mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 55.xml

<div2 id="Is.lvi" n="lvi" next="Is.lvii" prev="Is.lv" progress="21.38%" title="Chapter LV">
<h2 id="Is.lvi-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.lvi-p0.2">CHAP. LV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.lvi-p1" shownumber="no">As we had much of Christ in the <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.1-Isa.53.12" parsed="|Isa|53|1|53|12" passage="Isa 53:1-12">53rd chapter</scripRef>, and much of the church of
Christ in the <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.1-Isa.54.17" parsed="|Isa|54|1|54|17" passage="Isa 54:1-17">54th
chapter</scripRef>, so in this chapter we have much of the covenant
of grace made with us in Christ. The "sure mercies of David," which
are promised here (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.3" parsed="|Isa|55|3|0|0" passage="Isa 55:3">ver. 3</scripRef>),
are applied by the apostle to the benefits which flow to us from
the resurrection of Christ (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.34" parsed="|Acts|13|34|0|0" passage="Ac 13:34">Acts xiii.
34</scripRef>), which may serve as a key to this chapter; not but
that it was intended for the comfort of the people of God that
lived then, especially of the captives in Babylon, and others of
the dispersed of Israel; but unto us was this gospel preached as
well as unto them, and much more clearly and fully in the New
Testament. Here is, I. A free and gracious invitation to all to
come and take the benefit of gospel grace, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.1" parsed="|Isa|55|1|0|0" passage="Isa 55:1">ver. 1</scripRef>. II. Pressing arguments to enforce
this invitation, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.2-Isa.55.4" parsed="|Isa|55|2|55|4" passage="Isa 55:2-4">ver.
2-4</scripRef>. III. A promise of the success of this invitation
among the Gentiles, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.5" parsed="|Isa|55|5|0|0" passage="Isa 55:5">ver. 5</scripRef>.
IV. An exhortation to repentance and reformation, with great
encouragement given to hope for pardon thereupon, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.6-Isa.55.9" parsed="|Isa|55|6|55|9" passage="Isa 55:6-9">ver. 6-9</scripRef>. V. The ratification of
all this, with the certain efficacy of the word of God, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.10-Isa.55.11" parsed="|Isa|55|10|55|11" passage="Isa 55:10,11">ver. 10, 11</scripRef>. And a particular
instance of the accomplishment of it in the return of the Jews out
of their captivity, which was intended for a sign of the
accomplishment of all these other promises.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.lvi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55" parsed="|Isa|55|0|0|0" passage="Isa 55" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.lvi-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.1-Isa.55.5" parsed="|Isa|55|1|55|5" passage="Isa 55:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lvi-p1.12">
<h4 id="Is.lvi-p1.13">Evangelical Invitations. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p1.14">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lvi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea,
come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.   2
Wherefore do ye spend money for <i>that which is</i> not bread? and
your labour for <i>that which</i> satisfieth not? hearken
diligently unto me, and eat ye <i>that which is</i> good, and let
your soul delight itself in fatness.   3 Incline your ear, and
come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, <i>even</i> the sure mercies of
David.   4 Behold, I have given him <i>for</i> a witness to
the people, a leader and commander to the people.   5 Behold,
thou shalt call a nation <i>that</i> thou knowest not, and nations
<i>that</i> knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p2.1">Lord</span> thy God, and for the Holy One of
Israel; for he hath glorified thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p3" shownumber="no">Here, I. We are all invited to come and
take the benefit of that provision which the grace of God has made
for poor souls in the new covenant, of that which is the
<i>heritage of the servants of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.17" parsed="|Isa|54|17|0|0" passage="Isa 54:17"><i>ch.</i> liv. 17</scripRef>), and not only their
heritage hereafter, but their cup now, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.1" parsed="|Isa|55|1|0|0" passage="Isa 55:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p4" shownumber="no">1. Who are invited: <i>Ho, every one.</i>
Not the Jews only, to whom first the word of salvation was sent,
but the Gentiles, the poor and the maimed, the halt and the blind,
are called to this marriage supper, whoever can be picked up out of
the highways and the hedges. It intimates that in Christ there is
enough for all and enough for each, that ministers are to make a
general offer of life and salvation to all, that in gospel times
the invitation should be more largely made than it had been and
should be sent to the Gentiles, and that the gospel covenant
excludes none that do not exclude themselves. The invitation is
published with an <i>Oyez-Ho,</i> take notice of it. <i>He that has
ears to hear let him hear.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p5" shownumber="no">2. What is the qualification required in
those that shall be welcome—they must thirst. All shall be welcome
to gospel grace upon those terms only that gospel grace be welcome
to them. Those that are satisfied with the world and its enjoyments
for a portion, and seek not for a happiness in the favour of
God,—those that depend upon the merit of their own works for a
righteousness, and see no need they have of Christ and his
righteousness,—these do not thirst; they have no sense of their
need, are in no pain or uneasiness about their souls, and therefore
will not condescend so far as to be beholden to Christ. But those
that thirst are invited to the waters, as those that labour, and
are heavy-laden, are invited to Christ for rest. Note, Where God
gives grace he first gives a thirsting after it; and, where he has
given a thirsting after it, he will give it, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.81.10" parsed="|Ps|81|10|0|0" passage="Ps 81:10">Ps. lxxxi. 10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p6" shownumber="no">3. Whither they are invited: <i>Come you to
the waters.</i> Come to the water-side, to the ports, and quays,
and wharfs, on the navigable rivers, into which goods are imported;
thither come and buy, for that is the market-place of foreign
commodities; and to us they would have been for ever foreign if
Christ had not brought in an everlasting righteousness. Come to
Christ; for he is the fountain opened; he is the rock smitten. Come
to holy ordinances, to those streams that make glad the city of our
God; come to them, and though they may seem to you plain and common
things, like waters, yet to those who believe in Christ the things
signified will be as wine and mile, abundantly refreshing. Come to
the healing waters; come to the living waters. Whoever will, let
him come, and <i>partake of the waters of life,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.22.17" parsed="|Rev|22|17|0|0" passage="Re 22:17">Rev. xxii. 17</scripRef>. Our Saviour referred
to it, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:John.7.37" parsed="|John|7|37|0|0" passage="Joh 7:37">John vii. 37</scripRef>. <i>If
any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p7" shownumber="no">4. What they are invited to do. (1.)
<i>Come, and buy.</i> Never did any tradesman court customers that
he hoped to get by as Christ courts us to that which we only are to
be gainers by. "Come and buy, and we can assure you you shall have
a good bargain, which you will never repent of nor lose by. Come
and buy; make it your own by an application of the grace of the
gospel to yourselves; make it your own upon Christ's terms, nay,
your own upon any terms, nor deliberating whether you shall agree
to them." (2.) "<i>Come, and eat;</i> make it still more your own,
as that which we eat is more our own than that which we only buy."
We must buy the truth, not that we may lay it by to be looked at,
but that we may feed and feast upon it, and that the spiritual life
may be nourished and strengthened by it. We must buy necessary
provisions for our souls, be willing to part with any thing, though
ever so dear to us, so that we may but have Christ and his graces
and comforts. We must part with sin, because it is an opposition to
Christ, part with all opinion of our own righteousness, as standing
in competition with Christ, and part with life itself, and its most
necessary supports, rather than quit our interest in Christ. And,
when we have bought what we need, let us not deny ourselves the
comfortable use of it, but enjoy it, and eat the labour of our
hands: <i>Buy, and eat.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p8" shownumber="no">5. What is the provision they are invited
to: "<i>Come, and buy wine and milk,</i> which will not only quench
the thirst" (fair water would do that), "but nourish the body, and
revive the spirits." The world comes short of our expectations. We
promise ourselves, at least, water in it, but we are disappointed
of that, as <i>the troops of Tema,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.6.19" parsed="|Job|6|19|0|0" passage="Job 6:19">Job vi. 19</scripRef>. But Christ outdoes our
expectations. We come to the waters, and would be glad of them, but
we find there wine and milk, which were the staple commodities of
the tribe of Judah, and which the Shiloh of that tribe is furnished
with to entertain the <i>gathering of the people to him,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.10 Bible:Gen.49.12" parsed="|Gen|49|10|0|0;|Gen|49|12|0|0" passage="Ge 49:10,12">Gen. xlix. 10, 12</scripRef>.
<i>His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with
milk.</i> We must come to Christ, to have milk for babes, to
nourish and cherish those that are but lately born again; and with
him strong men shall find that which will be a cordial to them:
they shall have wine to make glad their hearts. We must part with
our puddle-water, nay, with our poison, that we may procure this
wine and milk.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p9" shownumber="no">6. The free communication of this
provision: <i>Buy it without money, and without price.</i> A
strange way of buying, not only without ready money (that is common
enough), but without any money, or the promise of any; yet it seems
not so strange to those who have observed Christ's counsel to
Laodicea, that was wretchedly poor, to <i>come and buy,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.3.17-Rev.3.18" parsed="|Rev|3|17|3|18" passage="Re 3:17,18">Rev. iii. 17, 18</scripRef>. Our
buying without money intimates, (1.) That the gifts offered us are
invaluable and such as no price can be set upon. Wisdom is that
which cannot be gotten for gold. (2.) That he who offers them has
no need of us, nor of any returns we can make him. He makes us
these proposals, not because he has occasion to sell, but because
he has a disposition to give. (3.) That the things offered are
already bought and paid for. Christ purchased them at the full
value, with price, not with money, but with <i>his own blood,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.19" parsed="|1Pet|1|19|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:19">1 Pet. i. 19</scripRef>. (4.) That we
shall be welcome to the benefits of the promise, though we are
utterly unworthy of them, and cannot make a tender of any thing
that looks like a valuable consideration. We ourselves are not of
any value, nor is any thing we have or can do, and we must own it,
that, if Christ and heaven be ours, we may see ourselves for ever
indebted to free grace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p10" shownumber="no">II. We are earnestly pressed and persuaded
(and O that we would be prevailed with!) to accept this invitation,
and make this good bargain for ourselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p11" shownumber="no">1. That which we are persuaded to is to
hearken to God and to his proposals: "<i>Hearken diligently unto
me,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.2" parsed="|Isa|55|2|0|0" passage="Isa 55:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Not
only give me the hearing, but approve of what I say, and apply it
to yourselves (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.3" parsed="|Isa|55|3|0|0" passage="Isa 55:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>Incline your ear,</i> as you do to that which you
find yourselves concerned in and pleased with; bow the ear, and let
the proud heart stoop to the humbling methods of the gospel; bend
the ear this way, that you may hear with attention and remark;
hear, <i>and come unto me;</i> not only come and treat with me, but
comply with me, come up to my terms;" accept God's offers as very
advantageous; answer his demands as very fit and reasonable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p12" shownumber="no">2. The arguments used to persuade us to
this are taken,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p13" shownumber="no">(1.) From the unspeakable wrong we do to
ourselves if we neglect and refuse this invitation: "<i>Wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread,</i> which will not
yield you, no, not beggar's food, dry bread, when with me you may
have wine and milk without money? <i>Wherefore do you spend your
labour</i> and toil <i>for that which</i> will not be so much as
dry bread to you, for it <i>satisfies not?</i>" See here, [1.] The
vanity of the things of this world. They are not bread, not proper
food for a soul; they afford no suitable nourishment or
refreshment. Bread is the staff of the natural life, but it affords
no support at all to the spiritual life. All the wealth and
pleasure in the world will not make one meal's meat for a soul.
Eternal truth and eternal good are the only food for a rational and
immortal soul, the life of which consists in reconciliation and
conformity to God, and in union and communion with him, which the
things of the world will not at all befriend. <i>They satisfy
not;</i> they yield not any solid comfort and content to the soul,
nor enable it to say, "Now I have what I would have." Nay, they do
not satisfy even the appetites of the body. The more men have the
more they would have, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.8" parsed="|Eccl|1|8|0|0" passage="Ec 1:8">Eccl. i.
8</scripRef>. Haman was unsatisfied in the midst of his abundance.
They flatter, but they do not fill; they please for a while, like
the dream of a hungry man, who awakes and his soul is empty. They
soon surfeit, but they never satisfy; they cloy a man, but do not
content him, or make him truly easy. It is all vanity and vexation.
[2.] The folly of the children of this world. They spend their
money and labour for these uncertain unsatisfying things. Rich
people live by their money, poor people by their labour; but both
mistake their truest interest, while the one is trading, the other
toiling, for the world, both promising themselves satisfaction and
happiness in it, but both miserably disappointed. God vouchsafes
compassionately to reason with them: "Wherefore do you thus act
against your own interest? Why do you suffer yourselves to be thus
imposed upon?" Let us reason with ourselves, and let the result of
these reasonings be a holy resolution not to <i>labour for the meat
that perishes, but for that which endures to everlasting life,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:John.6.27" parsed="|John|6|27|0|0" passage="Joh 6:27">John vi. 27</scripRef>. Let all the
disappointments we meet with in the world help to drive us to
Christ, and lead us to seek for satisfaction in him only. This is
the way to make sure which will be made sure.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p14" shownumber="no">(2.) From the unspeakable kindness we do to
ourselves if we accept this invitation and comply with it. [1.]
hereby we secure to ourselves present pleasure and satisfaction:
"If you hearken to Christ, you <i>eat that which is good,</i> which
is both wholesome and pleasant, good in itself and good for you."
God's good word and promise, a good conscience, and the comforts of
God's good Spirit, are a continual feast to those that hearken
diligently and obediently to Christ. Their souls shall <i>delight
themselves in fatness,</i> that is, in the riches and most grateful
delights. Here the invitation is not, "Come, and <i>buy,</i>" lest
that should discourage, but, "Come, and <i>eat;</i> come and
entertain yourselves with that which will be abundantly pleasing;
eat, O friends!" It is sad to think that men should need to be
courted thus to their own bliss. [2.] Hereby we secure to ourselves
lasting happiness: "<i>Hear, and your soul shall live;</i> you
shall not only be saved from perishing eternally, but you shall be
eternally blessed:" for less than that cannot be the life of an
immortal soul. The words of Christ are spirit and life, life to
spirits (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:John.6.33 Bible:John.6.63" parsed="|John|6|33|0|0;|John|6|63|0|0" passage="Joh 6:33,63">John vi. 33,
63</scripRef>), the words of this life, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.5.20" parsed="|Acts|5|20|0|0" passage="Ac 5:20">Acts v. 20</scripRef>. On what easy terms is happiness
offered to us! It is but "Hear, and you shall live." [3.] The great
God graciously secures all this to us: "Come to me, <i>and I will
make an everlasting covenant with you,</i> will put myself into
covenant-relations and under covenant-engagements to you, and
thereby settle upon you <i>the sure mercies of David.</i>" Note,
<i>First,</i> If we come to God to serve him, he will covenant with
us to do us good and make us happy; such are his condescension to
us and concern for us. <i>Secondly,</i> God's covenant with us is
an everlasting covenant—its contrivance from everlasting, its
continuance to everlasting. <i>Thirdly,</i> The benefits of this
covenant are mercies suited to our case, who, being miserable, are
the proper objects of mercy. They come from God's mercy, and are
ordered every way in kindness to us. <i>Fourthly,</i> They are the
mercies of David, such mercies as God promised to David (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.28-Ps.89.29" parsed="|Ps|89|28|89|29" passage="Ps 89:28,29">Ps. lxxxix. 28, 29</scripRef>, &amp;c.),
which are called <i>the mercies of David his servant,</i> and are
appealed to by Solomon, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.6.42" parsed="|2Chr|6|42|0|0" passage="2Ch 6:42">2 Chron. vi.
42</scripRef>. It shall be a covenant as sure as that with David,
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.33.25-Jer.33.26" parsed="|Jer|33|25|33|26" passage="Jer 33:25,26">Jer. xxxiii. 25, 26</scripRef>.
The covenant of royalty was a figure of the covenant of grace,
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.5" parsed="|2Sam|23|5|0|0" passage="2Sa 23:5">2 Sam. xxiii. 5</scripRef>. Or,
rather, by David here we are to understand the Messiah.
Covenant-mercies are all <i>his</i> mercies; they are purchased by
him; they are promised in him; they are treasured up in his hand,
and out of his hand they are dispensed to us. He is the Mediator
and trustee of the covenant; to him this is applied, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.34" parsed="|Acts|13|34|0|0" passage="Ac 13:34">Acts xiii. 34</scripRef>. They are the <b><i>ta
hosia</i></b> (the word used there, and by the Septuagint
here)—<i>the holy things</i> of David, for they are confirmed by
the holiness of God (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.35" parsed="|Ps|89|35|0|0" passage="Ps 89:35">Ps. lxxxix.
35</scripRef>) and are intended to advance holiness among men.
<i>Fifthly,</i> They are sure mercies. The covenant, being
well-ordered in all things, is sure. It is sure in the general
proposal of it; God is real and sincere, serious and in earnest, in
the offer of these mercies. It is sure in the particular
application of it to believers; God's gifts and callings are
without repentance. They are the mercies of David, and therefore
sure, for in Christ the promises are all yea and amen.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p15" shownumber="no">III. Jesus Christ is promised for the
making good of all the other promises which we are here invited to
accept of, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.4" parsed="|Isa|55|4|0|0" passage="Isa 55:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. He
is that David whose sure mercies all the blessings and benefits of
the covenant are. "And God has <i>given him</i> in his purpose and
promise, has constituted and appointed him, and in the fulness of
time will as surely send him as if he had already come, to be all
that to us which is necessary to our having the benefit of these
preparations." He has given him freely; for what more free than a
gift? There was nothing in us to merit such a favour, but Christ is
the gift of God. We want one, 1. To attest the truth of the
promises which we are invited to take the benefit of; and Christ is
given <i>for a witness</i> that God is willing to receive us into
his favour upon gospel terms, to confirm the promises made unto the
fathers, that we may venture our souls upon those promises with
entire satisfaction. Christ is a faithful witness, we may take his
word—a competent witness, for he lay in the bosom of the Father
from eternity, and was perfectly apprised of the whole matter.
Christ, as a prophet, testifies the will of God to the world; and
to believe is to receive his testimony. 2. To assist us in closing
with the invitation, and coming up to the terms of it. We know not
how to find the way to the waters where we are to be supplied, but
Christ is given to be <i>a leader.</i> We know not what to do that
we may be qualified or it, and become sharers in it, but he is
given for <i>a commander,</i> to show us what to do and enable us
to do it. Much difficulty and opposition lie in our way to Christ;
we have spiritual enemies to grapple with, but, to animate us for
the conflict, we have a good captain, like Joshua, a leader and
commander to tread our enemies under our feet and to put us in
possession of the land of promise. Christ is a commander by his
precept and a leader by his example; our business is to obey him
and follow him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p16" shownumber="no">IV. The Master of the feast being fixed, it
is next to be furnished with guests, for the provision shall not be
lost, nor made in vain, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.5" parsed="|Isa|55|5|0|0" passage="Isa 55:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. 1. The Gentiles shall be called to this feast, shall
be invited out of the highways and the hedges: "<i>Thou shalt call
a nation that thou knowest not,</i> that is, that was not formerly
called and owned as thy nation, that thou didst not send prophets
to as to Israel, the people whom God knew above all the families of
the earth." The Gentiles shall now be favoured as they never were
before; their knowing God is said to be rather their <i>being known
of God,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.4.9" parsed="|Gal|4|9|0|0" passage="Ga 4:9">Gal. iv. 9</scripRef>. 2.
They shall come at the call: <i>Nations that knew not thee shall
run unto thee;</i> those that had long been afar off from Christ
shall be made nigh; those that had been running from him shall run
to him, with the greatest speed and alacrity imaginable. There
shall be a concourse of believing Gentiles to Christ, who, being
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to him. Now see the
reason, (1.) Why the Gentiles will thus flock to Christ; it is
<i>because of the Lord his God,</i> because he is the Son of God,
and is declared to be so with power, because they now see his God
is one with whom they have to do, and there is no coming to him as
their God but by making an interest in his Son. Those that are
brought to be acquainted with God, and understand how the concern
lies between them and him, cannot but run to Jesus Christ, who is
the only Mediator between God and Man, and there is no coming to
God but by him. (2.) Why God will bring them to him; it is because
he is the Holy One of Israel, true to his promises, and he has
promised to glorify him by giving him the heathen for his
inheritance. When Greeks began to enquire after Christ he said,
<i>The hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:John.12.22-John.12.23" parsed="|John|12|22|12|23" passage="Joh 12:22,23">John xii. 22, 23</scripRef>. And
his being glorified in his resurrection and ascension was the great
argument by which multitudes were wrought upon to run to him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.lvi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.6-Isa.55.13" parsed="|Isa|55|6|55|13" passage="Isa 55:6-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.lvi-p16.5">
<h4 id="Is.lvi-p16.6">Evangelical Invitations. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p16.7">b. c.</span> 706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.lvi-p17" shownumber="no">6 Seek ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p17.1">Lord</span> while he may be found, call ye upon him
while he is near:   7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p17.2">Lord</span>, and he will have mercy upon him; and
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.   8 For my thoughts
<i>are</i> not your thoughts, neither <i>are</i> your ways my ways,
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p17.3">Lord</span>.   9 For
<i>as</i> the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater:   11 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 <i>in the thing</i>
whereto I sent it.   12 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
<i>their</i> hands.   13 Instead of the thorn shall come up
the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle
tree: and it shall be to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.lvi-p17.4">Lord</span>
for a name, for an everlasting sign <i>that</i> shall not be cut
off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p18" shownumber="no">We have here a further account of that
covenant of grace which is made with us in Jesus Christ, both what
is required and what is promised in the covenant, and of those
considerations that are sufficient abundantly to confirm our
believing compliance with and reliance on that covenant. This
gracious discovery of God's good-will to the children of men is not
to be confined either to the Jew or to the Gentile, to the Old
Testament or to the New, much less to the captives in Babylon. No,
both the precepts and the promises are here given to all, to
<i>every one that thirsts after happiness,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.1" parsed="|Isa|55|1|0|0" passage="Isa 55:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. And who does not? Hear this, and
live.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p19" shownumber="no">I. Here is a gracious offer made of pardon,
and peace, and all happiness, to poor sinners, upon gospel terms,
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.6-Isa.55.7" parsed="|Isa|55|6|55|7" passage="Isa 55:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p20" shownumber="no">1. Let them pray, and their prayers shall
be heard and answered (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.6" parsed="|Isa|55|6|0|0" passage="Isa 55:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): "<i>Seek the Lord while he may be found.</i> Seek
him whom you have left by revolting from your allegiance to him and
whom you have lost by provoking him to withdraw his favour from
you. <i>Call upon him</i> now <i>while he is near,</i> and within
call." Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p21" shownumber="no">(1.) The duties required. [1.] "Seek the
Lord. Seek to him, and enquire of him, as your oracle. <i>Ask the
law at his mouth. What wilt thou have me to do?</i> Seek for him,
and enquire after him, as your portion and happiness; seek to be
reconciled to him and acquainted with him, and to be happy in his
favour. Be sorry that you have lost him; be solicitous to find him;
take the appointed method of finding him, making use of Christ as
your way, the Spirit as your guide, and the word as your rule."
[2.] "Call upon him. Pray to him, to be reconciled, and, being
reconciled, pray to him for every thing else you have need of."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p22" shownumber="no">(2.) The motives made use of to press these
duties upon us: <i>While he may be found—while he is near.</i>
[1.] It is implied that now God is near and will be found, so that
it shall not be in vain to seek him and to call upon him. Now his
patience is waiting on us, his word is calling to us, and his
Spirit striving with us. Let us now improve our advantages and
opportunities; for now is the accepted time. But, [2.] There is a
day coming when he will be afar off, and will not be found, when
the day of his patience is over, and his Spirit will strive no
more. There may come such a time in this life, when the heart is
incurably hardened; it is certain that at death and judgment the
door will be <i>shut,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.16.26 Bible:Luke.13.25-Luke.13.26" parsed="|Luke|16|26|0|0;|Luke|13|25|13|26" passage="Lu 16:26,13:25,26">Luke xvi. 26; xiii. 25, 26</scripRef>. Mercy is
now offered, but then judgment without mercy will take place.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p23" shownumber="no">2. Let them repent and reform, and their
sins shall be pardoned, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.7" parsed="|Isa|55|7|0|0" passage="Isa 55:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. Here is a call to the unconverted, to <i>the wicked
and the unrighteous</i>—to the wicked, who live in known gross
sins, to the unrighteous, who live in the neglect of plain duties:
to them is the word of this salvation sent, and all possible
assurance given that penitent sinners shall find God a pardoning
God. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p24" shownumber="no">(1.) What it is to repent. There are two
things involved in repentance:—[1.] It is to turn from sin; it is
to forsake it. It is to leave it, and to leave it with loathing and
abhorrence, never to return to it again. The wicked must <i>forsake
his way,</i> his evil way, as we would forsake a false way that
will never bring us to the happiness we aim at, and a dangerous
way, that leads to destruction. Let him not take one step more in
that way. Nay, there must be not only a change of the way, but a
change of the mind; the unrighteous must <i>forsake his
thoughts.</i> Repentance, if it be true, strikes at the root, and
washes the heart from wickedness. We must alter our judgments
concerning persons and things, dislodge the corrupt imaginations
and quit the vain pretences under which an unsanctified heart
shelters itself. Note, It is not enough to break off from evil
practices, but we must enter a caveat against evil thoughts. Yet
this is not all: [2.] To repent is to <i>return to the Lord;</i> to
return to him as our God, our sovereign Lord, against whom we have
rebelled, and to whom we are concerned to reconcile ourselves; it
is to return to the Lord as the fountain of life and living waters,
which we had forsaken for broken cisterns.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p25" shownumber="no">(2.) What encouragement we have thus to
repent. If we do so, [1.] God <i>will have mercy.</i> He will not
deal with us as our sins have deserved, but will have compassion on
us. Misery is the object of mercy. Now both the consequences of
sin, by which we have become truly miserable (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.5-Ezek.16.6" parsed="|Ezek|16|5|16|6" passage="Eze 16:5,6">Ezek. xvi. 5, 6</scripRef>), and the nature of
repentance, by which we are made sensible of our misery and are
brought to bemoan ourselves (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.18" parsed="|Jer|31|18|0|0" passage="Jer 31:18">Jer.
xxxi. 18</scripRef>), both these make us objects of pity, and with
God there are tender mercies. [2.] <i>He will abundantly pardon. He
will multiply to pardon</i> (so the word is), as we have multiplied
to offend. Though our sins have been very great and very many, and
though we have often backslidden and are still prone to offend, yet
God will repeat his pardon, and welcome even backsliding children
that return to him in sincerity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p26" shownumber="no">II. Here are encouragements given us to
accept this offer and to venture our souls upon it. For, look which
way we will, we find enough to confirm us in our belief of its
validity and value.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p27" shownumber="no">1. If we look up to heaven, we find God's
counsels there high and transcendent, his thoughts and ways
infinitely above ours, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.8-Isa.55.9" parsed="|Isa|55|8|55|9" passage="Isa 55:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8,
9</scripRef>. The wicked are urged to forsake their evil ways and
thoughts (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.7" parsed="|Isa|55|7|0|0" passage="Isa 55:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>) and
to return to God, that is, to bring their ways and thoughts to
concur and comply with his; "for" (says he) "my thoughts and ways
are not as yours. Yours are conversant only about things beneath;
they are of the earth earthy: but mine are above, <i>as the heaven
is high above the earth;</i> and, if you would approve yourselves
true penitents, yours must be so too, and your affections must be
set on things above." Or, rather, it is to be understood as an
encouragement to us to depend upon God's promise to pardon sin,
upon repentance. Sinners may be ready to fear that God will not be
reconciled to them, because they could not find in their hearts to
be reconciled to one who should have so basely and so frequently
offended them. "But" (says God) "my thoughts in this matter are not
as yours, but as far above them as the heaven is above the earth."
They are so in other things. Men's sentiments concerning sin, and
Christ, and holiness, concerning this world and the other, are
vastly different from God's; but in nothing more than in the matter
of reconciliation. We think God apt to take offence and backward to
forgive—that, if he forgives once, he will not forgive a second
time. Peter thought it a great deal to <i>forgive seven times</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.18.21" parsed="|Matt|18|21|0|0" passage="Mt 18:21">Matt. xviii. 21</scripRef>), and a
hundred pence go far with us; but God meets returning sinners with
pardoning mercy; he forgives freely, and as he gives: it is without
upbraiding. We forgive and cannot forget; but, when God forgives
sin, he remembers it no more. Thus God invites sinners to return to
him, by possessing them with good thoughts of him, as <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.20" parsed="|Jer|31|20|0|0" passage="Jer 31:20">Jer. xxxi. 20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p28" shownumber="no">2. If we look down to this earth, we find
God's word there powerful and effectual, and answering all its
great intentions, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.10-Isa.55.11" parsed="|Isa|55|10|55|11" passage="Isa 55:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10,
11</scripRef>. Observe here, (1.) The efficacy of God's word in the
kingdom of nature. He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; he
appoints when it shall come, to what degree, and how long it shall
lie there; he saith so <i>to the small rain and the great rain of
his strength,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.37.6" parsed="|Job|37|6|0|0" passage="Job 37:6">Job xxxvii.
6</scripRef>. And according to his order they come down from
heaven, and do <i>whatsoever he commands them upon the face of the
world, whether it be for correction, or for his land, or for
mercy,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.12-Isa.55.13" parsed="|Isa|55|12|55|13" passage="Isa 55:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12,
13</scripRef>. It returns not <i>re infectâ—without having
accomplished its end,</i> but waters the earth, which he is
therefore said to do <i>from his chambers,</i> <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.13" parsed="|Ps|104|13|0|0" passage="Ps 104:13">Ps. civ. 13</scripRef>. And the watering of the earth
is in order to its fruitfulness. Thus he makes it to <i>bring forth
and bud,</i> for the products of the earth depend upon the dews of
heaven; and thus it gives not only <i>bread to the eater,</i>
present maintenance to the owner and his family, but <i>seed</i>
likewise <i>to the sower,</i> that he may have food for another
year. The husbandman must be a sower as well as an eater, else he
will soon see the end of what he has. (2.) The efficacy of his word
in the kingdom of providence and grace, which is as certain as the
former: "<i>So shall my word be,</i> as powerful in the mouth of
prophets as it is in the hand of providence; <i>it shall not return
unto me void,</i> as unable to effect what it was sent for, or
meeting with an insuperable opposition; no, <i>it shall accomplish
that which I please</i>" (for it is the declaration of his will,
according to the counsel of which he works all things) "<i>and it
shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.</i>" This assures
us, [1.] That the promises of God shall all have their full
accomplishment in due time, and not one iota or tittle of them
shall fail, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.8.56" parsed="|1Kgs|8|56|0|0" passage="1Ki 8:56">1 Kings viii.
56</scripRef>. These promises of mercy and grace shall have as real
an effect upon the souls of believers, for their sanctification and
comfort, as ever the rain had upon the earth, to make it fruitful.
[2.] That according to the different errands on which the word is
sent it will have its different effects. If it be not a savour of
life unto life, it will be a savour of death unto death; if it do
not convince the conscience and soften the heart, it will sear the
conscience and harden the heart; if it do not ripen for heaven, it
will ripen for hell. See <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.9" parsed="|Isa|6|9|0|0" passage="Isa 6:9"><i>ch.</i> vi.
9</scripRef>. One way or other, it will take effect. [3.] That
Christ's coming into the world, as the dew from heaven (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p28.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.5" parsed="|Hos|14|5|0|0" passage="Ho 14:5">Hos. xiv. 5</scripRef>), will not be in vain.
For, if Israel be not gathered, he will be glorious in the
conversion of the Gentiles; to them therefore the tenders of grace
must be made when the Jews refuse them, that the wedding may be
furnished with guests and the gospel not return void.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.lvi-p29" shownumber="no">3. If we take a special view of the church,
we shall find what great things God has done, and will do, for it
(<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.12-Isa.55.13" parsed="|Isa|55|12|55|13" passage="Isa 55:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>):
<i>You shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.</i> This
refers, (1.) To the deliverance and return of the Jews out of
Babylon. They shall go out of their captivity, and be led forth
towards their own land again. God will go before them as surely,
though not as sensibly, as before their fathers in the pillar of
cloud and fire. They shall go out, not with trembling, but with
triumph, not with any regret to part with Babylon, or any fear of
being fetched back, but <i>with joy</i> and <i>peace.</i> Their
journey home over the mountains shall be pleasant, and they shall
have the good-will and good wishes of all the countries they pass
through. <i>The hills</i> and their inhabitants <i>shall,</i> as in
a transport of joy, <i>break forth into singing;</i> and, if the
people should altogether hold their peace, even <i>the trees of the
field</i> would attend them with their applauses and acclamations.
And, when they come to their own land, it shall be ready to bid
them welcome; for, whereas they expected to find it all overgrown
with briers and thorns, it shall be set with <i>fir-trees and
myrtle-trees:</i> for, though it lay desolate, yet it <i>enjoyed
its sabbaths</i> (<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.34" parsed="|Lev|26|34|0|0" passage="Le 26:34">Lev. xxvi.
34</scripRef>), which, when they were over, like the land after the
sabbatical year, it was the better for. And this shall redound much
to the honour of God and be to him <i>for a name.</i> But, (2.)
Without doubt it looks further. This shall be <i>for an everlasting
sign,</i> that it, [1.] The redemption of the Jews out of Babylon
shall be a ratification of those promises that relate to gospel
times. The accomplishment of the predictions relating to that great
deliverance would be a pledge and earnest of the performance of all
the other promises; for thereby it shall appear that <i>he is
faithful who has promised.</i> [2.] It shall be a representation of
the blessings promised and a type and figure of them. <i>First,</i>
Gospel grace will set those at liberty that were in bondage to sin
and Satan. They <i>shall go out and be led forth.</i> Christ shall
make them free, and then they shall be free indeed.
<i>Secondly,</i> It will fill those with joy that were melancholy.
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p29.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.14.7" parsed="|Ps|14|7|0|0" passage="Ps 14:7">Ps. xiv. 7</scripRef>, <i>Jacob shall
rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.</i> The earth and the inferior
part of the creation shall share in the joy of this salvation,
<scripRef id="Is.lvi-p29.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.11-Ps.94.12" parsed="|Ps|94|11|94|12" passage="Ps 94:11,12">Ps. xciv. 11, 12</scripRef>.
<i>Thirdly,</i> It will make a great change in men's characters.
Those that were as thorns and briers, good for nothing but the
fire, nay, hurtful and vexatious, shall become graceful and useful
as the fir-tree and the myrtle-tree. Thorns and briers came in with
sin and were the fruits of the curse, <scripRef id="Is.lvi-p29.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.3.18" parsed="|Gen|3|18|0|0" passage="Ge 3:18">Gen. iii. 18</scripRef>. The raising of pleasant trees in
the room of them signifies the removal of the curse of the law and
the introduction of gospel blessings. The church's enemies were as
thorns and briers; but, instead of them, God will raise up friends
to be her protection and ornament. Or it may denote the world's
growing better; instead of a generation of thorns and briers, there
shall come up a generation of fir-trees and myrtles; the children
shall be wiser and better than the parents. And, <i>fourthly,</i>
in all this God shall be glorified. It shall be to him for a name,
by which he will be made known and praised, and by it the people of
God shall be encouraged. It shall be for an everlasting sign of
God's favour to them, assuring them that, though it may for a time
be clouded, it shall never <i>be cut off.</i> The covenant of grace
is an everlasting covenant; for the present blessings of it are
signs of everlasting ones.</p>
</div></div2>