[0:00] that when thou speaks thou mayst be just and clear in judging still. Behold, I in iniquity was formed the womb within, my mother also me conceived in guiltiness and sin.
[0:13] Behold, thou in the inward parts with truth delighted art, and wisdom thou shalt make me know within the hidden part. Do thou with hyssop sprinkle me, I shall be cleansed so.
[0:25] Yea, wash thou me, and then I shall be whiter than the snow. Psalm 51 on page 280, 1-7, After Thy Loving Kindness, Lord.
[0:41] After thy loving kindness, Lord, have mercy upon me, for thy compassion's great honor of my iniquity.
[1:14] Weak heads from sin and through reward from thy daily pity.
[1:32] For thy compassion's great honor I confess my sin I ever see.
[1:50] Can't be the only hope I see in thy sight of this hill.
[2:08] that when thou see thou mayst be just and clear in judging still.
[2:26] Behold, I iniquity was formed the womb within, my mother also me conceived in, my mother of sony policy and guilty as thou sin.
[3:03] Behold, thou with me in the inward parts, where truth delighted art, and wisdom thou shalt make me know within the hidden heart.
[3:39] To thou with his heart, and wisdom thou shalt me, I shall be lented soul.
[3:57] Behold, thou with me in the midst of the kingdom of God.
[4:17] Let's turn to read God's word now in the prophecy of Isaiah, and in the first chapter, Isaiah chapter 1.
[4:33] The prophecy of Isaiah chapter 1. The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
[4:56] 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.
[5:07] The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib. But Israel does not know, my people do not understand.
[5:18] Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly.
[5:29] They have forsaken the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down?
[5:42] Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole or the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds.
[5:58] They are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire. In your very presence, foreigners devour your land.
[6:10] It is desolate as overthrown by foreigners. And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
[6:23] If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have become like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom.
[6:36] Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah. 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.
[6:53] I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you the trampling of my courts?
[7:05] 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.
[7:19] Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them.
[7:30] When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen.
[7:41] Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.
[7:53] Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.
[8:07] Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.
[8:22] But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Amen. And may God bless to us this reading of his own holy word.
[8:34] We're going to sing again this time from Sing Psalm. Psalm number 32. Psalm number 32, which is on page 38. We're going to sing verses 1 to 7 and the tune is Arlington.
[8:47] How blessed the one who has received forgiveness for his sin, whose sins are covered from God's face, whose debt is cancelled in God's grace.
[9:02] There's no deceit in sin in him. Psalm number 32. When I kept silent, all my bones with groaning were worn out. Beneath your hand I felt entrapped.
[9:13] Both day and night my strength was sapped as in a summer drought. Then I laid bare my sin to you, the guilt that lay within. I said, O Lord, I have transgressed.
[9:26] And you forgave when I confessed you pardoned all my sin. So let the godly pray to you, while you are to be found. Surely when waves are sweeping past and mighty waters rising fast, you'll keep them safe and sound.
[9:44] You are my hiding place, O Lord, my true security. You keep me safe in troubled days. You circle me with joyful praise when you have set me free.
[9:56] Psalm 32, 1-7, the tune is Arlington, How blessed the one who has received. Forgive them for all his sin.
[10:08] Forgive them for all his sin. Forgive them for all his sin. Who sins are covered from all chains. Who sins are covered from all chains.
[10:20] Who's death is counseled in all chains. Who's death is counseled in all chains. Who's death is counseled in all chains. Who's death is counseled in all chains.
[10:41] Who's death is counseled in all chains. There's no dissident in all. CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[11:49] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS I'm a longing praise to you, while you are to be found.
[12:43] Surely when waves are sweeping past, and mighty waters rising past, you'll keep them safe and sound.
[13:11] You are my hiding place, O Lord, my true security.
[13:28] You keep me safe in troubled days.
[13:39] You circle me with joyful praise, when you have set me free.
[13:57] Amen. Let's turn for a little to the chapter we read in Isaiah, chapter 1. I'm reading at verse 18.
[14:08] It's the word of the Lord. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
[14:23] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. One of the things that very often we fail to understand, or we cannot really grasp, is what God's assessment and God's view of something is.
[14:42] Because God's assessment can often be very, very different to ours. Sometimes things that we applaud, things that we think are good, the Lord thinks the very opposite.
[14:54] And it can be very disconcerting and very humbling when we find that things that we elevate, and things that we may even pride ourselves in, that the Lord is saying something very different.
[15:09] I think one of the classic examples of that is found in the letter to the seven churches, where we have the church in Laodicea. It was a very wealthy church, and they were priding themselves on how good they were.
[15:22] And they actually reached the point where they said, you know, we have need of nothing. They thought that they were doing so well, and they were congratulating themselves on how they were prospering in every way.
[15:36] And the Lord was saying over them that they were poor, and they were helpless, and they were naked. He said, in fact, they were in such a condition that he was of a mind to spew them out of his mouth.
[15:50] That's the way he saw it. Completely and totally different to the way that they saw it. And we have something very similar here. Because we find Judah, at this time, Jerusalem, that they are really applauding themselves.
[16:07] Because it is a time when things are going well. Now, we know that the prophet Isaiah, he prophesied for a long, long time in Judah. And we see, in fact, there were several kings.
[16:21] He prophesied in the days of Uzziah and Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. And some of these were good times, because we know that Hezekiah, for instance, was the best king after David that Judah ever had.
[16:35] So that that was a time of reformation and a time where people were really seeking the Lord. But there was a, underneath it all, there was a rottenness within the people, rotten to the core.
[16:50] Outwardly, there was, in fact, for instance, in Uzziah's reign, there was a time of tremendous prosperity in the land. Things were going really well. But there were periods in that where Israel, where Judah, had lost their way.
[17:07] And that, spiritually, they were absolutely bankrupt. Now, the thing was, and that's one of the things that becomes very obvious here, that it was like they were playing on both sides of the fence.
[17:23] Because, on the one hand, they were going through all the forms of worship. They were worshiping. They were having their assemblies. They were having their convocations, like they were having their conferences.
[17:34] They were having their meetings. They were going through all the worship rituals. They were dotting all the I's. They were stroking all the T's. If you were to watch religious observance, you would look at the people and you'd say, oh, wow, these are good people.
[17:49] And that's why they were applauding themselves. Because, outwardly, they were doing what was required of them, and even beyond. But inwardly, they were in a mess.
[18:01] Spiritually, they were in a mess. And we've read through there just some of the mess that they were in. And the Lord, in fact, is saying he's like a father looking down on his children.
[18:14] Children, verse 2. Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. That's one of the most painful things that parents have to go through.
[18:25] There are some very painful things that parents might have to go through. And this, at one level, is a very painful thing where you invest your time, your love, your energy, your everything, willingly.
[18:40] And you try to bring a child up or children up in the right way. And it's like they throw everything in your face. And they completely trample every value and everything of good that you ever taught them into the dirt.
[18:57] And they've kind of almost like mocked you. That's painful. And that's really what the Lord is saying about his people here. That's the way they're behaving.
[19:09] That they're absolute rebels to the very core. Even although outwardly everything is going fine, inwardly it is rotten. Rotten to the core.
[19:21] And he says there in verse 3 that they're in some ways dumber than the very animals. The ox knows its owner. The donkey its master's crib.
[19:33] But Israel does not know. My people do not understand. The Lord is saying to the people, Can you not wise up? Can you not see how things really are?
[19:45] Now, again, if we want to see, you say to yourself, Well, what was wrong? Well, when you look at verses, Again, there's a lot of things that we could look at.
[19:58] But, for instance, Just look there at where the Lord is saying to them, At verse 16, Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes.
[20:10] Cease to do evil. Then he says, Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless.
[20:21] Plead the widow's cause. And I don't think we can overemphasize The huge place that God puts upon a society that is just.
[20:34] You know, we often think that God brings his judgment Maybe upon a nation purely for the likes of immorality. I believe that the two things that the Old Testament will show us Where God brought his judgment More than on anything else was, yes, first of all, idolatry.
[20:54] But secondly, it was unjust oppression. Where there were social evils. Where people oppressed those who were sort of not in a position to help themselves.
[21:11] Where there was corruption and injustice had infiltrated all the different sections of society. And the poor were becoming poorer.
[21:22] And there was just a complete sense of injustice. And where there was violence where people were, those who were in position and power were being awful.
[21:34] They were sometimes abusing and even killing those who had very little in the way of rights. You go through the prophecies. And you will find that this is virtually top of the list of the things that God hates.
[21:50] He hates the oppression. He hates injustice. He hates bloodshed. You know, when we look at our own situation, Is it not true that often these evils are in our own society?
[22:09] There is so much bloodshed. So many people in many parts of even our own land are scared to go out at night. Because of the violence in parts of the streets. There is oppression.
[22:21] There is injustice. There are so many evils like that. And I believe that all that is being said there is true here.
[22:33] And that is why it is so important, as we will see in a moment, That the people of God realize these things and deal with these things and repent of these things.
[22:44] Because if God's people don't repent, who is? Who is going to? And so we find that after the Lord is saying to the people, Look, I'm not listening to you.
[22:57] I'm seeing you coming to the temple. It doesn't matter. I'm not interested in your sacrifices. I'm not interested in your assemblies. In fact, you're wearing me with these things. I'm weary of your prayers.
[23:09] Because it's all outward. Your heart is corrupt. Your actions are evil. You are unjust. You are oppressing the fatherless and the widows.
[23:20] And you're totally unjust in all your dealings. And so the Lord is saying to them, Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. But then there is this beautiful appeal from the Lord.
[23:35] Where he says, Come now. It's like he said, Look, I'm setting out before you how things are. Maybe you didn't realize it. But I'm telling you, this is how things are. But, he says, Come now.
[23:47] Let us reason together, says the Lord. And I think one of the things that we've got to understand is that it is the Lord alone that will bring us round to our repentant spirit.
[24:02] And I think that's something that we really need to understand. Because it is important for us to have a repentant spirit. We can't work it up ourselves.
[24:15] You might think you can. But you cannot work up through repentance any more than you can work up through faith. Because both come from God.
[24:25] Both faith and repentance. And sometimes we think that we can just, we can all of a sudden just turn around and say to the Lord, Oh Lord, I'm sorry. And then just carry on as normal.
[24:38] That a few wee sorries here and sorries there, another Lord will say, That's all right, on you go. It doesn't work like that. And that isn't true repentance. And in fact, you remember how in Zechariah it tells us this, as the Lord is dealing with the people.
[24:55] And he's going to restore the land to them. What does he say? He says, I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and a spirit of repentance.
[25:09] Or please for mercy. That's what the Lord is saying. I'm going to pour out on the house of David. A spirit of repentance.
[25:20] Because I'm going to bless them. I'm going to restore the land. But I can't restore the land until they repent. Until they're in a right spirit.
[25:31] Until their heart is in a right way. And so it's God who does this. Now, this might not be teaching that we like because we like to think that we're more in control of things than we really are.
[25:46] We like to think that we can believe anytime we want. We like to think we can repent anytime we want. But the thing is, we can't. Now, don't get me wrong.
[25:57] Because we have a duty to do both. The word of God tells us that we are to believe and we are to repent. And here is the place where we have to come to.
[26:10] Where we have to come to realize that everything is a gift from God. And that you and I have to go to the giver. This is our duty. And say, Lord, I'm sorry for my sin.
[26:23] But I've never really come to fully understand my sin. Please, Lord, give me a proper spirit of repentance. So that I might come to see you through this.
[26:38] And come to believe. You know this? You pray that with all your heart. And the Lord will answer your prayer. And you will be brought to a place of repentance.
[26:50] Where you will come to believe in the Lord. Be quite persuaded of that. That is what is called seeking the Lord. We have our part. But it is God who gives us the ability to believe.
[27:02] It is God who gives us the ability to truly repent. And when we have that spirit of repentance in the Lord, the Lord will hear.
[27:14] And as we... You see, we were talking about that this morning with the young folk. Where there's a huge difference between knowing about something and actually feeling and experiencing something.
[27:28] And when a person is given the spirit of repentance, they are brought to see even a little of what sin is. They're brought to see something of the offensiveness of it before God.
[27:42] Because, you know, sometimes... Sometimes the church... And when I say the church, I talk about Christians in the church. They say, I don't need to repent. They look around and they say, hey, I can point to loads of other people.
[27:57] I'll tell you. I'm a better Christian than him, her, and so on. The Lord doesn't... That's not... The Lord doesn't work that way. And we've got it completely wrong.
[28:10] If we're thinking that it's all about matching and points, scoring points, and that there's a league table of who's more repentant and who's a better Christian.
[28:21] It doesn't work in that way. The one thing we all need is a spirit of repentance. Whatever we may think of ourselves or not think of ourselves, the one thing that we need is a spirit of repentance.
[28:35] The Lord says this to his church. Remember back in Chronicles. If my people who are called by my name, if they will turn from their evil ways, if they will repent, remember what he says, I'll hear their prayer.
[28:50] And then he says, I will heal their land. I think it's one of the most amazing promises that God gives.
[29:02] And you know, to a certain extent, the future well-being of the land is not in the hands of politicians, although if we know at one level it is. At one level it's in the hand of the church, of all believers.
[29:16] Because if all God's people, all those who are called by his name, truly seek the Lord, turn from their evil ways, and truly repent, the Lord will heal the land.
[29:31] That's his promise. So when we see that things are getting worse and getting worse, we've always got to ask ourselves this. What is the attitude of the church?
[29:44] Does the church have a repentant spirit? Or is the church just carrying on, going along and saying, oh well, we're not that bad.
[29:56] Well the Lord is showing us, because that's exactly what Judah and Jerusalem were saying, we're not that bad, in fact we're pretty good. The Lord's saying, no you're not. So this is why the Lord is then saying, right he says, come now he says, and let us reason together.
[30:13] Come. And it's amazing how often the Lord gives this invitation. Come. In fact it's more than an invitation, it's a command, it's an imperative. It is come. And he's inviting us to come.
[30:28] Now again, in society, in our lives, there are loads of voices calling us to come. If you ever go on holiday to places where, suppose in here there's a beach front with lots of eateries, there's just one cafe and one restaurant after another, you often find people at the front or at the door or across the street from it.
[30:48] And they're all telling you why you should go into their place. And they're trying to invite you in and say, oh we've got the, you want the best steak come in here, you want the best fish and chips come in here, if you want the best, come in here and eat.
[30:59] And you'll find they're all inviting you to come in. And that's almost to a certain extent a picture of what life is like. Because all over the place there are so many people calling you to come this way and that way.
[31:14] But very often, these voices do not have your best interest at heart. Often these voices that are calling you are out for themselves.
[31:27] Well, here is one who is calling you, who has your very best interest at heart. He wants the best for you. And that is why he is saying to you tonight, come.
[31:42] And notice what he says. He doesn't just say come. He says, come now. And I think that's very important because so often we can say, we can read something like that and say, come now, let us reason together.
[31:56] Oh, that's great. And we say to ourselves, here's an invite from the Lord. I'll have to do something about that, but not just now. I have other things to attend to.
[32:08] The Lord doesn't say, come later on. Come tomorrow. Come. Okay, this is 2014. Leave it till about 2016.
[32:20] Leave it till you retire. Leave it till the end of your life. And then come to me. No. He says, now. Now. You and I, we state the obvious, but we don't know what a day or an hour will bring.
[32:38] And even taking it logically, why leave it to the end of your life? There are some people who think this is the way they look at salvation. And they say, you know, I want to live my life.
[32:50] I want to just so enjoy my life and do everything that I want to do. And then, you know, at the end, I'll, near the end, I'll then seek the Lord and I'll come to the Lord.
[33:02] So I'm going to get the best of both worlds. I'll have a whole lifetime for myself. And then, we while, and then that'll be me away to heaven.
[33:13] It doesn't work like that. Now, thankfully, and God is merciful and gracious, and he has rescued many people at the very end of their lives.
[33:26] He has taken people at the very point of death. And that's why we must never, it's not up to us to, in any way to say, well, Persian went this way that we don't know.
[33:37] So the old poem said, from the stirrup to the ground, mercy sought, mercy found. The thief on the cross will show us that, even what we would term at the very last, people can come to faith in Jesus Christ.
[33:53] So we don't know. But this is what I'll say. If you think that leaving your salvation to the very end, is the best thing, what you're really saying is, I'm only going to give the Lord, the very dregs of my life.
[34:12] I am going to live a selfish life, live, well, I shouldn't say a selfish life, but I'm going to live for myself. And then, at the end, I'll seek the Lord.
[34:23] I knew a man, years ago, and he came to faith. He took ill, and he came to faith, and he was dying, and he knew he was dying.
[34:35] And he was asking the Lord, Lord, Lord, please, please spare me, because I want to serve you. I want to, he was a businessman, I did a very well-to-do businessman.
[34:49] But he said, I want the opportunity to put right the way I lived. I want to live for you, not for myself. And I want the opportunity, Lord, to tell people about you, and to live for you.
[35:04] He was, he was really praying to the Lord. He, he, he, he was taken away. But I never forgot that. And this is what sometimes people think.
[35:15] That, you can live life, and then at the end, there's this kind of wee insurance policy. No, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't matter what age you come to faith in the Lord, you wish it was younger.
[35:27] Because you say to yourself, I wasted so many years. That's the way you look at it. In not serving, in not living for the Lord. So don't think that it's something for old age.
[35:39] And so the Lord is saying to us, come now. Come now. That's why it's always saying, come unto me all you that labor, and heavy laid spirit, and the bride say come.
[35:50] And so the Lord is saying to you tonight, come. Because you don't know what the future is. You don't know what's around the corner. You know, if you're here tonight without the Lord Jesus Christ, and you could see, supposing the Lord opened eternity for you.
[36:09] Supposing the Lord gave a glimpse tonight into hell. Supposing you saw for a moment what was there. It would change everything. All of a sudden, seeking the Lord would become an urgent priority.
[36:25] Seek the Lord while he may be found. And again, even for Christians, there might be Christians here tonight to have begun to wander. Because wandering is all too possible.
[36:37] The Lord is saying, look, come now. You've got to get back to where you were. What have I to do to you to bring you back to me?
[36:48] But then it says, the Lord says here, come now. Let us reason together. And the Lord is saying, look, I want, I want us to get together on this.
[37:00] You and me. This is, I think it's, it's beautiful language. Because the Lord is saying, you might have every intention of one day seeking me.
[37:12] But right now, the priority is that it is now. And the Lord is saying, you don't understand how things are. You need me to help you to see how things really are.
[37:28] You know, the Lord, the Lord has made us for, for, for, for himself. And that is why the Lord is using the language.
[37:40] It's the language of the children and home. It is the language of the, that's what he's talking about in verse three, about the ox and the donkey. They know, they know the master and the crib.
[37:52] They know, they know where they, where they go. They know, they know like their farm. They know that, where they might, the shed they might go into or the barn they might go into.
[38:03] They know these places, but you don't. The Lord is saying, if we put our minds right back into the garden of Eden, what do we find there?
[38:13] We find the Lord walking with Adam. Man and God walking together. That's what God wants. He made us for himself. He wants to be with us.
[38:25] He wants to walk with us. You know, if you go for a walk with someone, very often you start talking, start chatting, start sharing things, opening up, telling people things.
[38:38] Well, that's what the Lord is saying. I want, I want us to get back to the place where we're talking, where we're in this together, because I need to show you how things are.
[38:50] because you see, like Adam, we've run away. You know, you could be here tonight and you could be running away from God at the same time.
[39:01] Now, that might sound strange to be in God's house and running away from God at the same time, but it's possible because coming to God's house, it's to a certain extent, and this is a good part, it's helping you.
[39:16] And you're saying to yourself, you know, I need this. But there's another part of you saying to the Lord, look, so far, no further. Yeah, Lord, I'm kind of listening to you, kind of interested, but I don't want to get too caught up.
[39:34] I don't want to go all the way. I need to be in control. Do you know this? It's the thing we're most scared of losing, control. We want to be in control.
[39:45] We want to hold the reins. We want to be able to tug it this way and tug it that way. We want to be in control of our lives. Do you know the thing is, we're not. I think we are. The Lord is saying, let the controls go.
[40:00] Let me take the reins. That's what the Lord is asking. Let me take control of your life. Once you do that, then the Lord is truly your Lord.
[40:15] That's what he's asking. And so he's saying, this is a great thing. Here's the great invitation the Lord is saying to us, to the people then, and he's saying it to us, there's one great problem, and that is your sin.
[40:27] That has to be dealt with. And let me tell you what your sins are like. And he paints it in the picture of colors. Notice the colors. Red like crimson. Sins like scarlet and crimson.
[40:41] Probably the two loudest colors you can get. Here are colors that you cannot hide. You cannot kind of camouflage them. There are some colors that blend into backgrounds.
[40:53] Unless you're in a field of poppies, you can't hide red and crimson. These are glaring, loud colors. And that's really what the Lord is saying. That's how your sins are.
[41:05] They're loud. You cannot hide them. You may try to hide them. You may be pushing them down and trying to subdue them in your life, but I'll tell you, before me, they're red, they're scarlet, they're crimson.
[41:23] Color of blood. In fact, Scripture tells us that because of our sin, the blood is on our own head. In other words, that is the language of condemnation.
[41:37] But see what the Lord is saying. Do you know what he said? What I'll do with these loud, screaming sins. These sins that you cannot die, that you cannot hide, that you cannot subdue.
[41:50] He says, I'll deal with them and I will take them and make them so that they are white like wool, white like snow, pure white.
[42:02] White is the language of purity, of holiness. That's when you go to Revelation. That's how the saints are dressed. They're dressed in white. It's speaking of the holiness and the purity that reflects the purity of God.
[42:16] And that's what the Lord is saying. That's what I'll do for you. I'll make them white. And there's nothing whiter than the snow. Even white sheets, white towels, white pillow slips, that might be, you think, are absolutely beautiful white.
[42:31] Put them against the fresh, fallen snow. And they almost look, almost dull. There's a purity in the whiteness of snow. That's what the Lord is saying.
[42:42] That's what I'll do for you. No wonder he's saying, come now. Let's reason together. You and me, we need to talk. I want you to sit down with me.
[42:54] And I want you to just, we're going to discuss this. It's important. You know when there's conflict. So often we see it in different parts of the world, maybe in the Middle East or where not.
[43:06] And they're trying to get people, they're trying to get the two sides together to talk. And once you hear this coming, the news report, the two sides have entered into talks, you think, hey, there's hope.
[43:21] As long as the two sides are not talking, you say, there's no hope for a ceasefire. But when you hear that, that they're meeting round that table to talk, you say, there's hope.
[43:33] And that's what God is saying. We need to talk. We need to sit round the table, as it were, spiritually. We need to get together. And I will show you what your heart is like.
[43:46] I will show you your sin. But I will also show you that I am the one who can clean your sin away and make you right with me. Will you tonight come to the Lord?
[43:59] And will you say to the Lord, Lord, please, wash me that I might be whiter than the snow. And if he does that, and he will, if that's what you ask him to do, then all condemnation is lifted from you.
[44:15] And you have been made right with God. And the guilt of all your sin has been washed away. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we give thanks for your great and glorious invitation.
[44:30] We give thanks, O Lord, for all that you tell us in your word, who you bring before us, just how glorious and wonderful your salvation is. We pray that we might not turn away from it.
[44:44] Help us, Lord, not to hide and try and push our sins down ourself because we can't. Help us to remember that they're glaring, that that's how they are before you.
[44:56] And even if there are those in here tonight who think their sins are not red and scarlet, but maybe kind of camouflaged and gray, they're not. All our sins are red and scarlet.
[45:09] Help us then, Lord, to see that there is all the possibility and potential of turning our souls to be white with the spotless purity of Jesus as we stand in him.
[45:22] Lord, bless us, we pray. Bless the fellowship that will follow on. We pray to bless Thomas as he will speak to us and share with us. And we pray that we might know the togetherness that is found in the Lord.
[45:33] Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with your face. Take away our sin in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to sing from the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 130.
[45:49] We're going to sing the whole psalm, Psalm 130. And the tune is Martyrdom, Psalm 130 from the Scottish Psalter, which we find on page 421.
[46:08] Lord, from the depths to thee I cried, my voice, Lord, do thou hear, unto my supplications' voice give an attentive ear. Lord, who shall stand if thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquity?
[46:20] But yet with thee forgiveness is that feared thou mayest be. Down to the last version. Plenteous redemption is ever found with him, and from all his iniquities he, Israel, shall redeem.
[46:35] The whole of Psalm 130 to the tune Martyrdom. For from the depths to thee I cry, my voice, Lord, do thou hear, unto my son, vacations' voice give an attentive ear.
[47:18] Lord, who shall sound in power, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquity?
[47:34] But yet with thee forgive me, not fear thou mayest be.
[47:55] I wait for God, my soul awake, my hope is in his word.
[48:14] Lord, I need a, our morning watch, my soul rich for the Lord.
[48:33] I say, for thou may not do what, the morning light to see.
[48:51] Let Israel open the Lord, O may the mercy be.
[49:10] Unplenty of redemption is ever found within, and from all his iniquities, he is precious, redeeming.
[49:47] Now may the grace, mercy, and peace of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest and abide upon each one of you now and forevermore. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[50:07] Amen.