Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program, I'm glad
you could join us today. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of
Isaiah. This is in the Old Testament, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah,
chapter one, beginning at chapter one. And my text is verse 18. And let me just read Isaiah 1,
18 to you. It says, This is the call and
command of the prophet to the people. He 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. The title of the
message is The Miracle of God's Grace. And it's stated in that
verse, the miracle of God's grace. What a miracle it is. It's the
miracle of salvation. It's the miracle of righteousness
established by the Lord Jesus Christ for the people of God. And that miracle is stated in
these metaphors, the sins. Oh, your sins be as scarlet.
red, bloody, openly deserving of death and hell. They shall
be white as snow. Now is the miracle of God's grace,
does He turn sin that's red like crimson into purity as white
as snow? No, He doesn't turn sin into
anything. You can't make sin to be anything
more than what it is. The Bible tells us that sin is
coming short of the glory of God. And as long as you come
short, it's sin. And what is the glory of God?
The glory of God is found in the person and work of Christ
as the surety, the substitute, and the redeemer of His people.
And what did Christ do as the surety of His people, God's elect?
Well, He took upon Himself, as given to Him by the Father, the
sin debt of his people. In other words, sin runs up a
debt. Now if you don't understand that,
excuse me, just listen to the example that we have in society
today. When a criminal commits a crime,
then he's guilty of the crime and he owes a debt to the law,
a debt to society. and he's convicted and put in
prison until that debt is paid, whatever the sentence is. Well,
the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. The soul that
sinneth must surely die. I know it says the gift of God
is eternal life. We'll get to that in just a minute
through Christ Jesus our Lord. But you see, that's what sin
is. The glory of God is seen in the perfection of righteousness
and holiness that can only be found in Christ. It cannot be
found in me or in you because we are sinners. But when God
saves a person, that person becomes a sinner saved by grace, becomes
a saint, sanctified, one for whom Christ died and paid the
debt. And that's what he did as our
substitute, our surety, the substitute of his people, he took my place.
Over in Isaiah 53, that beautiful chapter, that speaks of Christ
the suffering servant. What does it say? It says in
verse four, talking about God's people, surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken
and smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised or crushed for our iniquities, the chastisement the punishment
that was due unto the sinners for whom he died because of their
sins and to make peace was upon him and with his stripes we are
healed. And that's eternal spiritual
healing, not physical as a lot of false preachers say. So sin
can never be anything but sin. And Isaiah opens up this book
here in his prophecy with revealing the sinfulness of the nation
Israel. Listen to what he says in verse
4 of chapter 1 of Isaiah. A sinful nation, a people laden,
in other words, burdened heavily with iniquity, a seed of evildoers. Children that are corrupters,
they have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One
of Israel unto anger. They are gone away backward."
In other words, they think they're drawing closer to God, but they're
getting farther away from God. That's what Isaiah says of his
people. And you know, Isaiah, he prophesied around 700 to 750
years before Christ came. All the prophets And in fact, the whole Old Testament,
the law, the Psalms, the poetry, the prophets, all pointed to
the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the anointed
one, as the salvation of his people. And they were told over
and over again by preachers and prophets of the gospel, you cannot
be saved by your works, by the works of the law. The law of
Moses cannot save you. In fact, Christ told the Pharisees
who were trying to be saved by working their way under the law
of Moses, he said, look, he said, Moses wrote of me. And the one
you're depending upon in your works of law, Moses will be your
condemnation. He'll be your judge. Salvation
has never been by works of the law. Our works of the law. It's always been by God's grace
from the very beginning and it'll be by God's grace until Christ
comes again and his people are taken home. But this is why I
say, see how he describes these sinful Israelites in Jerusalem. That's where Isaiah prophesied.
He says in verse five, why should you be stricken anymore? You
will revoke more and more. In other words, the more you're
punished, the more rebellious you get. The whole head is sick,
the whole heart is faint. You're not part good and part
bad. In God's sight, now in man's sight, you know, if somebody
says, well, we've all got a little evil and we've all got a little
good, but not in God's sight. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is faint. And he says in verse six, from
the sole of the foot even unto the head, there's no soundness
in it. That means there's no righteousness
in God's sight. Now understand here, the prophet
is measuring righteousness and holiness by God's standard, not
man's. You see, false religion, will
always measure righteousness and holiness by man's standard
as we compare one with another, and it makes it on a sliding
scale. But God has one standard of perfection and righteousness
and holiness, and it's the person and work of His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's why he commands all
men everywhere to repent. Repent of thinking of that sliding
scale. Repent of thinking that you're
part good and part bad. Because God hath appointed a
day, Acts 17 31, in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath appointed, Christ is his measuring stick,
see, in that he hath given assurance unto all men and that he hath
raised him from the dead. And so he says in verse six,
but wounds and bruises, putrefying sores, these are all metaphors
that show the depravity of man, how we all deserve death and
hell. And he says, they have not been closed, these sores,
these wounds, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Now what is the, what is the, Ointment and and mollification
that man tries to apply to his sin sinful wound religion and
That's that's what he's sick of here You know, he's talking
to a religious people here and he's saying the whole nation
is sick But there is a remnant and this is a great biblical
Old Testament concept the idea of the remnant that even amongst
this mass of humanity, God has a remnant of people, a small
remnant, but it's a remnant, as Paul wrote in Romans chapter
11, according to the election of grace. There's a small remnant. Look at verse nine of Isaiah
1. Except the Lord of hosts, the
Lord of a great army that cannot be defeated, had left unto us
a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should
have been like unto Gomorrah. In other words, there'd be nobody
saved, except God chose a people before the world began, gave
them to Christ, sent Christ into the world to redeem them, and
then sends forth His Holy Spirit to bring them into the fold.
You say, well, how do you know it's religion that God, it's
their false religion? My friend, people don't understand
how evil and awful the religion of salvation by work is to God. Listen to what he says in verse
10. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom, give ear
unto the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. He's talking
to Jerusalem here, Israel. To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto me? They were sacrificing, saith
the Lord. I am full of burnt offerings
and rams and fat of fed beast. I delight not in the blood of
bullocks and of lambs and of he goats. The blood of goats
cannot take away sin. Cannot do it. The blood of bulls
and goats can never take away sin. Hebrews chapter 10 tells
us that. It takes the blood of Christ. And he says, when you
come, verse 12, when you come to appear before me, who hath
required this at your hand to tread my courts? And he says
in verse 13, bring no more vain oblations, incenses, and abomination
to me. I've had enough of it, he says,
all of it. So what's the answer? Well, look
at verse 16. He says, wash you, make you clean,
put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease
to do evil, Stop doing evil in their worship, in their religion.
That's what he's saying. What is he calling for here?
He's not calling for them to get into a river and wash their
bodies clean and all of that. That's not going to put away
sin. He's not telling them to turn over a new leaf and start
doing right because that'll take care. No. He's telling them to
repent. Repent of your dead works. your works religion, your freewillism. Repent of that. He says, in verse
15, when you spread forth, or verse 17 rather, he says, learn
to do well. Seek judgment. Relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Well, that sounds
like works to me, doesn't it? No. First of all, learn to do
well. Now, what is it to do well in
the sight of God? Well, do you remember over in
Genesis chapter four, when Cain and Abel are described as coming
to God, seeking acceptance? Cain brought the fruit of the
ground, the works of his hands, the labor, and he was rejected. Abel brought the blood of a lamb,
not the works of his hands, but the work of God. and Abel was
accepted. Cain was rejected. Did I say
Cain was accepted? No, Cain was rejected, I think
I said. But Cain was rejected because he brought the works
of his hands, the sweat of his brow, what he had planted in
the ground, what he had harvested, all of that. Abel brought the
blood of a lamb and he was accepted. And you know that Cain killed
Abel. He was angry over that. Well,
God, in the person of Christ, a pre-incarnate visitation of
Christ, came to Cain and said, Cain, why are you angry? You
know that if you do well, you'll be accepted. Well, what was it
to do well? Do what Abel did, bring the blood
of the Lamb. Because that Lamb and the blood
of the Lamb pictures God's grace in Christ. Salvation, forgiveness
of sins by the blood of Christ. And salvation by the grace of
God. So he says, learn to do well,
seek judgment. You know that in God's sight,
you haven't even begun to seek judgment, justice, righteousness,
until you seek it in Christ. Relieve the oppressed, judge
the fatherless, plead for the widow. That's all gospel language,
spiritual. Now, certainly, If you're a believer,
you're to help the oppressed, judge the orphans, in other words,
take care of orphans and widows, all of that physically. But my
friend, when it talks about oppressed and fatherless and widowed, that's
describing sinners by nature, spiritually, and when we preach
the gospel, And God brings a sinner to salvation. That's what that
relieving the oppressed and judging the fatherless and pleading for
the widow means. And how's all that come about?
How does a sinner who deserves nothing but death and hell become
right with God? Well, the issue of sin has to
be dealt with. God's not gonna just look over
it. He's not gonna just deny it. He's not gonna just act like
it never happened. Sins must be paid for. And the only penalty and payment
for sin is death. Physical death, spiritual death,
eternal death, death in all, the second death, death in all
of its facets. So how in the world can a sinner
be right with God? Job asked that question, and
he had a friend that asked that question. How can a man, a sinful
man, be justified with God? What is it to be justified? It's
to be forgiven of all my sins. It's to be declared righteous
in God's sight. How can that happen? Well, here's
the miracle of God's grace, verse 18. Come now, let us reason together. Now, this reasoning is not based
upon man's truth, man's knowledge, man's understanding, because
that's sinful and it's ignorance. This reasoning is based upon
God's truth, God's mind and understanding, what God reveals. And he says,
saith the Lord, this is from God, though your sins be as scarlet,
scarlet red, glaring, can't hide them, They shall be white as
snow. In other words, though you stand
before God as a sinner, your sins can be forgiven. And though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as well. That word crimson
is an interesting word. It's in Hebrew, it's the word
tola. And that word tola, it had to
do with a worm that they used to make a, use the blood to make
a red dye out of. And they dyed the garments on
the high priest, whose garment, the parts of the garments that
were red, they dyed it with this red worm, this crimson worm. And the red parts of the tabernacle,
same way. In Psalm 22, When Christ, which
is the messianic psalm, talking about Christ on the cross, he
calls himself a worm, and he says he's the tolop, the red
crimson worm, because he went under the law as the surety substitute
of his people, and shed his blood to redeem his people from their
sins. And that's how they shall be
as wool, pure and white as wool. The sins are washed away, which
means they're paid for. The debt is fully paid by the
blood of Christ. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. And these are metaphors, you
see. It's not that God literally drenches me in physical blood
of Christ. You know, somebody said one time,
if they could just find a vial of Christ's actual blood, then
how many people that would save? It wouldn't save anybody. The
blood of Christ, when you say the blood of Jesus, 1 John 1
talks about how the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. What's it talking about? It's
talking about his death as the surety, the substitute, and the
redeemer of his people. He died. And when he died, he
said, when he gave up the ghost, before he gave up the ghost,
he said, it's finished. Sins now, the sins of God's elect
are paid for. They cannot be charged to Christ,
to them, because they were charged to Christ and he put them away. And if you'll look over in Romans
chapter eight, listen to this. And here's what the gospel teaches
us. That if Christ died for your sins, you cannot perish. If Christ
died for your sins, you will be brought to faith in Christ
and repentance. Because he said it this way in
John chapter 12. He said, if I be lifted up, that
is on the cross, signifying the death that he should die, I'll
draw all unto me. He's gonna draw all the sheep,
all for whom he died, unto himself. Well, look at Romans chapter
eight and look at verse 31. It says here, what shall we then
say to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us? If God's for you, nothing can
come against you. He says, he that spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all, that is all his elect,
not all without exception. How shall he not with him also
freely, unconditionally, without a cause, give us all things? If he delivered him up for you,
he'll give you all things, all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. Now look at verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? The elect cannot be charged with
sin, why? Because Christ was charged with
their sins. And He died, it says, it is God
that justifies, who is He that condemneth? This is verse 34. It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. In other words, if Christ
died for you, He was raised again for you, He ascended unto the
Father, He now stands and sits at the right hand of the Father,
making intercession for you. and that intercession is based
upon the merits of His blood. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as well. So that's the great exchange.
Second Corinthians 521 says this, for he, that is God the Father,
hath made him, God the Son incarnate, to be sin, that's Christ, for
us who knew no sin, that's Christ who knew no sin, we know sin,
but Christ did, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. That's the great exchange. That's
the miracle of God's grace. that God chose a people before
the world began, gave them to His Son, His Son willingly took
upon Himself the responsibility to be their surety, their substitute,
and their redeemer, and come here and be made flesh without
sin, walk this earth in strict obedience to the law, perfection,
and go to the cross, and die in their place. That's the miracle
of God's grace. That's how our sins, which are
so scarlet, are white as snow. Not turning sin literally into
anything more than sin, but His righteousness making us the people
of God. to be righteous in Him. Our sins
imputed to Him, His righteousness imputed to us. And it says, though
they shall be white as snow, though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as well. Well, look back at our text,
Isaiah 1. Now look at verse 19. After this
command of the gospel, this miracle of God's grace, if you be willing
and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. Well, what
is it to be willing and obedient? First of all, Man by nature,
as we are naturally born into this world, fallen in Adam, born
in sin, spiritual death and depravity, we are all unwilling to bow to
God's way of salvation. Now we'll concoct our own ways,
religion of works and freewillism, but we won't bow to God's way.
God makes us willing in the day of His power, the psalmist said.
And when is the day of His power? That's the day when Christ sends
forth the Spirit to bring us under the gospel and give us
spiritual life from the dead. You must be born again. Gives
us spiritual eyes to see things that we didn't see before. Spiritual
ears to hear things that we didn't hear before. A new heart. new
mind, new knowledge, makes us willing to bow to the claims
of Christ. And he says, then you'll make
us obedient to the gospel and to his word. You shall eat the
good of the land. But verse 20, but if you refuse
and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword for the mouth
of the Lord has spoken it. To live our lives in unbelief
and die in our sins is eternal death and damnation. Christ told
the Pharisees, He said, if you do not believe that I am, that
He is God, manifest in the flesh, the Savior, you'll die in your
sins. There's only two ways to die.
You either die in your sins or you die in Christ. If those who
die in their sins will stand before God at judgment on their
own, pleading even their best works, but it won't be good enough.
Why? Though your sins be as scarlet,
though they be red like crimson. Those who die in Christ will
stand before God washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness
imputed to them. And it'll be declared before
the whole universe that these are the people of God. These
are the elect of God. These are the sheep of Christ. These are his brethren. These
are his children. This is his church, his true
church. This is the people of grace,
the miracle of grace. Because you see, if you're saved
by grace, you're a walking, talking miracle created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, but not because of good work. It's all because
of Christ's good work that we're made white as snow and as wool
in Him, as we stand in Him, and as we live our lives in Him,
as we die in Him, and as we spend eternity throughout in Christ. That's the miracle of grace.
I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's
Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
by phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.