COME TO THE WATERS A Sermon on Isaiah 55:1–3

INTRODUCTION

Isaiah 55 is the gospel preached hundreds of years before Bethlehem. It is the voice of God breaking through the noise of a thirsty world.

The chapter opens, not with a command, but with a compassionate cry. Heaven is not bargaining with sinners. Heaven is beckoning them.

God is not standing with folded arms waiting to see if man can climb to Him. He is calling from the heights of His mercy to those who have fallen into the depths of their sin.

Listen to the music of the invitation:

“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. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭1‬-‭3‬).

This is the language of grace. The thirsty are invited. The bankrupt are welcomed. The hungry are satisfied. The dying are promised life.

Every command in these verses is wrapped in mercy. “Come.” “Buy.” “Eat.” “Listen.” “Incline your ear.” “Come to Me.” The God who owes us nothing offers us everything.

This invitation reaches from Genesis to Revelation. Joseph opened the storehouses of Egypt to the starving (Genesis 41:56–57).

The Lord spread manna across the wilderness for Israel’s hunger (Exodus 16:15).

Jesus stood in the temple and cried, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37).

At the close of the Bible the invitation still stands, “Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

The gospel begins with God’s invitation because salvation has always been by His grace.

The tragedy is not that the fountain is empty. The tragedy is that sinners keep digging broken cisterns that hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

People exhaust themselves chasing pleasure, possessions, religion, and self-righteousness, only to discover that the soul remains thirsty.

Every idol promises satisfaction but leaves the heart more barren than before. Sin is a cruel employer. It pays wages in ashes and death (Romans 6:23).

Isaiah now lifts the curtain and shows us three magnificent truths about God’s gracious invitation.

I. THE THIRST OF THE HEART

The first words shout across the centuries: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts.”

This is not a whisper. It is Heaven’s alarm bell. God is calling thirsty souls.

Physical thirst is painful, but spiritual thirst is deadly.

Every human heart was created for fellowship with God. Until the soul drinks from Christ, it wanders through life like a traveler crossing a desert beneath a blazing sun.

Notice the double invitation.

“Come to the waters.”

“Come, buy and eat.”

Grace always moves toward sinners before sinners move toward God.

The Shepherd seeks the sheep (Luke 15:4-7). The Father runs toward the prodigal (Luke 15:20). Christ came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Salvation begins with God calling, God seeking, God inviting, and God drawing (John 6:44).

There is another surprise in this invitation. God invites those “who have no money.”

Heaven’s marketplace is unlike every marketplace on earth. Everything that matters is offered freely because Another has paid the price.

The blood of Jesus Christ purchased what no sinner could ever afford (1 Peter 1:18–19).

Eternal life is “the gift of God” (Romans 6:23).

The poorest sinner may become richer than kings by receiving Christ through faith.

Imagine a starving family standing outside a bakery with empty pockets. They smell fresh bread but cannot buy a loaf. Suddenly the owner opens the door and says, “Everything has already been paid for. Come inside and eat.” Would anyone stand outside arguing about the price?

Yet countless sinners refuse God’s free grace because they insist on paying with their own goodness. Their morality is counterfeit currency. Their religion is worthless coin. The only hand that receives salvation is the empty hand of faith (Ephesians 2:8–9).

The waters of this world are muddy streams. Christ is the river of life. The bread of this world grows stale. Christ is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). The wine of sin intoxicates for a night and leaves bitterness in the morning. Christ fills the soul with everlasting joy (Psalms 16:11).

Why drink from puddles when the Fountain of Living Waters is freely flowing?

God’s invitation is not merely to receive blessings. It is an invitation to come to Him.

Every blessing is found in the Blesser. Every gift is found in the Giver. Every stream leads to the Fountain, and that Fountain is the Lord Himself.

II. THE TRAGEDY OF THE HUNGER

Isaiah now asks one of the most penetrating questions in all of God’s word. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2).

God is exposing the insanity of sin.

Every sinner is investing everything for nothing.

He spends his strength chasing shadows. He exhausts his years pursuing dust. He reaches the end of the road only to discover that the banquet of the world has left his soul starving.

The world is a master salesman. It hangs glitter before the eyes and promises fulfillment. It says that wealth will satisfy, yet the rich often long for more (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

It promises pleasure, yet “the passing pleasures of sin” vanish like morning mist (Hebrews 11:25).

It offers power, applause, and success, but when death knocks, none of these can purchase one more heartbeat.

Our Lord asked, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Earth can fill a house with treasures, but only Christ can fill a heart with peace.

Many years ago, sailors crossing the ocean became desperately thirsty after drifting far from shore. They did not realize they had entered the mouth of a mighty river. Fresh water surrounded them, yet they were dying because they kept drinking from their dwindling supply.

So it is with countless people today. Living Water is near in Christ, yet they continue drinking from the polluted cisterns of this age. They remain thirsty, not because grace is absent, but because they refuse the Fountain.

Notice the tenderness of God’s appeal.

He does not merely rebuke.

He reasons.

“Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

The Lord is saying, “Stop feeding on what destroys you. Come feast upon what gives life.”

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger” (John 6:35).

The psalmist testified, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:8).

God never calls us away from joy. He calls us away from counterfeit joy into everlasting joy.

What a contrast stands before us. Sin promises a feast and serves famine. Christ appears to demand surrender, yet spreads a table overflowing with mercy.

The devil paints bright colors over empty tombs. Christ uncovers our ruin only that He may clothe us with His righteousness.

The world offers glitter that soon becomes gravel. Christ offers grace that grows sweeter with every passing year.

Every idol eventually demands more than it gives.

Greed demands another dollar.

Lust demands another indulgence. Pride demands another applause.

Anger demands another victim.

Yet Christ says, “Come unto Me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). What a glorious Savior! He alone satisfies the deepest hunger of the human soul because He alone is the Creator of that soul.

III. THE TRIUMPH OF THE HOPE

Verse 3 rises like the sun after a storm. “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live.”

Salvation is not found in merely hearing words. It is found in coming to the living God through faith. The ear must receive the truth. The heart must embrace the Savior. The feet of faith must come to Christ.

Then God declares, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David.”

What glorious words!

Our salvation does not rest upon the shifting sands of human performance but upon God’s everlasting covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of David.

His promises cannot fail because His character cannot change. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

The cross is the proof that this invitation is sincere. The hands stretched out in Isaiah become the hands pierced at Calvary.

The voice crying, “Come,” is the same voice that cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

The fountain is free because the Savior paid the full price. Mercy flows because justice has been satisfied. The guilty are welcomed because the spotless Lamb bore their guilt.

Imagine a mighty king preparing a banquet for rebels who had raised their swords against him. Instead of execution, he offers forgiveness. Instead of chains, he offers a seat at his table. Instead of wrath, he gives his own son to secure their pardon.

Such a story would seem beyond belief, yet it is only a faint picture of the grace revealed in the gospel. God does not merely pardon sinners. He adopts them into His family and grants them everlasting life (John 1:12; Romans 8:15–17).

This invitation still stands today. The waters still flow. The bread is still fresh. The covenant is still sure.

The Savior still receives all who come.

The only question is whether you will continue spending your life on what cannot satisfy or whether you will come to Christ and live.

CONCLUSION

The Spirit of God has placed before us two tables.

One belongs to the world. It sparkles for a moment, yet beneath its fine linen is death.

The other belongs to Christ. It was purchased by His blood, covered by His grace, and filled with eternal life.

One leaves the soul empty. The other satisfies forever.

Do not admire the invitation without accepting it. Do not study the fountain while dying of thirst. Do not praise the bread while starving in your sin.

Come to Christ. Come now. Come empty. Come broken. Come believing.

The One who invited thirsty sinners through Isaiah still welcomes all who call upon His name. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

_____________

Our gracious Father, we thank You for the glorious invitation of the gospel. Thank You that the water of life is freely offered because Jesus Christ has paid the full price through His death and resurrection. Draw thirsty hearts to Yourself today. Break the chains of sin. Open blind eyes. Awaken sleeping souls. May those who have wandered from You return with repentance and faith. May believers find fresh joy in the Savior who alone satisfies every longing of the heart. Teach us to drink deeply of Your grace and to proclaim this invitation until our Lord returns. We ask these things in the precious and mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

BDD