Inspiration in Isaiah: Aren't You Thirsty?

Isaiah 55:1-11 NIV

"Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

[2] Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

[3] Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

[4] See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

[5] Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor."

[6] Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

[7] Let the wicked forsake his way

and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

[8] "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the Lord.

[9] "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

[10] As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

[11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

One of the strongest impressions Barbie and I had of Israel when we were there two years ago on our Sabbatical, is how hot and dry it is. We were there in May, long before it gets really hot, but even so, it was 100 degrees the day we visited Masada near the Dead Sea. The Israelis have managed to make their land extremely productive in agricultural products, but this has been through extensive irrigation, drawing water from the Jordan River. As you read through the Bible, you will find many references to springs, wells, rains, etc., because the constant search for water was a harsh fact of life that everyone there had to contend with. American soldiers in Iraq (not too far from there) have to drink many quarts of water every day in the summer just to stay safely hydrated. I think it is safe to say that everyone living in that part of the world in Isaiah’s day knew what it was to be thirsty. So his call in chapter 55 would have made a big impact on those who heard or read it:

This really isn’t about physical water. It’s about spiritual thirst, a thirst for God. The invitation to come to God is addressed to “all who are thirsty” – everyone, without exception, including you. But you have to recognize that you are thirsty for what He has to offer.

Water was (and still is) an extremely scarce but absolutely necessary resource in the Middle East. In the New Testament, water is a picture of the Holy Spirit. John 7:37-39, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. [38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." [39] By this he meant the Spirit …”

At the well with the woman from Samaria, Jesus offered to give her living water. He said, you know, everyone who drinks the water from this well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst. Jesus can satisfy that spiritual thirst in our souls.

At the end of the Bible, we hear this same invitation repeated, Rev. 22:17, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

Aren’t you thirsty? Can you tell that your soul is parched, that you need the living water? Can you sense the emptiness in your soul? If you feel that, then come. Come to the water God can give you.

B. Stock up here! Isaiah 55:1,2; John 6:32-35, 27-29; 7:37-39; see Eph 5:18; 1 Pet 2:2

In Is 55:1, the invitation continues, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters…

The last line of v.2 reinforces our understanding that he is speaking metaphorically of spiritual food – it is our soul that will enjoy this rich feast God offers us. In the New Testament, wine is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). Milk is an image of the written Word of God that nourishes our soul (1 Peter 2:2). And Jesus Himself claimed to be the bread that would eternally satisfy. In John 6:32-35 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, (a reference to the manna God provided in the desert) but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." [34] "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." [35] Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Wine, milk, and bread were staples of their diet, and of course water was absolutely essential. So he’s talking about things that are necessary, not peripheral, to life. By choosing these images, he is emphasizing the importance of the spiritual food God is offering us.

In a more general sense, Jesus said, John 6:27, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" [29] Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Unfortunately, many people do spend their lives chasing what will neither satisfy their souls nor last forever. We are a consumer society, and even though we consume more of the world’s resources per capita than any other country, we are still empty inside. Our homes, and garages, and storage spaces, and stomachs are full, but our souls have shriveled, because we have tried to feed them on what the culture has to offer. Things like the current movie fare: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning; Little Miss Sunshine (rated R); and Jackass: Number Two. Or we gobble down the current menu of toxic political attack ads. Dessert might be what passes for comedy that seems unable to make a joke that doesn’t have some sexual innuendo. The crop of sex-saturated women’s magazines at the grocery store checkout certainly appeals to an appetite we have. Other parts of the culture that are not so nourishing are a stock market that is driven primarily by fear and greed; or the violence that creates school shooters; or the dictum that “He who dies with the most toys wins,” etc. This is the “soul food” available to us, and then we wonder why people are starving spiritually.

In contrast to that, God offers us “the richest of fare” that “is good”, and will “endure to eternal life.” So yes, these are the spiritual staples, the things that we always need to have on hand, the food that we constantly rely on to keep us going in life, but they are not just gruel and water. They are rich, nourishing, extremely satisfying, and delicious to our souls. These are the things we should stock up on. His Word; His Spirit; a relationship with Him.

And they’re free! The invitation is addressed to those who have no money, to come and buy without money and without cost (vss 1,2). Now you might think this is a deal, and that people would be beating down the door to get it. But there is something particularly perverse in human nature that wants to have a piece of the action. When it comes to our standing before God, our pride wants to be able to say, “I helped a little. I paid for part of it.” But that won’t work. We have to take it as a free gift, as humbling as that is. In fact, if you think you do have something to pay for this with, you are automatically disqualified. The invitation is to those who have no money, and who are willing to accept this spiritual nourishment without trying to pay for it. We will either receive it as a free gift, or we can’t have it at all. It is a gift, not something we earned, or deserved, or paid for in any way. That’s why it’s called “grace”—completely undeserved favor from God.

When an offer seems just too good to be true, like this one, we tend to think, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” If someone offers you something for free, you can bet there is a hook in it, and you will pay for it some other way. Ultimately, that little proverb is true: There aren’t any free lunches. Somebody has to pay for the meal. In the case of Isaiah’s invitation to get free spiritual groceries for life, God can offer us these benefits for free because He has already paid for them through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. We saw a couple of weeks ago that no one can pay the ransom for another person’s life—it is just too expensive. But Jesus came specifically to do that—to be the ransom for many. So now He has paid the price for everything that He offers to give us for free.

He says, “seek”, but this is not a game of Hide and Seek. It’s pretty clear God is taking the initiative here, and He wants to be found. He invites us to come to Him for spiritual nourishment, for salvation, and to seek a relationship with Him. The prophet Jeremiah gave this assurance to those who might be somewhat uncertain about seeking God: 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The fact of the matter is, that while God calls us to seek Him, He is seeking us. The whole Bible is the story of how God has been seeking sinful people, and calling them back into a loving relationship with Himself. We see it in the Garden of Eden, just after Adam and Eve sinned: they are hiding in the bushes and God is calling out to them, “Where are you?” We have it here in the prophet Isaiah, as he extends God’s gracious invitation to everyone to come to the waters. We see this in the life and ministry of Jesus, who said He came “to seek and save the lost.” We see it at the end of the Book, in Revelation, where we find the fruit of God’s seeking in the multitudes from every tongue, tribe, nation, and language gathered around the throne worshiping the Lamb. So the God who is seeking us, calls us to seek Him. If you are thirsty, you’ll do that. He’s the One with the water.

We sometimes will see ads that make some “astounding” offer with the warning, “Limited time only! Hurry! Only three more days! 24 hour sale!” God’s invitation to come to Him has an element of that in it. One day Jesus told a story about a man who was going to throw a huge party. He invited lots of guests, and when everything was ready, he sent his servants around to all the invitees to tell them now was the time to come. But all the people began to make excuses like, “I just bought a field, and have to go check it out.” (As though the field is going to go somewhere if he doesn’t go look at it right then!) Another one said, I just bought a new truck ( actually, it was five pairs of oxen, but the truck might be a parallel for today), and I need to try it out. Another one had a little better excuse, because he had just gotten married, but even so, he could have come to the party. When the servant reported this to the master, he got angry, and sent the servant back out to invite all sorts of riff-raff who had not been initially invited. The servant came back and said, I did that, but there is still room. So the master sent him back out again, saying Luke 14:23, “'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. [24] I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

When God says through Isaiah, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near,” the implication is that there may come a time when it is too late. God is extremely patient, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. But He can be pushed too far. We can test His patience too much, as the Israelites discovered in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and hauled them all off to slavery in Babylon. It is extremely foolish and risky to keep putting off a decision about the Lord, as some people do. They tell themselves, I’ll get around to it later. After I’ve had some fun, after I build this empire, after I do this or that, then I’ll get serious about God. Folks, God’s gracious invitation is for now, not forever. 2 Cor. 6:2 says, “I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” You do not know when He may retract that offer to you. Why would you take the risk of assuming that you can always come to God whenever you want, as though the God of the universe was waiting for your pleasure and convenience? You may drive out of this parking lot today and be hit by a truck. Your heart could give out tonight as you sleep. That aneurism you don’t know you have could burst this afternoon and you will be gone. Why would you wait? Seek the Lord now, while He can be found. Call on Him to save you now, while He is near.

First, we have to recognize that our ways and thoughts are wicked and evil in the sight of God. Unless we come to terms with our sinfulness, we will never get right with God. –Because our sin is in the way between us; it creates an obstacle that prevents us from fellowshipping with a holy God. As Isaiah said in Isaiah 59:2,

When we get honest with God and ourselves, and can admit that there is such a thing as sin and rebellion against God, and that we are guilty of that, then we can turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on us and forgive us. We just need to ask God to forgive us, and because Christ died in our place, because He suffered the separation from God that we deserve, God will have mercy on us; He will freely pardon. This is truly amazing, as it says in v. 8.

Our way is one of two things: either we make people earn what they get, to give them something only in exchange for something else, to hold them to performance standards; in short, to uphold the standards of justice. Or, we may completely let that slide, just give in to what we think they want, don’t require anything of them, spoil them, enable them, etc. We have no idea how to both uphold justice and extend mercy. The two seem diametrically opposed, and we can’t seem to do both at once.

But God can. His ways are so far above ours, and His thoughts are so far above ours! Who on earth would ever think of letting their perfect, sinless, son die in the place of sinners? It just wouldn’t occur to us. God found a way to satisfy His love for us, without compromising His justice. Our sins were paid for, but not by ourselves. Jesus paid the debt we owe, and now God can be, as Paul puts it in Romans 3, “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

I really like the tv commercials for Men’s Wearhouse. Apparently, the owner does the ads himself, and at the end of each one, after he has described the great deals and terrific values in his stores, he says, “You’re gonna love it. I guarantee it.” As the owner, he can do that. He has the authority to make whatever decisions and changes are necessary to insure that his stores live up to his promise that we’re “gonna love it.”

In much the same way, God guarantees that His invitation will be received and welcomed by many. He gives us this great image from nature that we can relate to this week with the snow and rain we got.

In 1987, Billy Graham came to Denver to hold a crusade in the old Mile High Stadium. I went to the meetings, eager to learn from the master. I took a notebook and pen, and was determined to figure out why his sermons were so powerful and effective in calling people to faith in Christ. I came home the first night without having written a thing. I thought to myself, This is amazing! There’s nothing special about Billy Graham’s sermons at all. They aren’t all that well organized; there’s nothing really new, or deep, or profound in them; he doesn’t have lots of catchy phrases or gut-wrenching illustrations. What is it, then? As I reflected on that experience of watching thousands of people stream out of the stands onto the field to give their lives to Christ, I realized two things: One, Billy is anointed by God for that ministry. This passage in Isaiah 55 explains the other one. Billy Graham is an effective evangelist because his mantra is, “The Bible says…” He quotes the Bible. He illustrates the Bible. He constantly refers back to the Bible, the Word of God. And God’s promise is that His Word will not return to Him empty. It will accomplish the purpose for which He sends it.

And what is that purpose? Paul said it this way in Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” We can have all the great arguments in the world as to why someone should put their faith in Christ, but the Bible, the Word of God, will have more of an impact than anything else we can say. God has sent His word into the world for the express purpose of calling people to the banquet He has set for them. This passage in Isaiah 55 is one great example of that invitation. Come, He says. Come to the waters, come to the banquet. Seek me, call on me. And when people hear God speaking to them through His Word, they do come.

I remember the youth group meeting I attended the summer I turned 16. I had been going to church and Sunday School all my life, but that night, for the first time, I heard God speak through the man who was speaking. I sensed I was being personally addressed by Him, not just by a man I didn’t know. And it awakened something in my soul that set me on a search which culminated a few months later when I gave my life to Christ.

My prayer for this sermon is that some of you would have had that same experience. That you have heard God speaking to you through this ancient Word from Isaiah. That you have heard Him calling you to come, to buy and eat for free, to seek Him, to call on Him, to forsake your sin and turn to God. For then He will have mercy on you, and will abundantly pardon all your sin, and draw you into a beautiful love relationship with Himself.

Did you hear God this morning? Do you feel Him stirring in your soul, drawing you to Himself? Then come. Come to the waters. Come to Christ.

You can do that simply by directing your thoughts to God, and praying this prayer with me:

Thank you for what you have done in Christ. Thank you that He paid the penalty for my sins. Thank you that you found a way to forgive me.

Come into my life. Be my Lord and Savior. And live with me forever. Fill me up with yourself, so that I will never be thirsty or hungry in that way again.

If you prayed that prayer with me, and today is the first time you have ever done something like that, talk to me after the service. I’d like to help you grow in this new relationship with God.