Let us commence our worship this afternoon with hymn 643, tune Hail Martin 713. Again, dear Lord, we would be fed. We come to seek for living bread and feast on love divine. Dear Father, let thy presence be enjoyed by all thy family. and make each face to shine. Hymn 643 Tune Hill Martin 713. Alleluia, we pray, we come to see who is with us, and Jesus, Lord, with us. Let my presence be in thy heart, O my heavenly home. May peace reign forevermore. And with the saints in thee With the King and the Queen And praise and sing And shout the glory They make me strong and exercise, And they prepare to realize, That all glory offers well. There's a friend that would give his all for me. That's what a friend is to me. ♪ And his kingdom come to thee, O Lord ♪ ♪ The rest of his days is gone ♪ ♪ And he'll rise to the present ♪ Thank you. May we be helped to read the sacred word of God from the book of the prophet Isaiah and the first chapter. Prophecy of Isaiah, reading chapter one. the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his poner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Our sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire, your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my court? Bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me. The new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with. It is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. They are a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 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. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword. for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. How is the fateful city become unharmed? It was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderous. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water, thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies. And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all of thy tin. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning. Afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired. And ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak, whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. And the strong shall be as time, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together. and none shall quench them. Amen. May the Lord bless to us each that solemn portion of his holy word and grant us now true prayer. For thou most merciful, and kind and gracious Lord God. Once more we are felt, bowed in thy presence in the gathering of thy dear saints unto thee. We desire that thou wilt pour out afresh upon us thine unction, thy spirit of grace and of supplications. And O grant us, we beseech thee, that spirit of confession, that we may come into the promise that if we confess our sins, thou shalt be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we acknowledge that we cannot truly confess our sins, we cannot truly repent, unless thou dost grant these things by the aid of thy Spirit. O, take the stony heart out of our flesh, and give us an heart of flesh. O, grant us to come among thy people, those who are poor and needy, and those who possess the contrite heart and the humble spirit, Lord, do grant that we may truly pour out our confession, that we may truly repent of our many sins before thy throne of grace. And do be merciful unto our unrighteousnesses, and may it be true that our sins and our iniquities thou shalt remember no more. and who blot out the multitude of our transgressions. O bring us once more to Calvary, for that is the only place of true worship to which a poor needy sinner may come, and to behold the provision made, and to see the blood of the sacrificial lamb, and to know that blood of Christ that precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. O Lord, do keep us from the religion of those of Judah and of Jerusalem, as we have read in thy word. The people who did draw nigh unto thee with their lips, but their heart was far from thee, O, may it not be said of us that our attempts at worship are no more than vain oblations! O, how solemn! If thou shouldst say of us that our assemblies are iniquity, even the solemn meetings that do keep us from a religion of mere custom, keep us from a religion of mere tradition keep us from mere formality, but do grant us a liveliness, grant us the unction of thy grace in these things, and true exercise of the heart. And I would, gracious Lord, echo the language of the opening hymn, and it is again that we are found within these walls, once more, and indeed, as is often remarked, once less. But again, dear Lord, we would be fed. And it is our mercy if Thou hast granted the hungering soul, if Thou hast granted us to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and to seek the living bread. that bread which came down from heaven, even the manna of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great mercy to be granted a spiritual thirst, for it is not known by the natural man. But do quench the thirst of thy poor and needy ones, even as they are found in this house of prayer in this afternoon hour of worship. Do grant that there might be rich provision at thy gospel table. We would by faith behold the dainties that are set forth therein, and how often we read in thy word, in pictures, of what is set before thy people. The rich oil and wine of the gospel And as is found in another picture, the oil and wine that are poured into the wounds, and the healing that comes thereby. And as the poet says, deep-wounded souls to thee repair, and, Saviour, we are such. And O, do grant us both to partake, and in partaking to live by these things, And we mean by the word that thou hast given. For man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. But who grant us thy will, that we might live, and grant us the sincere milk of the word, that we may grow thereby. And we desire that there might be such a feeding among thy churches and congregations, a feeding with the finest of the wheat. And I do hope the dear under-shepherd of this cause, our friend away from us at this season, to grant him such rest and refreshment that he will be enabled to resume his labours here according to thy will in the coming days. And do grant that his doubtless many prayers and petitions for an abundance in this place and for an increase may not only be heard but answered. And do grant him tokens for good to the encouragement of his soul. And do help also the dear deacons of this in their many burdens and labours, and help all of the members of the Church, and all indeed who gather regularly or from time to time within these walls, to grant the hearing ear and to grant opened hearts to receive the things that are spoken. And who be with all of thy dear servants this day labouring upon the walls of Zion, to help each one to sound the trumpet, that gospel trumpet of which thy word speaks in type and picture, the trumpet that gives no uncertain sound. And we read, it is a blessed sound, for blessed are the people that know the joyful sound, and do help each one to sound also the note of alarm, of warning, of caution at the approach of the enemy. Do grant us each godly discernment. Grant us wisdom and understanding in the truth of thy word. And know that there might be many, even in our dark and benighted times, even in this wicked and adulterous generation, many of thy people who have understanding of the times and who know what Israel ought to do, and who grant us thankful hearts for thy many, many mercies, the things wherein thou hast sustained us, the things wherein thou hast upheld us in times of trouble, when we have known thee the eternal God, and underneath the everlasting arms. We acknowledge, O Lord, that in the main it has been a rich provision. Thou hast supplied abundantly far above those basic things of life. We have food and raiment wherewith we are to be content, but far more than these. We bless Thee at those times when perhaps we have learned what it is to endure hardship, times of leanness, perhaps in outward things and perhaps in the things of the soul also, then we have had to trust in Thee and we have had to seek from Thee that deliverance, that provision that shall be to sustain life itself. And we will think of those times when, in trouble, we have likewise been caused to flee unto thee the rock, and to walk out the truth of what the psalmist did say. Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. But O, do help us to see thy bountiful hand O may we return thanks, may we return to give glory unto Thee. We acknowledge Thy goodness to the land also, that we see around us the beginnings of another harvest, these favours so undeserved, for we deserve only Thy rod of judgment. Thou hast been very merciful We thank thee not only for the sunshine, but for the rain, both of which are needful in their seasons. We think how it might be, even among the churches of God, and yea, in our own souls also, if likewise thou shalt bring those various providences and states upon them that shall be for their eternal good. And we believe that it is needful both for the north wind in its vigour and for the refreshing gentle south wind to be brought upon the soul. But O, do cause the spices to flow forth, even out of thy garden, from thy churches, from the hearts of thy dear people. And although at times thy dealings Do you seem outwardly to be hard? Do you seem at times to be bitter? Because no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but rather grievous. But O do help us to know the nevertheless afterward, and to know that thou shalt in time bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness, to them that are exercised thereby. But oh, that there might be fruit in thy vineyards, that thy gardens may not be barren, for that thou wilt yet grant and harvest. And as we read in the parable, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. Oh, do be with us each in the days of this week that is now begun. Help those who face an unknown pathway. Help those who have mountains before them. Help those who expect soon to travel, perhaps great distances. And we oftentimes think in such cases, how needful it is that thou shouldst go before us. But do we not all need it? Thou shalt lead us forth by the right way, and we know what the end of it is, that they might go unto a city of habitation. And do grant us each to come in the way that Thou knowest we need, to a city of habitation. And do grant us the other thing that that psalm speaketh of, to be brought unto our desired haven, Know that it might be known that it is thy hand which hath done these things, and may we see the lovingkindness of thee, the Lord, in them. I do grant much help, much wisdom, grant us grace in our dealings with those who are without, have mercy upon our families and loved ones, those of our acquaintance. And do grant, if it could please thee, that thy mercy might be known, to help especially the young. And we think of this time of year, when many young people, having perhaps completed examinations, are now expecting the results in due course, some perhaps with decisions to be faced. And do grant wisdom to them and to Peres. May these things be sanctified. May they be, as some of us have proven in times past, to show that thou art a sovereign Lord. May it be seen and proved that with mercy and with judgment, my web of time he wove. I do grant thy help, gracious Lord, and especially as shortly, return again to thy word. And do grant help also in the singing of the hymns, and prepare each heart to receive of thy truth. For we would present these petitions in and through thy great and holy name, dear Lord Jesus, and for thy sake. Amen. Hymn 320, tune McKee 176. God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Hymn 320, tune McKee 176. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave His wonders to behold. He comes, it moves, sets in motion, and rides upon From breath above, O light, Of the awakening still. Be treasures of is bright in his eyes and puts his soul at rest. May fearful saints preach the knowledge, take the clouds each of us to. I'll be with her, safe and sure, brave. The evil sense of cursing foolishness Behind a crowning prohibition Be Thine first light and peace. Its brightness will ripen fast, Come, Lord, with your help to come, The Lord, Maker of the earth, The state will be a cloud. Thy done belief is so true, and and shed his blood in vain. God is risen, his time is done, and he will reign May it please the Lord to lead us and guide us into the truth of His own Word, as we fix our thoughts especially on the words of the 18th verse of that first chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah that we read earlier. The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 1, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as starland, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as war. Words that seem to stand out in this chapter. A chapter that may appear surprising when one considers that it was delivered to those mentioned in the opening verse. A vision given to the prophet concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In some ways it would have been less surprising if these words had been spoken to the northern kingdom of Israel, she who had departed much earlier than the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel that had been characterized ever since that sorry breaking away. Which Judah? was come to be distinguished from Israel. And from then on, after the time following Solomon's death, Israel never had one good king. But yet the solemn words of this chapter, and indeed the prophecy of Azarhon, was delivered in the southern kingdom of Judah. And to confirm that, we have the names of the kings who were particularly involved. Isaiah, Jotha, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Surprising also that two of those kings are known for the good things that took place during their reign. Surprising also because of the strictness of the Lord's dealings and of his language, of the very strong terms that are used. Even to the extent that after, as we have it in the prophecy, the people of God had said, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant We should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. And then it is as though the Lord takes up those references to those ungodly cities of the play who came to such a solemn destruction in the days of Lot and Abraham. And he says, hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. So much as to say that the professed people of God in those days were no better than the inhabitants of those cities of the plain of old. We have to admit that our interest perhaps a couple of weeks ago, was drawn to this chapter, perhaps more in the whole of it, rather than in one particular verse. But the words which we trusted, come especially with some conviction, were those of verses five and six. And particularly from the middle of verse five, the whole head is six, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot, even onto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. A preacher might consider words such as those and ask himself, how can I preach a sermon on a text like that text? I'm sure it is not only possible, but has been done. Of course, the minister must consider both sides of the case. Certainly there is to be a bringing forth of the very sorry condition of the Lord's people as they are found naturally. But then there has to be a mention and a bringing in of the sweetness of the remedy, which is why perhaps those particular words in verses five and six on their own might perhaps not be a very satisfying text for a sermon, but they are most useful if we bear them in mind as one part of the whole. And so it seemed that verse 18 gave a more complete picture of what the Lord is saying, because it does mention the very grievous and solemn nature of sin and iniquity, your sins as scarlet, your sins red like crimson. But, blessed be God, there is also the remedy, the gospel of And so it does seem that though one and another of the Lord's people may at times feel very solemnly the weight of their condition and know, alas, much of the wounds and the bruises and the putrefying sores, yet, as we read elsewhere, there is an answer to that question. Is there no balm in Gilead, but in the Gospel there is, and in the Gospel there is a closing of those words, they're binding up, and there is the mollifying of them with the ointment of the Gospel promise. Well then, to come to our text in verse 18, what a gracious word it is spoken by the Lord in the context of the strictures that he announces against his people, having set forth before them the outward wickedness that he has observed, and also that which we must most of all fear, the inward hypocrisy, the things that he speaks of, from verse eleven. Outwardly I am sure there was much that appeared commendable, the multitude of their sacrifices, the burnt offerings, the fat of fed beasts, the appearing in the Lord's courts. But he says, the oblations are vain, their incense is an abomination unto him, He says of their new moons and sabbaths, their feast days, I cannot away with them. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth. Would it not be very solemn if the Lord were to say such things to ourselves? And it could be perhaps to his church or it could be to one or another individually. I am sure some of us are no strangers to the marrow of this, that is, the tenor of what God is saying to his people in this prophecy, that whereas our attempts at worship may have appeared good and commendable, as is stated elsewhere in scripture, whereas man may look on the outward appearance and see things to be good, and see one or another to be upright in their conduct. Yet the Lord looketh upon the heart, and he can see that all is in fact hypocrisy, that it is a mere going through the motions of worship. that even our private devotions have been conducted with little fervour or heart exercise. How solemn if the Lord is to rebuke us individually for these things, and how cast down we might be if we find out, either at some point in the Lord's dealings with us, or solemnly at the very end of life's journey, that the sum total of our religion was but hypocrisy and vanity. Note the mercy of the Lord in so upbraiding his people. This is, after all, the first chapter of this long prophecy. The Lord has many, many more things to say. many precious gospel truths yet to bring in. But he says, come now, and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. On the face of it, The thing that is proposed, the thing that is put forward in this verse is an impossibility. If we just consider the natural pictures that are used, there is a great gulf between these things that are scarlet and red like crimson, and the purity of what is described as being as whitest snow. and as war. And generally, in natural things, if a material or an object is pure and white, then it can only be defiled by that which is of a strong colour, especially crimson, which seems to speak also of blood. and sins described as being as scarlet. Well, how is something that is scarlet to be, as it were, washed away by something that is white? Usually, things that are red and crimson will stain those things that are white. And, perhaps less obviously, There is an impossibility in the surrounding verses also. In verse 16 he says, wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. In one sense, these things can be performed outwardly for the good of society as a whole, for the good, in this case, of the people of God. And again, from verse 19, if he be willing and obedient, he shall eat the good of the land. Now that sounds, does it not, very much like the law as given by Moses? Blessings promised for obedience, and curses threatened for disobedience. Verse 20, if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. But we are speaking here concerning gospel truth. And in any case, we know that when the Lord looks upon the doings of his creatures, he does so as one who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, one who cannot look upon iniquity. And so when he makes these statements, when he commands them, to wash themselves and to make themselves clean, to put away the evil of their doings from before his eyes. It is something that cannot be achieved by nature, by man in and of himself, because although he may effect what we may call an outward reformation, still in his heart will be the seed of every evil act and thought and word, even as the Lord Jesus himself taught that all these things proceed from the heart of a man and thus defile him. And so in all these verses, from verse 16 to verse 20, God is enjoining upon his people something that is on the face of it, and in reality, outside of their ability. But there are already clues in the chapter as to what is meant. Again in that ninth verse in which Sodom and Gomorrah are first mentioned, the Lord's people say, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant We should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. And as is clear throughout the whole of this prophecy, and others also, it is the remnant of the Lord's people who come into the experience of the blessings that are promised. I think it would be fair to say that just as the Lord Jesus Christ was the only man who was able to fulfil the law of God, he was the only man who ever walked upon this earth for whom that law was a fit rule of life, because he, as the divine Son of God, had the ability to keep it in every jot and tittle And we might add, to keep it on the behalf of his dear people, so that they might, through his obedience and through his sacrifice for their transgressions of the law, that they might be made righteous in here through his obedience alone. Well, since the Lord Jesus Christ could perform the law of God, then we surmise he is the one in whom these verses find their fulfilment also. Because he alone, of all who have trodden the paths of this earth, was able to walk the path of obedience, indeed to be completely willing and obedient to the commandments of his Father, and one who perfectly did justice and judgment, and one who, as God, was and is the judge of the fatherless and of the widow. And again, how was any to come and to reason with the Lord Well, we might think, in our own case, if we take these words as being directed personally to ourselves, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. On what grounds could a man possibly come to reason before his Maker? We only need think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after their fall. We read, So they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. What did they do? They hid themselves. They did not feel they could come and even commune with their God and Maker after they had sinned, still less to reason with Him. But when the Lord does begin to work in his dear child, and perhaps some of you have known it from time to time, there is at the very least a desire that God should not leave us alone, that he should not leave us to perish in our sinfulness. It is something like the desire of Joe in all his trials Remember what he said towards the end of chapter nine of the book that bears his name. He says, if I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? If I wash myself with snow water and make my hands never so clean. Again, it is similar language to what we have in our text. The purity of snow water Yet he says in verse 31, Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. Then he adds this concerning God, For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. So Job knew and felt that which many dear saints of God have known. The impossibility, naturally, of these things. And then Job goes on to speak in a very beautiful way of the Christ who was to come. For he says, neither is there any daismon betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both. which is to say that although Job did believe in the coming Christ as he speaks elsewhere, yet here his faith seems to have been weakened and he could not see the blessed reality of one who would, John, and one who, even for the Old Testament saints such as Job, would indeed act as a daysman between him and his God. the day's man in question being verily God himself as well as verily man. And again, Job speaks about his desire to, in one way or another, come before God in the matter of judgement. In that well-known 23rd chapter, He says, I would know the words which he would answer me and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great power? And of course that is naturally our fear. If we were to come before God, God who is almighty and of great power, great power we may suppose, in our trembling, to cast us immediately into hell. But Job goes on, will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me. There the righteous might dispute with him. So should I be delivered forever from my charge. Well, if Job knew it, Job who lived, we believe, in the time of the patriarchs, and if Isaiah was given to speak of it, then surely these same things are yet known, and we have the much greater light of the Gospel and a fuller understanding of the work of the dear Lord Jesus. And thus the Lord God has put strength in his people. Thus we know there is a mediator, a dayspan. And thus we know the Lord has appointed a way by which his people may come and reason together with him. And of course it cannot be on the grounds of judgment, so it can only be on the grounds of mercy. 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. It is true that when God ordained the tabernacle and its furnishing, He provided a rich picture of what is set forth here. The law of God, contained in the Ark of the Covenant. And upon the Ark, the Mercy Seat. And that Mercy Seat, a plate of pure gold, sprinkled with blood. And he says it is there, from above the Mercy Seat, that I will commune with you, that I will meet with you. Well, it is a picture of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have said that he was able to fulfil the law of God, to magnify the law and to make it honourable, but he also made atonement for the sins of his people. And it is by the blood as it were sprinkled on the mercy seat, that God accepts that Christ Jesus has made atonement for all his people's transgressions, all their breaches of the law. And so there is the twofold aspect, the obedience and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that which is made over to his people's the robe of righteousness that they are granted to wear. But there is also the washing, there is also the making clean. And this is why he says, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as warm. Again, this considered against the backdrop of what we have read in verses 5 and 6. The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. It is a little bit like the leprosy that we tried to consider this morning. alacracy perhaps standing more for the state of sinnership, what David speaks of as how he was conceived in that state, that he was conceived in his iniquity and in sin. But when we read of the wounds and bruises and putrefying Perhaps it is more the effect of that, the actual sins and transgressions against a holy God. We are born, each of us, in that natural state of sinnership, shapen in iniquity, and as David says, in sin did my mother conceive me. So in that sense we are defiled, we are unholy in God's sight. But then there is the actual iniquity and transgression and sin that we commit throughout our lives. And this is what the Lord will teach his dear child, perhaps little by little, and perhaps for some of us it has taken many years before we feel we have even begun to learn in this school That's as we have it in our text, sins as scarlet, sins red like crimson. And so the must needs be the way of cleansing, the must needs be the remedy. But how interesting of course that the remedy for this sinfulness, these actual transgressions, is something which itself, as we have said, is crimson, that sacred crimson flow from Calvary's tree. And the very blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in which was contained his life, for the life is in the blood, that blood was and is the very thing and the only thing that can atone for sin. As John writes in his first epistle in the first chapter, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Normally, in the natural way of things, if blood is spilt on a garment of any type or description, then the blood stains the garment, and perhaps the garment may have to be thrown out. But what a rich picture this is! Blood that does not stain in that way, but rather removes stains, and blood which makes wine. As we read in the Revelation concerning the saints of God, we find that there is a reference to this very thing in the 7th chapter of Revelation, in verse 14. in answer to the question, what are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they? And we read John's reply, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Well, it does seem to be a strange picture at first reading. Whoever heard of making garments or robes white by washing them in blood? But this is no ordinary blood. This is blood to cleanse. And this is precious blood. This is the blood of the Lamb of God. And as Peter speaks of it, that blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. And just as in the Old Testament sacrifices the blood sprinkled was for the cleansing and purifying of the object upon which it was sprinkled or applied, so in the Gospel there is a cleansing whenever that blood is applied. As someone may well ask, it is all very well to speak of this doctrine, and it is all very well for God to say, wash you, make you clean, and to say, come now and let us reason together, and to speak of sins, those scarlet being made white as snow, and though red like crimson, being as wool. But how are we to come from the mere understanding of the blood of Jesus Christ shed on Calvary's cross, that blood that was given, his life poured out for the life of his people. How are we to come from that understanding to a personal knowledge of the effect of it its cleansing virtue, its power. Well, the key to it, again, lies in the picture that was given, the application of the blood. And in the Old Testament, in the Law of Moses, there were various ways by which it was applied, sprinkled perhaps with the finger, actually applied to some of the furnishings in the tabernacle. We have already quoted in part from Psalm 51 that there also David speaks of this same thing. Wash me, he says, thoroughly for mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. And then in verse 7, purge me with hissle, and I shall be clean. wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. And I wonder whether those in Isaiah's time, those few, that remnant who heard his prophecy and who were affected by it and to whom it was made saving reality, I wonder if they reflected on those words of David that would have been so familiar to And whether the blood was applied with a finger or indeed with thistle, we believe a sponge-like plant used in just a few of the ceremonies. Yet it is the application of it. Surely we cannot miss what that means for us, that it must be made precious, it must be brought nigh and made real to the soul. Well, one again might say, how is it that this understanding of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and his precious blood is thus made a saving reality to the child of God? And as I believe we have already mentioned today, the answer lies in the words applied by the Holy Spirit It is not surprising if we consider that, as we are taught in the Word of God, every word of Holy Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and also that the Holy Spirit is given to each dear believer to take of the things of Jesus and to show them unto him. And if we believe, as the Scriptures clearly teach, and the Lord Jesus indeed clearly taught his disciples, that the Holy Spirit would begive her to personally indwell each dear pilgrim, each child of God, just as the Holy Spirit was the teacher and instructor of those who dwelt in Old Testament times and who thus walked with God, Well, is it any surprise that the Holy Ghost takes of these precious things of the Gospel and applies them, savingly, convictingly, effectually, to the hearts of one or another? And thus the Word is fulfilled. And if something is applied in that way, then it is so in our experience It is no longer only a doctrine that is understood with the mind, although it is that as well. We must understand something of these things as the Holy Spirit applies them. But now our eternal security is invested in this truth. As the word says, it is through an understanding through an apprehension of the sacrifice of the dear Lord Jesus on Calvary, that these things are made real. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as war, which is to say that they have been erased, that they have been cast behind God's back, They have been put out of his remembrance, because something that was as scarlet, and now has been made as white as snow, can no longer be discerned. And something that once was red like crimson, but now has become as wool, is no more to be seen, no more to be accounted for. and the crimson, though they had been of very deep dye, are now completely removed. Well, these things are a very solemn truth to the child of God. And I think, more than anything, it is when we have been convicted of our own sinfulness, of our own particular that the mercy of God in making this provision, and of saying, come now and let us reason together, becomes so deeply apparent. It is to be called, to plead on gospel terms, on the grounds of mercy. A few days ago, the words of a verse from hymn number 10 came to mind. O Love, how high thy glories swell, how great, immutable and free! Ten thousand sins, as black as hell, are swallowed up, O Love, in thee. Some of us may feel little of the weight of those ten thousand sins, as black as hell, But then, if you have felt something of that and known the burden of it, there is the love in which those sins are swallowed up. And if such grounds are given to come and to plead at the throne of mercy, to come and reason together even with the Lord Jehovah, then that is a great and a solemn thing. to the child of God. But again, this is a very deep work, and it may not be the work just of a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months. It may be the work of many years to bring the dear Saint of God to this place. And we are fairly sure that to bring him or her to any great appreciation of it is the work of a lifetime of teaching and instruction. Sometimes, to quote the words of another hymn, we find that which is put forth by dear Mr. Toplady in number 330 to be a hell. because there is a waiting, a waiting upon the Lord, and there is at times a delay as he sees fit to deal with us. But the poet says, the time of love will come when we shall clearly see not only that he shed his blood, that is an understanding of the doctrine, but each shall say for me, And that is the experience of him. Tarry his leisure then. Wait the appointed hour. Wait till the bridegroom of your souls reveal his love with power. Well, Sola, though the Lord's words are in this chapter, and although there are great strictures put forth against the professing people of God. Yet blessed be God that there is a remnant, albeit a very small one. Blessed be God that in the provision made through his Son, Christ Jesus, there is a washing, there is a making clean, there is a willingness granted and a gospel obedience and O for grace to heed the entreating. 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 warm. And O that we might grow in our understanding and knowledge and experience of that precious fountain once opened for sin and for uncleanness. Even the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, which saith the Apostle, cleanseth us from all sin. Amen. We close with hymn 123, tune Staincliff 418. Blood has a voice to pierce the skies, revenge the blood of able cries. But the dear stream, when Christ was slain, speaks peace as loud from every vein. Hymn 123, Toon Stein, player 418. Poised to pierce the skies Prevent the flood of pain O'er the hills scream when Christ was slain, His peace has now from death repaid. ♪ And raised the young man from the hive ♪ ♪ He lays his vengeance by ♪ ♪ And revels that day ♪ they shall piss o'er, become the favourites of the Lord. To thee of greatest rights. Take this life a sacrifice. Now we at the earth recall O gracious Lord, to grant us each a sight of thee, and to behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Now may it be our sin also. For treasure us, thou as we part, and be with us throughout the coming days. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Heavenly Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.