Isaiah 55

CHAPTER 55THEME: Invitation to the world; the ways of God; institution of the Word of GodThe work of the suffering Servant in chapter 53 makes possible the offer of salvation in this chapter. In chapter 54 the invitation was confined to Israel. In this chapter the invitation is extended to the entire world. The gospel went first to Israel and then to the Gentiles. I think this is what Paul meant when he said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom_1:16). This does not mean that the Jew has top priority today, but he shouldn’t have bottom priority either; he is on the same par as everyone else.

The Jew did receive the gospel first. Peter on the day of Pentecost preached to an all-Jewish congregationthere wasn’t a Gentile in the lot. Now this invitation goes out to the world. This is remarkable because there have been very few religious leaders who have had a global view. The work of the suffering Servant in chapter 53 makes possible now the offer of salvation to a lost world. God’s invitation has yet to find its complete fulfillment in Israel. Today it is worldwide, with only one condition, as we shall see. This is not a mechanical offer locked in the airtight compartment of God’s election, but it rests upon the free-flowing will of each hearer. He is urgedin fact, he is commandedto seek the Lord.

Isaiah 55:1

INVITATION TO THE WORLDThe chapter opens with the heart cry of God to every one to pause and consider His salvation. “Ho” is like a startled cry for help in the night. He wants every weak soul to behold His mighty bared arm of salvation. The invitation is ecumenical. I don’t believe in the ecumenical movement that men talk about today, but I do believe in God’s ecumenical movement, which is that the invitation of the gospel is to go out to the world. However, it is limited to one class: “Ho, every one that thirsteth.” This invitation is to every man, woman, and child on the topside of the earth. It means every man of every station in life, in all strata of society, from every race, tribe, tongue, condition, and color. All are included. The invitation is “Ho, every one.” But notice that it is limited to only certain ones"every one that thirsteth." It is for those whose thirst has not been slaked by the man-made cisterns and bars of this earth. The invitation is to drink deep and long of the eternal springs. Dr. F. C. Jennings has written: “Let us listen then, as if we had never heard the melody of this tender and gracious invitation before.

Who are the guests here invited? All who thirst! All that is needed to be welcome then, isnot to need (for that is true of all)but to want what is offered. Am I utterly dissatisfied with myself? I thirst! Am I dissatisfied with all the world can offer me, and of which I have tasted?

I thirst! Is my spirit altogether dissatisfied with all the formalism of religion? Then do I thirst! Blessed thirst! It is the only prerequisite to enjoyment!” (Studies in Isaiah, p. 645). This is the invitation: “Ho, everyone that thirsteth.” If you say, “I am not interested. I am not thirsty. I am satisfied with the things of this life,” then it is not for you, my friend. It is not for you until you are thirsty. Here in California you will be riding along in the desert and all of a sudden you will see on a billboard a picture of a bottle pushed down into some cracked ice. My, it looks good!

There is only one word printed on the sign"THIRSTY?" The company that put up the sign hopes you are thirsty. They want you to stop at the next service station and buy a coke or whatever they are selling. If you have your thermos bottles filled with iced tea, or orange juice, you say, “I am not thirsty,” and drive on. But if you are thirsty, you will pull off at the next service station and get your drink. At the crossroads of life God has put up a sign: “THIRSTY?” Ho, every one that is thirsty. Are you tired of this world? Have you found that it does not satisfy? Do you long for something better? God says, “I have something for you.” Then He mentions a variety of things and says that you can buy these things without money. A bottled drink used to cost a nickel, now you are to pay forty cents and by the time you read this, the price may have gone even higher. But God’s offer is without money. Why? Because back in Isaiah 53 the Lord Jesus paid the price for it on the Cross. This is God’s invitation to you, “Come ye, buy, and eat.” Not only drink, but He offers the bread of life, too. Notice that there are three types of drink offered:

1. “Waters"the plural form is used. In the Hebrew the plural expresses a superlative degree. This water is too wonderful to be expressed by the singular form. “Waters” also speaks of abundance, of quantity as well as quality. This is water for the soul. This is the kind of water that the Lord Jesus offeredand He used the same symbolismwhen he stood in the temple area that day and cried, “…If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (Joh_7:37). Now we know where the fountain isthat fountain is Christ, who is the Water of Life and our Savior.
2. “Wine” is the second type of drink offered, which symbolizes joy. In Pro_31:6 we read, “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.” And 1Th_1:6 says, “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” (italics mine). Joy is what you have when Christ is not only your Savior but when He becomes the Master of your life. When you come to know Him, you have joy. In 1Jn_1:4 John says, “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (italics mine). I saw this motto in a preacher’s study in Salem, Oregon: “Joy is the flag that is flown in the heart when the Master is in residence.” That is a marvelous drink that will put genuine joy in your heart!
3. “Milk” is the third type of drink offered. Milk is essential for growth and development, especially for babies. The dairy industry has been trying to tell people: “Every body needs milk.” Well, the milk of the Word of God is essential for spiritual growth. Now, since I am a teacher of the Word of God, that makes me a milkman. I give out the milk of the Word. Peter said it like this, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1Pe_2:2).

Have you ever seen a little baby while his mama gets his bottle ready? That hungry little fellow, lying in his crib, is wiggling his feet, his hands; in fact, he is wiggling all over. With his mouth he is making all kinds of commotion and a great deal of noise! Why? Because he desires milk. And a child of God ought to want the milk of the Word of God with equal longing!

My friend, if you are a believer, there is something wrong with you if you don’t like to study the Word of God. The greatest problem in our churches today is that we are entertaining, we are giving nice little courses in this and that and the other thing, we are giving banquets and dinners, and we are putting folk on committees. We are doing everything but giving them the Word of God. Many church members are stillbornthey have no spiritual life. My friend, if you are a believer, you ought to want the sincere milk of the Word of God.

Isaiah 55:2

Many folk, even Christians today, are spending money for so-called Christian enterprises that don’t feed anybody. I hear some people today calling money breadI rather like that expression. The Word of God is “bread” also. A lot of Christians put their money into that which is not bread, although they think it is. It would be well to investigate where you give your money. It may be that you are buying a load of sawdust, which won’t satisfy your heart and life. The question is asked, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” The pleasures of this world are expensive. You have to pay for them. Not only are they expensive, but they never satisfy. They are counterfeit. They are sawdust and cannot satisfy the soul. Then where is happiness? You won’t find it in money. Jay Gould, an American millionaire, had plenty of that. When he was dying, he said: “I suppose that I am the most miserable devil on earth.” You won’t find happiness in pleasure either. Lord Byron had fame, genius, money, and lived a life of pleasure, yet he wrote in his poem “On My Thirty-sixth Year”: “The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone.” Why don’t you come to the table where you can get some water, wine, milk, and bread that satisfies? That’s where we all need to be today.

Isaiah 55:3

God was merciful to David, and He will be merciful to you and me today. I heard a man speaking in Pershing Square in Los Angeles one day, deriding and ridiculing the Bible. One Sunday evening I saw him in church when I was a pastor in downtown Los Angeles. After the service he came to talk to me, feigning a humble approach, and said, “Pastor, I have a question to ask you. Why did God choose a man like David?” Then he leered at me, and I knew exactly what the old rascal was thinking. I said, “I’ll tell you why God chose a man like David. It was so that you and I would have the courage to come to Him. If God would take David, He might take you, and he might take me!” The sure mercies of Davidhow wonderful they are!

Isaiah 55:4

Jesus is called the true witness for us in our day.

Isaiah 55:5

“Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not"at that time Isaiah didn’t know about the United States of America, but we are included in his prophecy.

Isaiah 55:6

THE WAYS OF GODThe way of God and the way of man are put in contrast and conflict. The objection is often made that this is not a legitimate gospel call for today since man is not asked to seek God, but rather God is seeking man. This certainly is accurate, but nonetheless this call is for today, as the human aspect is in view here. Human responsibility is not defeated by the sovereign purposes and election of God. Therefore the Lord Jesus could say, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (Joh_6:37). You can sit on the sidelines and argue that you are not one of the elect; but the minute you come, you are a member of the elect. And the coming is up to you.

Isaiah 55:7

The problem people have today is not mental. You may say, “I have great intellectual hurdles to surmount before I can come to Christ.” No, you don’t. You have only onethat is sin in your life that you don’t want to give up. That is the one thing that keeps men from God. “Let the wicked forsake his way,” and when you do, then you will be ready to turn to Him. That is when you really get thirsty. Now God says

Isaiah 55:8

God’s way is different from man’s way. The gospel is God’s way. It is not man-made. No man could ever have devised it. “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal_1:11-12). The gospel came down from heaven. It is God’s gospel.

Isaiah 55:9

The gospel could come only by revelation, since man’s reason never follows the redemption route.

Isaiah 55:10

INSTITUTION OF THE WORD OF GODWhen the gospel is given out, the emphasis is placed on the accuracy and the reliability and the importance of the Word of God. In this closing section there is a prominence given to the Word of God. The only place where the gospel is found is in the Word of God. Salvation is a revelation of God, and the Word of God is likened to the rain that comes down from heaven. You see, the gospel is not asking you to do something. Neither is the gospel something that man has thought up. Man does not work his way up to God by some Tower of Babel effort, but he receives God’s revelation which comes down from heaven like rain. The rain causes the earth to become fruitful. The seeds germinate and fructify and bring forth abundantly. The Word of God is also the seed; and, when the rain and seed get together in the human heart, there will be fruit.

Isaiah 55:12

The rain causes the earth to respond with a green blanket of praise to God. During the Millennium the earth will respond with a note of praise to the Creator and Redeemer. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Rom_8:22).

Isaiah 55:13

This verse looks forward to the Millennium when the earth will be redeemed from the curse of sin. The curse of sin is expressed by the thorn and brier. When Christ died, He not only redeemed sinners, He also redeemed a sin-cursed earth.