Kentucky Conference: 1984, Come Drink Be Satisfied (55:1)
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
Isaiah chapter 55, beginning with verse one. O everyone that thirsteth, come me to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yeah, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me. And Ichi that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me. Hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God. And for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified. Thee seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye 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. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be. That goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where two eyes entered. For ye shall go out with joy, and be LED forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the Myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. I'd like you to turn also with me please to. The Gospel of John in the 4th chapter and the 13th verse. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh 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. And the 7th chapter of John. 7th chapter of John. And the. 37th verse. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. And then just one more passage in the very last book in the Bible and the last chapter. Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22. And verse 17. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, come, and let him that is athirst come, And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Well, in our chapter that we have read here in the 55th of Isaiah, we find an invitation to come and have a drink of that water that truly satisfies. Oh, dear friends, how wonderful it is that God's heart is yearning for the blessing of man. When God created this world, He created it beautiful, and He gave it to Adam and Eve to enjoy. He told them that they could enjoy all the trees of the garden that he had given them, but just one little command so that they would recognize His rights. But they reached out for that which was forbidden, and so they lost the enjoyment of that which He had been provided. But immediately we find God going to work. And so the very first words that God.
God spoke after sin had entered the world. Are these Adam? Where art thou? God became a seeking God, and dear friends, he still a seeking God. He may be seeking someone in this room, someone who doesn't yet know him as the one who can truly fill and satisfy your heart. And he's seeking you. But at Calvary's cross, a work was done to meet your soul's need. But perhaps you haven't yet come to that Savior. The work has been accomplished, the Lord Jesus on the cross cried, it is finished, and the blood, as we had last night, is on the mercy seat. God has provided a way of approach and it's open for you. But have you come? And he's seeking you tonight, and He wants you to find that full and free pardon that He so freely offers. And so the question that we want to bring before you tonight. Is what shall I then do with Jesus? Which is called Christ. Pilate asked that question when he had the Lord Jesus before him, and the people that listened made an awful answer. They said let him be crucified. And I want to ask you tonight, what is the answer of your heart? What shall I then do with Jesus? Do you joyfully answer and say I've received him, he's my savior, He has pardoned me. Or are you still trying to go on without him? Are you still rejecting his love? And. Grace. Well, dear friends, he hasn't given up on you. The Lord hasn't yet come, and the door of mercy is still wide open. But it does tell us in the Gospel of Luke when once the master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door, then shall they begin to knock, saying, Lord, Lord open to us. There won't be a hall in this whole state large enough to contain the people that would like to have one more opportunity, just like. Having tonight, yes, when the Lord has shut the door, then people will be wide awake as to their need. But why, dear friend, would you not come now? Because God has set a time limit upon the message of pardon and salvation. And I don't know when that time is, but I do know one thing that He says now is the day of salvation. And I want to ask you, what do you expect to lose by receiving the Lord Jesus? Well, thank God. God, you will lose something, and that is you'll lose your sins. Because it says you'll cast your sins behind his back. He'll cast them into the depths of the sea. Wouldn't you like to be rid of your sins? Wouldn't you like to know that they're gone? Like the young people sometimes sing? You ask me why I'm happy and I'll just tell you why, because my sins are gone. Wouldn't you like to know that in the depths of your heart? Oh, you say the Lord wants to take away other things from me. No. God is a giving God. That's what that woman in the 4th chapter of John had to find out. She didn't know that God was a giving God. And so he is tonight. Surely we can see the evidence of it in all the good things He gives us in creation. But now he wants to do something more. I've sometimes thought like this, that when sin entered the world and spoiled it, God said as it were, You've spoiled this world by your sin. But I have an invitation to you for something better than what you have spoiled. Oh, isn't that wonderful, friends? Sometimes our children spoil things, but we usually didn't offer them something better than what they had spoiled. But that's what God does. That's the heart of God. Friends, when man spoiled this world through. Sin, he said, I'm going to open heaven to you. It'll cost me a great deal. And it did. But still he didn't stop at the cost. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And so this beautiful passage here in the 55th of Isaiah is just a little sample as I read in the other verses here. There's the call to. Satisfy your thirst. When that sinful woman came to the Lord Jesus, why He wanted to satisfy her thirst. When a group of religious people came up to Jerusalem to keep the feast, the Lord knew that their religion would never satisfy their hearts. And so on the last day, and it was the last feast of the year, the whole cycle of feasts had gone by. There had been There were 7 feasts in the land of Israel, and they all gone by except the last one. And the Lord waited till the last day of the last feast, and he said to those religious people, Is there anyone that's still thirsty? If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. And so here we find he's inviting people that are thirsty, A sinful woman who was trying the path of sin to satisfy her inward thirst. He said, I'll give you water that will really satisfy.
Springing up into everlasting life, religious people. And then he couldn't close his book. Without giving one final invitation, the very last book in the Bible, in the last chapter, he's still issuing the invitation. He's still saying come and so do your friends. He's saying it tonight and would to God that your heart would be opened to receive that pardon. That he wants to bestow that pardon from sin. Because without that, you and I could never enter the courts of glory. Sin has spoiled this world, and God's not going to. Let it spoil heaven, if it entered there, it would spoil it. But he says there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh the lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life. And it speaks two of those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That's the only way, dear friend. Well, isn't this a lovely call here? Hull, everyone that thirsteth. Has life really satisfied you? Someone said that every person of Adam's race has either found out or will find out that the world can't satisfy. Perhaps there are young people here tonight and you haven't found that out yet. You say, well, life is before me and I am going to have a good time, but oh, how many a young person has come to realize. That trying the different things this world has to offer. Has not satisfied. Oh dear friend, if that's what you're doing, I can tell you what Jesus said, and it's true. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. You will never, never. And all the things this world has to offer find it that which really satisfied. You'll always be after something else. Because it's not possible that this created, this created world in which we live can really satisfy. The Creator himself alone. Can satisfy, but tonight the Lord is given the invitation. You know, Isaiah is often spoken of as the gospel prophet. And you know, I like to read so many very wonderful things in the gospel, in the book of Isaiah that really present the gospel to us. If I could express it as though God couldn't wait until his Son had done the work. And so he tells us in some little way what's in his heart. It was many years after Isaiah wrote that the work of redemption was accomplished at Calvary. But it says in the 1St chapter of Isaiah, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. And sometimes. We have good news. We can hardly wait till a time. It's really supposed to be told out. We want to tell it before it's so good. And dear friends, God wanted to tell it. And as soon as sin entered he, he mentioned it away back there in the Garden of Eden, when he said that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. When he called out Abraham, he said, in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And here in this Isaiah, the prophet, he says, are your. Sins of scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. He didn't tell how because redemption hadn't yet been accomplished, but he showed that he was a pardoning God. He was one who wanted to pardon. In the 53rd chapter he tells us prophetically how this would take place and announces about the coming into this world of His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus, and tells us about the work that he was going to do. And those verses so well known to many of us. In the 53rd of Isaiah where it says. It says He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Well, that was written hundreds of years before the work was done, but God, if one can speak reverently, 1. To tell beforehand what His blessed Son was going to do. And then in this lovely chapter that we have tonight, he's giving this invitation. Is there someone here tonight? And there is in your heart an inward thirst. You've been trying different things. You're like the woman who came to Jesus and she had that issue of blood, and she tried everybody else before she came to Him. Isn't that like our hearts? We just try everything before we come to Him.
We try pleasures, we try religion, we try all kinds of things before we come to him. Our proud hearts don't like to come and say I can't do anything myself. I need Jesus. He's the only one. But you know, God has to bring us friends to the end of ourselves. He has to bring us to the point where we say I'm bankrupt, I have nothing. I can't pay the debt of sin. He has to bring us, I say, to that point. It says in the 33rd chapter of Job he looketh upon men, and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which is right, and it profited me not, he will be gracious. He will deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom, that is. God himself is not listening for you to say. I'll turn over new leaf. I'll try and. Do better, I'll give some money to the church. No, that's not what he's listening for. He's listening to hear you say from your inmost heart, I have sinned to take your true place before him because there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that repented. Now of course I know this, that after you're saved, you're going to want to please the Savior. Someone wrote a little poem that goes like this. I could not work my soul to save for that my Lord has done, but I would work like any slave for the love of God's dear Son. And God is not wanting works from you until you have come to the Lord Jesus. People came to the Savior when he was here upon earth and said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? And you know what the Lord Jesus said? He said this is the work of God. That you believe on him whom he has sent, that's what he wanted. That's the first thing you can do that is pleasing to God is to believe what God says about His blessed Son. And so this invitation goes out to you tonight. Are you thirsty? Is there something lacking in your life? Do you long for the knowledge of forgiveness and pardon? Perhaps some sorrow has come into your life. Some loved one has been taken away. Some sad event and you said, oh, I wish I had peace, perhaps as you stood by the death bed or in the cemetery. In the cemetery and saw a loved one buried, it all came up in your mind, am I ready? Where would I be if this were my case? Oh friends, it's because you haven't had a drink of the water of life. You don't have the Savior. If you knew him as your savior, you would have peace in the presence of death because the scripture says all things are yours, whether life or death. It says again, Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave. Where is thy victory? The strength of sin is the law, but thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is that victory, there is salvation. Well, it says here, You don't have to pay. He that hath no money. Let him. It says, he that hath no money, Come ye by and eat. Yeah, come by wine and milk without money. Money and without price. You see, I don't quite understand that. It says to buy and it says to buy without money. How could you buy without money? Well, I've done that. I've gone into the store to buy something and a friend put the money down on the table and I didn't pay. It wasn't that price didn't have to be paid, but I didn't pay it. It was somebody else that paid it for me. And dear friends, that's just exactly what the Lord Jesus did. He came down to pay the price and people say, oh, that's too cheap. Well, it isn't that the price is low. The price is far greater than I could ever tell you. I'll never fully know what the Lord Jesus suffered on Calvary's cross when he paid the price of sin. Sometimes when a friend pays something for you, they don't want you really to know how much it costs because.
They were glad to do it, and they don't want you to know. And dear friends, you'll never find out and I'll never find out how great the price of sin was. But one thing I'm absolutely sure is that Jesus paid it all. Because as we had the other night, he cried. It is finished. And the Bible clearly assures us that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Dear friends, the work of redemption was a greater work than the work of creation. As you think of this wonderful world in which we live and all the marvels of God's creation, you look up into the starry sky and you see those vast orbs, many of them far larger than this earth. And you know that God was the creator of them all. And how did he create them? The Bible says he spake. And it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. He could put all those mighty orbs in space just by speaking. But to fit one soul for. Heaven was a greater work than the work of creation. He couldn't fit your soul or mine from heaven for heaven unless the price of sin was paid, and there was only one who could do it. We hear the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane just before he went to the cross, and he said, O my Father, if this cup may not pass from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done. There was no possible way of that. My sins or your sins could be put away unless the Lord Jesus went to Calvary's cross and paid the debt. Oh, dear friends, never, never think that it's too easy because it wasn't easy for the Savior. He had to pay the price and He did it. He paid the price and He's offering it to you freely. And he asks you a question here, Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Doesn't it amaze you sometimes how much money is spent in this world for entertainment? You know, it's really tremendous and it's growing all the time. All kinds of new forms of entertainment are coming out. And it amazes you sometimes people that say they don't even have enough money to buy. Food for their natural bodies. They still seem to have money for those kind of things. Oh, yes. Man can't be alone with his thoughts. He's afraid to face reality. And so he must be entertained. He's got to have something to take his mind off himself and his problems and his troubles. And so he lives in an unreal world full of pleasure and entertainment. And you know, it's the way, as our brother said, it's just the way, Satan. Dressed up this world, the Bible speaks of this world as Satan's palace. And it says when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he cometh, he taketh all his armor wherein he trusted and divideth the spoil. And Satan's trying to dress up this world so you'll think it's a nice place to be and not think of what's beyond. But there's a stronger person that came and he defeated Satan. He went to Calvary and. When he defeated Satan and he set his captives free, the Lord Jesus has set the ones who believe free, and He has given us pleasures that abide. He's given us a drink of the water of life, and he wants to give you a drink tonight. He wants you to receive from that fountain that so freely flows, and he's asking here. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies? Oh, how hard people will work for that which will not satisfy one man. His ambition was to be a millionaire and a friend of mine said to him, and what will you do when you get your $1,000,000? And this was his candid remark. He said I'll be the most miserable person on earth. He knew it wouldn't satisfy, but the only pleasure was in striving for it. And how true. Is the people that have the things in this world they have found they don't satisfy they can't my friend, but there's one who can give you a drink of the water of life. Yes, he can do more than that. Just like he said to the woman in the 4th of John, he can put the well in your heart so that when she had met the savior, it tells us in the 4th chapter of John, she left her water pot and went into.
The city, I like the way someone put it. They said she left her water pot and went away with a well. Yes, dear friend, she came to get a drink from Jacob's well, and she knew that she had to do this every day because she thirsted again. But the Lord said, I'll, I'll give you a drink of that which will satisfy a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And so she went away and she invited others too that. They might come and meet that person who had met her need. And that's what I'm trying to do tonight. I'm just a Sinner saved by grace myself. And I'm just happy to have the privilege to tell you that the one who saved me can save you. He's mighty to save. That work of Grace, that work of redemption on the cross of Calvary is sufficient to meet your need. And you can come tonight because he's never turned anyone away who came. He says him that cometh. To me, I will in no wise cast out and he'll invite you. He'll receive you. He'll just come. So he says, Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. He asks you to listen. I'm glad that you've come in tonight to listen to the gospel, but you know, you might hear my voice and nothing more, A young man said to me one time. He said I often went to the meeting. I went there to satisfy my girlfriend because she wanted me to come. And then he said one time as I sat in the meeting, he said I just felt as if the Lord was really speaking to me. And he said that day I got saved. And dear friends. May hear my voice. You may have come here to please a friend. I'm glad you're here if you did. I'm glad that boy came, even though it was to satisfy his girlfriend. But the day at last came when he heard more than the preacher's voice. He heard the voice of the Lord Jesus himself calling him, and his heart responded. And he came, and he received the Lord Jesus. And I hope tonight, if you've just come for some other purpose, that you will hear something beyond my voice. I hope. You'll hear the Savior saying, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest because he's calling you tonight. I'm just the instrument. I'm trying to carry the message from him. That's all I can do. Paul said now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's dead be reconciled to God. He said I'm just a representative. And I have the privilege of carrying a message, but the message is from the heart of God. And so it says, Incline your ear, and come unto me here, and your soul shall live. If you're not saved, you know as far as you're standing before God is concerned, why you're dead in trespasses and sins. You don't possess that new life that he gives, but that's what God does. It says he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he wants to give that gift to you. It's a gift. It says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's a gift. I say it's not just something that's offered as a bargain. Many people think of salvation. And they rather. Think of it like that, as though it were in terms of a bargain. It's very easy, but you do have to do something. You know, if you go into a store and you see something that's worth $50 and it's offered for five, that's a bargain, but you still have to pay something for it. It's not a gift, it's a bargain. But salvation isn't a bargain. It's free, friends. It's offered to you without money and without price. It isn't that. It isn't worth what God says it's worth. Why? The Scripture speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ, but it's offered freely. Oh, it says, incline your ear and come unto me. It's an invitation to come to a person. It's not just accepting a certain number of facts that you might believe historically. There are many things that we believe historically, and I suppose most people in this room believe that Jesus did come into this world and that he was born in Bethlehem. Him and that he did die upon the cross of Calvary. I expect you believe that Paul stood before Agrippa and said, King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Did that mean that King Agrippa was a saved man? No, he even himself said almost Thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Sure, you can believe things in a historical way.
But the scripture says if thou shalt believe in thine heart. That God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Believing in the heart means that you believe it's for yourself. You might have a swimming pool here, and you might have a very good lifeguard there, and it might be written up in the paper that this lifeguard had saved many people, rescued them when they would have otherwise been drowned. And so you read it. You read it with great interest, but it doesn't mean anything to you because you weren't one of those. People, But supposing that when you see that you were one of the people that he rescued, if it hadn't been for him you would have drowned, does that not mean a great deal more to you? You say to your friends, I was one of those people. He rescued me. And dear friends, that's what I want to tell you tonight. He rescued me from my sins. He saved me from hell, which my sins deserved, and he has washed me and made me one of his children. And believing in your heart means. That you see that that work was for you, Paul could say, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So he wants you to hear, and your soul shall live, receive everlasting life. And then I like the end of this third verse. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the sure mercies of David, God's offering to give a promise to you. And what is the promise that he wants to give? He wants to give you not only the promise that if you believe you'll be saved, but that he will never let you go. It says an everlasting covenant, and it says all the promises of God in him are Yeah, and in him Amen to the glory of God by us. It is all God's promises are not depending upon something in me they depend upon. This was the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Sufficient to put away our sins? Was God's God satisfied? In the work that his son accomplished, well, he was. He was because his word says. His word says that he He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon him, and with His stripes we are healed. It says He was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. And another lovely verse in Hebrews 10 says, by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Yes, that work. Is sufficient. It's efficient for your needs. You can't have too many sins that his blood can't blot them out. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Will. God wants you to get this promise. He doesn't want you to go to this room doubting, dear friends, He wants you to accept what he says here. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. It doesn't depend upon your feelings either. It depends upon the work that the Lord Jesus accomplished. Your feelings really have nothing to do with it. The question is, is the work of Christ enough? Does the blood cleanse from all sin? Suppose and I lived in a house and you said to me, Gordon, do you own that house you live in? Well, I say I feel pretty good about it. I've lived there for quite a while and I really have pretty good feelings about it, so I think it must be mine. Wouldn't you think I was kind of funny to talk that way? But I might say to you, well, yes, I own it and I could show you the title deeds for it and they're registered in the registry office. Why? It doesn't matter about my feelings. The question is, are those papers that I have? Really bona fide papers and is it registered in the registry office? And so, friends, your feelings have nothing to do with it. The question is, has the work of Christ been accepted before God? And when you believe, why, how blessed to know that your name is written in heaven? That's God's registry office. It says rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Another verse says the Church of the first born, which are written in heaven. You see, I'm a church member.
Well, my church role is up in heaven. That's where it is. And I didn't have to join it because the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. That's where the church role of true believers is. It's up there in heaven. And if you know the Lord is your Savior, why, you're part of his church. Your name is written there. Oh friend, don't let the devil get you doubting if you've taken the Lord Jesus. You're entitled to know that you're saved. We had a lovely verse today in our Bible reading, it says. Says it says these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. You can know it. But then the next verse says I've given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. We know we need that in our pathway here. Since I've been saved, there's been a lot of things that have risen in my life that I needed direction. But I learned in the Bible that the Savior who saved me is the captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory. He can be trusted. He knows the way through this wilderness world which we pass. Are you having problems and you're trying to? Solve them yourself. Oh, why won't you come to the Lord Jesus? And let him save your soul. And then he will be a leader and a commander. That is, he'll show you the way. He doesn't show it to us all at once. You know, the day we get saved. Why He shows us that the work of redemption is complete. But all through life he's still the one. He says my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And he says, he putteth forth his own sheep. He goeth before them. And if we run ahead of him, it says, he says, thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying, this is the way, walk ye in it. When ye turn to the right hand or to the left, oh, we have a wonderful savior. He saves. He directs us. And if we're so impatient we run ahead of him, He he comes behind us. Sometimes our children would run ahead of us when they were small. When we'd see the danger, we'd see them make a wrong turn or get into some position where they were in danger. We didn't like them running ahead of us, but we didn't just forsake them because they did. And we call to them and said. This is the right way. We pointed it out. That's the kind of a savior that we have. He's a leader and He's a commander. And Oh dear friend, I'll tell you this that He's, He'll bring me home to glory. He'll not let you down long away. He paid too much for you. That price that He paid at Calvary. And then it goes on in the sixth verse. It speaks of other nations beside Israel in the fifth verse because God was dealing with that special nation. But now. The grace of God goes out beyond Israel, and I'm a Gentile and he saved me. And so God in his goodness and grace was intending to reach out beyond that favored nation. But now the sixth verse says. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Now there is a time, as we said at the beginning, when the door will be shut, when people will come and knock, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. And so there's a time limit here, and I must press it upon you with all earnestness. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. I know that if you'll come tonight, he'll save you, because he says now is the accepted time. But I can't tell you that he'll. Tomorrow, because two things might happen. The Lord Jesus might come or death might overtake you. Many years ago, DL Moody preached in Chicago and there was a huge audience listening to him. And at the end of the meeting he told the people to go home and think it over and come back next week and make their decision. Well, that week the Great Chicago Fire took place. The meeting place where they gathered was burned down. And he never. Saw the most of those people again. Many of them were burned to death and they didn't, they couldn't come back the next week. And he said afterwards, he said I'd give my right arm if I could call that back. He said I'll never do that again. And friends, I'm not going to tell you to go and think it over. Why should you think it over? If you were drowning, you wouldn't say to the person who came to rescue, well, give me a day to think it over. You're just glad that they came and they came right where you were and they wanted to. Ask you, you. And so people say, well, I don't like to be pushed. Well, if I was drowning, I wouldn't care if he pushed me around or what he did as long as he rescued me. And dear friends, people talk very strangely about this because they don't realize that it's God's goodness. Now, I'm not going to push you, but I say the Lord wants to push you. He wants to bring you in before it's too late.
It was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly forced me in. And that's what he does by his spirit. He catches you by the arm, as it were. My brother was over in England one time and he got off the train at one of the stops to buy something at the little stand at the side of the road. I wasn't too accustomed to the way the trains operated, and he didn't notice that the train was just starting to move, but the guard saw it and he grabbed him by the arm. Pushed him in the door and he said I was awfully glad of that push. He would have been left with his family in the train and he himself outside. Well, dear friends, if God is catching a hold of your arm tonight and giving you a little push, yield. He's doing it for your good. He wants you to be saved. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near, because he says my spirit shall not always. Strive with man. There will be perhaps a day when God will stop striving, when he'll as it were, let you alone. But it says, woe unto them in that day when I depart from them. Well, it speaks of the solemnity of deciding now. Then it says, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will. Abundantly pardon. I ask you, are you determined to go on in the paths of sin? Are you determined? Are you saying right now as you sit, I want to live in my sins for a little bit longer and then I would like to be saved? Oh, friend, that's exceedingly dangerous because the wages of sin is death, and after death, the judgment. It'll be an awful thing to meet God as a judge. When the judgments begin in Revelation, it says that. The Tabernacle of God was opened in heaven and John saw the ark of his testimony. And I think that's a very solemn verse that when God brings that awful judgment, he opens heaven and shows what our brother was talking about last night. There is the there's the mercy seat and the blood was on it as though God were saying, I didn't want to act as a judge. I. Put the blood on the mercy seat so they could approach. And he says just before the judgment falls, God says there was the way of approach provided, but they wouldn't have it. Oh, how dreadfully solemn, dear friends. And so I plead with you tonight, Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Perhaps you have all kinds of thoughts and you say, well, I have a lot of questions. I've had people say that to me, but I've got a lot of questions. Well, dear friends, I plead with you, you can go on questioning forever and you can find yourself in a lost eternity with all those questions unanswered. The most important question tonight is just one what shall I then do with Jesus? Which is called Christ, and you're not going to be called upon. To answer a whole lot of questions in that day. But the great question will be, what did you do with Jesus? A little hymn says, What shall I do with Jesus? What shall the answer be? Someday your heart will be asking, what will he do with me? Dear friends, it's intensely solemn. Are you going to cling to your thoughts? And your ways. God wants to have mercy upon you. He wants to. Abundantly pardon. Don't you love that word? I do abundantly pardon. When God pardons, he pardons fully and completely. We're not that way with our friends. Sometimes they say they're sorry and kind of half heartedly we we forgive them, but we don't forget. But God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. He says your sins and iniquities, I will remember no more. This is the kind of a God that wants to be your savior. A Savior God who provided the Lord Jesus to wash away your sins, He'll abundantly pardon. And it says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. I've heard people say, well, there's so many things about what God does that I don't understand. But you know, God is above us, isn't he? God is a man. God is not a man. It says you and I are.
Hear about God is supreme. Can you think of a person who can control this whole universe? That controls this vast universe, knows all about us, numbers, the hairs of our head. There's so many things about God that are beyond our mind. How foolish to think that unless we could understand all God's ways that we wouldn't receive the salvation that He offers. Do you ever go to the doctor and say doctrine? I can fully understand my condition and all about these treatments and medicine. Why, I don't want anything from you. No, dear friends, you're glad that there is somebody that does understand, who knows a little bit more than you about things, and who is able to help your condition. Well, the doctor might fail, but the great physician, he'll never fail if you'll come to him and just commit it all to him and say, Lord, there are many things I don't understand. But one thing is very, very clear to me, I'm a Sinner and I need a Savior and salvation has been provided. And so that's what God wants to bring to you tonight, that pardon that He has to offer. Many of the questions in life will not be answered till we get home to glory. It says you know, it says his footsteps are not known. Another verse says his ways are past finding out. So I'm content to leave a lot of things that I don't understand till that coming day. But one thing I do understand and as someone said, I'm not going to let the things I don't understand what spoil the things I do and I understand. Very, very simply that I am a Sinner and that Jesus died for me. And so he says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And then he tells about, you know, the rain coming down, and the snow from heaven and returning, not hit her. That is, God sends the rain down, and He sends it for a purpose of blessing upon his earth. The Bible says He sends his rain upon the just and upon the unjust, in spite of the fact that man doesn't appreciate all his goodness. Why? He sends it, and it accomplishes the purpose that he please us. And you may have heard the gospel 100 times. And it doesn't mean because you reject it that heaven is not going to be full. There won't be any empty seats in heaven. The Bible talks about that place. It speaks about just in a figurative way. It says, and I saw 4 and 20 seats, and upon the seats 4 and 20 elders. And they represent the redeemed, because they're saying thou art worthy, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. The Bible tells us that. My house may be filled. God's house is going to be filled, but hell will not be. The Bible says Hell and destruction are never full. Heaven. Hell is not going to be filled. Perhaps you'll be there. I hope not. But heaven's going to be filled. And the purpose of God's grace in sending this wonderful message is that my house may be filled, it says. And so here he says that just as the rain comes down and accomplishes the purpose of God, so the message of pardon goes out. It accomplishes the purpose of God. And I'm just sorry for you if you reject it, because God's house is going to be filled. Are you going to fill one of those seats? Are you going to be in that company that will sing? Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us a God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue. And people and nation, by matchless grace, I'll be there, not because I'm any better than you, but because I've been washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus, the blood of the Lamb. And I'm going to sing about his worthiness. And He wants you to be there too. He wants you to be among that number. Well, it's going to accomplish His purpose. It says it won't return to him void, but God is just waiting until the last one closes in. He has purposes of grace and he's waiting. One brother said to me, I'd like to be preaching the gospel when the last soul gets saved. He said, wouldn't it be wonderful you're preaching the gospel? The last soul says yes to the Lord Jesus and he comes and takes his own away. It's going to happen sometime, friends, and it might be tonight too. And God is offering this salvation to you. Will you come?
Well then it says here in this 12TH verse, he shall. Shall go out with joy and be LED forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. You can go to this meeting with joy in your heart and knowing that your sins are forgiven. You can go out of this room with peace in your heart, because it says, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It says you shall go out with joy. And be LED forth with peace, because if you receive the Savior, you're not going to go to here alone. The Lord's going to lead you out. He's going to take your hand. And he's promised, as we had the other day, He's promised, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. He'll always be with you. And He wants you to go out of this meeting just exactly that way, where the joy of salvation in your heart and knowing that the Lord Jesus has taken your hand and as the captain is going to lead you. Home to glory all perhaps you say, but oh, I just see some mountains in the way. It's easy for you to talk that way, but there's just some big mountains that I, I just don't know. I, I don't know whether I can handle this affair or that affair. But it says the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. God will take care of those difficult situations, those problems that you think. Impossible. They are not impossible to God. He is able for them. And so how often God has come in and problems that we saw, God turned those very problems into a blessing in our lives. We all have those mountains, but faith can remove the mountains. The Lord can undertake. And so I ask you, don't let anything hinder you. Don't let the devil put obstacles in your way. Our brothers spoke the other night about Naaman. He saw a problem. He said he he didn't want to go back into the House of ramen, the House of a heathen God. And the prophet said go in peace. In other words, God would take care of the problem that he saw ahead. And you may see a problem. But I can say if you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, why his name is wonderful counselor, the mighty God. The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He can take care of that problem, He can take care of that difficulty, and He'll lead you forth with peace. He'll put joy into your heart. And so just as we had those different verses, God wants to do that. He wants to give you friends a drink of the water of life. And let me say again, the close of this meeting, the Bible closes with the final invitation. It says the Spirit and the Bride say, come. We who are Christians would love to meet. Our Savior, we're longing to see his blessed face. And so the Spirit of God and the Bride say, come. And it says, let him that heareth say come. And so we who know this wonderful Savior, we're saying, come, whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. And won't you come to the Lord Jesus tonight? Oh, it's terrible if you should reject him, that you should say no to him. And I must say. In closing, that if you reject him, it's not just missing salvation, but it's to meet him as a judge. And have you thought of the awful, awful solemnity of meeting the one who has the nail prints in his hands, who died on Calvary's cross to save you and to mediate him there at that great white throne, and hear him say, depart from me, curse it into everlasting fire. Oh, I hope no one in this room. We'll have to meet him as a judge tonight. You can meet him as a Savior tonight. You can say yes to the Lord Jesus tonight. You can just come as a Sinner and he'll abundantly pardon. The work is done, the blood has been shed, and salvation is offered. May God grant. Does anyone who hasn't come that you will come tonight and receive Him. He wants to save you and he wants to save you now.