Isaiah 1:18

Good evening and we give a welcome again to all to the gospel meeting and I'd like to read with you in isaiah chapter one isaiah in the old testament and chapter number one place And verse number 18 isaiah chapter one and verse Number 18 Come now and let us reason together saith the lord Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow Though they be red like crimson crimson. They shall be as wool. I just like to read the verse again and It says come now and let us reason together saith the lord Though your sins be as scarlet They shall be as white as snow though.

They be red like crimson they shall be as wool I trust the lord will bless the reading And the preaching of the gospel as well as the testimonies that we have already listened to I would like to note four things in this verse I would like to notice with you that there is one that is calling In other words the caller who it is that is speaking in this verse And then I would like to examine with you that call what? This person is saying He says come now and then I would like to speak of a Concentration a conflict if you will in this verse And then the cleansing of their sin The prophet isaiah here is speaking to the people of israel and As you would begin this book you would notice that he is pointing to their sin that god is speaking And so when we come to this verse It is very clear that it is god himself that is speaking because isaiah says come now let us reason together Thus saith the lord I would like to speak to you for just a minute about god a god that is speaking a god that is desiring to speak to you that has spoken we've heard and a number of the testimonies that Individuals have said that god was speaking to me That they understood that god in heaven was speaking to them And I would like to reiterate that god has been speaking to you if you are not saved tonight I know often in the prayer meeting we would pray and we would ask that god would speak and I would just say that God is speaking god has spoken We have heard the verse mentioned already Throughout this day. I don't recall if it was in the prayer meeting or in The ministry, but god speaketh once yay twice yet man perceiveth it not you see there is a problem and that is that God is speaking but Many are not listening. And so the challenge would be tonight to you if you're not saved is are you listening? Are you open to hear what god has to say? There are a couple of different Illustrations I shouldn't say illustrations, but rather stories If you were to look up on the internet, you would be able to find them of individuals that have tragically perished And what is so sad about These two or three different cases is that there have been individuals that have been walking along railroad tracks and Just casually strolling down the tracks And suddenly a train has come along And those individuals have perished I remember reading the story of one individual and that individual was walking in that dangerous place But he was wearing his noise cancelling headphones and the conductor would tell of how that he was honking the horn again and again trying to Let that person know that he was in great danger But the sad reality was with that individual was unable to hear And he was swept away and he was killed in an instant And I think of sinners that are sitting in gospel meetings time and time again And god is speaking god is speaking through his word.

He's speaking through the preaching in the gospel. He is speaking through Circumstances in life we've heard of that already tonight He's speaking through the testimonies of other believers Speaking time and time again calling to sinners pleading with sinners And yet there are so many just like that individual that was walking on those railroad tracks that day That they have their hands over their ears and they're not interested in hearing what god has to say And god in his mercy is calling time and time again I would just like to observe here that it is god that is Calling it is god that is speaking Can you imagine a more important person that would? Speak to an individual that could speak to an individual of course not Imagine the god of heaven the creator of the universe the one who holds our breath in his very hand The one that is omnipotent that is eternal that is so sublime and supreme above all that we can imagine and he would stoop to speak to you and I And here he is and he is speaking and he is calling. Are you listening? Are you willing to? To hear what he has to say because with that I would like to notice What he says or specifically the call Notice just those first two words of this verse again, he says come now come now Two things about this particular call First there is a call to action to to come to respond Not only to hear but a responsibility to to come to hear But secondly, there is an urgency Now now Come now I appreciated what brother john said regarding his mother And it reminded me of a situation In mexico where a young girl in her 20s was dying of cancer And her neighbor was a believer And so the neighbor would go to visit her the believer and to speak the gospel to her and one day She invited me to come with her and she took me to speak to this young lady that was dying of cancer and we spoke to her regarding the gospel and told her the message of salvation and peace and forgiveness and the possibility of being prepared for death And she listened intently And she said she'd like to speak again A couple days later.

It just so happened that on my way to a meeting I swung by the hospital in town in the city and As I entered I was going to see a different patient as I entered she was exiting that building in a wheelchair And I greeted her and her sisters she had gone for a checkup And we had agreed that on a certain day. We are going to see each other again to to talk about these things And I said to her you recall that in a couple of days we will see each other again and she said yes I'm looking forward to the visit. We'll we'll be able to talk more about what you were telling me the other day I said that's good.

I'll put it in my cell phone so I won't forget And I pulled out my cell phone and opened the calendar and put an appointment in And a reminder that my cell phone would buzz And slipped my phone in my pocket and went about my day A couple days later my cell phone began to vibrate And I pulled that phone out and I looked at that reminder and it said go visit so-and-so Do you know where I was sitting when I read that message I was literally sitting beside her grave as they were filling it with dirt This is an urgent call This verse does not say come tomorrow He is not saying to these people you can go home and think about it I i'm calling you and tomorrow would be would be wonderful or next week He says you come now right now Urgently leaving everything behind as we've heard leaving everything to come Now But I want to speak of a confrontation Maybe that's not so observable in this particular verse But what is the reason for this call? Why is God speaking to this? Individuals to this nation. What does he want to talk to them about? Well, it says let us reason together Let us reason together I understand or if I understand it correctly that he is not Calling them to a conversation But that rather this is more Of a judge that is summoning a person that has been accused So that he can speak to them regarding the accusations At least that is the way that some commentators would view this particular verse but the subject of that Confrontation if you will is going to be their sins In other words, God is calling this people to him so that he might confront them regarding their sin He wants to talk to them about their sin He wants to expose it and to show that to them because throughout this book We would see that the people had abandoned God that they had left God that they had begun to worship idols And they had turned from him And they had sinned against God And he's now he's calling them to come to him so that he might confront them and to show them their sin Dear friend I hope you understand why you need to be saved And what you need to be saved from You need to be saved from your sin From the penalty of your sin from the power of your sin Sin is enslaving and sin is condemning and it is take what is taking us down to judgment and to perdition and to a lost hell Saved from sin And if you are like most most struggle with most of us struggle with understanding just How bad of sinners we really are? if you'll forgive another illustration, I think this illustrates the wickedness and the depravity of the human heart perhaps better than Any other illustration that I can think of that i've personally witnessed there's a couple in the assembly where we preach the gospel in mexico That before they were saved probably about eight or nine years ago on one occasion. They were both kidnapped by drug cartel members They were in the wrong place at the wrong time and just to make the story as short as possible one evening They were staying at a very cheap motel and drug cartel members came looking for rivals and they Rounded up every single person in that hotel and they took them to another place where they began to torture the men And interrogate them And they took all their personal belongings from the lady all of her jewelry.

She was attending gospel meetings at that time But she wasn't saved yet And they took all of their possessions from them And she pleaded with them to try to tell them that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time And that they were only there visiting her mother-in-law who was in the hospital finally the drug cartel leader Conceding to their petitions. He said listen i'm going to call the hospital and confirm your story And if you're wrong if you're lying to me, we're just simply going to kill you Whether he called or not I don't know but shortly there he came back and he said to the lady He said we're going to let you go get into that vehicle and we'll take you back and drop you off Mind you that these are drug cartel members who murder And do many many horrible things And she looked at that man and she said to him You're really going to let us go And he looked back at her and his words are what I want you to hear He looked back at her and he said to her lady ma'am We are bad But we're not that bad We're not that bad There were multitudes of young men in that building that probably never left their lives their bodies perhaps never discovered We're bad, but we're not that bad. Do you remember what paul says in romans chapter 3? He says what then are we better than they? in no wise in no wise For all have sinned he concludes later on down that chapter and comes short of the glory of god And you see isaiah god speaking to the prophet here.

He's calling to these people and he's wanting them to come to him And he's wanting them to come now because he wants to talk about their sin. He's god is not looking to negotiate with them you know what a negotiation is where where two parties get together and they begin to to Negotiate god's not looking to negotiate with you tonight he's looking for the sinner to become guilty before him to silence his mouth to put his hand over his or her mouth and to Confess to his guilt and his sin God is not calling these people to get to him so that they might explain Away, their sin Right He's not saying them. Why did you just come in and give me a little explanation? About what you've done and just why you did it We're pretty Good at that.

Are we not? Explaining away our sin Well the circumstances in which I was born or or I had to do it because of this or that a lady on one occasion was telling us Well, you know, I used to steal but I I had to God is not Looking for us to justify our sin And again, just like explaining our sin. We are very good at justifying our sin No god is looking to convict us of our sin And when he calls these people to come to him to come now to come urgently to come running It is because he wants to convict them of their sin. He wants to bring their sin out and set it before them You just imagine these people if they were to actually physically come and and god would just pull out their sin and set it on the table before them And they would just be staring at all their sins Or if he set a great list of all their sins before them and they're just staring at them It'd be undeniable, right? God who knows them What excuse could they offer I think if that were to be done that the mouth would simply be closed silence What what more could we say and Dear friend in the meeting tonight see God Wants to deal with you regarding your sin If you're really wanting to be saved Take a good look at your sin and what you have done and I know in the time we failed to Define exactly what sin is and i'm hoping that you understand a little bit about what sin you might have What sins you have committed? And to just think that god is there and he's waiting he's calling Time and time again busy because he wants you to deal with that sin Have you ever had dealings with god? Regarding your sin have you ever? Understood the gravity and the severity of your sin And thought I need to I need to have my sins forgiven I need to have peace with god and I need to have dealings with god regarding my sin Because if you read this verse, there's something rather remarkable that happens He tells them Come now and let us reason together sayeth the lord And you if you've been following a little bit of this message and you Understand that he's calling them to come to him and he wants to bring their sin out before them You might be expecting the rest of the verse to Deal with judgment or threats of judgment But you see is rather remarkable He says come now and let us reason together saith the lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be White as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool You see god is calling them to him because he wants to cleanse them from their sin.

He wants to purify them He wants to forgive them That is the reason that god wants to deal with the sinner's sin and so That is the reason that god is calling sinners tonight in this meeting and in other places God is wanting sinners longing for sinners to come to him To come guilty and helpless to come with all their burden of sin And you know what happens when a sinner comes Guilty in silence Without making an excuse God is able to take that sinner and through the his word Through preaching and he takes that sinner and he directs the sinner's attention to his son the savior To the lord jesus and the one who died upon the cross the one who shed his blood He can take the sinner And turn his head to the to the son of god that he might look upon him and understand that The blood of jesus christ cleanses from all sin how many testimonies have you heard that relate something very similar that one had come to understand the the guilt of their sin and the Awfulness of their sin and that their sin was taking them down to destruction And it's almost as if suddenly in an instant They're turned to the cross Turned to the savior to understand that the lord jesus died on the cross He shed his blood and his blood will cleanse me from all sin that was The moment that I was saved at 24 years of age Lost Desperately wanting peace with god and I understood Christ died for me I said that's it. That's it if he died for me i'm saved We didn't read the following verses and my time is definitely gone, but you will see that there's a Decision if you allow me to use those words he he sets two ways before them He says to them come And this is what the result will be you will have cleansing you will be purified from your sin But know that if you don't if you do not Then there is evil that is planned. And so friend in the meeting tonight hear the call of god Unplug your ears and listen to what he is saying.

He's pleading with you to come to come now and to deal with your sin And turn to the savior and realize that he is the one who has dealt with it at the cross when he died for Sinners when he bore our sin in his own body on the tree and trust him and be saved tonight