Divine Contention: A Holy God Rebukes a Sinful Nation • 01.28.24

Nick Lees   -   January 28, 2024

Divine Contention: A Holy God Rebukes a Sinful Nation
Isaiah 1

Learning from God’s judgment of Judah

1. The problem: Rebelling against God
2. The solution: Turn from sin and obey God
3. The promise: God’s judgment purifies the repentant but destroys the rebel

Good morning church family!

Welcome to our first 5th Sunday of the year. And it’s not even on a 5^th Sunday! Let me explain that briefly before we jump into our study of God’s Word. Several years ago, we began setting aside one Sunday per quarter to combine into a single worship service so that we could go out and serve in our community afterwards. Each quarter there is one month with five Sundays in it, which is when we would do this ministry, hence the name “5^th Sunday”. Unfortunately, in 2024 two of those 5^th Sundays are not on ideal dates – Easter Sunday and 12/29. That’s why we’ve chosen to view today as a 5^th Sunday service day!

Our goal is to put our faith into action by showing the love of Christ to our community. Today we’re going to be ministering with Spurgeon Manor, Many Hands for Haiti, Bidwell Riverside Center, and others are serving by taking care of the kiddos 3 and under. It’s going to be a great day of worshiping the Lord! *pause*

Dismiss 4^th + 5^th graders

Let’s turn our attention to the study of Isaiah. (Sermon series)

Ushers + Bibles (Isaiah 1; page 672)

Last week we kicked off this new sermon series with an overview of the entire book. Today we’re picking back up in chapter 1. If you missed the overview sermon, I would highly recommend going back and listening to it on our website. It has a lot of big picture details and historical context that will help you understand the book!

Think back to when you were a kid. For some of us that might be a little bit further in the past than others 😊 Do you remember how your parents would get your attention if you were in trouble? For many of us it was the use of the full-name – “Nicholas Alan Lees where are you?! Come here right now!”

Uh oh! Somebody’s in trouble!! Or how about your teacher or principal? I’m sure you never experienced this, but let’s just say I needed a lot of correction as a child… “Mr. Lees, would you please come with me to the principal’s office?” Or “Mr. Lees, I’d like to see you after class.” Or “Mr. Lees, I think it’s best if you finish your work at your desk in the hallway… by yourself.” You get the idea.

Each of these scenarios, whether they’re familiar to you or not, have an authority figure responding to someone in their care with a word of warning or even an act of discipline. The behavior of one party has invited a contention (disagreement) that leads to rebuke. That is exactly what we see happening in the opening chapter of Isaiah. In fact, in many ways, the message of Isaiah chapter 1 is akin to a lawsuit. We will see God, the divine authority, summoning the witnesses to hear his contention with the sinful nation of Judah. As the Holy God he is about to rebuke them for their sinful rebellion. It’s one thing to have your parent/teacher/principal rebuking… it’s a WHOLE other level when God is the one doing it! Imagine if God had written you a letter laying out his contention with you; telling you that he was preparing to discipline you if you did not respond appropriately. WHEW!

As we prepare to read this chapter, remember that chapters 1-5 serve as an introduction to the whole book of Isaiah. This section lays out many of the concerns that God has with Judah’s sinful behavior, as well as His promised response. So, as we read chapter 1, keep in mind that the concerns laid out here will be elaborated upon in much more detail in the weeks ahead.

Isaiah 1:1-31 (ESV)

1 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.

  ²    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the Lord has spoken:

       “Children have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

  ³    The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

       but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

  ⁴    Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

       offspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

       They have forsaken the Lord,

they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly estranged.

  ⁵    Why will you still be struck down?

Why will you continue to rebel?

       The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

  ⁶    From the sole of the foot even to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

       but bruises and sores

and raw wounds;

       they are not pressed out or bound up

or softened with oil.

  ⁷    Your country lies desolate;

your cities are burned with fire;

       in your very presence

foreigners devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

  ⁸    And the daughter of Zion is left

like a booth in a vineyard,

       like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

  ⁹    If the Lord of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

       we should have been like Sodom,

and become like Gomorrah.

¹⁰    Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom!

       Give ear to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹    “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

       I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

       I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

¹²    “When you come to appear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

¹³    Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

       New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

¹⁴    Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

       they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵    When you spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

       even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶    Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

       cease to do evil,

¹⁷        learn to do good;

       seek justice,

correct oppression;

       bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸    “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

       though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

       though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

¹⁹    If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰    but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

²¹    How the faithful city

has become a whore,

she who was full of justice!

       Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

²²    Your silver has become dross,

your best wine mixed with water.

²³    Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

       Everyone loves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

       They do not bring justice to the fatherless,

and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

²⁴    Therefore the Lord declares,

the Lord of hosts,

the Mighty One of Israel:

       “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies

and avenge myself on my foes.

²⁵    I will turn my hand against you

and will smelt away your dross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.

²⁶    And I will restore your judges as at the first,

and your counselors as at the beginning.

       Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,

the faithful city.”

²⁷    Zion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸    But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,

and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

²⁹    For they shall be ashamed of the oaks

that you desired;

       and you shall blush for the gardens

that you have chosen.

³⁰    For you shall be like an oak

whose leaf withers,

and like a garden without water.

³¹    And the strong shall become tinder,

and his work a spark,

       and both of them shall burn together,

with none to quench them.

Can you imagine being on the receiving end of this rebuke from God?! Yikes! In the time we have remaining, our aim is…

Learning from God’s judgment of Judah

Starting with the problem being addressed here…

1. The problem: Rebelling against God

The prophecy of Isaiah launches right into a rebuke of the nation of Judah. Verse 2 begins with God calling the heavens and the earth as witnesses of Judah’s wicked behavior. The children of Judah are compared to mere beasts of burden and found lacking! Even the dumb ox and donkey know their owner and recognize where to come for food and provision, but not the children of God! The very people God had painstakingly provided for and protected for centuries had completely turned against their Heavenly Father in rebellion.

Now, this is not the first time God has called upon the heavens and earth as a witness of God’s relationship to His people. This happened when God gave the people the Law through Moses and called them to choose obedience that leads to life rather than disobedience that leads to death.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (ESV)

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Unfortunately, the formerly united nation of Israel (which we heard last week is broken apart into two separate nations during Isaiah’s lifetime – Israel + Judah) did not obey! As you heard last week and are hearing again today, they have forsaken the Lord, resulting in brokenness and desolation. That is what we have laid out before us here in chapter 1.

Verse 4 begins a lament with the word, “Ah!” or “Alas!” Isaiah looks at his people and sees a deplorable lot… They are a people laden with iniquity. That means heavily loaded with sin… it is weighing them down like a ton of bricks. They have become a multi-generational family of evildoers. They are sinning, their parents were sinning, their grandparents and so on… Generational disobedience to God has resulted in them being a people who forsake and despise the Lord, the Holy One of Israel! This is not some other foreign, pagan god, this is the One, True God whom they are rejecting. The God who had revealed himself to them by rescuing them out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders. The God who had brought them through the wilderness wanderings into the Promised Land. The God who provided for them every step of the way. Their nation’s history was full of God’s divine work on their behalf but now they have made themselves utterly estranged from the Lord.

That must have went well for them, right? Surely, they wouldn’t abandon God if it was clearly a foolish path? Oh wait… Verses 5-8 recount for us the sheer devastation that had been brought into their lives because of their rebellion.

Isaiah compares them to a body where every part is sick and injured. There is no health for them. Everything aches and hurts with no healing on the horizon.

Verses 7-8 are even worse… Their country has been decimated by foreigners. They have been beaten in battle and left to rot like the booths and lodges in the fields after harvest was over. They are forgotten and abandoned…

Now you might hear all of this and say, “How awful!” or “How could God do such a thing!?” Well, this was not something that God sprung on the people overnight. This was the logical outcome of their choice to break their covenant with God. God had clearly communicated with the earliest generations of the nation of His covenant promises to them. If they obeyed and walked with Him, they would be blessed, BUT if they disobeyed and abandoned Him for false gods, then they would be cursed. Let me show you…

Here is a snippet of the blessings if they would obey and keep the covenant:

Deuteronomy 28:1–6 (ESV)

 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. ² And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. ³ Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. ⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ⁵ Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ⁶ Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

Every sphere of life was to be blessed if they would obey God! Now, here is a snippet of the curses if they disobeyed and broke the covenant:

Deuteronomy 28:15–25 (ESV)

¹⁵ “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. ¹⁶ Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. ¹⁷ Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ¹⁸ Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ¹⁹ Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰ “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. …

²⁵ “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

This teaching was to be passed down through the generations to engender faithfulness in the people. If you’d like to study these blessings and curses further, please go back to Deuteronomy and read chapters 27-30. The point is the nation of Judah had plenty of evidence and historical testimonies from their ancestors about the greatness of God and the covenant they had committed to, yet they knowingly abandoned and forsook it! THEY chose to break the covenant, not God. He kept His Word.

In fact, even now, in their disobedience, we see the Lord being merciful. Look with me again at verse 9 of Isaiah 1.

Isaiah 1:9 (ESV)

  ⁹    If the Lord of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

       we should have been like Sodom,

and become like Gomorrah.

God would have been in the right to utterly wipe out this rebellious people, just like he had done with the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah long ago. BUT HE DIDN’T! He showed mercy. He preserved a remnant of the people. And that is going to be a theme we hear and see over and over throughout Isaiah. God is merciful on the wicked nation of Judah and preserves a remnant to restore to righteousness.

However, at this moment, that is not the primary focus. Isaiah resumes in verse 10 with a scathing rebuke of the people – he even calls them Sodom and Gomorrah! You’ve got to imagine they were seething at that comparison! Hopefully it gets their attention. Then in verses 11-15 Isaiah shares again the direct words of God to the people. Let’s listen to them again:

Isaiah 1:11–15 (ESV)

¹¹    “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

       I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

       I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

¹²    “When you come to appear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

¹³    Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

       New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

¹⁴    Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

       they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵    When you spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

       even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

Whew! Such scathing words from God to the people. What is God communicating here? He is tired of their religiosity or fake faith!

All the while their nation has been spiraling downward in morality and spiritual decay, they have been busy at “worship”. They hadn’t stopped offering animal sacrifices. They continued to come before him, doing all the “right” religious activities, but their hearts were far from Him! They are going through the motions of worship while living in sin and God HATES it. *pause*

Make no mistake, God is not fooled by anyone. He sees the heart of man. You cannot come before Him in “worship” and yet harbor unrepentant sin in your heart. Such “worship” is an affront to our Holy God. This was a major concern with the nation of Judah, and it is still a concern within modern Christianity today.

The Lord knows the heart of everyone who professes to worship him. He sees the assemblies of churches that are only going through the motions of religiosity, and he HATES it. Why would anyone think they can fool God? It’s the epitome of the pride of man. We think we can outsmart God. As if He won’t know any better!

Yet God told Judah that when they spread out their hands in prayer or worship he looks away. Even though they make many prayers he closes his ears. Why? Because they are willingly living in sin. Their hands are stained in blood, representative of their defilement. Or perhaps it is even literal, as later in verse 21 the city is rebuked for being a city of injustice and murder.

These rebukes by God should cause modern-day readers to shudder. It should give us reason to pause and evaluate our own hearts. How am I coming before God? Am I minimizing sin and putting on a show of worship? Is my heart far from Him? God forbid we do this. You are playing a dangerous game that will not end well for you! Each one of us must evaluate our own heart and life before the Lord. This is a necessary and repeated requirement for us. This is what Judah should have been doing all along!

In the Words of King David:

Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV)

²³    Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

²⁴    And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

You need to be evaluating your own heart and motives to ensure that you are not excusing sin and living a hypocritical life. And we ought to be asking God for help in doing this EVERY SINGLE DAY! It is through His Holy Spirit that we will be able to have the conviction of sin and knowledge of His Word to be able to change.

Now, I have perhaps gotten ahead of Isaiah here. I’ve already begun to talk to you about responses, but he has not done the same with Judah yet. God’s words to his people did not end at verse 15, they continued through verse 20 and they provide the solution to their sin problem. Let’s read 16-20.

Isaiah 1:16–20 (ESV)

¹⁶    Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

       cease to do evil,

¹⁷        learn to do good;

       seek justice,

correct oppression;

       bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸    “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

       though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

       though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

¹⁹    If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰    but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

2. The solution: Turn from sin and obey God

I have stated this in an overly simplistic manner. In reality, God’s call to repent is much more detailed than this bulletin point. In verses 16-17, God rattles off 9 commands in a very quick manner. They fit together in sets of 3. Let’s look at them now:

• Wash yourselves
• Make yourselves clean
• Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes

The first three commands all have to do with a cleansing of sin. That the people would take steps to turn from sin or to repent. They must cultivate a pure heart and godly actions so that their evil would no longer be before him. God has laid out specific instructions for his people and he calls them to do their part to obey and follow him! How you live matters! The following three commands are about a complete reordering of life:

• Cease to do evil
• Learn to do good
• Seek justice

These are capturing the process of change. As they cease or stop doing evil, they must then learn to do good, and as they learn to do good, that must translate into action – seeking justice. The word for justice is often used to express the sum total of what the Lord judges right. So, they are called to seek the Lord’s will and ways as revealed in His Word. Then the final three commands call for a reformation of society:

• Correct oppression
• Bring justice to the fatherless
• Plead the widow’s cause

As we heard in verses 21-23, these things have NOT been happening in Judah. Instead, the leaders have allowed oppression to run rampant. Verse 23 says, “They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.” They have been doing the opposite of God’s will and ways by allowing the orphan and widow to languish. And he commands them to change! God’s people are to protect and care for the vulnerable!

Now, these are the commands to Judah. They have been spiraling downward into sin for generations. Sin has spread far and wide, corrupting their entire society from princes/kings downward. Those who are in positions of weakness are being exploited and not cared for…

How can we not see the application to our own day? Now, I want to be very clear, we are not Judah. This was not written directly to us. These are God’s words to Judah. However, the principles and the things revealed to us about God’s desire for his people are applicable to us today! We exist on the Holy God’s earth. We have been created by this same Holy God and He has commanded us to be holy as He is holy, just as He did with the Israelites.

So, how might you need to turn from sin and obey God? Where are you making excuses for disobedience to Him in your life? When is the last time you slowed down enough to really wrestle with these kinds of questions? What would God command YOU to change in order to be holy before Him?

I want to give you some homework today. I want to challenge you to go read a few specific passages in the New Testament to see what God reveals as evil before him. Then I want you to evaluate if these may be present in any way in your life and make a plan to turn from them.

• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
• Galatians 5:19-21 (See v22 for the good fruit)
• Colossians 3:5-9 (See 12-17 for the good fruit)
• Revelation 21:8

By no means are these passages exhaustive. They are simply a selection of specific ways we can sin against God and do evil in His sight. Please take time to prayerfully wrestle with God on whether there is any unrepentant sin in your own life/heart and then take steps to deal with it with God. *pause*

Beautifully, God promises in verses 18-20 to make them new and bless them if they’re obedient!

Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)

¹⁸    “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

       though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

       though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

¹⁹    If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰    but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Snow and wool are both white naturally; there is no bleaching involved. God is not speaking of a mere ceremonial cleansing of sin; He is speaking of a radically new nature. God is able and willing to transform those who are willing and obedient to Him. This is addressing the tension of God’s sovereignty to make them new and their responsibility to obey! Both parties are responsible in this matter!

However, if they refuse to do their part and choose rebellion against God, He will judge them for their disobedience. God is consistent. He commands obedience and judges disobedience. This begs the question, “What will God do since the entire nation has been found disobedient?!”

Thankfully, as we see in verses 21-31, God’s judgment has two possible outcomes. It will either purify the repentant or destroy the rebel. This is the promise Isaiah shares from God to the nation…

3. The promise: God’s judgment purifies the repentant but destroys the rebel

Verses 21-23 again reveals God’s charges against the people by zooming in on Jerusalem, the capital city, as representative of the whole. The city has become corrupt… once faithful, now adulterous… once full of righteousness, now murderers… they have been absolutely diluted by sin… their leaders are wicked… justice is perverted…

Then in verses 24-26 we hear the following:

Isaiah 1:24–26 (ESV)

²⁴    Therefore the Lord declares,

the Lord of hosts,

the Mighty One of Israel:

       “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies

and avenge myself on my foes.

²⁵    I will turn my hand against you

and will smelt away your dross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.

²⁶    And I will restore your judges as at the first,

and your counselors as at the beginning.

       Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,

the faithful city.”

Though their situation is deplorable… though they have offended the Mighty One, the Lord of Hosts and this is no small thing… though they have made themselves his enemies and foes… when he turns his hand against them it will be to purify and restore! Their impurities will be smelted away, and their judges and counselors will become righteous again.

How in the world could this be? Let’s keep reading.

Isaiah 1:27–31 (ESV)

²⁷    Zion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸    But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,

and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

²⁹    For they shall be ashamed of the oaks

that you desired;

       and you shall blush for the gardens

that you have chosen.

³⁰    For you shall be like an oak

whose leaf withers,

and like a garden without water.

³¹    And the strong shall become tinder,

and his work a spark,

       and both of them shall burn together,

with none to quench them.

Verse 27 reveals that those who are repentant will be restored. God’s judgment against them is a purifying fire that removes the dross of sin. However, for those who persist in their idolatry and rebellion… they will be destroyed.

This is a warning to not presume on the grace of God. “Oh, he’ll forgive me. I don’t have to worry about my sin! I can live however I want…” You must not think that way! Do not think you can get away with repeatedly turning to idols or false religion… Learn from Judah… God is not to be mocked!

If you’re familiar with the rest of the book of Isaiah or the rest of the Old Testament, you know that the nations of Israel and Judah continued to struggle to follow and obey God. They perpetually went astray. Yes, there was a faithful remnant that God preserved throughout their history, but by and large, many were disobedient and facing God’s judgment.

I think many of us assume we’re the repentant. “Of course, I’m not one of those whom God will judge with destruction!” How do you know? Isaiah 1 only hints at the answer. Repentance – but how can a sinful man or woman ever truly be convicted of their sin and live out obedience and repentance as God calls us to? If it were possible in your own strength, then you wouldn’t need God, and everyone could do it! Thankfully, in later chapters, Isaiah points ahead to a Suffering Servant… One who would be sent by God to rescue and redeem His people… As I mentioned last week, this Suffering Servant we know to be Jesus of Nazareth aka Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the One who made it possible for those dead in their sin and rebellion to be forgiven and made new. Though we cannot be perfect, He was and invites us to receive His righteousness through faith in Him! The Apostle Paul makes this connection very clear for us in his letter to the church in Rome:

Romans 3:21–26 (ESV)

²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The Law and the Prophets (the entire OT) was pointing us towards the need for righteousness – God’s righteousness. But this was unattainable in our own works… as Judah was experiencing firsthand…

Praise God it has been made available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe! Though we are all sinners, we can be declared forgiven and righteous through His sacrifice in our place. He has satisfied the demands of God’s justice by taking our sin upon himself and bearing the wrath of God for us!

This is Good News to end on today. If you would repent and believe in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. God will purify you and make you holy. Just as He promised to do with the repentant in Judah. But be careful not to fall into the religiosity of Isaiah’s day. This is not about simply saying or doing the right things. This is about a genuine conviction of heart and soul that you are desperately in need of a Savior and that you desire to obey and follow Jesus for the rest of your life.

But if you reject Him and continue to live your own way… the Lord will judge you. There is no escaping the judgment of the Holy One! Learn from the folly of Judah. Do not persist in sin. Repent and turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ before it is too late.

Let’s pray.

Pray

5^th Sunday Dismissal – 

• Childcare Workers + Team Leaders
• Bidwell Riverside Center: Team Leader – Renee Taber
• Many Hands for Haiti Clive: Team Leader – Craig and Tiffani Biss
• Spurgeon Manor: Chris and Laurie Zepp
• If you did not sign up for a project yet, meet with Amanda Quinn in the back of the worship center