Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you… This very memorable chapter may be called God's own Gospel sermon. I. TWO SAVING PRECEPTS, which are pressed upon you. These are of simple character. 1. "Incline your ear." This is placed in another form, "Hearken diligently unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live. You have ears to hear w t therefore-hear. Consider and think upon eternal things. Think about Divine matters as God sets them before you. This attention, this hearkening, must be hearty, honest, continual, earnest and believing. 2. The second precept grows out of the first: "Come unto Me. "How can I come to God?' saith one. 1. Come, at least, by thinking much of Him. 2. Come, by your desires. 3. Come, by confession of sin. 4. Come, in humble, believing prayer. These are the two precepts — "Hear" and "Come." They are neither exacting nor unreasonable. II. To encourage you, and come to my second head, which deals with SAVING PROMISES. Here are two promises corresponding to the two precepts — 1. "Your soul shall live." 2. "I will make an everlasting covenant with you."(1) Observe, how He promises condescending intercourse. It is in the Hebrew, "I will cut a covenant. Covenants were made by cutting a victim in two, and they who made a covenant passed between the two halves of the sacrifice to make the covenant sure. The Lord, in effect, says, "Poor, wretched sinner, you that have not a penny to buy water with, if you will come to Me, I will enter into a sacred agreement and covenant with you. (2) God is ready to enter into a binding contract with you. (3) God will thus enter into an unending alliance with you. (4) We liken what He gives to the sinner to what He did to David (2 Samuel 23:5). The covenant is all in Christ. III. Urge the Lord's own SAVING PLEAS. 1. God Himself speaks to you. 2. Your day of mercy is not ended (ver. 6). 3. He is ready and willing to forgive the whole of your past offences (ver. 7). 4. Then comes in the great persuasive of the magnanimity of God (vers. 8, 9). 5. Hear how the Lord pleads the power of His Gospel (vers. 10, 11). Hearken to God's voice, and let it enter your heart; then it will quicken and save you as surely as the sun and the rain water the earth. 6. The Lord persuades men to come to Him by telling them of the joy they will obtain in coming (ver. 12). 7. He calls you to Him by the effectual nature of His work (ver. 13). ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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