This evening, we want to turn
once again to Isaiah chapter 1. Read verse 18 one more time. The Lord says, come. Come right
now. When's a good time to come to
the Lord? Right now. How do we come? Come to Christ
and don't move a muscle. Come by faith, looking to Him.
Come now. Let us reason together. Who says
so? Sayeth the Lord. Sayeth the Lord,
though your sins be as scarlet, red, dyed in the wool, double-dyed
red, they shall be as white as snow. Though your sin be red
like crimson, scarlet, red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Put away. Cleanse. by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm taking the title for the
message from that verse. Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Reason together before the Lord. The Lord says this. Who says
so? You remember verse 20? He says,
the last part of verse 20, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. He says over in verse two, hear, oh heavens, give ear, oh
earth, the Lord has spoken. Boy, that ought to get our attention,
shouldn't it? And then down in verse 10, he says it again, hear
the word of the Lord. Quick to hear. Slow to speak,
quick to hear. The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it. It is only right and surely it is reasonable for us to sit
before the Lord of glory and to learn of him. To sit before
the throne of God's glory and to learn of him. Our Lord said,
take my yoke upon you and remember, learn of me. He said, come unto
me, said all you labor heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me for I'm meek and lowly and
you should find rest, rest for your soul. You remember Mary
sat at the Lord's feet and heard His word. What a blessing to
sit before the Lord and to hear His word. Remember the story
of Peter being called to the house of Cornelius to preach
the gospel to that Gentile? And when Peter got there, Cornelius
said to Peter, we're all here, right now here before God to
hear all things commanded thee of God. May God be pleased to
give us grace in our hearts to hear His Word, not only to hear
it, but to receive it, and to believe it, and to love it in
our heart. To hear the Word of the Lord,
what a blessing we have! To have His Word written and
given unto us, to have it read before us and preached from it,
to hear the Word of the Lord. Salvation is not only of the
Lord, salvation is also for sinners. Sinners need to hear. Who needs
to hear the word of the Lord? Everyone, but especially those
who know themselves to be sinners. For the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. We're going to study in our Bible
study from 1 Timothy 1, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. And Paul said, I'm the chief
one. I'm a chief of sinners. Now, interesting fact about Isaiah,
the prophet of God. He's called the son of Amos.
We know that Isaiah was a sinner saved by the grace of God. Isaiah
had a very low opinion of himself. Remember Isaiah 6, he said, woe
is me, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. as well among a people of unclean
lips. Isaiah was one of 16 prophets
whose writings are contained in Holy Scripture. There are
more testimonies and quotations in the New Testament taken out
of Isaiah than all the other prophets combined, one of 16.
But in the New Testament, Isaiah is quoted more than any other
prophet of the Old Testament. Isaiah so fully described the
person, office, suffering, and kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ
that some have called him the fifth evangelist. Now who are
the four evangelists? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And some have referred to Isaiah
as the fifth evangelist. Some have called the book of
Isaiah the gospel according to Isaiah. And we sure see a lot
of gospel all through the book of Isaiah, don't we? It's interesting,
our Lord's first public message in the synagogue in his hometown
of Nazareth when he went there to worship God. You remember
what they handed him? They gave him the book of Isaiah
and he turned over there to unrolled the scroll and he turned over
to Isaiah 61 and read this, the spirit of the Lord God is upon
me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto
the meek. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and an opening of the prison
to them that are bound." You remember what he said in Luke
chapter 4 when he read from Isaiah 61? He said, this day is this
fulfilled in your ears. So, the Lord preached His first
public sermon from Isaiah 61. Remember, the eunuch from Ethiopia
went to Jerusalem seeking the Lord, salvation, and when he
was going back, having left Jerusalem, having left Jerusalem with not
knowing the truth, not hearing the truth, and when he was returning,
somehow he had a copy of the book of Isaiah. You remember?
And he was sitting in his chariot reading from Isaiah 53, and talked
about this one who was wounded for our transgression and bruised
for our iniquity. And the Lord sent a gospel preacher,
Philip, to the eunuch. And the eunuch asked him, well,
Philip said, do you understand what you read? And he said, how
can I except some man show me? And he began at the same scripture
and preached unto him the Lord Jesus Christ from Isaiah 53. So we can see that. Many, many
quotations from the Gospel according to Isaiah. Now, this evening,
I just want to take a look at verse 18. Come now, let us reason
together, saith the Lord. Though we are sinners, does a
sinner have hope of sin being put away? Yeah, in Christ. Does
a sinner have hope of being justified before God? Yeah, in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Do we have a hope of being redeemed
and pardoned from all our sin? Yeah, only through the blood
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other atonement for
sin, no other way that God can pardon our sin justly except
in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He's all our hope, all our hope,
all our hope before God. Someone said this, one preacher
of the past. The worst of sinners are objects
of the choice's sovereign mercy. Christ is the great savior who
meets the need of great transgressors and great rebels. The vast machinery
of redemption was never undertaken for a mean and little purpose.
There must be a great end to so great salvation, carried out
at so great an expense, guaranteed with such a great promise, and
intended to bring such great glory to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. God forbid, I say glory. God has a great purpose in Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. The grand design of redemption
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what everything
is about. His glory. His glory. Now let me give you
these six points and we'll go back over them. Who calls us
to come unto Him and reason together? Look at verse 18 again. Thus saith the Lord. Who does
He call? Who does the Lord call? He calls
sinners to repentance. The urgency of the call, we see
that in verse 18, the first two words, the Lord said, come now. Today's the day of salvation.
You don't have tomorrow. All we have is right now. Right
now. Fourthly, what has the Lord accomplished
for us? He put away our sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And then we have a glorious promise. If ye be willing and obedient,
ye shall eat all the good, the good of the land. And I take
that to mean spiritually, all the good things that God has
given unto us. And then the last point will
be from verse 20, a strong warning. If ye refuse and rebel, ye shall
be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. But the wrath of God, the wrath
of God abides on those who die in unbelief and sin. Now let's
go back to point one. Who calls us to come unto Him
and reason together? Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Do we have a reason that we come
together and meet as God's people? Yes! He said, forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together. Who says so? The Mighty One.
Notice in verse 24, Isaiah 1. Therefore, saith the Lord, the
Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel. He is the mighty one
of Israel. He has all power, all power in
heaven and earth. He is the King of Glory. He's
strong and mighty in power. The Lord is mighty in battle. There's none as great and none
beside Him and no greater than our God who rules and reigns
all things. Who calls us to come to Him?
God Almighty, the Lord. This calls the Lord unto His
elect. It's not a general call of the
gospel. That general call goes out to
all men when the gospel is preached. This is that secret, invincible,
powerful, conquering call of God the Holy Spirit working in
the hearts of God's people. God who hath begun a good work
in you, He will perform it. He will do it. He will get it
done. That's why so many How many churches,
at the end of a church service, they invite sinners to come down
front and make a decision? We don't do that here. We preach
the gospel of the grace of God and leave sinners in the hands
of a merciful God. He will do the work. Conviction
is His work. Conversion is His work. If someone
can talk you into a decision, someone can talk you out of it.
We preach the gospel and leave sinners in the hands of God.
He will do the work in you. It's God who called irresistibly,
invincibly. I can't convict anybody of sin.
It's God the Holy Spirit that does that. He convicts us of
sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, what I am. of righteousness, what I need,
and of judgment. That is our sin, being judged
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord calls us invincibly,
powerfully, and personally. He calls his people to himself. You remember the Lord Jesus Christ
stood at the grave of a friend who died. His name was Lazarus. He'd been dead four days. And
the Lord stood before that tomb and said, Lazarus, come forth. That was an invincible, powerful,
personal call of God Almighty to the heart of a dead man, and
that dead man came out of that tomb alive and well. Irresistible, effectual call
that God gives to his people. This is not a general call, this
is the irresistible call of God to the hearts of God's people.
And it's personal and powerful. Remember the Lord walked in front
of a table of a tax collector whose name was Matthew. And he
didn't invite Matthew to follow him. He didn't ask Matthew to
make a decision to close up his books and to change his trade. The Lord said, Matthew, follow
me. And Matthew closed his books
and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. Zacchaeus, another publican,
up the tree. And the Lord passed by that way
in his sovereign providence. And he looked up and saw Zacchaeus
up that sycamore tree. Remember what he said? Zacchaeus,
if you'd like to come down, I'll go home with you. That's what
he said. Zacchaeus make haste and come
down. He came down and the Lord had
mercy upon him. You see, who calls us to come
unto Him and to reason together? It's the Lord. Thus saith the
Lord. And when He speaks in power to
the hearts of His people, by the command of His Word, they
will obey Him. They will be obedient. They will
be obedient. God's people shall be willing
in the day of His power. Now, here's the second thing.
Who does He call? Who does the Lord call? He said,
I didn't come to call the righteous. The righteous don't need a Savior.
The righteous don't need an atonement. Whom does the Lord call? He calls
sinners. Sinners. He came to seek and
to save the lost, the guilty. Salvation, we know, is for sinners. He says in the text there, though
your sins, oh, there are so many, There are so many and their sins
are against God. They're just as red and awful
as scarlet, though they be red like crimson. God said, I'm going
to take care of your sin, though they be as scarlet, double-dyed
red like crimson. Our sins, now listen to me now,
our sins, though there are many and they're against God, our
sins are no hindrance to His grace, to His mercy, to His love,
to His gospel. Our sins don't hinder God's call
of grace. The only thing that will hinder
you from coming to Christ You know what it is? It's not your
sin, it's your goodness. It's your supposed self-righteousness. Your supposed goodness. The Lord
gives us a vivid description of our total depravity. Did you
notice that in verse 4, Isaiah 1? I said a sinful nation. A people laden with iniquity. Heavy, laden with sin. A seed
of evildoers. Children that are corruptors.
They've forsaken the Lord. They've provoked the Holy One
into anger. They have gone backward. Alienated. Separated. The whole head. He said, you're a bunch of rebels. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is faint. From the sole of your foot to
the top of your head, there's no goodness in it. That's a pretty
vivid description. That's you and that's me. Sinful
through and through. He says over here in Isaiah,
don't turn them, I'll just read it to you. You're familiar with
this scripture too, because I quote it all the time. Isaiah 64, verse
6, we're all as an unclean thing. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. We all do fate as a leaf. Our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There's none that
calls upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.
Thou which hid thy face from us and hast consumed us because
of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our
father. We are the clay. Thou art the
potter. We are all the work of thy hand.
Sovereign mercy. Sovereign grace before God. He
calls sinners to himself. The great and good and glorious
news of the gospel message is that the Lord Jesus Christ has
came to save folks just like you. Just like me. Guilty, vile, wretched sinners. And yet they belong to the Lord. A remnant shall be saved. Look
what he says in verse 9. Except the Lord has left us a
very small remnant, we'd all perish under the wrath of God. There's another scripture. I
read that word remnant. I don't know if there's a reference
there on that verse. Let me see. There's a remnant.
I don't see the reference, but I thought of this scripture over
here. Ian, don't turn on me. It's reading to you. In Romans
11, verse 5, Even so, then, at this present time, there is a
remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it's no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then it's not grace. Otherwise, work is no
more work. There is an election, a remnant
God has chosen unto salvation. It's called the election of grace. Election is God's unconditional
choice of sinners unto salvation. A remnant shall be saved. Some
might say, and I've had people tell me this that I've talked
to over the course of my life as a believer and as a preacher
of the gospel, some might be tempted to say, well, I'm just
too ungodly. I'm just too ungodly. My friend,
the Lord Jesus Christ, died for the ungodly. When we were yet
without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
While other people might say, well, preacher, you don't know
me. I do know you. You're just like
me. Others might say, well, I'm just too sinful. God committed
his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Here's another scripture I thought
of on that point. You remember from our study.
In the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, he said, and you who were
dead in sin and trespassers in sin, were in time past. You walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling desires of
the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. My friend,
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. That's why He came. There's none too sinful. There's
none too guilty. John Newton said, if God Save
me, He can save anybody. We never despair of the grace
of God, do we? The third point, the urgency
of the call, Isaiah 1, verse 18, the urgency of the call is
come now. Right now. Come to Christ. Don't move a muscle. Come to
Christ by faith. Look to Him. Believe on Him.
When is the sinner to seek the Lord Jesus Christ? When is the
sinner to seek the Lord Jesus Christ? Right now. Right now. Today is the day of salvation.
We have no tomorrow. We know this, there's salvation
in no other. Would you have salvation? Seek
it where it's found. Would you have mercy? Seek mercy
where it's found. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Let
me read this to you. You remember this from our study
in the book of Psalms? Oh come, Psalm 95, let me just
read it, verse 6. Oh come, let us worship and bow
down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our
God, we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand.
Today if you'll hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in
a provocation. and a day of temptation in the
wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, and proved me, and
saw my works forty years, forty years long. He said, I was grieved
with that generation. It is the people that do err
in their heart, and they have not known my ways, unto whom
I swear my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest. Seek
the Lord right now. Harden not your heart. Call upon
the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That will encourage us to call
upon Him. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? There is no other Savior but
the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other Physician for
our sin sick soul but the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other
Mediator but the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other Savior, is
there? Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed? No, no other savior but the Lord
Jesus Christ. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? How are we to seek the Lord?
By taking our place before him as a needy, sinful beggar, as
a mercy beggar. Our Lord said, Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. How will you seek the Lord? Seek
Him in His Word. Seek Him in His Word. He's found
in His Word. Our Lord says to those Pharisees,
you are they which search the Scriptures, but they are they
which testify of Me. And you won't come to Me that
you might have life. Seek Him in His Word. You remember
the Bereans, the noble Bereans, they searched the Word to see
if those things be so. How are we to seek the Lord?
By submitting and bowing to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
No longer going about to establish a righteousness of our own, but
submitting unto the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Lord, our righteousness
for Christ at the end of the law. to everyone that believeth,
to the Jew and to the Gentile. The call of the gospel is an
urgent call. Come right now. We need salvation
right now. We need the Lord Jesus Christ
right now. You remember Isaiah 55? Oh, everyone
that is thirsty, if you're thirsty, come to the Lord. He's the water
of life. He's the bread of life. Here's
the fourth thing. What the Lord has accomplished
for His covenant people, for the remnant that He has chosen
unto salvation. Christ has put away their sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. Our Lord said, though your sins
be many, and they're against God, they're like scarlet. God said, they'll be white as
snow. I'm going to put away your sin. Though they be red like
crimson, They shall be as wool. Sin put away. Righteousness imputed. The Lord has accomplished salvation
for his covenant people. Call his name Jesus. Why? He
is what he's called. He shall save his people from
their sin. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He bare
our sin in his own body on the tree. The Lord said on Calvary's
tree, it is finished. It done, it's complete. Now look
to me and be ye saved. Though we are red, scarlet, crimson-colored
maggots, worms, the Lord of glory died for maggots. That word right
there, that word crimson, you know what that word is? Maggots. Is that offensive? Crimson is the same word that
is translated in Exodus 1620, worms. You remember when they
were told to take up the manna? And they were to take up manna
for one day and not take up any more than one day. Notwithstanding,
they hearkened not to Moses, but some of them left it until
the morning, and it bred worms and stank, and Moses was wroth
with them." That word there, worms, is the same word that's
rendered here, crimson. Now here's the amazing grace
and mystery of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came
and died for maggots. Worms. The Lord Jesus Christ
crucified, with the sin of God's elect charged to Him, became
a worm, a maggot, numbered with transgressors. Think about that.
The Lord of glory, in the body of humanity, with our sin laid
upon Him, became a maggot. Is that offensive? You remember Psalm 22, the Psalm
of the Cross? You remember what the Lord said
in Psalm 22, I am a worm, a maggot. Same word there as crimson, a
maggot. And no man, reproach of men,
despises a people. In Psalm 40, he calls our iniquities,
he calls our iniquities his iniquity. That verse that we quote so often,
2 Corinthians 5.21, God made him to be sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He bare our sin in his own body
on the tree. Though our sin are double-dyed
red in the vileness of our totally depraved nature, The blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. So powerful
and so prevailing is the blood atonement of Christ that he says,
God Almighty said, their sin and their iniquity will I remember
no more. No more. The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. Isn't that good news?
He was manifested to take away our sin, and in Him is no sin. Did He get it done? Did He get
the job done? Did He try to take away sin and
fail? No, my friend. Here in His love,
not that we love God, but He loved us. And He made a complete
atonement for all the sin of God's people. Obtained for us
eternal redemption with His own blood. This is the only way that
sin is put away. Not by the blood of bulls and
of goats. That cannot put away sin. You
remember what the Lord says in the text here? Isaiah 1 verse
11, To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith
the Lord? I am full of your burnt offerings,
of rams, and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, and of lambs, or of he-goats. What does the Lord
delight in? Behold the Lamb of God that takes
away our sin. We are redeemed. How are we redeemed? With the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things. Silver and gold. Your vain conversation received
by tradition of your fathers. But what? The precious blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, a couple more things here. A glorious promise found in verse
19. If you be willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured with the sword for the mouth of the Lord
has spoken it. Any willingness on the sinner's
part to receive and believe the gospel, submit unto the Lord
Jesus Christ, bow to His Lordship, is the direct fruit of divine
and sovereign intervention. Thy people shall be willing when? In the day of His power. It's
the result of His calling us out of darkness into His marvelous
light. It's God who saved us and called us. with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace. He called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light. Translated up, He made us willing. Man has no free will. Man has
a will. It's not free. It's in bondage. What's man's will in bondage
to? His nature. His nature is sinful. It's always self-ward and downward,
never God-ward and upward. Remember what I read just a moment
ago? Let me see if I can... I can't quote it, but I can turn
and read it to you one more time. In Isaiah 64, there is none that
calls upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.
If we're stirred and we're made willing to bow to Him, submit
to His Lordship, it's only because He made us willing in the day
of His power. You see, we only believe the
Gospel according to the working of His mighty power. You have
to be quick until we're dead. By nature, we love darkness,
not light. The only way we are made willing
and obedient, and the only way we believe the Gospel and confess
our sin before God, and the only way that we repent and believe
the Gospel is by the command of God. He must make us willing
in the day of His power. By nature, we're rebels. We're
disobedient. As it said there, He said, you're
a sinful nation laden with iniquity. He said, the ox Verse 3, knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel does not know
my people do not consider. Stubborn as an ass and dumb as
an ox. That's where that saying comes
from right there. Stubborn as an ass and dumb as
an ox. God must make us willing or we'll
never believe and repent God makes us willing to forsake
all false hope and flee all idolatry and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ
as our only hope of salvation. You'd still be dead in your sin
had God not quickened you, had God not called you by His grace,
had God not granted you faith and repentance in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Aren't you glad He made us willing?
Aren't you glad He made us obedient? Aren't you glad that we've been
made to obey the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? To believe
His command? And to repent at His command?
Now here's a strong warning in closing. Verse 20. If you refuse
and if you rebel, you'll be devoured with the sword. The sword of
His Word. For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it. If you refuse to bow and believe and submit and continue
in rebellion, Is there any hope? You'll die in your sin. Our Lord
said in John 8 that you shall die. If you believe not that
I am He, you'll die in your sin. It shall be well with the righteous.
You remember from last week? Say to the righteous, it shall
be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doing.
Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with them. for the reward of his hand shall
be given him." You see, our only hope of salvation is to be found
in Christ. Our only hope of forgiveness
is by looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our only hope of redemption
is to be found in Him. Nothing more, nothing less, and
nothing else. Our only hope of righteousness
is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord our righteousness.
Our only hope of resurrection One of these days we're going
to take this old body of clay and put it in the ground and
it's going back to the dust. How are you going to get out
of there? How are you going to get that body out of there? I
know we've been watching that horrible scene over there in
Ukraine of them digging up all those dead bodies. They did give one of those dead
bodies life. Who's going to give that dead
body life? and with the power of God Almighty. Our only hope
of resurrection is to be found at the resurrection of life,
unto life. The Lord said, I am the resurrection,
I am the life. There is a resurrection of damnation,
condemnation. Our only hope of resurrection
is the resurrection of life that you found in Christ, who has
delivered our offenses, raised again for our justification.
May God help us right now, today's the day of salvation, to look
unto Him. and keep looking, and keep coming,
and keep believing, and keep repenting, and believe in the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says that over here in Isaiah
45, verse 22, remember? He said, I'm God, beside me there
is no other. The only just God and Savior.
And then what did he say? It's not a complicated word.
L-O-O-K. Look to Christ. and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth. For I am God, and there is no
other, no other.