Isaiah 1:18-20Amplified Bible

“Let Us Reason”

¹⁸ 
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord.
“^[a]Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.
¹⁹ 
“If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the best of the land;
²⁰ 
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

I want to begin by looking at this three thousand year old open invitation.

“Now come and let us reason together saith the Lord.”

You know it seems to me as the more we read the Bible and study God’s Word that we find the Lord is constantly calling and inviting mankind to come to him.

And of all the wonderful things God is, He is genuinely Reasonable, He is Just.

A God who offers who does not “stay mad for very long” offers His rebellious children a voice of reason, and a call to the sinner and the backslider to return.

Romans 12:1 God’s personal invitation says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.”

In Jeremiah 3:22 the Lord God’s personal invitation says, “Return ye backsliding children and I will heal your backsliding.”

In Jeremiah 29:10-14 the Lord’s promise to His rebellious children about to be taken into a 70 year exile in Babylon reads like a giant sized God type bear hug:

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years [of exile] have been completed for Babylon, I will visit (inspect) you and keep My good promise to you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you. ¹³ Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

In Malachi 3:7 the Lord said, “Return unto me and I will return unto you.”

Our text today from Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now and let us reason together.”

As I read this, I just realized that this is not a call to trial or a call to judgement.

It’s an open invitation to forgiveness an mercy, to open up our hearts and listen to what the Lord might just speak to us, that we might hear His voice of reason.

I think of the prodigal son. You know, the Bible says he came to himself from the midst the moment of watching pigs, joyously eating their food in a pig sty, and I believe that suddenly the voice of reason could speak and reach out to him.

Luke 15:14-17 “¹⁴ Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to do without and be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and forced himself on one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to ^[a]feed pigs. ¹⁶ He would have gladly eaten the [carob] pods that the pigs were eating [but they could not satisfy his hunger], and no one was giving anything to him. ¹⁷ But when he [finally] came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough food, while I am dying here of hunger!”

The voice of reason, an inner voice, spoke some very important facts to him:

He had spent his entire inheritance, he had no job and had no source of income.

There is a great famine in the land and the food is running out.

I am slowly starving and I don’t have very many people to rely on for help.

The only job I can get is “feeding someone else’s pigs.”

The only food my stomach desires are the Carob pods found in a filthy pig sty.

He’d gladly get filthy, fight the pigs, steal those filthy Carob pods from the pigs.

With each thought he had, he got progressively closer to his “maximum worst” image of “exactly how much worsen that worse can this whole situation get?”

The greater the degree and measure of “worsen than worse” got, the greater the sound of the voice, the greater the impact of the “voice of reason” became.

Now his thoughts were turning away from the worst of the worst possible ….

And becoming “There is bread enough to spare in my father’s house.”

He didn’t know and probably did not even care over much if his father would accept him as a son again or not, but he knew he would not let himself starve.

Luke 15:18-19 “¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] treat me like one of your hired men.”

The Voice of Reason redirected, humbled his thoughts – “I am GOING HOME!”

The voice of reason sent him back and brought him back to his father’s house.

His father’s love restored his sonship.

Luke 15:20-24 “²⁰ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe [for the guest of honor] and put it on him; and give him a ^[a]ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let us [invite everyone and] feast and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

I believe the voice of reason spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus.

Jesus “impeded, interceded, questioned and reasoned” with Saul.

And didn’t He do so in a decisively, directly, definitively humbling manner?

Acts 9:1-9 Now ^[a]Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the ^[b]high priest, ² and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to ^[c]the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem. ³ As he traveled he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him [displaying the glory and majesty of Christ]; ⁴ and he fell to the ground and heard a voice [from heaven] saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting and oppressing Me?” ⁵ And Saul said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” ⁷ The men who were traveling with him [were terrified and] stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was unable to see for three days, and he neither ate nor drank.

He asked Saul, “Why are you persecuting and oppressing me?”

When God has a plan for your life, and you decide you have a better plan, things are going to be very hard.

When we get into our maximum mode of maximum impact sinful rebellion ….

You can count on getting God’s attention – and then God is going to get Yours!

The Voice of Reason – gong to start seriously banging against your conscience.

Ask brother Jonah – Him and his smartphone are in the belly of a “great fish.”

And I hope and pray there is some seriously outstanding reception down there!

I’d be willing to “bet the farm” Jonah had a whale of a conversation with God!

The truth of the matter – from the first verse of Genesis through the very last verse of Book of Revelation – God’s invitation is 100% consistently available,

but, ….

and isn’t there always a but (sometimes spelled “butt”) to be kicked around:

The road away from God is always going to be an extraordinarily rough road.

God reasoned with Abraham over Sodom and Gomorrah.

God repeatedly reasoned with Moses on the back side of the desert and Moses could not find a question nor an excuse that God did not have an answer for.

Now it is 2022! God is calling a meeting. What should we say at this meeting?

Should we plead our innocence?

Surely not, for we all have sinned, fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Should we list our excuses?

No. This meeting is not to discuss guilt or innocence.

That part is already been more than adequately and sufficiently stated by God.

Our sins are as scarlet.

We can’t hide our sin from God. (Genesis 3:7-13 NKJV)

⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[a]coverings.

⁸ And they heard the ^[b]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[c]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

¹² Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

How many voices do you hear here?

The Serpents, Eve’s and Adam’s ….

The Voice of the master deceiver ….

The Voices of those who were so easily deceived ….

The Voice of God ….

Whose voice, whose voices are we most apt to listen to or want to hear?

Answers depends on where your heart and soul and whole life are in the exact moment the voices are “clearly and unmistakably heard” and considered too.

From the text of today’s devotional passage from Isaiah 1:18-20 …

It sticks out like a blood red orange on a newly fallen patch of fresh snow.

God is calling a meeting with him, not to establish guilt, but to arrange pardon.

God is not asking for compensation or for retribution for your past.

Jesus took care of that at Calvary.

God is asking us, not demanding from us, for our obedience and repentance.

See how reasonable he is?

As with all invitations there is an appointed time.

Verse 18 says the time for this meeting is NOW.

Now God has already stated his will in this.

He said what he would do.

He is willing to blot out all our transgressions and make us white and clean.

The price has already been paid.

But, verse 19 & 20 tells us he is going to leave the choice up to us.

Only believe?

The devils believe.

You can believe in salvation and never be saved.

You must act on what you believe.

Verse 19 says, If ye be willing and obedient.

Some are willing to be saved, but not obedient to the instruction.

To be saved or renewed today, we will not only have to be willing to hear and prayerfully consider the words of God’s invitation, but also willingly obedient.

You and I are not hearing a call in our collective hearts that is for someone else.

God didn’t dial the wrong number.

God does not dial wrong numbers.

Even in the Year of our Lord, Savior 2022

The Lord says,

Come now, let us reason together. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. If we are not willing – the sword will also be another choice.

Most people are willing to be blessed, but not willing to live for Jesus.

We can know peace, love, joy, and comfort, if not the sword of the world will devour or overcome us.

That is not a threat, it is just the way things are.

It is just the unmistakable reality, harsh truth of how God has ordered things.

Listen to the Voice of Reason today.

Listen to the Voice of God …

Listen to the Words of the Logos – Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior …

Listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit as we are reminded of God’s Voice.

There will always and forever be bread enough to spare in the Father’s house.

COME LET US EAT AND LET US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD.

And ponder the question:

“What is the Voice of Reason and Truth telling me in this exact moment …?”

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of all truth and wisdom, sometimes I not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own thoughts or even another spirit. Sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me. Help me know it’s really you, with no doubt or second-guessing. When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, give me your peace that surpasses understanding with your answer. Help me to always remember that your words to me will never go against your written word in the Bible. Give me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. Let me always exalt, always magnify my Savior Jesus! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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