Isaiah 55: Salvation for Those Who Thirst for God

Introduction

"Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money!" This cry from Isaiah 55 opens a message preached at the Église Évangélique de Pentecôte de Nantes. The preacher sums it up in a sentence he repeats throughout his sermon: there is salvation for those who are thirsty.

This chapter comes right after Isaiah 53 and 54, which speak of redemption, deliverance and freedom. For the preacher, Isaiah 55 is a summary of the gospel of grace. That gospel says: come, listen, seek, call. And the rest of the text adds: forsake, return. God first urges the Israelites, but he also urges us today, whether we have never met him or have walked away from his ways.

One question runs through the whole message: are you still thirsty for God?

Message outline

1. A call to people separated from God

The preacher reads Isaiah 55:1-6: "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Salvation is offered; it cannot be bought.
He goes back to Genesis. In the beginning, man enjoyed God's presence and fellowship. "Imagine, in God's presence every day, God coming to meet Adam and Eve."
Through his disobedience, man broke that relationship. He became miserable, he became a sinner, he was separated from God.
It is to this man that God cries out: "Come!" The Lord invites the one who has wandered away to draw near to him and return, to be restored to his fellowship and his blessing.

2. Becoming aware of your need for God

"One of the essential conditions of salvation is having a spiritual hunger and a thirst for forgiveness." This thirst leads to a real relationship with God: "not the God of religion, not the distant God, not the God who punishes, but the God of reconciliation."
Every Saturday, the church goes out to share the gospel. Many answer: "No thank you, I don't need it." Yet the preacher tells of a young man he met the day before, his hands full. When he learned that it was the gospel being offered to him, "he dropped everything": "Ah, that interests me."
We think we don't need God because we are strong, because we are healthy. Then, tomorrow or the day after, "we cough a little." There is suffering, and we begin to ask questions.
Jesus says to the Samaritan woman: "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). "It begins here on earth already. There is no need to wait for heaven to start rejoicing in the things of God."
So we must "stop drawing from the empty cisterns of this world" and drink from the true source, the blessed person of Jesus Christ.

3. The price paid at the cross

This free salvation has a foundation: the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. "Jesus had to pay a price."
The preacher goes back to Isaiah 53: "despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with grief." He carried our sufferings, he bore our sorrows. Mistreated and oppressed, he never opened his mouth, "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter."
"Jesus never sinned." It is our anger, our bitterness, our wickedness, our pride that he carried to the cross.
Hence the call to repentance: we must humble our hearts, be outraged at sin and injustice, be ashamed of our sins and weep over our wretchedness.
The previous Saturday, during evangelism, a group of four or five young women were hard at first. A brother from the church shared the Word with them, and one of them accepted Jesus and asked: "Pray for me." The preacher was amazed: this is what it means to feel the need for a Savior.
This thirst is not reserved for those who are discovering the faith: "Even if we have been walking with Jesus for 20 years, let us still be thirsty for Jesus Christ."

4. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness

"Why do we die? Because after a few years of walking with God, we no longer feel the need to have Jesus at our side." When we no longer hunger and thirst for Jesus Christ, "a death has settled somewhere in our heart."
To hunger and thirst is "to long for God with all our being." Jesus says it in Matthew 5:6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Another version translates it: those who hunger and thirst to live as God asks.
How can we know this will? "Quite simply, the word of God. The will of God is found in the Holy Scriptures." And Jesus quenches, calms, satisfies and fills hearts.
Moses had this hunger. He asks God: "Please show me your glory" (Exodus 33:18). The psalmist says: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God" (Psalm 42:2).
Paul too: to know Christ, to experience the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death (Philippians 3:10). He knew he would suffer, but his desire for the things of God was stronger. This thirst may also lead us to suffer for the glory of God.

5. Coming to the rock that does not change

"Come to the waters." But which water? "We must go to the rock." Paul writes to the Corinthians that the Israelites in the wilderness drank from a spiritual rock, "and the rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).
"Yes, but pastor, that was in the days of old." The answer: "The rock has not changed." It is called the Rock of Ages. The same rock that gave Israel water in the wilderness is here for you today. Now that he has been struck at the cross, the water flows in abundance.
Jesus cried out: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37). Meditating on this verse, the preacher said to himself: "He was sure of himself, the Lord Jesus!" He had not yet died on the cross; he could have died by stoning or some other way. But he already knew he was the Rock of Ages.
Verse 2: "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? Why do you labor for that which does not satisfy?" What is the point of squandering your money, your energy, your strength on bread that does not feed?
The thirst of the believer, or of someone who began to draw near to the things of God and then walked away, is often swept aside by the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the pull of material things and the pleasures of life. "Only the blessed person of Jesus Christ calms a heart."

6. Listen and live: an everlasting covenant

After "come," God says "listen": "Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good." Then in verse 3: "Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live."
If the soul is to live, it is because it is dead. Through Adam's disobedience, man's soul died, "and your soul too, my friend, you who have not accepted Jesus Christ, is dead." But "it is not inevitable, since the word of God is being preached." "What good is it to load our lives with the things of the earth if inwardly we are empty?" And later: "An empty soul is a dead soul."
"I will make an everlasting covenant with you." Not a covenant for a few weeks, nor for 15, 30 or 40 years. "It did not rise in the heart of man; it rose in the heart of God."
These verses are addressed first to those who are spiritually far away and need renewal, a new birth. As Jesus told Nicodemus: "You must be born again" (John 3:7). "By yourself, you cannot."
"Oh, certainly, we will sometimes be unfaithful, but God remains faithful to his covenant." Jesus took upon himself, at the cross, the demands of this covenant: "without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22).
Verses 4 and 5: "Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples." The preacher marvels at it: this is not only about Israel. "That is the grace of God, that is the love of God. It is not only for Israel, but also for the peoples." And David reigned only over Israel: here it is the Messiah who is meant. The promises made to David are fulfilled in Jesus. Paul says it in Acts: God raised Jesus up, as it is written in Psalm 2, "You are my Son. Today I have become your father" (Acts 13:33). "That is why we preach the gospel, so that men and women will run to Jesus Christ."

7. Seek the Lord while he may be found

Verse 6: "Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call on him while he is near." Another version says: "Turn to him while he is close." "No, it is not that we approached him. It is he who approached us. Heaven opened its windows."
"God is not far from you, my brother, my sister, my friend, since you are hearing the word of God preached." It is enough to seek him with a sincere heart: "Lord, I am the one who needs you." Amos says it too: "Seek me, and you will live!" (Amos 5:4).
But the time of salvation is limited. Paul urges us "not to receive the grace of God in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1). "The day will come when God will no longer let himself be found."
Verse 7: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him." "To return to God, you must have been with God." Humanity was with God in Eden, then lost itself through Adam's disobedience. The one who returns is welcomed by a compassionate God who forgives abundantly.
Giving up our own thoughts is not easy: "I love my convictions, I love my way of thinking." The preacher illustrates it: you can tell some people that the piano is white, and "no, it is black." Verse 8 answers: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways," says Yahweh.
Jesus, the leader and commander of the peoples, will one day reign over all nations. "Hasn't the time come for Jesus to reign over your heart already?"

Key takeaways

Salvation is offered freely to those who are thirsty: "come, without money, without price."
The first condition is to recognize your need for God and to thirst for forgiveness. This salvation rests on the price Jesus paid at the cross.
Thirst for God must not fade with the years: when it disappears, a death settles in the heart.
God offers an everlasting covenant, and he remains faithful even when we are unfaithful.
The time of salvation is limited: now is the time to seek the Lord, forsake your way and return to him.

Personal application

If someone held out the gospel to you in the street today, would you answer "I don't need it" or would you put down everything you are holding?
Is your thirst for God as keen as it was at the start of your walk, or have worries, riches and pleasures gradually swept it away?
In which "empty cisterns" are you spending your money, your energy and your strength on bread that does not feed?
Which way, or which way of thinking, is God asking you to forsake so that you can return to him?
Does Jesus already reign over your heart, or are you still putting off the moment of seeking him?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "thirsting for God" mean in Isaiah 55?

For the preacher, to hunger and thirst is to long for God with all our being and to want to live as God asks. It begins with awareness of our need for God and a thirst for forgiveness. This thirst remains necessary even after twenty years of walking with Jesus: when it disappears, a death settles in the heart.

Why does Isaiah 55 speak of an everlasting covenant?

In verse 3, the Lord promises an everlasting covenant to those who come to him and listen. It is not a covenant for fifteen, thirty or forty years. Jesus took upon himself, at the cross, the demands of this covenant, and God remains faithful even when we are unfaithful.

What does "Seek the Lord while he may be found" mean?

God has drawn near to us through Jesus Christ: heaven opened its windows. Our part is to seek him with a sincere heart. The preacher reminds us that the time of salvation is limited and that a day will come when God will no longer let himself be found. Now is the time to come to Christ.