Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1726
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, June 17, 1883
“He that has no money; come, buy, and eat.” Isaiah 55:1.
THERE is a semicolon in our translation, but we need not take notice of it. It should not be there, since the text is the second of two parallel sentences arranged according to the method of Hebrew poetry—
“Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters, And he that has no money, come, buy, and eat.” We have before us the figure of a merchant selling his wares and crying like a chapman in the market, “Ho!” To attract attention he calls aloud, “Come! Come! Come!” three times; and he adds to this the cry of, “Buy! Buy!” Shall the Great King thus liken Himself to a trader in the market, earnest to dispose of His goods? It is even so and I, therefore, call upon you to admire the mercy of the Lord! In the 53rd and 54th chapters, this Divine Merchantman has been spreading out His wares. What treasures they are! Look at the 53rd chapter—what do you see there?
Behold that Pearl of great price, the Lord Jesus Christ! Behold Him wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities! This is so costly a treasure that Heaven and earth could not match it! Where else could we find a Sacrifice for sin, a Justifier of many? This Anointed One of God, upon whom the chastisement of our peace was laid—who would not have Him to be his Savior? Surely with such a treasure to display, we ought not to cry long for buyers, for every truly wise man will exclaim, “This is what I need! Not only a Savior, but a great one! An atonement for sin is the one thing necessary for me.” To this you are invited in these words, “He that has no money, come, buy, and eat.”
In the 54th chapter the Divine Merchantman sets forth the rare possession of His everlasting love. Read from verse seven, “For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the Covenant of My peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you.” What more can be set forth to win men’s hearts? First, a full atonement and now, love everlasting, making a Covenant confirmed by oath! Should there be need, often, to cry, “Come and buy,” when such celestial wares are displayed before us?
Added to this, we see a little further on, the blessing of heavenly edification. Notice the 11th verse—“I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of agates, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones.” This is a rare building, is it not? There should be a quick market for such an array of choice things! Sapphires and agates—what more would you have? Here are all manner of precious stones and all of these given freely! The only terms are, “everything for nothing! Heaven for the asking!” All the treasures of God are freely bestowed upon the sons of men who are willing to accept them as gifts of Grace!
As if this were not enough, the Lord brings out a fourth blessing, namely, everlasting safety by faith—“In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression; for you shall not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near you. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn.” Security is worth infinitely more than gold! To be protected by Divine Wisdom from every possible harm is the portion of Believers in Jesus! To be saved and made safe forever—is not this worth worlds? Never was there a market like the Gospel market! And never were such wares spread out before the eyes of men as those which are here presented to you!
I shall, therefore, with the more hopefulness, speak to those who have not yet been buyers, and urge upon you the invitation of the text, “He that has no money, come, buy, and eat.” In handling this text we shall notice, first, the description of the buyer, “He that has no money.” Secondly, the selection of this particular buyer—why is he invited be-
yond all others? Thirdly, the invitation to purchase, “Come, buy, and eat.” And fourthly, we shall add the assurance that this Gospel market is no deception, for these things are really to be had.
I. First, then, here is A DESCRIPTION of the buyer. I believe he is here this morning. I hope he will recognize his own portrait, though it is by no means a flattering one. It is the Truth of God itself, a photograph taken by the sunlight of Heaven. It is the portrait of a poor, penniless, broken-down creature reduced to the extremity of need. Here it is—“He that has no money.” Of course, by this is meant, among other things, the man who literally has no money. Among the Jews of our Lord’s day there existed an idea that a man who had money was at a great advantage with regard to heavenly things, so that when the Lord said, “How difficult shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom,” they exclaimed with wonder, “Who, then, can be saved?” as if they thought that if the rich could not be easily saved then none could be.