Well on an occasion like this as we induct Dr. Wingard to his new pastoral charge here at First Presbyterian Church, we have an opportunity to reflect together on the teaching of God’s Word concerning the central business of Gospel ministers – the preaching of the Word of God. In our tradition as Presbyterians, reflecting the teaching of holy Scripture itself, preaching is central to the worship and the life of the church and indeed to the worship and life of the Christian. But I find often that many Christians have never really thought all that carefully about what preaching is and what role it ought to play in the church and in our lives. And so let me invite you now please to take your own copies of God’s Word in your hands or turn with me in one of the church Bibles to the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 55, one place where the character and design of God for preaching is spelled out in some detail. Isaiah 55; page 615 if you’re using one of our church Bibles.
Now let me give you some context before we read this passage. In Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53, we have the fourth of the famous Servant Songs that lends structure to the prophecy of Isaiah. This is the song of the Suffering Servant which prophesies so dramatically, so movingly, so familiarly to many of us the agonies of Christ’s self-giving for us at the cross. And at the beginning of the song, the salvation of the nations, issuing as a result from Jesus’ atoning work, is promised. And so Isaiah says “His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance that His form beyond that of the children of mankind, so shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him. For that which has not been told them, they shall see and that which they have not heard, they shall understand.” So the result of the cross will be salvation to the ends of the earth. Isaiah is talking about us, isn’t he? He’s talking about you and me brought from the Gentile nations to trust in Israel’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Isaiah 54 spells out for us in some detail the blessings of salvation that come to all who receive the benefits of the atoning work of the suffering servant that has just been outlined.
And now in our passage, in chapter 55, we’re shown the means, the instruments by which the nations will come to Christ to receive the benefits of His atoning sacrifice. Isaiah 55, we might say, is God’s own Gospel sermon as He preaches His Word to the world. And as such, it has a great deal to teach us about the work of preaching that can help both the preacher and especially the hearer. Tonight I want us to look at it together and consider four things. First of all, the nature of the Gospel offer, in verses 1 through 3. The nature of the Gospel offer. These verses ring with an urgent invitation; a call and a summons to all people to come and all good preaching sounds that same note of call and invitation and summons. The nature of the Gospel offer. Verses 3 through 5, secondly, the agent of the Gospel’s advance. How can we be sure this Gospel that we preach won’t fail? Well, we can be sure because of the One in whose name the preacher stands to speak – Jesus Christ Himself. He is the true and ultimate agent of Gospel advance. The nature of the Gospel offer. The agent of the Gospel’s advance. Thirdly, verses 6 and 7, the claims of the Gospel’s call. What exactly is on offer in the Gospel and what is it we are being called to do in response? The nature of the Gospel offer. The agent of the Gospel’s advance. The claims of the Gospel’s call. Then finally in verses 8 through 13, the grounds of the Gospel’s success. Isaiah helps us see that the Gospel will do its holy work and the Word of God will bear fruit and the world will one day be made new.
So there’s our outline. I hope you see it in the text. The nature of the Gospel offer, the agent of the Gospel’s advance, the claims of the Gospel call, and the grounds of the Gospel’s success. Before we look at each of those, let’s bow our heads as we pray together.
Our God and Father, we come to You now asking that You would open our hearts, open our understanding, incline our wills, make us teachable, receptive to Your Word. May it bear much fruit in all our lives, for Your honor and glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Isaiah 55 at the first verse. This is the Word of God:
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
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, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares 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 and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Amen.
The Nature of the Gospel Offer
Let’s think first about the nature of the Gospel offer. The nature of the Gospel offer, in verses 1 through 3. In my hometown in Glasgow, there was a notorious street market called “The Barras” named for the wheeled barrows that the street vendors at one time used to build their stalls. It’s now largely been cleaned up by the authorities, but when I was a kid, it was chaotic and noisy and it had this air of sort of petty criminality and danger about it. You could buy almost anything at “The Barras” from fast food to fake Rolexes. And as you walked between the stalls, the vendors, they would all be trying to draw you in. They would be calling out and they all had their own distinct call. And if you stopped, they had their patter ready to try to mesmerize you and charm your cash out of your pockets.
And something like that actually is the scene evoked by the opening words of Isaiah 55. In Isaiah’s day, of course, in the market, the street vendors sold more than common goods. They sold water. It was an arid climate and there were water sellers. You wouldn’t get that in Glasgow. It rains there every day, but you’d need that in ancient Israel, wouldn’t you? And the opening words of Isaiah 55, they sound like a water vendor peddling his wares in the market, trying to shout louder than everyone else, trying to attract your attention. Actually the very first word that remains untranslated in our version is a little Hebrew word, “hoy.” E.J. Young, one of the commentators says, it is mainly an “attention-getting device.” So you imagine the street sellers are sort of jumping up and down – better not do that, actually – and saying, “Hey! Hey you!” He’s trying to draw you in. My mother always said, “Hay is for horses,” but we say, “Hey,” don’t we, to attract attention when we want to tell somebody something, something important. We need to interrupt you and have your eye fixed on me now. So that’s Isaiah’s persona here in the opening words of this chapter. He’s a water seller, calling into the crowds, trying to get their attention. “Come! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters!”
The Gospel Offer is a Feast
Actually he has more on his market stall than water alone. He has wine and milk and bread. All the basics are there, the essentials. You can get them here. Of course he’s speaking metaphorically, isn’t he? The water, wine, milk, bread – they are images of spiritual nourishment, of soul satisfaction in the grace of God that flows from the work of the suffering servant. God’s grace answers the need of the human heart exactly described here as hunger and thirst. To someone who is living high on the hog, this street vendor’s wares may not have seemed like much at all, but to a parched and starving beggar, destitute and penniless, they are a feast.
And that’s the first thing about the Gospel offer I want us to be sure we don’t miss. The Gospel offer is an invitation to a feast, to a banquet. It’s not meager provision, austere and grudging. It is generous and utterly satisfying. That’s the point. Jesus says, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him” – will what? “He will never be thirsty again.” We offer a Jesus to the world who answers perfectly to the true need of our soul and no one who responded to His invitation ever found Him to be lacking. The Gospel offer is an invitation to a feast.
The Gospel Offer is Free
Secondly, the Gospel offer is free. It’s a feast and it’s free. Notice to whom the offer is extended in verse 1. “Everyone who thirsts,” and “He who has no money.” Now just to be clear, the invitation is not extended only to those who know and feel that they are thirsty or destitute. The invitation is actually to everyone who is in fact thirsty and penniless whether they recognize it about themselves or not. In other words, this is an invitation to every single person everywhere. We are all naturally penniless and destitute, parched and thirsty. Whether we realize it or not, that’s what sin has done to the human heart. It’s broken every cistern. All our streams have run dry. And Jesus says to everyone, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
And He’s selling it for free. Did you notice? “He who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Jesus Christ will meet the deepest need of your soul, satisfy your thirst forever for free! He bears all the cost. You receive all the benefit. That’s our message. The Gospel with strings attached, after all, is not Gospel at all. It’s a feast. It’s free. And it’s firm. It’s insistent and sure and dependable. Did you notice this note of incredulity in the prophet’s voice. So here’s the market trader and he’s haggling with a customer who seems to be backing out of the sale. And so he says, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me here that your soul may live.” “What possible logic would make you pass up this deal?” That’s what he’s saying. “I have what you need and it’s free. It’s free! And you’re going down the street to spend what you can’t afford to pay for what will never quench your thirst.”
The Gospel Offer is Firm
Tell me how any of that makes sense! Jesus Christ paid in full at the cross of Calvary to satisfy the righteous anger of God that burns against your sin. He has provided for your pardon, for your adoption into the family of God, for your inner renovation and transformation, for your constant care and support, for guidance and comfort and joy and hope. He went to the cross to lavish all this and so much more upon you freely without any cost to you, not a penny. You gain all of it and yet still you look to sex and power and alcohol and reputation and affluence and to all the twisted idols of our age. Don’t you know? They will take everything from you. They will demand everything you have in payment and they will still leave you empty and parched and starving in the end. How does any of that make sense? Why do you keep Jesus at arm’s length? Why do you run from Him when He is the only one who can satisfy and He is held out to you without any strings? He is offered to you freely.
And notice how verse 3 ends. If you do listen, if you hear and respond and turn to Jesus Christ, do you see the promise? “I will make with you an everlasting covenant. My steadfast, sure love for David.” This is not a one-time, flash in the pan, temporary, special offer. This is a standing, sure promise. God covenants with you to lavish His steadfast sure love upon you. This is a firm, dependable, unequivocal, solid, sure offer. That’s how true Gospel preaching sounds. We have a feast for you. It’s free and it’s firm. It’s the preaching the world needs, that I need, that you need. That’s the business that we are about here tonight – setting apart a Gospel preacher for this task. The nature of the Gospel offer.
The Agent of the Gospel’s Advance
Secondly, the agent of the Gospel’s advance. At the end of verse 3, Isaiah mentions David. Do you see that in the text? “I will make a covenant with you…my steadfast, sure love for David.” Now David there is a reference to Messiah, to Jesus Christ, who would come to fulfill the promises made to King David that one of his children, his seed, would sit and reign from his throne forever. The same person, actually, that the prophet describes in such detail back in chapters 52 and 53 as the Suffering Servant. Only now if you look at verse 5, “The Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you.” Jesus is glorified at the right hand of the Father and now has all authority in heaven and on earth. God has appointed Him, verse 4, “a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.” The Gospel goes forward, it advances, do you see, because Jesus is more than the content of the message. He is also Himself in a very real sense also the one who is doing the preaching when His Gospel is being proclaimed. He is the witness. It is His voice that we hear, commanding our repentance, calling us to faith. Every time we hear the good news preached and His voice, verse 5, will go to the whole world. “Behold, you shall call a nation you do not know and a nation that did not know you shall run to you.”
Now just think about that. Doesn’t it underscore the weight and the moment and the significance of what we are doing here tonight as a minister is installed to this task among us? He’s being appointed to preach the Word to us. And in the preaching of that Word, Jesus Himself, God’s witness, His leader and commander, calls the world to come to the waters and to come buy and eat without money and without price. The Lord Jesus Himself – you hear His voice. That changes our perspective about preaching, doesn’t it? Or at least it ought to. It’s not some talking head, droning on that you can tune out, after all. In so far as the preacher says what the text says, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says it. And that makes what is happening in the preaching of the Word electric.
In Romans 10:13-15, the apostle Paul says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how will they hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” The second question in that string of questions, “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” I think, is slightly mistranslated. It would be better read, “How are they to call on him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear unless someone preaches?” You see the point Paul is making? It’s the same point we were making a moment ago from Isaiah 55. In the preaching of the Word, you hear Him, the Lord Jesus. You hear His voice. He is talking. Are you listening? Who cares about my words, after all, or even, dare I say it, Charlie Wingard’s words? Our words have no power to change your heart or summon the nations for that matter. But when it is the Word of Christ, when Jesus speaks, the dead are raised and the nations come streaming to Zion. The nature of the Gospel offer. The agent of the Gospel’s advance. Why should we trust that the Gospel will not fail? Not because of the eloquence of the man in the pulpit, but because of the Lord Jesus who speaks His own Word to the world.
The Claims of the Gospel Call
Thirdly, the claims of the Gospel call. Look at verses 6 and 7. A bit like verses 1 through 3, these verses now return their back to preaching directly, only now they drop all the metaphor and they speak plainly to our hearts. What is it we are being asked to do in the preaching of the Gospel? What is the demand that follows upon the offer of Christ? Well the message of Isaiah here is the same as the message of Jesus in Mark 1:15. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel.” Repentance and faith. They are both right here. Do you see them in the passage? Faith in verse 6 – “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” Those are the principal motions of faith. Faith returns to the Lord for mercy. Faith is the empty beggar’s bowl outstretched towards Christ who alone can satisfy. And repentance, verse 7. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord.” Turn back. Turn away from yourself. Turn from the path of destruction upon which you have been walking all these years. Turn to the Lord.
Faith and repentance. These two always go together, don’t they? You can’t have one without the other. There is no faith that does not repent. You are not repenting if you are not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for rescue. Two sides of the same coin. And notice the assurance given. What will you find if you repent and believe? What happens? Verse 7, “Let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Compassion. Abundant pardon. The grace of God in the Gospel is not reluctant, is it? It’s not begrudging. It’s not slow to dispense its benevolence. It’s full, abundant pardon flows like a river from the fountain of the compassionate heart of God toward every repenting, believing sinner to wash you clean. That’s the message. Isn’t it wonderful? Repent and believe. That’s how you come to the waters and buy without money and without price. You turn from yourself, you turn to Jesus Christ, and when you do, abundant pardon, abundant pardon is lavished on you. You are not so great a sinner that He cannot make you clean. There is an abundance of pardon. There is more grace in God than there is sin in you. The nature of the Gospel offer. The agent of the Gospel’s advance. The claims of the Gospel’s call.
The Grounds of the Gospel’s Success
And now as we close, we need to deal with a question. What assurance can we have that this business that we are about here tonight, of installing Dr. Wingard to his role as a pastor, is not ultimately a futile gesture? I mean take a look at the world around us. Turn on the news. The violence of it all. The sexual immorality, the counterfeit spirituality. The open hostility to biblical truth in the great institutions of higher learning and in civic power and we could go on and on, itemizing and piling up the evidence of profound spiritual darkness on every hand. So why is the installation of a Gospel preacher at a time like this not the very epitome of naivety and futility? Why isn’t it whistling in the wind? The hurricane roar of human sin, raging all around us, and all we have as we step into the path of the hurricane, the only tools Dr. Wingard is given is a familiar old message about Jesus.
What God is Like
Well look at verses 8 through 13. Here are the grounds of the Gospel’s success. There are three of them. We can have confidence in this Gospel Isaiah has been teaching us about because of what God is like, verses 8 and 9, because of how the Word works, verses 10 and 11, and because of where the future leads, verses 12 and 13. What God is like. Verse 7, Isaiah calls us to repentance by saying, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” And then he says if you do that, I am going to abundantly pardon you. And you say, “Well how can I be sure? I mean, my faith is weak and trembling. My repentance, I doubt it. I still love my sin. Maybe I’m not repenting enough.” Is the ground of your confidence that the Gospel is true, the strength of your faith and the quality of your repentance? No. Verse 8, “My thoughts,” God says, “are not your thoughts, and neither are my ways your ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” We hold grudges, don’t we? We forgive but we don’t forget. We have limits. There are people who hurt us and so wrong us that we really struggle. We’ll likely always find it difficult to be reconciled to them. But God’s not like you. He’s not like you. He doesn’t think like we think. His ways aren’t our ways. He is a God of compassion and abundant pardon. And so we proclaim a Gospel with great confidence because we know what He is like, and because what He is like, we have good news for the world.
How the Word Works
Secondly, we preach with confidence, we set aside Dr. Wingard with hope and expectation not just because of what God is like but because of how the Word works. Look at verse 10. Isaiah gives us a lovely metaphor to describe the way the Word of God works. Do you see it in verse 10? Rain and snow come down from heaven and they water the earth, making it bud and flourish with life. And this in turn provides for the totality of human need. In the same way, he says, the Word of God goes out from God’s own mouth; He speaks it. The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God and it comes down like rain on the soil of sin-parched hearts. It’s like monsoon rains that make the seed burst into life and they turn the desert into a garden. So the Word, he says, accomplishes what God purposes and succeeds in the thing for which He sends it. The Word succeeds because it is the Word of the Lord and not the whimper of men. It’s not the best religious guess of the philosopher. It’s not the latest attempted political solution to intractable social ills. It is the voice of God that like the calm command of Jesus can still the storm. God works by His Word and we do what we are doing here tonight in eager expectation as a servant of the Word is installed in our midst. What will God do? That’s what we should be feeling, on the edge of our seats. What will God do by His Word?
Where the Future Leads
And finally, we have confidence in the Gospel. What we are doing here tonight is not futile because of where the future leads. Verses 11 through 13, Isaiah’s prophetic sight now leaps forward millennia – past Jesus’ day, past our day, to the day of new creation. He sees the final fulfillment of the plan of God and he knows that instead of sin and misery we will go out in joy and be led forth in peace one day instead of the wilderness of a world broken by Adam’s rebellion. All creation will be restored. Mountains and hills and trees will leap to praise their Maker. Do you remember the words of the curse when Adam fell? Genesis 3, “Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it, all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” But Isaiah sees in the end when the plan of God at last is completed. “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Eden lost will one day be restored and surpassed in the garden city of God that is to come and the curse will be undone and all things will be made new.
What’s the message? The character of God revealed in the Word of God cannot but accomplish the plan of God. And none of His promises will fall. Nothing can thwart the purposes of our God. Suppose after months of study, tomorrow you sat your final exams. But tonight, you were somehow given a glimpse of the future and you saw that you were going to ace tomorrow’s exams. Wouldn’t that change everything? You’d sleep well tonight, wouldn’t you? You’d walk into that exam room tomorrow with new calm and new confidence. All your nerves would be gone and you’d open the exam and you’d look down at all those scary math problems and with a smile you would plunge right in, unfazed because you know you can’t fail. You are going to ace this. You can’t fail!
That’s what Isaiah is actually saying to us here, isn’t it? We have the most amazing message to proclaim to the world. It rests on the authority of the exalted Christ and we get to see the end of the story – the purpose of God to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. It doesn’t fail! Eden will be restored. The curse will be undone and a vast multitude greater than anyone can number will be brought in to worship and adore the Lamb who redeemed them. And what we are doing tonight is participating in that final coming triumph. That’s what we’re doing. We’re stepping into the path of the hurricane of human sin and unbelief that rages all around us, equipped only with words, just words. Words about Jesus and His cross and His empty tomb and His heavenly reign. And the Lord Jesus through us – isn’t this incredible – the Lord Jesus through us, Christ in His Gospel through us, stills the storm, raises the dead, saves sinners. When you think about that, in those terms, doesn’t it make what we are about here tonight enormously exciting? Another minister to preach the Word! Who knows what God will do!
The nature of the Gospel offer. The agent of the Gospel’s advance. The claims of the Gospel’s call. The grounds of the Gospel’s success. Nothing can stop the Gospel. Praise the Lord. Let’s pray together.
Our Father, we praise You that Your Word is living and active and sharper than a double-edged sword. It penetrates to the division of joints and marrow, soul and spirit, and we bless You that it is mighty, not because of those who proclaim it but because of the Lord Jesus Christ whose Word it is, who follows its proclamation with the power of His Spirit so that one day, people from every tribe and language and nation will be saved to sin no more. O God, bless what we do here tonight in the furtherance of that grand design, for we ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.