Hear these inspired words, dear friends, as though they came fresh from heaven, as though God himself spoke them at this moment out of the excellent glory, for indeed he does so. The Word of God never grows old; these messages are just as new as if the ink on the pens of the prophet and the psalmist were not yet dry. Isaiah 55:1. HO every one that thirsteth, come ye to the wafers, This invitation is not given to you who are full, to you who can satisfy your own needs out of the buckets of your own righteousness. No, the prophet speaks to you thirsty ones, who feel an awful necessity which will not let you rest. Hunger you may appease; but thirst is terrible, none can bear its pangs long. "Ho, every one that thirsteth." Whatever your age, sex, character, rank, or position in life, if you do but thirst, then the gospel stands with uplifted finger, and cries to you, "Ho!" as do merchants and traders who want to dispose of their wares. 1. And he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. In the Lord Jesus Christ there is all you want, and more than you know that you want. As yet you only thirst, but here is bread for your hunger as well as drink for your thirst. Whereas "waters" might seem to satisfy your thirst, here is a superfluity of grace, an exceeding abundance of mercy: "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Christ is as free as the air. As you have only to take in the air by breathing, in order to live by it, so have you only to receive Christ into your soul, and you live by him. As flows old Father Thames through the green meadows, and every dog may come and lap, and every ox may stand knee-deep in the stream, for there is none to keep even an animal away, so is it with Christ: "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." 2. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? Why are yen so busy about your ceremonies, your work mongering, your feelings, none of which can yield food for your soul? Come to Christ, and buy without money the Bread of Life which came down from heaven. 2. 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 fatless. If we will but hear the gospel, and attentively hear it, "faith cometh by hearing," and that faith leads us to Jesus Christ, and in him we find that which is substantial, solid, the very thing we need. We find in Christ all that is super-excellent, so that our soul delights itself in fatness. I have no lean Christ to preach to you, no half-starved salvation that will drag you into heaven, and save you "so as by fire." But in coming to Christ, you are invited to "let your soul delight itself in fatness." A Christian cannot be too happy; "the joy of the Lord" is beyond all description. You must taste it to prove its sweetness. As honey among the sweets, such is the joy of the Lord among joys; yea, as the sun and the lesser lights in the sky, such is the joy of Christ compared with all other delights that men can ever know. "Let your soul delight itself in fatness." 3. Incline your ear, You know what that means; bend forward, to catch the faintest utterance of the voice that is speaking. 3. And come 'unto me; hear, and your soul shall lice; We do not live by sight; all the pretty things that you can see in a Romish place of worship will not save a single soul. The preaching of the gospel is God's way of salvation: "Hear, and your soul shall live." Christ rides into the City of Mansoul through Ear-gate. Take heed what ye hear, and take heed how ye hear. 3. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Think of God making a covenant with you; this is a very wonderful thing. You may almost leap for joy at the thought that God should ever enter into covenant with you. You think very little of yourself, and reckon yourself to be amongst the most obscure of mankind; "yet," says the Lord God, "I will strike hands with you, and be your Friend, and pledge my word to you; ay, and make a covenant with you, and an everlasting covenant it shall be, too. Surely, blessing, I will bless thee." Oh, what a wonder of divine grace it is that God should enter into covenant with sinful man! "Even the sure mercies of David." You know what David this is; this is the Son of David, the inheritor of great David's name, "great David's greater Son." 4. Beheld, I have given him. for a witness to the people, a leader andcommander to the people. Jesus Christ is a witness to you of his Father's love. I do not knew how God could show his love more fully than he does in the life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is the great witness of the Father's love. Behold how he loves his people in that he gives his Son to die for them! Will you not clasp hands with God across this great sacrifice of his only-begotten Son? Let us do so now again as we have often done before. "I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people." If he leads, let us fellow; if he commands, let us obey. His command is, that we are to believe in his name, and to be baptized in his name; let us not be disobedient to any part of his holy will. Now comes a promise made to our great Leader, our Covenant Head 5. 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. That is, Jehovah has glorified Christ. It is promised that multitudes shall come to him. "Thou shalt call a nation that then knowest not." He never saw you in his house before, he never knew you to fall on your knees in prayer, but he is calling even you by his grace and by his gospel. You are here tonight, and he is calling you, even yen; therefore, come to him at Once. There are some here who do not know Christ Jesus our Lord, they are strangers to his love and to his power to save, but the promise is that "nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee." That implies speed, it is a double quick march. Oh, that many sinners would at once run to Christ! Some who often hear the gospel are very slow in coming to Christ; but I pray that some of you who do not know as much of it as they do may run to Christ at once, and be saved by him. It is a blessed thing to take Christ at the first time of asking. Love to Christ at first sight is the wisest kind of love that can be. May it be largely bestowed on many of you! Listen to these next words. 6, 7. 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 portion. Hear the music of the glorious message, "he will have mercy," "he will abundantly pardon." Return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon you, he will abundantly pardon you. 8, 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways saith the LORD. For as the heavens are highest than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Perhaps you are thinking that he cannot forgive you, that he cannot possibly mean that he will blot out your sins; but he does mean it, ay, and he is willing to do it now. Oh, that you would come to your pardoning God, through Jesus Christ his dear Son! 10-13. 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 if may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall say 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 firtree, and instead of the brier 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. Now let us read the 136th Psalm. Psalm 136:1-3. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords for his mercy endureth. forever. In this Psalm we have the same refrain repeated twenty- six times. The words-"for his mercy endureth for ever," were probably intended to be taken up as a chorus by all the people in and round about the temple at their solemn festivals. But, though there is repetition here, there is no tautology, for the saints of God are so fond of God's praise that they can never have too much of it. I am sure that, if you have ever tasted the faithful mercy of God in covenant with his people, you will never hear this sentence once too often. "For his mercy endureth for ever" will be a sound that shall be most welcome to your ears. You will observe that, first of all, the praise is to the Lord's person: "O give thanks unto Jehovah... the God of gods.... the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever." Next, the praise turns upon his works 4-9. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for eves'. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth forever. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: His mercy endureth for ever. To him that made great lights for his mercy endureth forever: the sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth forever: the moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for eves'. In the works of creation, and in the dispensations of providence, we have abundant proofs of the perpetuity of God's lovingkindness. No sooner have we experienced the blessings of the day than the mercies of the night follow quickly upon their heels. If we look up to the heavens, we have instances of God's mercy there, in kindling the stars, and lighting the sun and moon; and if we look upon the waters, and the land that standeth above them, we still see God's lovingkindness. That man is intensely blind who can see nothing of love and kindness in creation. You have but to open your eyes anywhere to see that the whole earth is full of the mercy of God. Still, the loudest song belongs to God's dealings with his Church; and, therefore, in the tenth verse, we come to God's deliverance of his peculiar people, his chosen Israel, in which we also have our share, for in Abraham's seed all the nations of the earth are blessed this day. 10-15. To him that smote Egypt in their first born: for his mercy endureth forever: and brought oat Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: with a strong hand, and with a stretched oat arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which divided the Bed sea into parts: for his mercy endureth far ever: and made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth forever: but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. And you and I have experienced deliverance's of a like kind. Our troubles have been overcome; our sins have been forgiven; we have been preserved by God's goodness, and guided by his wisdom. Let us, therefore, sing of that covenant faithfulness, and of that immutable truth, which have never left us. 16-18. To him which led his people through the wilderness for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: and slew famous kings for his snercy endureth for ever: We are far too slow to recall the special mercies of God. We have here a bright example given us, not only to remember God's goodness in the lump, but in detail. We are, as it were, to take his mercies to pieces, that we may see fresh grounds for thanksgiving in every separate section. 19-23. Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth forever: and Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth forever: and gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth forever. Here is a song for us: "Who remembered us in our low estate." We were brought low by sin, by conviction, by ignorance, by our own powerlessness; but, low as we were, "He remembered us in oar low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever." "He sent his Son with power to save From guilt, and darkness, and the grave Wonders of grace to God belong, Repeat his mercies in your song." 24-26. And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven for his mercy endureth forever. Thus the Psalm finishes upon its keynote: "for his mercy endureth for ever." May that be the keynote both of our daily song and of our eternal hymn of praise unto the Lord! Amen. In Celebration of life in Him, Dr. Jim DeBruhl, gembeaux@bellsouth.net " Everything is wrong until God makes it right."
