God's call to repentance is a serious matter, as highlighted in Isaiah chapter one, where God confronts His people for their rebellion and unfaithfulness. The sermon emphasizes that God, who created and nurtured Israel, is met with their ingratitude and disregard, contrasting their behavior with that of animals who know their masters. Despite their deep sinfulness, God offers a gracious invitation to reason together, promising cleansing and restoration for those who turn to Him, while warning of judgment for continued rebellion. The core lesson is that God keeps His word, offering life and blessing to the obedient and destruction to the rebellious, urging listeners to choose life through genuine repentance and faith in Christ.
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We're dealing tonight with a great subject of repentance. Isaiah chapter one. Repentance is one of those truths in the word of God that must be taken seriously. God is serious about this matter of repentance. And genuine repentance is a rare thing even among those who come to God in salvation and among the people of God after repentance. They are saved. Isaiah chapter one is a classic passage of God's view of repentance. I'm going to read the first twenty verses.
The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amaz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, 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 owner, and the ass is Vassar's crib. But Israel does not know, my people does not consider. Our sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corruptors, they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, and they are gone away backwards.
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, nor mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned 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 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 hegos. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts?
Bring no more vain oblations, incenses, and 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 hate it. 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 a sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. May the Lord bless the reading of these words. Let's pray together. Our Father in the precious name of thy dear Son, we bow before you tonight. And after reading a passage like this, we find that we as thy people have two options. It is either repent or perish.
It is so with those who are lost already. It is a call to repentance. But it is also true concerning thy people. If we know thy truth, And we simply come before thee, play acting, as Israel did, as they came on their feast days, as though they were doing you a favor, when their heart was not in it, your call to them is a call to repentance. We pray tonight, our Father, as we examine this portion of thy word, that the options that are open before us will certainly grip our souls that we shall know something about genuine repentance in thy holy presence.
Deliver us, our Father, from playing the hypocrite. Cause thy name to be glorified not only on our lips, but by our actions and in our lives. We pray for these definite needs that are before us. We thank you. For the way in which you've answered prayer concerning Mrs. Petrie, that she's coming along and doing better. For our brother Andy White that we've prayed for, and we thank you for answered prayer there. And now we pray for this Mrs. Phelps. We stand amazed when we think of being put into the condition that that woman was in, whose account was in Reader's Digest.
We cry out to thee, and we pray that somehow thou wilt see fit to give the doctor's wisdom that they may know just what to do on her behalf. And we turn our father to our own needs here. We think especially of Mr. Petty and Roy's father-in-law and others who are laid aside with a malignancy. And we pray for the families that you would give them wisdom that they may know just how to comfort. And for doctors, but we pray that thou wilt cause them to have peace in the midst of turmoil.
Our Lord could say to his own these things, have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulations. but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And because we are in Christ, thy word declares, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Teach us now from thy word, search our hearts, and send us forth for the honor and glory of thy dear Son, who is our righteousness indeed, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The first chapter of Isaiah is an introduction to the whole of this entire book.
The prophecy of Isaiah is called the evangelical prophet because he is so evangelical in his approach and because of the themes that are so evangelical in his book. Now in this chapter, the first twenty verses that we read, we have the sinfulness of Judah. in verses three through eight. Then we have the tender appeals of the Lord in verses sixteen through nineteen, and especially the appeal in verse eighteen, which just about everyone can quote. Come now and let us read them together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, and though they be read by crimson, they shall be as wool.
But if you can quote verse eighteen, and you'll miss verses nineteen and twenty, The call to repentance in verse eighteen, and the call to reasoning with the Lord doesn't mean much. Then in verses twenty-four and twenty-five that we didn't read, we have the certainty of coming judgment. And I believe that if we're honest before God, we will admit that we believe in our heart of hearts, knowing what we do a past history of the Lord's dealing with nations. that America is in for judgment, the judgment of a holy God. And this portion is a call to repentance.
And then finally, we have in verses twenty-six and twenty-seven the blessedness of the salvation to come. Now, the name Isaiah means the Lord is salvation. And this gives us a key to the whole of the prophecy of Isaiah. Now the time that Isaiah prophesied was quite unique in Israel's history. There were four kings that reigned during Isaiah's lifetime. And these kings, the total of their reign was eighty-one years. Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years. Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Ezekiah being that godly king, to whom Isaiah had to say, Set your house in order, for thou shalt die and not live. And what a message he gave to that man. Now when we think of the sinfulness of Judah and the need for repentance, let us notice a few things and how God deals with these people. Repentance is not simply something for the sinner to do when he comes to Christ. It is something that the child of God does day by day in his Christian life as God lays his fingers upon our lives and puts his hand upon us in order that he might conform us to the image of his dear son.
The first thing that we are confronted with in this passage is the witness of creation. Verse two, hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the word has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. And reflection is given here to the Psalm of Moses in Deuteronomy thirty-one. Heaven and earth are not merely hearers of the words that were spoken to Israel by Moses in his farewell address to the nation of Israel. There are in the plains of Moab. But they are a witness against the people.
Deuteronomy four, verse thirty-six. God spake from heaven to instruct the nation. Israel had seen the fire. They heard the words. When they were, when God spoke to them on earth. Israel heard it. The God of Israel was no tribal deity. He was a God who would command attention from all creation, for it is He who brought creation into existence. And continuously through the prophecy of Isaiah, God takes the credit, and God takes the responsibility for creation.
Creation is the work of God. And therefore God who created the heavens And God who created the earth can call heaven and earth to witness against his people and their lifestyle. Now the reason is given. The Lord speaketh. Summoned as witnesses that God will remove the nation from its land is Deuteronomy four and verse twenty six. Let us turn to that passage for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter four, verse twenty-six.
These verses are important. For God says to Israel there in the plains of Moab, as a new generation about to enter the land of Canaan, is instructed in the law of the Lord. He says to them, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day. that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land, for unto ye go over Jordan to possess it. Ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but ye shall utterly be destroyed. Why? Why did God say that? If they choose their own way, rather than the way of the Lord. And God is speaking to the nation.
And to Isaiah, he calls heaven and earth to witness against them. not summoned again to witness at the close of Moses' life. As Moses summarizes all the teaching that he had given them in Deuteronomy chapter thirty. And I'd like you to turn to the thirtieth chapter and verse nineteen. Deuteronomy thirty verse nineteen says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.
Israel had an option. Two options, either life or death. And the same is true in Isaiah chapter one. But God does not make vain warnings. He told Israel beforehand what the result would be. And heaven and earth. Listen, and heaven and earth becomes a witness against the people whom he had chosen and to whom he had given the land of Canaan. Now, what is the accusation? If there are witnesses in the court of the Lord, what is the accusation?
The accusation is, first of all, delivered to sons. He says, I have nourished and brought up children. Not only is God the creator of heaven and earth, but he is the creator of his people. And Isaiah forty-three, verses one, two, three, declares God as the creator of his people. And when we think of ourselves and turn to forty-three, it's one of the greatest passages in Scripture concerning God's care for his own. And when we consider this, and the rebellion of his people against him they're going their own way rather than submitting to the ways of the Lord.
God says in Isaiah forty-three, But now thou sayest the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers they shall not overflow thee, and when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia, and Siba for thee. There's a definite sonship, a definite relationship between God and his people.
God is the creator of his people. Now when we think of the expression that he uses here, He says, I have nourished and brought up children. That word nourished could be translated weird. In other words, this has reference to the call that God made to Abraham, and the promise that God made to Abraham is bound up in the Abrahamic Covenants. And God keeps his covenant relationships with his people. Galatians chapter three is a vivid testimony to God's covenantal dealings with Abraham God called Abram and he called him and he made a nation out of him he made promises to him and God keeps those promises the great promise of redemption was made to Abraham that through his seed all the families of the earth will be blessed will be blessed now he also uses the expression brought up I'm not only nourished or reared, but I have brought up children.
And this has reference to Israel's peculiar position among the nations. For when God sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, they were a people who were in slavery to the Egyptians, the most powerful nation on earth. And God spoiled the Egyptians. And up from them he takes a people. And he makes a nation of them. and he brings them into the land that he promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And it was on the basis of this Abrahamic covenant that they were redeemed and that God brought them out.
God keeps his word. And if God kept his word for blessing, God will keep his word for cursing. And that's the message of Deuteronomy four. And it is the message of Deuteronomy thirty. And it's a message for America. And it's a message for the individual Christians. And for the sinner as well. He that believeth not be read in John three is condemned already. Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And every time the gospel is proclaimed, and every time the good news of the work of Christ falls upon the sinner's ears, he is more responsible for what he does with the message.
God keeps his words. Do you know that that's the greatest challenge to the man on the street tonight? There isn't a greater challenge that you will ever meet in your life than this. God keeps his words. Ultimately, everything that happens to you in this life is going to come to an end. Except one thing, your relationship with God. God keeps his word. The promises that God makes for blessings come to pass. Now God is slow to judgment. Judgment is a strange work.
And because God doesn't execute judgment immediately, The hearts of the children of men are setting them to perform iniquity. So we read in the book of Ecclesiastes. But eventually it comes. It came for Israel. It has come for other nations that are spoken of prophetically in the passages in Ezekiel and in Jeremiah and in Obadiah. He came. He came to Israel. Our Lord said to the people, when they wanted to show him the beautiful buildings of the temple, when he was here on earth, he said, why one stone is not going to be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
All the beautiful, ornate things in the temple, the gold that was in there, they couldn't believe it. But in their lifetime it happened. AD seventy, the armies of Titus, the Roman general, surrounded Jerusalem. The temple was burned. And the gold of the temple ran down between the rocks, between the stones. And to get the gold that ran down there, there wasn't one stone left upon another. They were taken apart one at a time to retrieve the gold. God keeps his word.
That should shake us to our shoes. God has spoken. God has spoken from heaven. Heaven and earth are a witness against us. They are a witness against the people of God who are doing their own things instead of getting on with a business that has to do with the things of God. I say that kindly. I say that kindly. The only thing that really matters is what is God doing in the world. It's the only thing that's going to last. And God is building his church. That's what God is doing in the world.
And what should occupy us more than anything else is what God is doing in the world. I've said that often, and I'm going to keep saying it because it's the most important thing. And yet, we who are the people of God, we wonder, why don't sinners listen to our message? Maybe it's because we as believers don't listen to our message. Do I really believe that God and what He is doing in the world is most important? I reminded the class this morning of a symposium they had on the radio, in England on the British broadcasting system.
And they invited a godly man who was part of the British broadcasting system in order. The intellectuals from Oxford and Cambridge were there. Their symposium was on the death of the church and the burial of the church. And this godly man from the BBC, he stood up and said, I want you young men to realize something. That the church is going to stand at the grave of the BBC and every other man-made institution. For God has said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
But he builds his church with human fingers. The hands of God move with human fingers. He has not given this job to angels. He has given this to human beings who have been saved by the grace of God. So to Israel he had given a commission. They were to represent him among the nations. And they failed. They did their own thing. They enjoyed the land and the prosperity that the land of Canaan gave them. But they ignored the gods. who delivered them from Egypt, who brought them into the land, and who blessed them while they were there.
And God calls them to remember. I believe there's a lesson here for us. The lesson is quite real. Now, very quickly, I want to take one more section here, and then I'm going to stop. In verse three, we read these words, The ox knoweth his owner. And he asked his master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people does not consider. Here we have a great contrast by the God of heaven between man and the animals. In creation, God placed man over the animals.
Man was the Lord of creation. God put everything, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all the animals. under the dominion of man. Adam, given the privilege of naming, of classifying, of categorizing, displayed an intelligence superior to the animals. None of the animals could do that, but Adam did. And whatever Adam called them, that's what they were. So when he named the odd mark, that's what it was. What a name. for that animal. But anyway, that's what it was.
Now man endowed with such an intelligence, and yet he doesn't exercise it. So here the most intelligent man, Israel, why are they more intelligent? Why, because of their special privilege and relationship to Jehovah. They were above all the other nations. Their intelligence was above, you see. Their special privileges. And Romans chapter three tells us this. What advantage then at the Jews? He says, chief, much every way. But especially because to them were committed, the oracles of God.
And God is speaking to a people of privilege. And now he spoke to the ox and he asked. When you think of an ox, what do you think of? Stupidity. We talk about a person who is rather stupid if we say that dumb ox. Don't we? The ox is a dumb animal. And when you think of the donkey, what do you think of? You think of something that's stubborn. Boy, I could tell you a couple stories about donkeys, but I won't. I don't have time. But you see, God says the ox knows he's master. But my intelligent people don't. The donkey knows where the barn is.
He knows where he can get some food. But my people don't consider me as a giver. What a contrast that God gives. You see, here we have animals that belong to a master to be used. In contrast, the sons who have a tender and a loving father, who has done everything for them. And they have rebelled. against him. Now in the light of that, God says in verse eighteen, he appeals to these people. He says, come now and let us reason together. What God is really saying is, come on now, am I not right?
Am I not right? Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, in spite of what you have done, They'll be as white as snow. Oh, what a loving Father we have. Remind you of the New Testament that says the blood of Jesus Christ. God's Son cleanseth from all sin. But then he adds, there are two options. If you can obey, you may come. And if you come, I'll bless you. If you refuse and rebel, you're going to be devoured from all sin. The choice is yours.
That's what God says. And you know, it has always been that way. It has always been that way. There's a lesson here for us. God keeps his word. You will never meet a greater challenge in your life than that. God keeps his word. He has in the past. And we can judge the future by the past. And for the person who has never bowed the knee to Jesus Christ will perish. And the Christian who lives in disobedience will be judged.
On the other hand, the sinner who comes to Christ will be saved. Though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And the Christian who walks before God in humility and repentance will know the joy and fellowship in this life that only the grace of God can provide through Jesus Christ. And the Lord bless his words.