I.

THE INVITATION OF THE GOSPEL.

"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."-ISA. LV. 1.

THE announcement of the Gospel of Christ begins with the Book of Genesis, and goes on with increasing light throughout the Bible, down to the end of the Book of Revelation. The Lord announced to our first parents, after the fall, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. iii. 15); and the gracious call thus closes the canon of Scripture: "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. xxii. 17). And among the prophets of the Old Testament, and the evangelists and apostles of the New Testament, there

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are few, if any, of the inspired penmen that are more full and gracious in declaration of the Gospel than the evangelical prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz: "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."

May God himself, who giveth this invitation, grant to every one of us that thirsteth and is weary, to come to the waters of life and be refreshed; moneyless and thriftless as we are, may we come, procure, and eat, and be satisfied; yea, coming to God in Christ, may we, by the grace of his Holy Spirit, receive wine and milk, the very richest of viands and refreshment, without any work or merit of our own!

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." All human beings, in general, are here addressed, invited, and commanded to come; "the outcasts of Israel" (ch. lvi. 8), "the sons of the stranger" (ch. lvi. 6),-all the children of Adam that, conscious of their discomfort and unhappiness, are athirst. Wherever there is a sense of weariness and dissatisfaction, wherever the soul

is ill at ease, and desires peace, and yet has no peace, that man is athirst. He is invited, exhorted, yea commanded to come; and just as truly as the living, gushing "waters" refresh and enliven the weary way-worn traveller in the waste howling wilderness of a Syrian or Arabian desert, so really the peace, and holiness, and happiness provided in the Gospel of Christ quench the thirst of the immortal spirit of man, and set the soul at rest. We may conceive a careworn company of travellers passing through a heathy desert," fountainless and dry," and at last a green oasis is descried,—it may be such a place as Elim, with its twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees,—and they encamp there by the waters (Exod. xv. 27), whilst the joyous shout of invitation sounds forth far and near, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." There is sufficient water for all; the clear gushing waters never fail; and when the first pilgrims have drunk their fill, there is still abundance; and those who have quenched their thirst first will be all the more willing that others may quench their thirst also, may taste and see that

God is good (Ps. xxxiv. 8). Hence the invitation and encouragement that all the people of God give: "Ho!" "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul" (Ps. lxvi. 16). And, higher than the highest, the Lord Jesus Christ himself gives the invitation: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi. 28). "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of running water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive" (John vii. 37-39).

And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat." "The waters" of life are free for refreshment, and so is "the bread of life" (John vi. 35) for nourishment and strength. Every one, however poor and destitute, is invited to come and make this bread his own; taking it, and eating it, and enjoying it as actually and truly as if he had bought it and made it his own by a personal payment. The very man that has no money is singled out; the poor, needy sinner,