Isaiah chapter 1. Notice verse
18. Isaiah 1 verse 18. This verse
is very familiar. I hope it's not too familiar. Verse 18. Come now. Come now. Let us reason together, saith
the Lord. The Lord. Come now. Even though your sins be as scarlet, come now, come
now, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
come now, come right now to Christ. They shall be as wool. Our great, gracious God and Savior,
in mercy to His people, whom He has determined to save by
His matchless grace, proposes a conference for us to attend. Not to determine that we're sinners.
He says, you are sinners. But rather to declare unto us
what He has done about our sins. Not to bring us to despair, but
to make us to know that with the Lord there is mercy. With Him is plenteous redemption. Now, I've entitled the message
for us today, Let Us Reason Together. Let Us Reason Together. God says, come. Come. Let us reason together. It is only right and surely reasonable
to sit before the Lord of Glory and to hear His Word and to learn
of Him. We read a moment ago about Mary,
the lover of Christ. And every time you see and read
about Mary in the Scripture, she was always at the feet of
the Lord in worship, in eagerness to hear a word spoken from God
Almighty, to hear His Word. She sat at His feet and heard
the Master speak. May God be pleased to give us
grace in our heart to hear Him speak. Not only to hear it, but
to receive it. To believe it in our heart. He says that in verse 10. Hear
the Word of the Lord. Hear the Word of the Lord. Salvations, not only of the Lord. Salvations for sinners. Sinners? Would you hear the Word of the
Lord? One preacher of the past said,
the worst of sinners, objects of the choicest and sovereign
mercy. Christ is a great Savior to meet
the need of great transgressions and great rebels. The vast machinery
of redemption was never undertaken for little purposes, but great
purposes. there must be a great end in
so great salvation, carried out at such great expense, guaranteed
with such great promises, and intended to bring great glory
unto our God. God forbid I should glory save
in the cross of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To those who
are perishing, Christ crucified is That's no big deal. Foolishness. Oh, but unto those
who are saved, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, I
have six points in this message this morning. And let me give
you the outline so you can follow along with me. Number one goes
like this. Who calls us to come unto Him
and reason together? Who is this One who is calling?
It's the Lord. It's the Lord. Secondly, who does he call? Who
does he call? Sinners. Sinners. Does that include you? I don't
know. Are you a sinner? There's not
many of them. Not many of them around anymore.
Everybody's just a little bit too good. Not guilty. Here's thirdly, the urgency of
the call. Come now. That's an urgent call. Come now. Now. Fourthly, what the Lord has accomplished
for sinners. He said, I'll make your sin white. Clean. I'll wash you ever whit
clean. And then fifthly, glorious promise,
verse 19. If you be willing, you'll eat
that which is good. A strong warning. You know, the
Word of God has all through the Word of God. Precious promises
lest we despair, strong warnings lest we presume. He says in verse
20, if you rebel, you'll die in your sin. If you refuse and
you rebel, you'll die in your sin. Who calls us to come unto Him
and reason together? Pretty obvious, isn't it? The
Lord. The Lord of glory. Well, who
is this King of glory? Psalm 24. The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. He
is the One who calls. This call of the Lord unto His
elect is not a general call of the gospel that goes out to all
men when the gospel is preached. This is that secret, invincible,
powerful, conquering call of Almighty God unto His own covenant
people. You reckon they'll hear? Oh yeah,
they'll hear. You see, it's the call of God.
Isaiah 46, turn there. It's a call of God. He says,
look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I
am God, and beside Me there is no other. Isaiah 46. Who is this One who is the Lord
of hosts? The King of glory. Isaiah 46,
9. He is God Almighty. Remember the former things of
old. I am God, and there is none else. Verse 9. You got it? You
with me? There is none like me, declaring
the end from the beginning, from ancient times to things that
are not yet done, saying, my counsel will stand, I will do
all my pleasure, my purpose shall be accomplished. Calling a ravenous
bird from the east, The man, even the man that would execute
my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will do
it. Turn back to Isaiah 45. There was no God else beside
me, a just God and a Savior. He said, now look unto me. Isaiah
45, look at verse 5. I am the Lord. There is none
else. There is no God beside Me. I
have girded thee, though thou hast not known Me, that they
may know from the rising of the sun from the west that there
is none beside Me. I am the Lord, there is none
else. But verse 7, I form the light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil. What? You mean God is sovereign over
evil? How does He create evil? Good question, isn't it? By withholding
goodness? By withholding His grace? How
does He create darkness? By withholding light? I the Lord
do all these things. You see, God is God over all
things. All things are of the Lord. Of
Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be
glory. So when the Lord called, come
now, saith the Lord. His elect, they hear His voice. Remember He said of His sheep,
My sheep, they hear Me. I know them, and they do follow
Me. When the Lord of glory calls,
we shall answer. One of the most notable calls
in Scripture is that of Mary's brother. Mary had a brother. Do you remember his name? Lazarus. Do you remember Lazarus was sick? Lazarus died. And the time the Lord got there,
Lazarus had been in the grave four days, and he was not only
graveyard dead, but he was dead and stinking dead. And the Lord of glory, when he
walked to that tomb, wept. He wept. And he said, Lazarus,
come forth. What's going to happen? You know,
if Lazarus doesn't come forth, he's an imposter. He that was dead came forth. What kind of call is that? Personal,
isn't it? Lazarus. Powerful call, isn't it? A dead
man came to life. It's a prevailing call. He came
forth. This is the One who speaks. Come
now, saith the Lord. Here's the second thing. Who
does He call? I'm so thankful that He says, Though your sin
be a scarlet, though you be red like an old wormy red maggot,
he said, come to me. Who does he call? He didn't come
to call the righteous, did he? Those who are well don't need
a physician, do they? Our Lord said, those who are
sick. He said, I didn't come to call the righteous. I came
to call sinners. You can take your place there
before God Almighty. God is determined to have mercy
on sinners. Though your sins be as scarlet,
though they be double-dyed red like crimson, our sins are no
hindrance unto His grace. Did you know that? I heard one old man say years
ago he didn't know anything about the gospel. And he said, you
know, clean yourself up and then God will have mercy on you. Oh
no. He said, come as you are. Oh your sin be as scarlet. Our
sins are no hindrance to His grace. Our sins are no hindrance
to the gospel. The only thing that will hinder
you from coming to Christ is not your sin, it's your goodness. That's your problem. It's your
supposed self-righteousness. That will keep you from coming
to Him. You see, the guilty. Grace is for the guilty. Mercy
is for the miserable. I tell you, if God makes you
miserable, you cry out for mercy. In our last message from Isaiah,
the Lord gives us a vivid, vivid, horrible description of our sinfulness,
doesn't He? In verse 4 down to verse 6, a
sinful nation, seed of evildoers, They've forsaken the Lord. They've
gone backward. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is faint. From the top of my head to the
bottom of my feet. Bottom of my feet and yours too.
Sin, sin, through and through. You say, well, I'm not that bad.
You don't see as God sees. This is the way God sees us in
Adam. God sees us the way we really
are. Full of iniquity. A hall of sin to come short of
His glory. The great and good and glorious
good news of the gospel is that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save maggots. Sinners. He came to save His covenant
people who were dead in trespasses and in sin. He called Matthew,
Matthew the Republican, Matthew follow me! What happened? Matthew quit his business and
followed the Lord. He called Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus
also was a tax collector. He was a Jew who took taxes of
his own people for the Roman government. And he got rich doing
so. He worked for the IRS of the Roman government. Zacchaeus
one day was up a tree. He heard the Lord was coming
by. And the Lord walked under that tree and said, Come now, let us reason! No,
so you're saying, Zacchaeus! Get down here!" And he came down
the tree. And then the Lord declares, he's
a son of Abraham. A true son of Abraham. A remnant according to the election
of God's grace. And then the Lord said, I've
come to seek and to save the lost. The lost. Remember old Saul of Tarsus?
He called himself a blasphemer, a persecutor, one who caused
injury and even death. He hated Christ so much that
he even went, not only persecuted believers in the immediate Jerusalem
area, but he had to go clear them to Damascus. He heard there
was a group of believers up there. He said, I'm going to arrest
every one of them and throw them in jail. I hate Christ. I hate those who call on the
name of Christ. As he went, he met the Master. And the Master said, Saul of
Tarsus, come, let us reason together. Though you be a sinner, I'm going
to wash you every whit clean. You see, he calls sinners. Who
needs salvation? Sinners. Sinners. You say, well,
preacher, you just don't know me. Yeah, I do. You're just like
I am. Say, well, I'm too ungodly. You
know what the good news of the gospel is? Christ died for the
ungodly. You say, well, you just don't
know me. Yeah, I do. You're just like
I am, a sinner thrown through. Say, well, I'm too sinful. Well,
the Word of God said God commends His love toward us, and while
we were sinners, Christ died for us. So who does He call? Sinners. Oh, if I can come in there, take
my place before God as a mercy beggar, cry out for mercy. You know, he never turned a mercy
beggar away. He had some harsh words for those that justified
themselves. But that man who called out for
mercy, our Lord said he went down to his house justified.
Here's number three. The urgency of the call. You
see it in verse 18? Isaiah 1, 18. The urgency of
the call. Come now. Now. Now. Come to Christ. Don't move a muscle. Don't move
a muscle. Come to Him in your heart, by
faith. When is it center to seek the
Lord Jesus Christ? When are we to seek the Lord
Jesus Christ? When? Now. Right now. Right now. Today is the day of salvation.
Right now. We have no tomorrow. All we have is right now. This
hour. This moment. I may never see
you again. You walk out that door. God may
call you out of this life tonight. Say you shouldn't alarm people.
I tell you, my friend, we have a death to die and God
to face. You want to face Him, Almighty
God, in the filth of your self-glory, self-righteousness? You dare
stand before God Almighty in judgment, pleading what you have
done? You dare stand before God without
a mediator, an advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ? Good article
in the Bulletin today on judgment, written by my dear pastor friend,
Brother Mahan. We have no tomorrow. The Scriptures
declare, teach us to number our days, days, that we may apply
our heart unto wisdom. Today is a day of salvation.
Harden not your heart. There is salvation in no other
but in the Lord Jesus Christ, is there? This book only knows
one way of salvation. That one way of salvation is
a person, Christ. Neither is there salvation
in any other. The writer of the book of Hebrews
asked this question, How shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation? How are we to seek the Lord,
preacher? How are we to seek the Lord? Let me give you these three things.
By taking your place before Him as a needy, sinful beggar. That's seeking the Lord. How are we to seek the Lord?
Seek Him in His Word. Our Lord told those Jews, you
are they which search the Scriptures, but in them you think you have
life, but they are they which testify of me, and you won't
come to me that you might have life. Seek the Lord in His Word. Seek the Lord by taking your
place before Him as a sinful beggar. How are we to seek the
Lord? By submitting and bowing to the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not by going around and establishing
a righteousness of our own, but submitting to that righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. Bow to Christ. Submit. Surrender. Give up. The call of the gospel is an
urgent call. Come now. Come now. He didn't say tomorrow. Next
week. Next time we meet. Now. Now. Look to Christ right now. He says, look unto Me. Look. Look. That's a pretty simple
word, isn't it? We've made it complicated. Look to Christ. We need salvation right now. Come to Christ right now. Turn
to Isaiah 55. Our Lord said in Matthew 11,
28, Come unto Me! Come unto Me! All ye that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Come to Me. Come to
Me. Isaiah 55, look at verse 1. Oh,
He says, everyone that's thirsty, everyone that's thirsty, come. Come. Come to the waters. He that hath no money, Isaiah
55, verse 1. You got it? Read it with me. Come ye, buy
and eat. Yea, come. Buy wine and milk
without money, without price. Salvation is free. Don't bring
your money. Don't bring your works. Why do
you spend money for that which is not bread? Why do you labor
for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Incline your ear, and come unto me." He keeps saying it, doesn't
he? Come, come. I'll make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have
given Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, for a witness to the people,
a leader and a commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call
a nation that thou knowest not, a nation that knew not thee shalt
run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, for He is the Holy
One of Israel, for He has glorified Christ." Look at verse 6. Seek
ye the Lord, what did I say? Right now. Seek ye the Lord,
verse 6, while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his soul. Let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon." Come to Christ now. Now. Here's the fourth point. And
this is the main issue right here. This is the central point
here. What has the Lord done for His
people? He said, let us reason together. Come now, save the
Lord. Look back at the text again. Though your sin be as scarlet,
O they are, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like
crimson, Oh, they are. Our Lord said, they shall be
as wool. Here's what the Lord has accomplished
for His people, sinners. Christ appeared once in the end
of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. When
He had by Himself purged our sin, He set down the right hand
of the throne of God. Though we are red, Scarlet, crimson-colored
maggots. Worms. The Lord of Glory died
for maggots. For worms. Now you check me out
on this. But that word crimson right there,
it's translated in Exodus 16, 20, the same exact word, it's
translated worm. Worm. Considering the gathering of
the manna, Moses gave instruction to eat that which was gathered
that day, let nothing over. Eat it up, because if you don't
eat it up, it'll bread worms. Same word. Worms. Crimson. And it'll stink. Now here's the
amazing truth of the gospel. Now get a hold of this. Now sit
up, pay attention, wake up, listen. Here's the amazing, great and
mystery of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
maggots. Worms. The Lord Jesus Christ
crucified with the sin of God's elect charged to Him became the
worm numbered with transgressors. He's the substitute for maggots. Now, you're not going to believe
this unless you read it. The Lord Jesus Christ in Psalm 22. Turn there. Psalm 22. The Psalm
of the Cross. You know what He calls Himself
as He dies with our sin upon Him? Our sin were so actually
and really made to be His own? that the Lord Jesus Christ here
calls Himself in Psalm 22, crimson. Look at verse 6, Psalm 22, but
I am a worm. Same word. Maggot. And I'm not even a man. A reproach of men in the sight
of people. The Lord Jesus Christ as my substitute,
as my sin-bearer, with my sin charged to Him, the Scripture
declares, God made Him sin for us. Who His own self bear our
sin and His own body on the tree. Made sin. Made to be that maggot. My substitute. God committed His love toward
us in that while we were yet maggots, Christ died for us. Though our sin are double-dyed
red in the vileness of our depraved nature, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. He put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. Who did He do that for? Turn
to Isaiah 41. You've got to see this or you
won't believe it. Isaiah 41, look at this. Do you
know what He calls us? Jacob whom I loved. Isaiah 41. Look at verse 13. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.
Fear not thou worm. Jacob. The Lord became a worm of a man,
less than that being made sin, that we might be made sons of
God. Fear not, thou worm. Jacob, ye
men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel. Though your sin be so many, Though
they be so red and deep and ugly and vile against God Almighty,
He said, I'm going to wash them all away and make you a new creature
in Christ Jesus. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin. Don't turn. Let me just read
this to you. Psalm of Repentance, as David weeps before God Almighty,
having sinned against God, he declares unto us in verse 7 of
Psalm 51, "'Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than the snow.'" Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. This is the only Solitary and
only way that sin is put away. The blood of bulls and goats
cannot put away sin. All of our religious doing, all
our religious traditions, ceremonies cannot put away sin. We are redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ and Him alone. It is His blood
that makes atonement for our soul. His blood. His sacrifice, not mine. A glorious promise. Look at verse
19 in our text. A glorious promise. If you be
willing and obedient, you'll eat the good of the land. His
flesh, His blood. You'll eat the good of the land
if you're willing. If you're willing. Any willingness on the
sinner's part To receive Christ, to repent and to believe the
gospel, and to submit unto the Lord Jesus Christ is the direct
fruit of His divine and sovereign intervention, His call. It's
the result of His calling us out of darkness into His marvelous
light. You see, by nature we love darkness
rather than light. That old earthworm, He doesn't
crawl on the ground, above ground very often. He does His work
down in the darkness. And that's us. We love darkness,
not light. Are we willing and obedient unto
the Lord? Now, think with me for a moment. Are we willing
to own and confess our sin before God? If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Are we willing
to repent of all of our righteousnesses and call them as filthy, ragged,
and dung as God does? Are you willing to repent of
your own righteousness before God? Are we willing to believe
the gospel of God's grace in Christ and confess Him as our
only Lord and Savior? Are we willing? Are we willing to forsake any
and all false hope of salvation? Are we willing to be done with
all idolatry and flee to Christ alone, the living and true God?
Are we willing? If you are, it's only because
He has made you willing in the day of His power. God leaving us to ourselves. We'll go on in our rebellion. It's God who has made us to differ.
Now, I close the message with this, found in verse 20. A strong
warning. A strong warning. If you refuse and rebel, you
shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it. If you refuse to submit and continue in rebellion against
God, die in your sin. It says in John 3, verse 36,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abides on him. Our Lord said in John 8, I say unto you, therefore, that
you shall die in your sin. For if you believe not that I
am, you'll die in your sin." Our Lord said, if you die in
your sin, you cannot come where I am. You see, our only hope
of salvation is to be found in Christ. Our only hope of forgiveness
is to be found in Christ. Our only hope of redemption is
to be found in Christ. Oh, that we might count all loss,
dung and ruin, that we might be found in Christ. Our only
hope of righteousness is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our only hope of resurrection
is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. God help us to look unto Him right now, by
faith, and be saved. Look at verse 18 one more time.
And I want this to sink deep into your heart. And I pray God
would write this with His pen of iron on our heart. Power. Come now, saith the Lord. Come now, let us reason together,
sayeth the Lord. Though your sin be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be wool. Come now. Come now. May God bless His truth. May
God bless His Word.