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[0:00] Isaiah, the first chapter, and reading the 18th verse, the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 1, reading the 18th verse.

[0:13] 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.

[0:28] 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.

[0:44] This verse dropped into my heart some week or so ago, and I preached from it several times. It rests upon my spirit again tonight.

[0:58] It contains the very substance of the gospel, the knowledge of sin, pardon. The very essence of the gospel, a word spoken by Christ to his own people.

[1:15] A word that suits their condition and their needs. This chapter, if we look just for a moment at the context of this verse, it goes back to verse 16.

[1:32] I wonder, How many of you are satisfied with your life?

[2:09] With your religion? How many find that that is all they need?

[2:22] And they're content. And they're content. I wonder how many of you are not satisfied, restless.

[2:36] How many of you are conscious that you haven't got what you would desire? You haven't got that assurance.

[2:47] You haven't got that knowledge of pardon and peace in your heart. You are aware of solemn imperfections.

[3:01] A lack of prayer. A lack of a serious reading of God's word. A lack of real exercise.

[3:14] A being taken up too much with the cares and things of this world. A solemn restlessness.

[3:25] Like the restless ocean. A lack of a sin. No peace. No peace. No peace. No calm. I wonder how many of you would desire peace.

[3:36] Long for peace. Long for his own sacred assurance. And how many of you long to know the pardoning blood of Christ in your hearts?

[3:48] What are you, how many of you, how many of you know somewhat of the sin of your soul?

[4:02] Some of you haven't got far to look back. Some of you have a long way to look back. But even when we haven't got far to look back in our youth, what is there?

[4:17] Hidden in your heart, what sin is? What darkness? What temptations? What evils? What corruption? What vile thoughts? Inconsistent.

[4:32] Utterly inconsistent with the word of God. You know it. Things you wouldn't want your nearest and dearest to know or even see. Here. The Lord knows our thoughts.

[4:49] He knows every secret thing of our heart. He sees us exactly as we are. He sees our foreign condition.

[5:03] He knows the solemn leprosy of sin. The cancer of sin. That it's going to bring death eventually.

[5:15] Eternal death. He sees it all together. He speaks here in this chapter of Israel. The scriptures speak of the whole Israel of God.

[5:30] Christ spoke of Nathanael, an Israelite indeed. Here, Isaiah was designated of God to go to Israel and to speak most solemn things to them.

[5:45] Ah, I'm struck by that. The fourth verse. Ah, the voice of God. Ah, sin formation.

[5:56] And he goes on in that verse. A people laden with iniquity. A seed of evildoers. Children that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord.

[6:07] They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. And they have gone away backward. The Lord sees our hearts. He knows formality.

[6:20] He knows an empty profession when he sees it. He knows when we come and go to the house of God like the door upon its hinges. We have no hunger or thirst.

[6:31] We don't enter the house of God desiring to be fed. We come in formality. We come because we like the people.

[6:42] God's people. The foolish virgins did that. They liked the company. Went to the same place at the same time.

[6:55] Gathered with the living family of God. Had a Bible. They carried a lamb. They didn't ever have a light.

[7:08] They never had their hearts burn within them as they read the Holy Scriptures. No one word had ever been applied to their souls.

[7:20] Teaching at the cross was foolishness to them. There was no oil in their lap. There was no light in their souls. They loved darkness.

[7:31] But there was a pretense. There was a deceit. There was a solemn deceit. They thought they were right. They thought it was well.

[7:42] They thought that the company of God's people would be their salvation. Oh, the solemn nature of an empty profession. wandering thoughts in the house of God.

[7:55] To go forth from the house of God. And never be profited. Never have been profited. Never have been profited by the preaching of the cross. Never to know the blessedness of it.

[8:08] I say this in the light of God. I say this in the light of our text. Here is substance. Here is reality. My mind goes to a time when I was hearing my late father preach at St. Bethesda St. Hampton.

[8:19] When I was young, I was a student. And I remember he preached on the blood of Christ. I came out of that chapel. And I knew.

[8:32] I knew nothing he was talking about. Never experienced it. And I was sad. And I never forget. I could take you tonight to the very steps that I walked that evening.

[8:50] In the very spot that the Lord spoke to me. And began to show me. As I quoted in prayer. Every grace.

[9:02] And every favor comes to us. Through Jesus' blood. And at that time I had a hope. I had one or two answers to prayer.

[9:13] And I had such a sight that night. That it came through the intercession of Christ in heaven. As he pleaded his precious blood.

[9:24] And I wondered. Looking at you young people tonight. Who's got one answer to prayer? Perhaps you've told nobody about it.

[9:36] I'll tell you my first answer to prayer. I don't forget it. I used to travel with my late father. Preaching quite often. I remember sitting in chapels.

[9:50] And my mind could be an Australian. Couldn't have told you a word he said in the sermon. But we went to Downton. A little bit east south of Salisbury.

[10:01] And there was a dear godly old man. He wasn't a member. But he gave the hymns out. He'd come through the first world war. And the Lord had called him by grace. And I thought such a lovely old man. It spoke to him. I thought.

[10:12] There's something real in this old man. And he was taken very ill. And my father was going to visit him in the hospital. I went into my bedroom.

[10:24] And got on my knees. I asked the Lord that he might live. Went to the hospital with my father. Shoresbury Infirmary.

[10:35] And was standing outside the ward when his wife came out. And she said they'd given him three days to live. I shall never forget.

[10:47] My heart sank. Thought my prayer. The old man lived two years. And you know I stood at his dying bedside with my father.

[11:02] I couldn't open my mouth and tell him I struggled. I could never tell that man my answer to prayer. But it was sweet. Precious. Oh to see.

[11:14] That. One answer to prayer. Secret in the soul. May not concern you at all. It concerns another. Demonstrate.

[11:29] That that sacred blood in glory. Has interceded on your behalf. But we go further.

[11:42] And he rightly says. Further than this we yet must go. And I will take you to that step tonight. Further than this. Excellent answers to prayer.

[11:56] Lord may give you answers to prayer in life. He may open a door for you in work. He may hear your prayers and your examination. You did me. But when we come further than this.

[12:13] We must come to our text. The intercession of the blood of Christ. It's very sacred. But let us go further.

[12:27] Oh what a mercy. I wonder how many of you here tonight. Know something of your hearts. Mourn. Mourn.

[12:37] Mourn. Over your sins. Weep. Over your unbelief. As sad.

[12:48] You may not show it outwardly. But inwardly there's a sorrow. And you may be saying.

[13:01] Oh that I knew where I might find you. If you've never read it. I say to you tonight. Prayerfully. Go and take the book of the Song of Solomon.

[13:15] And read it through. We don't often do this. We read a chapter a day or something like this. But there's a blessedness in reading a book straight through. We treat the Bible in such a strange way.

[13:28] If you read any other book. You read it from cover to cover. I don't know how many of you read the scriptures from cover to cover. There's some very sacred things in it. Which you've probably never read.

[13:41] But. Read the Song of Solomon through. There's a beautiful verse at the opening of the Song of Solomon. I've preached from it several times.

[13:56] And the writer of the Song of Solomon under divine inspiration. knew where he was going and what he sought.

[14:07] And he said this. Tell me. O thou whom my soul lovest. Where thou feedest. Where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon.

[14:18] Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions. And then the Lord answers the bride of Christ. If thou knowest not.

[14:28] O thou fairest among women. Go thy way forth. Where? By the footsteps of the flock. I tell you this. This little sanctuary of God.

[14:39] But witness to those who've gone forth. By the footsteps of the flock. Do you love the Lord? Have you been brought to love him?

[14:52] You may say inwardly. O my distrustful heart. How small my faith appears. How small my faith appears.

[15:03] But better to me thou art than all my doubts and fears. Did Jesus once upon you shine? Then Jesus is forever thine. Then Jesus is forever thine.

[15:13] And I come to this. Once upon you shine. Oh has he shined upon you once. And has he brought you into this blessed place.

[15:27] To know something of the evils of your heart. There is a diversity of operations.

[15:39] With the spirit. With the spirit. Everyone is different. You get it in a family. All the children.

[15:52] Coming from the same mother and father. Not one another. I mean by that.

[16:04] Not that they don't have a similarity. In their looks. And bear some resemblance. Their mother and father. But they're all individually different. And when we come to look at God's dear children.

[16:18] They're all individually different. The same spirit. Teaches the same things. At different times. And in different ways. And in different circumstances.

[16:30] And when it comes to a knowledge of sin. Some of you may well say. What do I know about this? Sins are scarlet.

[16:44] You see sin may be highlighted. By a number of solemn acts of sin. Solemn besetting sins.

[16:55] But no amount of vows. You can get rid of. Solemn sins.

[17:06] That relate to the seventh of Romans. When I would do good. Says the apostle. Evil is present with me. The scriptures speak of. Iniquity.

[17:17] Transgression and sin. Know your sins. You may say. Iniquity.

[17:31] Do I realize. That as a son. Of Adam. I was born in sin. And shaken in iniquity. You see.

[17:44] It's manifested in the propensity to sin. And some of those sins. Can be solemn sins of omission. Turning our back upon God.

[17:58] Electing his word in his house. And how solemn. An empty profession of his name.

[18:11] How awful. That's where the British virgins came. Empty profession of his name. The wise went in. And I think the most awful nature of that parable is this.

[18:26] The door was shut. And it was shut forever. Never to be opened again.

[18:38] And the foolish were effectively shut out. Raymond North. Wrote a book called The Rich Man and Lazarus.

[18:56] If you've never read it. I recommend it to you. It's a remarkable book. But he shows. The awful difference. Between the rich man and Lazarus.

[19:09] The blessed state of Lazarus. The awful nature of the rich man. He had everything he could wish. No exercise. No worry. No concern.

[19:20] No fear. No temptation. And the poor man. Lazarus. Was a beggar. Dependent. Broken. Humbled. At the feet of Christ.

[19:34] Where are we? We live in an age of great prosperity. But the issues are the same.

[19:46] Life. Hell and death. And worlds unknown. Hang on his firm decree. They do.

[19:56] And there coming a day. A solemn awful day. When each one of us will prove the awful solemnity of that word.

[20:10] We brought nothing into this world. And it's certain we shall take nothing in him. And the top lady. In relation to that nothing says this.

[20:25] Nothing. In my hand I bring. Simply. To thy cross. I cling.

[20:36] Naked. Come to thee for dress. Helpless. Fly to thee for grace. Foul. I to the fountain fly.

[20:47] Wash me saviour. Or I die. Though you are sinned. Be a scarlet. Well.

[20:58] Let me say this. Whether you know that to be so or not. Whether you have any understanding of how God sees your sins.

[21:14] If the light of the spirit of truth shine in your heart. You will see your sins as scarlet. And you will see them in this light.

[21:25] Sins against the holy God. Sins against his love, his blood. Sins immense. As is the sea.

[21:36] Hide me. O Gethsemane. And I tell you this. There is no more blessed place in this world. And to come as a condemned sinner.

[21:50] To the blood spring for mercy seat of Christ. And I say again. The same spirit. The same work.

[22:01] But a diversity of operations. And the Lord has his own way of doing this. I will not tell you purposely how he brought me there.

[22:15] For I wouldn't set up a pattern in anyone's heart. It's dangerous. Never are we to look at anyone else and say. Well he's got something I've never had. We're to seek earnestly.

[22:28] For ourselves. The best gifts. And here lies justification. That I am in bed this morning.

[22:40] With this text on my mind. And my thoughts turn to. That little hymn. Sin to pardon.

[22:52] Without blood. Never. In God's nature stowed. God. And here in our text.

[23:03] Is the precious blood of Christ. And he has always been very sweet to me. Blood. As a voice. To pierce the sky.

[23:14] Revenge. The blood of Abel Christ. But. The dearest stream. When Christ was slain. Speaks peace.

[23:25] Allowed. Through every vine. And I do ask you this. Do you desire to know that?

[23:36] Do you long to know it? It is to be obtained. Though your sins.

[23:47] Be as scarlet. The Lord will in his own way. In his own pathway. Ordered steps. Of his dear people.

[24:00] Bring them. To see. What he sees. In them. The awful nature of their sins. And then. He will bring them.

[24:12] To a solemn confession. Of them. First of all. To possess them. And then. To confess them. There is no.

[24:23] Sweeter place. To a condemned sinner. Than. A mercy seat. When the Lord gives. A broken and a contrite heart.

[24:36] A weeping of spirit. Inwardly. A mourning. Over themselves. And after Christ. To come to his. Mercy seat. And know the.

[24:47] Glorious reality. Of the. Effect. Of that blood. Being sprinkled.

[24:57] Upon their heart. And conscience. Then there is peace. Unutterable peace. Then there.

[25:09] There is an entrance. Into that. Word. I'm clean. Just God. I'm clean. Then. They come. Like the.

[25:20] The disciples did. When they were. Having their feet. Washed by Christ. And Peter said. Not only my feet. But also my hands. And my head. And the Lord spoke.

[25:30] Of beautiful truth. He that is washed. Needeth not. Save to wash his feet. And is clean every wind.

[25:42] And ye are clean. Through the word. That I have spoken unto you. Oh the. Nature of that. Though your sins.

[25:53] Be as scarlet. They should be as white. As snow. Wash me. Said the psalmist David. And I shall be whiter than snow.

[26:05] The black. Sin. Spoken of in the. Song of Solomon. When the bride of Christ. Said this. I'm black. Black as the tents of Peter.

[26:17] Then there is a realisation. Of how God sees us. Then we see the. Heineous nature of sin. And the sweet. Mercy. Who brings a sinner.

[26:31] To Calvary's cross. Bunyan. Saw it so clearly. When he. Penned his. Pilgrim's progress. He was in fact. Writing.

[26:43] His own. Account. Recorded in grace abounding. The first book he wrote. Where he wrote. The kind of his. Own spiritual experience.

[26:55] When he put it into the figures. As he did. Into similitudes. In the. Pilgrim's progress. Then. He was a man. Who left.

[27:07] The city of destruction. Brought out of a godless world. Separated by himself. From. Wife. Children. Parents. Walking alone. Walking alone.

[27:17] Walking alone. Seeking Christ. Carrying a burden. Of sin upon his back. Worldly wise men. Met him on the journey. To Calvary's cross. And said to him.

[27:28] That burden on your back. Is a nuisance. Get rid of it. He has that beautiful. Answer. I cannot. It's bound on in such a way. I cannot get rid of it.

[27:42] And how. Was that solemn burden. To be removed. Ah. You know the occasion. One look. To the cross of Calvary.

[27:54] And it fell off. Faith. In the only sacrifice. That deed for.

[28:06] Sin atoned. To cast our eyes. To fix. Our hopes. On Christ. On Christ alone. Oh I wonder how many of you.

[28:16] Here tonight. Have come to Calvary's cross. With your sin. And know anything.

[28:28] Of that sweet. Atoning blood of Christ. And to go further. If you haven't. And many haven't.

[28:40] You long to know it. You desire to know it. Some. Come to the. End of their days. I repeat again.

[28:50] What I repeated recently. I had a young friend. In Holland. He was 35. Married. With two children. He was taken with cancer.

[29:03] He died within about three years. He said to me. A month or two before he died. He said. I'm not ready to die. In the last three months of his life.

[29:18] Which was the autumn of last year. His father told me that. The agonies of his soul. Were far greater than the agonies of his body. It's only 35.

[29:30] Unready to die. His father said. The weight of his sin. Was vast upon him. As eternity rapidly approached. And he groaned.

[29:43] My sins. My sins. And then. Two days before he died. The Lord drew near. Spoke to him from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.

[29:54] That beautiful word. With his stripes. We are healed. And such. Was the sweetness of it. The power of it.

[30:05] The blessedness of it. He said to his father. I can go now. I'm at peace. But when we look. At this truth.

[30:17] Though your sins be as scarlet. They shall be as white as snow. I tell you this. One of the ways. Not the only one. But one of the ways.

[30:30] That the Lord works. Is to bring his children to the gates of death. Under the solemn. Threat of death. And that will show them.

[30:42] Where they stand. In the light of eternity. If they. Have a solemn realization. It may not be long. Before they stand. Before the judge of the whole earth. Then they'll see things.

[30:54] And they'll see them. In their right proportion. Sins. Immense. As is to say. Oh. If the Lord were to show us.

[31:04] All evil of our heart. Of a lifetime. We would not be able to bear it. Though your sins be as scarlet. They are scarlet. We don't realize it.

[31:17] We don't know. How the Lord sees us. The heinous nature of sin. How we grieve the. Holy Spirit of truth. And yet. There lies here.

[31:30] The suffering. Of the eternal. Son of God. There lies here. What. The dear hymn writer said. I believe it's Cooper.

[31:42] You will know this very well. There is. A fountain. Filled with blood. Drawn. From Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunge.

[31:54] Beneath that flood. Lose all. Their guilty state. A dying thief. Rejoice. To see that. Fountain in his day. How many falter at the next line.

[32:08] And often change it. But the hymn says. And there have I. As vile as he watched.

[32:21] All my sins. For why. And I will tell you. One other thing. That lies in our text tonight. Though your sins be as scarlet. They shall be as white as snow.

[32:34] And there's a beautiful verse. In the epistle of Paul to Romans. And it's this. There is. Therefore. Now. No condemnation.

[32:47] To them. That are in Christ Jesus. And John the Divine. In his epistle says. Truly our fellowship. Is with the Father.

[32:57] And with his Son. Jesus Christ. If we have fellowship. One with another. The blood of Jesus Christ. His Son. Cleanses us.

[33:09] From all sins. Though your sins be as scarlet. They shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson.

[33:21] As dark as a neighbor. Isn't it? When Joseph Hart. Penned that. Beautiful hymn on Gethsemane.

[33:33] And in the last verses. Penned those words. Sins against the Holy God. Sins against his love.

[33:44] His blood. He was speaking of his life. And his life was this. The Lord began with him. The age of 21 or 22.

[33:56] But he turned his back on the truth. And went into atheism. And actually published books. Denying the Lord Jesus Christ. And then. The age of 50.

[34:07] Was brought back. Went through. If you read his. Preface. To his hymns. St. Wilkott said. He. Didn't know a more. Spiritual. And remarkable piece of writing.

[34:18] Outside of the scriptures. And there he reveals. The agony of conviction. He went through. The solemn fire.

[34:30] In his own soul. Of conviction. But when you look at. Joseph Hart's hymns. They're constantly. On the blood of Christ. Let your sins be. Red like scarlet.

[34:44] Solemn sins. Awful sins. David prayed. Make me not. To possess. The sins of my youth. God.

[34:54] I tell you this. The Lord loves. To see. a poor sinner at the mercy seat.

[35:07] I quote the opening verse of the 51st Psalm, Have mercy upon me, O God. He commended when on earth that prayer of the publican who went into the temple, God be merciful to me, a sinner.

[35:24] He condemned the prayer of the self-righteous Pharisee, I thank you, O God, I'm not as other men. It was the cry of Samson in his dying hour the Lord listened to, remember me this once only.

[35:43] It was the cry of the dying thief he listened to, sin's red light scarlet. You may feel that you've sat in the house of God all your days, you've been brought up under the sand of truth, lived in a God-fearing home, you've never been left to go deep into the world and to sin like so many have done.

[36:04] But how dangerous that is. How dangerous that is. Because the solemn temptation to feel your right, to rest on something short of a saving knowledge of the atoning love and blood of Jesus Christ.

[36:35] And to come to this point that is in our text tonight, justification. being justified, says the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, freely by his grace, that's his sovereign grace, through the redemption, that's the blood of Christ, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

[36:58] And you need to come where the children of Israel came in Egypt when the angel of death passed over.

[37:08] A most sacred truth at the time of the Passover and it was this, when I see the blood. On the lintels of your doorpost, on the lintels of your heart, I'll pass over you.

[37:19] No condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. It's, here lies pardon and peace. Here lies the beauty of that word of Peter who his own self bore our sins in his own body to the tree.

[37:47] He bore them on Calvary's cross and so far as Calvary's cross and in doing so he atoned for sin. He brought into action a glorious reconciliation.

[38:04] We read of this in the epistle of Paul to the Romans in the fifth chapter. By whom, that's Christ, we have now received the atonement. All I say to you tonight, have you received the atonement?

[38:21] have you been brought to know the atoning blood of Christ? Can you find an entrance into this text?

[38:37] Here is the voice of Christ to his dear church. Come now, let us reason together.

[38:47] here is wisdom. Where is it if you be willing and obedient? Oh, to be brought down willing and obedient to the mercy seat and come with the dear psalmist, watch me.

[39:09] come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, washed in that precious fainting.

[39:30] Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Oh, the peace that flows from Calvary's cross, and if they'll be new it, it's low child from his back, and he was clothed in that blessed robe of righteousness, the imputed righteousness of Christ, and he received that scroll, a sweet assurance that it would be well with him when called to die, and he carried his scroll, and he carried that sacred robe given to him, and he went forth in peace, his sins gone, and he could truly say, I'm clean, just God, I'm clean.

[40:20] Amen. in 789 to 516, O ye sons of men, rewind, trust no longer dreams and lies, out of Christ's almighty power can do nothing but devour, in 789 to 516.

[41:03] Thank you. Thank you. God.

[41:33] God. The moon descriptors are notelijk you but devour, do nothing and a汪 heart orنا have out of her husband who crown on to find to his courtesy glory Thank you.

[42:30] Thank you.

[43:00] Thank you.

[43:30] Thank you.

[44:00] Thank you.

[44:30] Thank you.

[45:00] Thank you.

[45:30] Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen.

[45:43] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[45:55] Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.