"Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1)
This is an invitation to the thirsty of all lands to come to the Fountain of living waters. And no one anywhere who thirsts for this water--no one who desires righteousness--will ever be turned away empty. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) "Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)
Isaiah, too, gives the song that all these may sing: "And in that day you shall say, O Lord, I will praise you: though You were angry with me, your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:1-3)
This gracious invitation is to all people,--"Ho, everyone,"--"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Titus 2:11) "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17) "without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1) "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." (Romans 3:24-25)
Abraham is the "father of the faithful," (Romans 4:11; That he [Abraham] might be the father of all them that believe.) and he received that title because he believed God. When God told Abraham to look toward heaven and "tell the stars" if he were able to number them, and that so many--innumerable--should his seed be, Abraham believed it. "And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6) "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:23-25)
As the Lord said to Abraham, as the number of the stars, "so shall your seed be;" so He says to every man, of his sins, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) "Though you have lien among the pots, yet shall you be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." (Psalm 68:13)
And as Abraham believed God in that, so much we believe God in this. And as in that Abraham's belief was counted to him for righteousness, so in this our belief is counted to us for righteousness. So Abraham became the father of the faithful. "And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29) "Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread?" (Isaiah 55:2)
It may not be exactly the thought that was in the mind of the prophet; but we would take occasion to remark upon this, that multitudes of people, and those who suppose themselves Christian people too, not only spend their money for that which is not bread, but spend it for that which is worse than no bread. Tobacco, for instance--why do you spend your money for that? It simply creates an appetite that destroys the will and makes an idolater of him that uses it. Why do you spend your money for gold and jewels, rings and ear-rings, and to keep pace with all the foibles and fashion and the ways of the world? It is simply to foster pride, and the desire to please the world rather than to please God. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1 John 2:15-16)
And it is "the god of this world, which blinds the minds of them that believe not." (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Shall the Lord be your God? or shall the god of this world be your god? Why do you spend "your labor for that which satisfies not?" (Isaiah 55:2) "Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you." (John 6:27)
Spend your money for that which will spread among men the love and glory of Christ. Labor to show forth the virtues of God, and the graces of the Spirit of Christ. Labor to adorn the doctrine of God, and not your own person. And then when He who searches the heart, shall reward every man "according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings," (Jeremiah 32:19) you will find that you have labored for "that meat which endures unto everlasting life." Then it will be seen that you have labored for that upon which you can feed to all eternity, and for that which "satisfies" indeed. "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." (Psalm 91:16) "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." (Isaiah 55:6)
This plainly suggests a time when the Lord may not be found even though He be sought for, and when He will not be near even though He be called upon. Men may talk eloquently about the gospel continuing forever; about the world becoming converted; and all such imaginary things. But the angel of God "swore by Him that lives forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that ... the mystery of God should be finished." (Revelation 10:6-7)
The mystery of God is the gospel of Christ; it is the work of Christ in this salvation of men. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy 3:16)
Christ declared repeatedly that this world will end, and that it will end in wickedness, such as was in the days of Noah, and which had to be swept from the earth by the furious flood. In all the Bible the end of the world is spoken of in no other way than as ending in wickedness. And the doctrine of the conversion of the world is only an invention of Satan to blind the eyes of the children of men, that they may not see the dangers and duties of the last days, as they are portrayed in the faithful word. There is to be a "day of vengeance of our God," (Isaiah 61:2) and that day of vengeance begins when "the day of salvation," (2 Corinthians 6:2) "the acceptable year of the Lord," (Isaiah 61:2) ends. "In the hand of the Lord there is a cup," (Psalm 75:8) "[the] cup of salvation," (Psalm 116:13) "and He pours out of the same" (Psalm 75:8) to all who will accept the gracious invitation. But when the dregs of that cup are reached, then these are poured "into the cup of His indignation," (Revelation 14:10) and "all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them." (Psalm 75:8)
All who will not willingly and freely drink of the "cup of salvation," will be compelled to drink deeply of the "cup of indignation." (See also Revelation 15:1; 16:1-21; Jeremiah 25:15-33.) "And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then shall you say unto them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, You shall certainly drink." (Jeremiah 25:28)
Then will be the time spoken of in Proverbs 1:24-33, when the Lord may not be found, neither will He hear: "Because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But you have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes; When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish comes upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof." (Proverbs 1:24-30) "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: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon Him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7) "As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die?" (Ezekiel 33:11) "For the Lord delights in mercy." (Micah 7:18)
The wicked man is to forsake his ways and learn the way of God. He is to forsake his thoughts, and learn the thoughts of God. These he must learn by the Spirit of God, which the Lord gives to those who will forsake their sins, and ask Him to guide them into the way of His thoughts; for, "His thoughts are very deep." (Psalm 92:5) "But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ... But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:10-12,14)
There is no way right but the Lord's way, and to find that way we must first forsake our own way. There are no right thoughts but the Lord's thoughts, and to find those thoughts we must first forsake our own thoughts. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)--Signs of the Times, December 10, 1885--Notes on the International Lesson, December 20--Isaiah 55:1-11
A.T. Jones