that Jesus has earned for you. So we take as the theme called to the waters. We'll notice first of all the thirsty, secondly the waters, and finally the price. The call comes to the thirsty. Let's examine that idea of thirst. Thirst points to a need. And there are two parts to that need. On the one hand, if you need something, something is lacking, something is missing that is necessary. Thirst means that a man lacks sufficient water for his body. And that results in the second part, namely a craving, a desire for something. Thirst points to a strong desire, a fervent longing. Scripture does not speak of thirst as we do casually, as children can come into the school, into the home and say, I'm thirsty. But when scripture uses that word, it's far stronger than a mere desire for a sip of water or some pop. But think of it as Samson after his battle with the Philistines, and the Bible says he was sore of thirst, and his testimony is, now I die for thirst. Or think of the children of Israel wandering in the hot and dry desert day after day, no water to be found, Psalm 107 says, they hungered and thirsted, and their soul fainted within them. This is a thirst so great that one's life is threatened. Think of a man trudging through a desert, a 120 degree desert, and the heat of the desert sun scorches him, but he is without water. His thirst is such that he will die without it." That's the kind of longing, that's the kind of desire that a person has when he says, I thirst. That's the idea then, but the text speaks obviously of a spiritual thirst, not a physical thirst. It means there is a spiritual lack in this individual that is thirsty, resulting in a great desire for this, a great longing. And what is it, the thirsty desire? In a word, it is this. to be right with God, and therefore to enjoy fellowship and life with God. I thirst for thee, for thee my heart is longing. To be right with God, of course, is a necessity to enjoy God. To be right with God means sins are forgiven. We are justified in the sight of God. He declares us to be His children. It means that we are sanctified, cleansed, made holy so that we can approach unto Him. That's the tremendous importance because without righteousness there is no salvation. Only those who are righteous and holy can go to God and fellowship with him. So who is this? Ho, everyone that thirsteth. I understand that as we preach and as Isaiah spoke these words, the word goes out to everyone, and anyone and everyone can hear this word. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the water. Everyone is commanded in the preaching of the gospel to repent and believe the gospel. But now when it says, ho everyone that thirsteth, it's focusing on a particular kind of person. And that's not everyone in the world, head for head. And that's obvious, first of all, in that Isaiah spoke this word not to the nations around them, but to Judah. In the second place, it's evident from the fact that it's not necessarily true that everyone in Judah was thirsty, that Isaiah could very well go into the various cities of Judah and proclaim this word, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And not everyone would come because they were not all thirsty. The wicked, therefore, are not included in the thirsty. They have a lack. They are missing something. They have no righteousness. They have no salvation. There is no hope for them to enjoy life with God. But they do not have the craving. Remember, thirst is first of all that you lack something, but then secondly that there is that longing that's created by the lack. They do not have the craving, the desire, because they are dead. They are dead in sin. The dead need no water, and these wicked are spiritually dead. That they are dead is hard for us to remember even because they are very much alive according to the flesh. They are as alive as we are working, playing, going out into the world. Many people are very much alive physically, but spiritually they are dead. They, in their state, do not see the need for any water. They do not feel the parched, dry, spiritual throat. They are not aware of the fact that they do not have true life within them. They're satisfied with their earthly life and their cravings are all to satisfy the earthly life and the lusts of the flesh. But they reject and they even despise the water of which the prophet Isaiah speaks. Only the chosen child of God thirsts, the true seed of Israel. He thirsts. David did. As we sang from Psalm 63, my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. Or again, the psalmist in Psalm 42, as the heart, as the deer panteth after water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God, my soul thirsteth for God. Why is that? This is obviously not a natural thirst. It's not something everyone simply has, this desire. By nature, man has no spiritual life, only a natural life, and he has no thirst. But the thirst comes because God has given a new life. And that new life needs to be sustained. It cannot simply go on without sustenance. It must be refreshed and sustained, and it must therefore have the water of which the text speaks. This life needs water. And when that lack is recognized, the soul says, I need this so much that if I do not have it, I will die. I will die. Such a one is thirsty. Such a one hears the welcome cry, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. So what are the waters? The water refers first of all and primarily to the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Proof of that is found in two places, well, many, but let me call attention to two places. First of all, in Isaiah itself, chapter 44, verse 3. There God says this, Isaiah 44, verse 3, for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground, and then notice the parallel statement, I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring. Water, spirit, blessings, they are parallel. Jesus made the same point in John chapter seven. John seven beginning at verse 37. In the last day, we read, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. And then notice what he says. He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of water. So that was Jesus' word. And then John's inspired explanation of that is verse 39. But this spake he of the Spirit, that they that believe on him should receive the Spirit. The idea of water. Why is the Spirit referred to here with that symbol of water? Other places in Scripture, water is connected with, say, a washing like baptism, washing away of sin. And then there is another illustration, a use of water, the destructive power of water and the fact that you can drown in water. But here, water is connected with sustaining of life. And life and the spirit are inseparable. They are. The psalmist speaks of the fact that The Spirit gives life even to the animals in the field and the fish in the sea. The Spirit created man to be able to know God and to have fellowship with Him. That life that the Spirit gives is the only way that someone can have fellowship with God. One must have the Spirit. As in a dry, hot wilderness, a man must have water or he will die. So in the wilderness of this world, we must have the Spirit, we die, the Spirit and life are very much connected. That Spirit feeds and nourishes the life that He gives, and that's evident not only from the fact that the text speaks of waters, but wine and milk. Other symbolic elements there too in wine and milk. Milk is something that will sustain life but more richly than merely water. Babies can live for quite some time simply on milk. The spirit therefore brings the blessings of salvation that sustain the believer's soul. He not only regenerates, but he gives faith, and he continues to add to that the blessings that Christ earned on the cross and supplying them to God's people. The wine is also symbolic. That's a step up, as it were. That's a luxury. And that points to prosperity and to joy. In Bible times, the wine was used on special occasions, feasts, and weddings. When friends and family gathered to enjoy the event and enjoy good company together, they would serve wine. We're well aware, of course, that wine can be misused, and by the world, and even sometimes by believers, it can be. And that the Bible absolutely forbids, but we must not have a negative idea then about that wine because it's a symbol of joy in the life of God's people. That joy is an element in the Lord's Supper as well, which is why wine is part of the administration of the Lord's Supper. The Spirit gives that joy, the joy of our salvation. The Spirit dwells in us so that we can enjoy, can actually have fellowship with God. Because of the Spirit, we have a foretaste of the eternal joy in our souls. Come ye, says Isaiah, buy and eat. All the blessings of salvation are there before you. Come and get them. When you buy something, that's a deliberate exchange. You are putting forth effort to obtain something. Come, buy, and eat. all the blessings of salvation that only the Spirit can apply to us. But what does that mean, then, to come to the waters and to buy and eat? Water, we said, is the Spirit, but in the Spirit is every blessing that God intends for His people. So to come to the waters means then, first of all, to come to God, come to him in and through Jesus Christ, the fountain. The Jews who heard this word from Isaiah Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, would surely have thought about their forefathers wandering in the wilderness without any water, and how they came to Moses, and how God gave them water out of the rock. Isaiah, in fact, referred to that just a few chapters back in Isaiah chapter 48, verse 21. It says, they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He claimed the rock also when the waters gushed out. God supplied their needs, their thirst in the desert. Paul does the same in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. And there he says, and that rock out of which the water came, that rock is Christ. He's the fountain. And that's what Jesus is saying, too, in John 7. He that believeth on me, out of him shall flow rivers of water. He will have an abundance out of Jesus. Jesus is the fountain of life. He's the fountain of righteousness and holiness and peace. One comes to him and drinks of the water of life, of the blessings of salvation found in him alone. And you do that by faith. He that believeth on me, Jesus said. That's the one that has the rivers of living water. By faith we take hold of Jesus Christ. His benefits earned for his people on the cross are embraced. Christ sends forth his spirit as a river. that floods the soul, if you will, of the believers with all his benefits. He would keep his promise on the day of Pentecost, pouring out his Spirit upon his people. From a practical point of view, this coming, this coming to the waters, think about that. It is surely not due to some supposed free will in man. This is not a general promise to all men. He doesn't say, ho, everyone, come ye to the waters. It says, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the water. So it's not a general offer and promise that everyone who by his own free will manages to come here will have salvation. In fact, of course, as Jesus said, no one cometh unto me, except the Father draw him." That's the only way. But no one coming comes except by faith which God has given, believing in Jesus as the fountain of all salvation, knowing that there is absolutely nothing apart from Jesus that can possibly satisfy his soul. We come to the scriptures, we read and we study, and we search for Christ in every passage of the Bible. We come to church and we hear Christ speaking to us the words of salvation. We come to the table of the Lord and we partake of his body and blood, that of the Lord. The text commands us to come to embrace Christ, to appropriate all the blessings of salvation. This is a glorious salvation that is absolutely all of God, planned eternally by God, executed by the one who was very God and very man, applied by the third person of the Trinity who is God. All of salvation is of God. We add nothing. The text now comes to God's people and says, be active in this. Be active in this. God makes his people active. Appropriate this glorious salvation. Take hold of Christ. Take hold of the blessings that he has earned in the cross. So the command, come. Buy. Eat. Be active in this. Everyone that thirsteth. But the best thing of all is the price. It's free. It's free. Isaiah further notes in the text that the people who are thirsty have no money. They have no money. They are poor. They are destitute. They have no way of buying the milk and the wine. This obviously points to the fact that we are sinners. We have absolutely nothing that we can use to obtain the blessings of salvation. This is one who knows his spiritual poverty. His sins make him completely unworthy even of approaching God, and his works merit absolutely nothing with God at all. He comes confessing that. I have nothing to pay. And yet, those who have no money can still buy. Come buy. And that's because the wine and the milk are free. The blessings of salvation are freely given. That's grace. Not works, but grace. Graciously given for the sake of Christ. All our salvation, Christ has merited on the cross fully. It's free. There is no payment that could be made to obtain it. Salvation is the free gift of God in Jesus Christ. And yet we are commanded, come, buy and eat. Experience the delight of the salvation that Jesus has earned for you. Wine and milk and water. But the fact that it's free is not because it has little value. Not like someone setting an old piece of furniture by the road with a sign, free, hoping someone will take it because it has no value to them. In fact, it is without price. That is, as we would say, this is priceless. This is priceless. You can't set a price on this. It's that valuable. Why is it priceless? For two reasons. In the first place, no price could be attached to it because the price is the blood of the Son of God. The price is the suffering of the infinite wrath of God against the sins of his people. Sins too numerous even to count. The sins of all the people for whom he died. He suffered in their place and paid the price. His suffering and death. That's the price. You can't put a price on that. That's priceless. In the second place, it is priceless, that is, of unspeakable value, because the value is infinite. It's eternal life. eternal life it is infinite blessedness living with God without end there's no end to it the no end to the joy no end to the duration of it it is eternal life this is knowing God and enjoying God nothing of the earth compares to it that's why it is without price and so God commands us to come, and we must. We must obey the call. The call came to us this morning, and we came. We came here to church seeking the wine and the milk And now we go to the Lord's table to be fed spiritually, by faith, to take hold of Christ. That little piece of bread is not all that we're eating. Partaking of a symbol. of the broken body of Christ. We're partaking of a symbol of the shed blood. But as we partake of that by faith in the one that is symbolized there, and in the brokenness and the poured-outness, as we partake of that by faith, the Spirit is feeding our souls with milk and with wine. with all the blessings that Christ earned on the cross. Come, everyone that thirsteth to the waters. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for our Savior and for His amazing gift of love, his own self, and for what he earned for us. We cannot begin to calculate the value of it, and for all eternity we will enjoy the value of it. Give it ever to us in this life more and more. This we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen. We turn now to the forum for the administration of the Lord's Supper.