The sermon 'Come to the Living Waters' by Mike Davenport focuses on Isaiah 55:1-5, inviting everyone who thirsts to come to the waters, symbolizing a spiritual invitation to accept the salvation offered through Jesus Christ. The speaker emphasizes that this invitation is given freely, without money, symbolizing the grace provided by Christ's sacrifice. The sermon connects Isaiah 55 with previous chapters, highlighting the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 and the transformation of the barren woman in Isaiah 54, which represents the church. The 'sure mercies of David' are discussed as part of an everlasting covenant that God offers, rooted in Christ's sacrifice, promising peace and a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Davenport uses a metaphor of glasses, drawing from Proverbs 8 and Matthew 22, to emphasize listening with wisdom and urgency. The sermon stresses the importance of a personal response to this divine call, urging listeners to embrace the spiritual abundance in Christ and warning against seeking satisfaction in worldly pursuits. Overall, the sermon calls for an earnest response to God's invitation to come to the living waters for eternal life and spiritual fulfillment.

Today's sermon text is Isaiah 55 verses 1 through 5. Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Here and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people.

Surely you shall call a nation you do not know and nations who do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel for he has glorified you." Let's pray. Father, Lord God, Please make your word live in us. Please help us to commit this passage as we have been seeking to memory. Please have it well up in us at the times when we are facing trials. And we pray that you will bless Mike today.

Bring your spirit upon him that that he will edify the saints today with your words, with your spirit, with your desires. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray these things. Amen. It's hard for me to believe that we're actually in Isaiah 55. We've covered 54 chapters of this marvelous book.

Today as we come to this chapter, I've entitled it, Come to the Living Waters. Come to the Living Waters. And as we step across the threshold of the doorway into chapter 55 of Isaiah, We should not do so without a thorough grasp of the previous two chapters. I submit to you that we will not appreciate chapter 55 without a firm understanding of the realities of chapter 53 and 54. In our passage today, we will come face to face with the waters, with wine and milk and bread, and what is good with delight and with abundance.

There is talk of an everlasting covenant and of sure mercies. How did these things come to be? It is as though they come on the scene as the manna that appeared for the Israelites when the dew lifted in the early morning in the wilderness. Well, Isaiah has set the stage for us. In chapter 53, we read of the suffering servant of Jehovah, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

He is the sinless one who came and bore the wrath of God for our sins, that by burying these very iniquities in his own body he could save us. But it did not end here. Having risen victoriously over the grave and ascending to the right hand of his father, he now shares his spoils of victory with his church, his bride, the one who seemed so barren until he came. Now she, the church, as we saw in chapter 54, is no longer barren. She is no longer the object of God's anger.

She is no longer tossed with tempest and without comfort. She is no longer weak. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, we have a covenant. We are recipients of a covenant of peace that will never be removed. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, We have a kingdom.

Afflicted and comfortless souls receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. A kingdom built by the hand of God himself. A kingdom with a sure foundation. A kingdom full of splendor whether you look down at her foundations or whether you look up and see her highest pinnacles or whether you look around at her gates and her walls. There is splendor no matter where you look.

And because of the sacrifice of Christ, we have a future. The offspring of the church are taught by God Himself and are established in righteousness. And because of the sacrifice of Christ we have a heritage. God the provider of our righteousness has promised us that no weapon formed against us will prosper. So these are the truths that must accompany us as we cross the threshold into this chapter.

For we have in the opening seven verses of this chapter a divine invitation to abundant life. This invitation before us this morning appears here in Isaiah in chapter 55 because and only because of the death of Christ for a bride whom he loves and adorns. So here's how I want you to view this passage this morning. And children, I have an illustration for you. I want you to listen really closely to this illustration.

As we step into this text, I want you to look at it through a pair of glasses. Through a pair of pair of glasses. Through a pair of pair of glasses, there's a left lens, and there's a right lens, and there's a left lens. I want us to look at this passage through these lens lenses. The left lens is the words of Solomon found in Proverbs 8.

So if you would, holding your place here, here in Isaiah 55, if you would turn with me to Proverbs chapter 18. Verses 1 through 3. Does not wisdom cry out and understanding lift up her voice, she takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors. And then over in chapter 9 it gives us more details about this crying out of wisdom.

Chapter 9 verse 1, wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars, she has slaughtered her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also furnished her table. She has sent out her maidens. She cries out from the highest places of the city.

Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, come eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed forsake foolishness and live and go in the way of understanding." So that's that's the left lens of these glasses. That's the left lens. And these are spoken by the wisest man who ever lived outside of Jesus Christ. But the wisest has spoken to this very same issue.

So still holding your place in Isaiah 55. Look with me quickly at Matthew 22. Matthew 22. And This is what I want to be the right lens of this pair of glasses that we bring with us as we look at Isaiah 55. Hopefully those who were here during our exposition walking through Matthew together remember it well.

Matthew chapter 22, the first 10 verses. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parable and said, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they were not willing to come. Again he sent out other servants saying, Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, My oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious, and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Then he said to his servants, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways and as many as you find invite to the wedding. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests." So as we come to our passage, let's come with these two lenses of this pair of glasses in view. And with these two lenses firmly in place, let us cross the threshold and step into chapter 55. Now in order to help you follow along with me in this endeavor, I want to break down the chapter as I see it.

Just give you a brief outline, just to kind of give you a setting for what we're going to deal with today in these first five verses. And I believe the chapter can be divided into two sections. In the first nine verses, we have a divine invitation, and in the last four verses a divine appointment. So in this divine invitation, verses one and two, come, buy, and eat. Verses three through five, incline your ear and hear.

Verse 6, seek and call. Verses 7 through 9, forsake and return. That's what this divine invitation calls us to do. Come, buy and eat, incline your ear and hear. Seek and call.

Forsake and return. And then the chapter closes with I believe a divine appointment And that is in verses 10 and 11, the Word, the Word of God is the means of salvation. And verses 12 and 13, The Word of God is the means of change. It's the means of change. And so we see in this chapter this great work of the salvation of our God from calling sinners by means of an invitation all the way to bringing change into their life where there are no thorns.

The cypress tree, the myrtle tree, because the Word of God has watered it. So the divine invitation, verses 1 and 2. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and let your soul delight itself in abundance." So we have here in verse 1 an open invitation. We see in these opening verses this extending of an invitation. This is a call that is given. A cry goes forth.

This invitation starts out with this interjection, this part of speech, the interjection, ho. And This denotes passion and it denotes earnestness in the crying out. This is not a, if you're thirsty, come. If you're not, don't worry about it. No, there's a passion.

Oh, alas, woe to you who are thirsty. And it's passionate. So you know, peering through these two lenses that we talked about, I see servants of the king who are going out into the highways and inviting, inviting as many as they could find. And the Greek word back in chapter 22 of Matthew for invite, it carries with it the idea of calling aloud and uttering in a loud voice and The root of the primary word in the hebe in the Greek carries the the sense of urging is an urging to come And the in the call of God this invitation needs to come with passion. It needs to come with yearning and with urging.

And I also see through the other lens there in the book of Proverbs crying out, wisdom crying out from the highest places of the city, lifting up her voice, taking her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet, crying out by the gates at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors. So the first thing to note here is that this invitation seems to come from God Himself. It's coming from God Himself. The one speaking here says in verses 3 and 4, listen carefully to me. Come to me.

This one also indicates in verse 5 that they are capable of establishing and maintaining an everlasting covenant. I will make with you an everlasting covenant. So I believe this to be an invitation from the God of heaven and earth. The second thing to note is that this invitation is not limited. It is not limited.

It is a free offer. It is given without discrimination. It is genuine. Everyone who thirsts, everyone who thirsts, God does not require you to sort out whether you are elect or not. God simply asks, are you thirsty?

Are you thirsty? And as we sang earlier, all the fitness he requires is that you feel your need of him. This invitation is not limited. Thirdly, I want to point out that the supply is not short. It is not short.

This is not an invitation to the first 500 customers. The call goes out to everyone, none accepted. If you're thirsty, there is supply enough for you. As we sang, Jesus ready, stands to save you full of pity joined with power he is able he is willing doubt no more wisdom has built her house She has hewn her seven pillars. The table is set.

The king wants it known that the feast is ready. There is room at the table. The supply is not short. And then the fourth thing that we see here you must respond simple acknowledgement is not enough recognizing your thirst is not enough You must do something about the invitation. You must come to the waters.

Your thirst does not preclude you from coming. In fact, this thirst makes you a fit recipient of this invitation. Christ did not come for the righteous. Christ came for sinners, for those who are sick, for those who need a spiritual physician, for those who have labored under the yoke of sin and are heavy laden, for those who have a spiritual thirst that has not been quenched. As we saw in the first chapter of Isaiah, the invitation is to come and to acknowledge the reasonableness of the offer of Christ that he will do for those What he will do for those whose sins are like scarlet and red like crimson Come to the waters nope.

No, what are these waters? What are these waters? Children can you remember some of the uses of water in Isaiah that we've looked at so far? Can you think back of some of those instances where we talked about water, where Isaiah has pointed to the water and he means something more than what's in this cup that I'm holding in my hand. Well how about Isaiah 12 3, therefore with joy You will draw water from the wells of salvation How about chapter 27 verses 2 and 3 in that day sing to her that is to Jerusalem a vineyard of red wine I the Lord Keep it.

I Water it every moment lest any hurt it. I keep it night and day How about chapter 35 verse 7? Behold Your God will come and waters shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water. Chapter 41, verses 17 and 18. The poor and needy seek water, but there is none.

Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water." In Isaiah 44 verses 2 & 3, fear not O Jacob my servant and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen for I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground.

I will pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring." So in coming to the waters, we are coming to Jesus Christ. To the fountain opened for uncleanness, to the rock smitten for us, that waters may gush out, healing waters, living waters. The writer to the Hebrews describes this coming to the waters this way in chapter 12. Come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. The invitation is to come to these waters, to drink, and to find refreshment for our thirsty souls.

Come. Come to these waters. Now, such is the greatness and richness of this provision that even those without money are invited to come. Yes, come, buy wine and milk, you who have no money. Are you thirsty?

Come. You have no money? Come. Now you may be sitting there thinking, I am thirsty, but I have nothing in hand that will enable me to purchase so great a provision. Well the invitation from our great God is for those who have no money, who do not have in their hand what it takes to pay for so rich a provision.

Indeed, all sinners, we all are naked before him. We are all destitute of any righteousness of our own, and we are needy beyond measure. We are needy beyond measure You who have nothing and yet stand in need of everything come and In coming buy and eat yes come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Notice that there there must be a transaction. You come without money, but there must be a transaction.

The invitation is to come and to buy. There must be an exchange because Christ alone has what the sinner needs. But this exchange is unique. It is without money and without price. Indeed, what is to be gained is beyond any determinable worth.

What worth can you place upon it? What price? There is no price that can be set upon what Christ accomplished on the cross. There is no price that can be set upon what Christ accomplished on the cross. There is no price that can be set upon the spoil that befell Him.

And there can be no price assigned to the pleasure of God that prospered and is prospering in his hand. And because no price can be set upon these things, money cannot factor into this transaction. Your righteousness cannot factor into this transaction. Nothing that you can bring in your hand can factor into this transaction. Matthew Henry has these helpful insights on this phrase, without money and without price.

He says, our buying without money intimates first that the gifts offered us are invaluable and such as no price can be set upon. Number two, our buying without money intimates that he who offers them has no need of us nor of any returns we can make him. Number three, that the things offered are already bought and paid for. Christ purchased them, not with money, but with his own blood. And fourthly, our buying without money intimates that we shall be welcome to the benefits of the promised and we must own it that If Christ and heaven be ours, we may see ourselves forever indebted to free grace." Charles Spurgeon said the following about the worth of Christ.

Brethren, Christ is so precious that he cannot be bought. If a man should give all the substance of his house to purchase an interest in Christ, it would be utterly condemned. Rich men might gather together all their goodly things. Yes, India might be exhausted of its wealth. Peru drained of its silver and California of its gold.

But no part nor lot in Christ could be bought even with sapphires and diamonds. He gives himself away right freely according to the riches of his grace. But he cannot be purchased, for he is so precious that he cannot even be priced. A whole world can never weigh against him any more than a single grain of dust would weigh against the universe. There is no measuring line with which to form a unity for calculation, with which to measure Him.

He is infinite, and finite judgments will never be able to comprehend His unutterable value. He is God's unspeakable gift. Heaven itself is nothing as compared with him and if a man had to wade breast deep through a Thousand hells to come to Christ it were well worth the venture if at the last He might But say my beloved is mine and I am his This is the richness This is the wealth And he says come you without money, without money this can be yours. Come. There must be a transaction.

It is incumbent upon you to come and to buy. Now he mentions two specific items. Come, buy wine. Come and buy milk. Why these two things?

Water indeed quenches our thirst. But Christ and His salvation do more than quench a sinner's spiritual thirst. There is a richness to them that goes well beyond the likeness of water. Like milk, this salvation brings nourishment. And like wine, this salvation brings joy and rejoicing.

There is a picture here of abundance for the immature in Christ as well as for the mature in Christ Look at your spiritual frame this morning Turn your eyes look at your Spiritual frame this morning can it be said of you that you have been receiving the nourishment of the work of Christ Can it be said of you that you are under the influence of the work of Christ is? Their growth in your life Or are you malnourished? Spiritually dried up underweight are There signs of joy and rejoicing Or have you lost your first love? Luke warm under the influence of your own self righteousness or under the influence of the world By wine by milk Drink water so that your soul is quenched, your thirst is quenched. Drink milk that you might be nourished and drink wine that you might have rejoicing and joy.

All of these speak of the richness of Jesus Christ. In verse 2, we see an earnest plea. An earnest plea. There is an invitation, but in this invitation, there's an earnest plea. And it's introduced by the word why.

Why? God's not looking for an answer. He's making a plea. Why do you spend money or weigh out silver for something that is not bread? Why will you go on spending your hard-earned wages for something that will not satisfy.

You see, the invitation is for those also who continue to spend their money on the wares of this world. God looks upon you my friend and earnestly asked why you go on in such insanity Look at what is in your hands It's not bread It will not sustain. It will not satisfy. Oh, why? Why my friend?

Listen carefully to Christ. Note, he says, listen carefully to me. Why must you listen with a carefulness? Because the gate is narrow and the way is difficult and few there be Who find it? The invitation goes out to everyone who first but few there be who come to these living waters." In John 4, we read of Jesus entering into a Samaritan city, And he goes and he sits down by a well.

A woman approaches him, a woman who was searching for satisfaction in all the wrong places. She had been married five times and was now on man number six. Her coming, her physical coming to the well, something she did probably several times a day, every day of her life, from the time she was able to carry a picture Until this time where she came and met Jesus This coming was a picture of her spiritual condition Over and over and over and over, her heart was drawing water from wells that could not satisfy the thirst of her heart. Again she thirsted and again she had to return. So what was happening physically was a picture of her spiritually.

But Christ uttered the wonderful invitation found here in our text. He invited this woman to come and to drink living water and to never thirst again. He said to her the water that I shall give will become a fountain of water springing up into eternal life And she listened carefully She listened carefully My friends that day she ate heavenly manna and drank spiritually refreshing water and She was not alone The Apostle John tells us that many who were in that city received that life-giving water and their testimony to that woman was this, now we believe not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him, Him who said come to the living waters and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Savior of everyone who thirsts and comes and drinks. Oh, my friend, incline your ear to him who is calling eat what is good let your soul delight itself in abundance so we move to verse 3 From come by and eat to incline your ear and hear. So in verse 3, Incline your ear and come to me here and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you the sure mercies of David." And so the first thing we see in verse 3 is a vital disposition.

A vital disposition. Incline your ear and come to me here and your soul shall live. The word here in this verse is the same Hebrew word as listen carefully, shamah, that we saw in the previous verse. Listen carefully, incline your ear, and hear. Hear is the same word as listen carefully.

Those two words joined together, Shema. And it it has the idea of hearing with attention or interest to hear with understanding and the word incline here, incline your ear in the Hebrew carries the idea of stretching out or extending, incline your ear. Now you children I don't know if you like to look at animals and watch animals and watch them in their habitats, but I love to watch the ears of animals and how they respond to noises. Have you children ever seen that? Have you ever seen a deer as you approach?

Maybe you're walking through the woods and you see a deer or you're driving down the road and the deer hears the noise of that vehicle. What does that deer do? Those ears perk up and they incline. They lean towards where's that noise coming from. They want to hear.

They want to know am I in danger? Do I need to flee? They incline their ears. All of nature teaches us that The animal kingdom all the animals in the ones that have ears they incline their ears And God's telling you this morning incline your ear Now God hasn't given us the same abilities that He's given these animals for us to actually rotate, move, incline your ear. What is He saying?

It's an inclination of the heart. It's listening with attention, with interest, and as it were, leaning for all your worth to hear what is being said. How you listen. How you listen is important. It's not just listening.

It's not just sitting here and hearing the words as they come across my mouth, entering to your ears and you say, I heard them. It's listening carefully. It's Inclining your ear stretching it out as it were to grasp every word So I ask you how are you? Listening as I speak right now right now how are you listening? Right now the voice of Christ is calling you to come to the waters.

To buy and eat, to incline your ear and hear. Now you may say, I don't hear Christ. I hear you. How can you say Christ is calling me to come? This is why Paul explains it in 2nd Corinthians 5 verses 20 and 21.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us We employ you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him that's why I can say Christ is calling to you today In these verses here that Paul wrote, we see the overtones of an invitation, the pleading to be reconciled to God. We hear the voice of God calling out through his ambassador, through his preacher. We see also overtones of the need for careful listening, of the importance of its nature and of the need of a great transaction, your sins for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Very same thing. True hearing and careful listening express themselves in a diligent response.

The very state of your soul hangs in the balance. Do you approach the preaching of the Word of God that way? With the recognition that the state of your soul hangs in the balance? Incline your ear and hear. It's a vital disposition.

But also in verse three we see a sure promise, a sure promise to him who responds. Here in our passage, God states what is at stake. Here he reveals why It is so important that you incline your ear and respond to this great invitation. He who comes, he who calls, or he who calls to him Who comes, the one who calls enters into an everlasting covenant with that one who comes. An everlasting covenant with the Almighty God.

He who comes receives the sure mercies that David received. Only God can declare a covenant everlasting. Only he can declare a covenant to be everlasting. He can do this because he is God cannot lie. He will always be faithful to his promise.

But not only that, he is able to both keep us from falling away from the covenant and to present us faultless before him at his throne on the final day. The everlasting covenant flows from everlasting love. Jeremiah 31.3 says, The LORD has appeared of all to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn you." This covenant here, this everlasting covenant, it's tied to the sure mercies of David. The sure mercies of David.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Now how is it tied? How is it tied to these sure mercies? Well as we contemplate these ties to David please note that this covenant, this new covenant that is flowing out of the sacrifice of Christ for his people It's been tied by Isaiah already to the covenant with Abraham. Back in chapter 51 verse 2, he said, look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you for I called him alone and blessed him and increased him, for the Lord, based on that covenant, the Lord will comfort Zion.

He will comfort all her waste places. He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in it. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody." So he's already tied this covenant back to the Abrahamic covenant. Back in the previous chapter, Isaiah tied it to the Noahic covenant.

Back in chapter 54 and verse 10, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you." And now here in this text, this covenant-making, covenant-keeping God says, I will give you the sure mercies of David. So all of these covenants have pointed to this greater covenant, the greatest covenant of all, the new covenant that is established by the blood of Jesus Christ. So what does the everlasting covenant that God makes with sinners have to do with the sure mercies of David? Well, to understand that connection, first we need to understand what is being referred to as the sure mercies of David because we have here the sure mercies of David.

They are sure. The Hebrew word here is rich with meaning. It means all of this. Made firm, lasting, confirmed, established, reliable, and faithful. The everlasting nature of this covenant as well as its surety rest in the very nature of God himself.

And so these mercies express to David, holding your place here, I'd like for you to turn with me to Psalm 89. Psalm 89. I'd like for your eyes to fall upon these sure mercies and to understand them. Psalm 89. You're well familiar with the first verse.

You've sung it before, most likely. But did you know that it's really referring to the sure mercies of David? This is written as a contemplation of Ethan the Ezraite. In that first verse, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations. That's talking about the sure mercies of David.

Read along with me. For I have said mercy shall be built up forever your faithfulness you shall establish in the very heavens. And here God describes that covenant. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to my servant David your seed I will establish forever and build up your throne to all generations." Skip down to verse 19.

Then you spoke in a vision to your Holy One and said, I have given help to one who is mighty. I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found my servant David with my holy oil I have anointed him with whom my hand shall be established also my arm shall strengthen him the enemy shall not outwit him nor the son of wickedness afflict him I will beat down his foes before his face and plague those who hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him and in my name his horn shall be exalted. Also I will set his hand over the sea and his right hand over the rivers.

He shall cry to me, You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My mercy I will keep for him forever, and my covenant shall stand firm with him. His seed also I will make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." Then down to verse 34, my covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips once I have sworn by my holiness I will not lie to David His seed shall endure forever and is thrown as the sun before me. It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky." These are the sure mercies of David.

We also have in Acts chapter 13, Paul referring to these sure mercies of David. Acts chapter 13, verses 28 to 37, Paul here preaching says, And though they found no cause for death in Christ, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him up from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.

And we declare to you glad tidings. That promise which was made to the fathers, God has fulfilled this for us, their children, and that He has raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm. You are my son. Today I have begotten you." And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus, I will give you The sure mercies of David.

Therefore he also says in another Psalm, you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up saw no corruption." This everlasting covenant is based upon these sure mercies of David and they become ours. These sure mercies that says of David's seed there will be no end to one who will reign on this throne. It is an everlasting throne, an everlasting kingdom. And he told David this and and Paul points out the fact David passed away.

David was not the fulfillment of these promises. These promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead, to never again see corruption, but is raised to His right hand and is reigning this very day. And these are the sure mercies that are given to God's people. There will be no end to the throne of David. No end.

His seed shall endure forever. Christ is the one who is the fulfillment. He saw no corruption. God has declared His generation. Christ shall see His seed.

He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. And this is the beauty of the writing of Isaiah as we saw at the beginning of our time together having established the beautifying and glorifying of the church as a result of the work of Christ in the previous chapter Here in our chapter, individuals are called. See, Christ died to justify many. And Christ calls this barren woman and He said, greater in number are her children than the woman who has children already. The number is greater.

And He's building a city. And He's placing us as living stones into this city. But as we come to chapter 55, God starts to call the individuals. It's the calling of these living stones. But these living stones are not called and then set to the side.

They are placed into this structure, into this building, this temple that God is building. They are being knit together, the mortar of His grace bringing us together. And so this promise, as we see in verse 3, it's a promise to him who responds But on the heels of it we see a promise to him who reigns Verse 4 a sure promise to him who reigns Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people. I believe that's speaking of David as we saw in Psalm 89 who was called out from among the people. One man called out, made a leader and a commander.

And then this sure promise as he switches in from, indeed I have given him, and now indeed surely you shall call a nation. There's this sure promise to one who reigns. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know and nations who do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel for He has glorified you. The sure promise made to the thirsty one who responds to the invitation of Jehovah flows out of a promise that he made to his son, who now reigns. The mercies of David never seemed more sure than when they began to unfold in the book of Acts.

Think about the power at Pentecost that fell upon the apostles, the ones gathered in that upper room. Think about the many that were added to the church on the day Peter preached, that very same day. And the church continued to grow in the book of Acts. Gentiles were brought in. The promise was given to them as well as to the Jews.

The promise God made to his son is that Christ would have a nation notice that surely you shall call a nation one nation And it was too small a thing that this nation should be made up of the remnant of Jacob. God said, I'm going to give you as a light to the Gentiles. And therefore we see nations who do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel." And do we not see these two things tied together even in the words of Christ in John 6 37? All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. I have a hard time holding back my emotions when considering the beauty of those words.

And nations who do not know you shall run to you. That is us, my dear brothers and sisters. Those who sat in darkness, those who were without God and without hope in the world, who were dead in trespasses and sins, who were enemies of God, who were alienated from Him, condemned an Adam, who were not seeking Him. These, these are The ones that shall run to him They won't walk They're going to run And they're not running from him. They're running to him And from those who run to him from the many nations he makes a people a nation a Royal priesthood He has been glorified For he has glorified you it says it's done It's done The father has highly Exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus Every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father So as you see here in Isaiah 55, this beautiful invitation set against the backdrop of what Christ has accomplished and what he's building, what he's doing.

As you see this text here in Isaiah 55, this invitation to each and every one, it's like the brushstrokes of grace on a marvelous canvas. A portrait that God is painting. He's painting a portrait. He's building a church. But the making of that portrait is by individual brushstrokes.

And we're not to gaze totally upon those brushstrokes. We're to look at this marvelous canvas of God's grace, this brush of grace in the hand of Christ as He's painting this wonderful picture of a bride, a church, bought by him. But it is made up of brushstrokes. Brushstrokes of grace. The invitation is for you, you, to come and to know this God.

So by means of application, number one, personalize this invitation. Personalize this invitation. As you sit there in your chair you are within, you are within the sound of this very invitation and it is a personal invitation it is as real today as It was when Isaiah penned these very words You are here today by the sovereign choice of a merciful and gracious God. He has given your ear the ability to receive the movement of air caused by the vibrations of my vocal cords, and he has given your brain the capability to process those movements so that you can understand the pleas of this preacher. He designed that you today on September the 6th 2015 would receive this invitation come come you first come to the waters Come to the waters.

Why? Why will you spend money for what is not bread? Why will you spend your wages for what will not satisfy? Come. Why?

You can eat, it's an invitation for you, for you, are you thirsty, are you thirsty, Come to the waters. Number two, do not take this invitation lightly. Do not take this invitation lightly. Going back to the illustration, the eye glasses, remember the lenses. One lens, lens, to his crying out now, the look of Bavarov lifting up to the about the children to the illustration and the eye glasses of the members of the Lentzs.

One Lentz is crying out now, look above, for of lifting up the voice, Come, come, come. And the other Lentz, Matthew 22, Christ himself with the parable of the King, who invited us to come to God. Come, the feast is prepared. Well looking back through these phrases, these are the words of wisdom regarding those who refused to heed her call Proverbs 1 because I have called and you refused I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke. I also will laugh at your calamity.

I will mock when your terror comes. When your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call on me. But I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them and the complacency of fools will destroy them. And then as we look through the other lens at the words of the King found in Matthew 22 regarding those who despise the invitation, he says, they were not willing to come. They made light of the invitation and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.

But when the king heard about it, he was furious and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Turn not away from this gracious invitation. Pray for grace to realize your unquenchable thirst, to realize your wasteful pursuit of things that will not satisfy. Pray for grace to respond in the manner of verses 6 and 7 in our chapter here. 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. Let him return to the Lord. And here's the promise, he will have mercy on him And to our God for he will abundantly pardon and for you this morning who have come to the waters who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good You know Christ. This application is for you.

Is your soul still delighting itself in the abundance found in Christ? Brothers and sisters, there's a real danger in leaving our first love, of thinking ourselves rich with abundance when we stand in need of what Christ alone can supply. Jeremiah was writing to such a people that he describes this way in Jeremiah 3, 11 through 13. Has the nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But my people have changed their glory.

For what does not profit? Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate, says the Lord. For my people have committed two evils They have forsaken me the fountain of Living waters and hewn themselves cisterns Broken cisterns that can hold no water Is that you my friend is that you Are you digging cisterns that can hold no water? Have you exchanged a bucket for drawing water from the well for a shovel?

To dig your own cistern That cistern is broken It can hold no water That money cannot buy what is bred. Your wages cannot buy what will satisfy you. Having received abundance freely from His hand, are you seeking for satisfaction elsewhere? Will you gain the whole world at the loss of your own soul? Are you neglecting the means of grace, the gathering of his church, the reading of and meditation upon his word, prayer, singing, sweetness and abundance are found in Christ, in Christ alone.

Sweetness and abundance are found in Christ alone. In His Word, in His people, in His day, All within Christ is your soul still delighting itself in the abundance found in Christ. I close with the words of a hymn. And I ask you, can you, as I read these words, can you from the heart echo the words of the hymn writer? Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art I Am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart Thou hast bid me gaze upon me as thy beauty fills my soul, for by thy transforming power thou hast made me whole.

Oh, how great thy loving kindness, vaster, broader than the sea. Oh, How marvelous thy goodness lavished all on me Yes, I rest in thee beloved know what wealth of grace is Thine Know thy certainty of promise and have made it mine Simply trusting thee Lord Jesus I Behold thee as thou art and thy love so pure so changeless Satisfies my heart Satisfies its deepest longings meets supplies its every need Composeth me round with blessings. Thine is love indeed. Ever lift thy face upon me as I work and wait for thee, resting neath thy smile, Lord Jesus. Earth's dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father's glory, sunshine of my Father's face. Keep me ever trusting, resting, fill me with Thy grace." and the chorus, Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art. I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart. May God give us grace. May God give us great grace to come, come to the living waters, whether it's your first time, whether it's the 10 millionth time, may God give us grace to drink of these waters.

These are cleansing waters. These are living waters. All else will leave us thirsty. O gracious God, we thank you for the earnest plea from your voice that you issue forth calling sinners like ourselves to come and to thirst no more, to find living waters and from those living waters springs of waters bursting forth in our hearts unto eternal life. Oh God, give us grace to come, to buy, to eat, to incline our ear, and to hear.

And oh God, may all under the sound of my voice come to know these sure mercies of David, the everlasting covenant that you will make in bringing us into your kingdom, that nation over which you have set your Son. And we thank you that his kingdom is a kingdom of peace And there will be no end to the growth of that kingdom and the peace that it brings. Give us grace to hear and to obey. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.