I'm turning back to Isaiah 1, verse 18, and that's on page 707 in your church Bible. Isaiah 1, verse 18. Come now, says the Lord, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, and though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. My friends, we're just going to look at this verse this evening. You all know, I'm sure, the verse, and I've come across it many times. Perhaps you've heard many sermons on this verse, and you're going to hear another one tonight. And this one is on reasoning with God, reasoning with God. Such a thing, a suggestion even, is possible. Well, the Bible tells us we can. God Himself calls us in this verse to reason with Him as we'll see. Now the words were initially addressed to Israel. The Lord had a controversy with Israel. They were a nation for whom God had done so very much. that yet, in spite of all that God had done for them, they had rebelled against him. Look at verse 2. He says, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. For the Lord had spoken, I have nourished and brought up children. and they have rebelled against me. The Lord had brought this nation into being. Israel was his creation. Israel was his special nation. He favored Israel above every other nation. He watched over them. He provided for them. He gave them the land where they were. They were looked after by God. God's laws were passed on to them. He dealt with no other nation as he dealt with Israel. And what return did he get? Rebellion. They're turning against him. That's all he's saying here. And then verse three, the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my people, doth not consider the ox an animal, a beast, one without the intelligence of a man. But even these animals, these oxes, they know their owner. The ass, we take the ass as a, it's known I think to us as a stupid animal, a dumb animal. I'm not quite sure if that's true, but that's how we think of them, isn't it? Yet even they know who are their master's feeding trough. They know where their food is coming from, who's giving them their food. But my people Israel, they don't know me. They're worse than the beasts and the animals. Verse 4, our sinful nation are people laden with iniquity, the seed of evildoers, children that are corrupt as they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They have gone away backward. They have provoked deliberately the Lord by their sins. And yet it is to this very nation, in such a state, in such a condition, and perhaps we would say they are only worthy of judgment, yet to them God comes with this kind and gracious and condescending words, come now, Let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, I shall wipe them out so that there is whiter snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Let's have this out, he says to them. Why are you behaving in this manner towards me? Come, tell me, what are your reasons? What are the things that are preventing you from responding to me, from loving me, from worshipping me, after all that I have done for you? Come, tell me my fault. Let us reason together. My friends, the Lord has a controversy with us, doesn't He? because he has also done so much for us. We have not made ourselves. God has made us. We have not given ourselves life. It's not our parents who gave us life. It's God who has given us life. It is God who upholds us. Every breath that we take, we owe it to him. We owe our lives to him. He has endowed us with so many qualities, with so many faculties. He has put within us the power to reason, the power to create things, the power to invent things. We were made, friends, to love, to worship, and to obey the Lord. Yet what is our response for all that God has done for us? We too rebel against Him. We say we don't want a life of loving God, worshipping God, obeying God. We want an alternative lifestyle. We want a lifestyle for ourselves, for me. My life is for me and for all that I want to do. We turn away from God. We turn we put His commandments far from us, we put His calls far from us, and we want to exclude God from our lives. It's my life, I'll do it my way. The ox and the ass knows its owners, but we don't know our Creator. We don't know our Maker. We cling, we rush to the ideas of men which say there is no God, and this is the explanation for life. And we hold on to those things because it gives us an excuse, perhaps, for not believing in God. We refuse to give Him glory that is due to His name. So, friends, God has a quarrel with us. We have fallen out with our Creator. We have bitten the hand that feeds us from on high. And yet still, in spite of all these things, God comes to us. The Lord says to you and I, Come now, let us reason together. Why are you behaving like this? Why are you holding back from coming to me? Why are you keeping a distance from me? Why is it you don't want to love me and to turn to me? The Lord comes to us. This is also amazing, isn't it? The fact that God himself will come to us and speak to us in such a way. After all, he's the offended party. It's not he who has offended us. It's not he who has hurt us and done anything bad to us. It's we who have offended him. He's the one who has been wronged. We should be making the first move towards Him. We should be taking the first steps. But it is He who is pleading with us. It is He who comes to us. We should be saying, Oh Lord, how foolish I've been, how senseless I've lived. Have pity upon me, forgive me. That's how we should come to God. Instead, it is God who condescends to us. It is God who desires to heal the rift that is between us. He is willing to be reconciled to us. He stands there ready to pardon you and I of every sin and every stain within us. He stands ready in this promise. He tells us, I'm ready to make you clean, to wash you clean from all your sins and to make you acceptable in my sight, to make you fit for heaven because without this cleansing, we can never go to heaven. We can never go to heaven as a sinner without knowing the forgiveness of our sins and have been pardoned away. But it is God who comes to us in His love and His pity, His grace, and how great is His grace that no matter how great is our sin, His grace is greater. His love is great. He is the one, this is the way, He is opening a way back for us. What could we expect as such sinners? What could we expect as those who have offended Him? Surely in our hearts and our consciences, we only expect judgment. Naturally, we would say, well, I deserve judgment. But here is the Lord saying, coming and offering to us hope and mercy and a new life and forgiveness and reconciliation with Him. Oh, dear friend, the Lord has no delight in seeing you as His enemy. The Lord has no delight in seeing you opposing Him. He wishes you would put down your weapons with which you fight against Him. He wishes you would stop this war. He doesn't like any hostility. He doesn't want any hostility between you and Him. He wants an end of hostilities. He's all for peace. He's the peacemaker and he comes to make peace with us. He wants to see an end to the hardness of our hearts, an end to this resistance to him and accept a softening of our hearts towards him. And so he says, come now, come now, let us reason together. Let's put these things right. Let's have a conference. Let's have a debate, as it were, and let's be done with this. Let's make for peace between you and I. Delay no longer. Put this off no longer. Come, even now. This is what the Lord is saying. Now, it may be, friends, that we have here amongst us even one person, perhaps, and you wish to be right with God. You want to be right with God, and it is to you especially that I want to speak tonight. And I want this verse to be applied especially for you. You are such a person, you want to be reconciled with God, but at the same time you are all too aware of your sins that you have committed against God. You're all too conscious of the evil that you have done. You may be a young person, you may be an older person, but you are conscious of the distance that there is between you and God, and you know that you are unholy and He is holy, and that keeps you from coming to Him. And I want to encourage you, as God Himself encourages you with these words, and the message is still the same to you. God says to you, the Lord saith, come, and let us reason this out. So you come. Here you are, you come, and your first argument in your reasoning is that, Lord, you said I can come, but let me tell you why I cannot really believe in you and come to you. I've sinned a thousand times against you. I've sinned willfully, I've sinned deliberately, I've sinned with my eyes wide open. I knew exactly what I was doing and why I did those things. I stole knowing that it was wrong to do so. My conscience told me it was wrong to lie, but I lied, and I've done it so many times, Lord. I lied to get into university. I lied at one job interview after another. I lied to get promotion. I've lied to my mother. I've lied to my father. I've got a whole list, a whole pack of lies that are behind me. I lied to my teachers about so many different things. I lied how I yielded to my lusts. I gave in to my lusts. I got angry so many times, and here's the thing, why I cannot come is because I enjoyed doing those things. I enjoyed getting angry. I enjoyed venting my temper. Oh, there's too many sins for me to mention. This is my argument, but the Lord says, the Lord's response is, He doesn't deny what you say. All that you say, He says to us, is right, and even more. And I know your sin is great, I know your guilt is great, but still I say to you, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as white as wool. Even though you've committed a thousand sins, 10,000 sins, and they are dreadful and horrendous in my sight, yet still there is forgiveness for you. Isn't that welcome news? Isn't that welcome news? Does this exclude anybody? The greatest of sinners, the least of sinners, all of you are included. There is mercy for you. How can you keep away from the Lord when he offers such an invitation, such a blessing? He himself says, if you return and repent, he will pardon you. But then you bring up another argument. But there are skeletons in my cupboard. There are things I've done that I'm really ashamed of. I wouldn't mention them in public. I wouldn't even mention it to my best friend. The things that I've done, they're so dreadful, they're so horrible. I'm ashamed of those things. I'm embarrassed about those things. They're unclean things. They're perverse things. They're dreadful things. Even just to think about those things, makes me feel so awful now. I've really messed up in my life. I've ruined my life, really, by those sins. And not only that, I've ruined other people's lives. I've messed up and hurt other people in such a way. I've hurt people with my words. I said such nasty things to others. I've ruined people's reputations. For my own benefit, I've put other people down with my words, and people who've not done anything bad, I've said bad things about them, and I've broken up friendships, and oh, so many dreadful things. And then I dare not even tell you what's going on within me, in my mind, in my imaginations, the awful things, the unclean things, the perverse things, the things that I wish I could get rid of sometimes, They control me and I indulge them. These are the things that are so hidden from other people, perhaps, but I know me, I know myself. I feel I'm such a wretched person. How can I come to you? Come. Come. Come now. Let's reason this out. I know them all. I know all your sins, each and every one of them. I know your sins of omission as well as your sins of commission. I know the things you do in secret. I know what goes on in your heart. I know every wayward thought of yours. I know every offensive thought. I know all the impure thoughts you've had. I have a record of them all. You have treasured up unto yourself Judgment. It's true. You deserve judgment. You deserve to go to hell. You deserve these things because of your sins. But, but, there is mercy with me. There's forgiveness with me. I'm ready to forgive all your sins. Still, you're not satisfied. And you feel like you have to reason with God even further, and you take your argument on a next stage. But my sins, Lord, are embedded in me. They're entrenched in me. They're cemented in me. They're a part of my makeup. They're a part of my constitution. I can't just put them off just like that. I've been years and years and years. It's the habit of my life to sin. It's the habit of my life to curse and swear and lie. I've been doing that for years, and I can't just put it off. From my youth, I've given way to my temper. It's landed me in fistfights, and I enjoy doing those things. And over time, all these things, well, they've just gained a power over me, and it's greater then I am able to overcome. They control me now. I am unable to be free from them. I heard again, friends, these words, isn't it, of verse 18, are so precious. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Now these two colors, scarlet and crimson, they both speak of a deep red dye. And the way that this dye was made was from the crushing of insects. And then the cloth would be soaked in the dye, not just once, but maybe six, seven, eight times. So the dye would be very embedded in the cloth, and it was not easy for that dye to be washed out. And the Lord here says, though your sins are as this deep dye red of scarlet or crimson, yet they shall be washed away. They shall be as white as snow. They shall be as a wool. Though your sins are as scarlet, though they are so glaring and they're so obvious and they're so habitual and they are so ingrained in your very character, yet I shall wash them out. I shall take them out. I have the power to do that. And I will make you clean. I will free you from the dominion of those things that now say are your master and they will become your servants. I can take them out. I will give you the mastery over them. I will give you a new disposition. I will give you righteousness and peace and holiness. And these are the things that will dominate your life instead of sin. Oh friends, what an offer, a new life. This is what the Lord is saying, come to me, I will clean you up and I will give you a new beginning and a new life, not just a new slate to wipe the slate clean so that we can then go on sinning again and again as we have done before, but know to begin life again as a new person with a new spirit and a new heart within us to walk in a different way, in a way that is righteous. but you're still not fully persuaded. Despite all these encouragements from God, still you go on. But Lord, there's one thing that really troubles me, and that is really makes me feel I cannot come to you, and that is I've hated you, and I've hated your laws. I hate your commandments. I only went to Sunday school because I had to, My parents forced me to go. I went to church because I just felt it was my duty to go. I didn't really, in my heart, want to go. Often I've used your name as a curse word, and I didn't think twice about it. I stood with those who argued against your existence. I stood on their side, opposing you. I encouraged others not to believe in you. Friends who went to church, I laughed at them. I mocked them. People who started reading their Bible, I sniggered at them. I shot my arrows as well, directly at you. It's not indirect. I know you were my target. I wished in my heart that you were dead. Against you Oh God against you alone have I sinned but I wished you were out of the way This is the the depths of my sin I wanted to have nothing to do with you and I wished you had nothing to do with this world I wish you just left me alone to get on with my own life How can you forgive me How can you have mercy on such a one, such a wretched person as I am? Surely the door of mercy is firmly closed. Perhaps you can pardon other people. They're not as bad as me. That's not as bad as this as I am. The door surely is not, this grace is not for me. Salvation, I'll never be able to get to heaven. I will never know the forgiveness of sins. I'll never be able to be reconciled with you because I've been so anti-God. You say the truth, the Lord says. You say the truth, your crimes are directly against me. They're heinous, they're unwarranted, they're deserving of eternal punishment, but I am a merciful God. You have ruined your life, but I can repair it. There is forgiveness with me. There is hope for you with me if you will only turn to me. I stand ready to pardon all your abhorrent sins. I stand ready to put them behind my back. I stand ready to forget all your sins and to remember them no more, to bring them up no more against you so that even when you stand before me on the day of judgment, you won't be judged for your sins. I stand ready to do these things for you. If only you will turn to me, I will give you a new heart. I will give you a new disposition. I will give you a disposition to love me. I will make you a new person. It's not the end of the world for you. You have hope in Christ, you have hope in me. Let me reason with you, the Lord says, look, I sent my son, the second person of the Trinity, I sent the son of God, the son of my love into this world. I gave him a commission. His task was clear, to go into the world and to take upon himself the sins and the guilt of all who will trust in him, to pay the penalty for their sins. for all their sins. My justice demanded a full payment. It wouldn't take a half a payment. It wouldn't take 90% of the payment. It must have been paid in full. And the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on Calvary's cross. And when he was dying, he was bearing in himself the penalty and the punishment of sin. And he was paying justice and he paid it all in full. So that if you trust in Him, you will be saved. Come now, trust, put your trust in the Savior whom I have provided, and through Him forgiveness is extended to you. I have provided Him, believe in Him with all your heart, and you shall be forgiven all your sins, not just some of your sins, All your sins, what, you mean even the deliberate sins against you, Lord? Yes, even the deliberate sins. Even the provocations against you? Yes, even the provocations. Even the sins directly against you, Lord? Yes, even the sins you did deliberately because you hated me, I will forgive you them if you trust in Him. Christ, somebody has to pay the penalty for sin. Christ has come to do that for us. Oh friends, this is what the Lord says. If you believe in Christ, he says to us, I will never condemn you. Go and sin no more, he will say to us. Christ has made the full payment for sin. And if you trust in Christ, he will not exact the payment from you again a second time. That would be unjust of God to do that. And God is just, he never does anything wrong. And if Christ has paid the penalty for you, then you go free. then you are accepted before Him. Then your entrance into heaven is guaranteed because you trust in the Savior. Oh friends, what an invitation this is. Isn't this precious? Can you find an invitation like this in the world? Invitation to a party, what is that? Invitation to a concert, what is that? Here is an invitation from God. A life-changing invitation. Oh, friends, how can we turn it away? People do. Can we turn it away? Can we treat it lightly, as if it's nothing really, to spurn such a gracious offer? Oh, come now. Come now to him, he says. Come now, reason. Get alone with the Lord. Reason with him. if you must do in such a way. Bring your arguments to Him. Bring the things that are holding you back. Turn it into His ear. Tell Him everything. Get alone with God and confess especially your sin to Him and take the forgiveness He extends to you. He's giving it to you. You have to take it. You have to receive it to yourself. Oh friends, this is Our God, a pardoning God, who is a pardoning God like you, who has grace so rich and free? Let's pray together. Oh God, our God, we just marvel when we think of even this offer once again, and how we may be forgiven not just one or two of our sins, but each and every the uncountable number of our sins, the dreadful things that are even so awful to our very selves when we think about it, and yet we may be forgiven all through Christ. Oh, bless us with faith in his name and true repentance, and may we even this night come and yield ourselves over to him and know the joy of sins forgiven. Bless us, oh God, In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's sing our final hymn number 409. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain. 409.