Isaiah Chapter 23 ISAIAH

"Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come, buy and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me and eat 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." (Isaiah 55:1-3.) The fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah naturally follows the fifty-third as the proclamation of the Gospel follows the cross of Calvary and the completed atonement. The chapter opens with a business note, in fact, it is like an announcement from an Oriental bargain counter. The Jews had already begun to learn from their relation with the Babylonians those commercial lessons which have made them ever since the great traders of the world. Like an Eastern merchant offering his wares to the passerby, the prophet cries, "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters, come buy and eat without money and without price." It is indeed a great bargain that He is offering -- everything for nothing. I. What He offers. In a word, it is the gospel in all the fulness of its blessings. 1. The waters represent the more ordinary and essential blessings of the gospel; its cleansing and satisfying streams of life and salvation. 2. Wine represents rather the cordials and comforts and the special provisions which Christ has made for the sick, the suffering and the feeble. "Give wine to him that is ready to perish," is the prescription of the Hebrew sage. And so wine represents the richer, choicer things which the Holy Spirit gives to the hearts that are prepared. 3. Milk. This is food for babes. This is the gospel\