White As Snow

[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help, and with the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 1, and if we take as our text this morning the words of verse 18.

[0:24] Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 18, where the Lord says, Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

[0:38] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Now every time I see a wintry scene like it is outside today, I'm always reminded of this wonderful verse in the book of Isaiah.

[0:56] Isaiah, because when it snows, I don't think it matters how old we are. There is an element, maybe for you, or for me definitely, there's an element of excitement that the snow brings.

[1:08] But especially for the children, the children as soon as they see the snow falling, they're all excited and they're desperate to get outside and to play in the snow. And snow, it brings so much fun for the children.

[1:21] And, well, also for the adults as well. But when the children, when they go outside and when they play in the snow, they can throw snowballs at one another. They can go outside and make snow angels. They can build a snowman like Salty the Snowman.

[1:35] They can go sledging. They can do all these things that, well, we used to do when we were young. And when we were able to do it. And if you're a parent or you're just a kid at heart, it's all these things that you probably still love doing, going outside and playing in the snow.

[1:50] And snow, it's great fun for the kids. And I love it when it really snows and when there's a lot of snow. In fact, I think this is the first time there's been, ah, you could say proper snow since we've come to Barvis.

[2:04] There have been little coverings over the years, but nothing major like it is just now. Nothing as good as the snow as we've seen over the past few days. And although it's caused disruption for the roads and elderly people are being kept in their homes and there's chaos with everything else.

[2:21] You know, it's been great to see the kids outside playing in the snow and having fun. But, you know, when we see a landscape covered in snow, it not only gives to us a beautiful winter's day and this wintry scenery, but when we see the landscape covered in snow, it also makes everything look so clean, doesn't it?

[2:42] Everything looks so clean. Everything looks spotless and unpolluted and, you could say, untouched and untainted. Everything looks so clean and so pure.

[2:54] And, you know, that's the imagery that Isaiah wants to present to us this morning. Because Isaiah wants to remind us of what the Lord is able to do in our lives as sinners. That he's able to make those who are black, as we were saying to the children, black like coal.

[3:10] He's able to make us spotless and unpolluted and clean and pure. The Lord is able to make us as white as snow. Come now, he says.

[3:22] 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.

[3:34] Now, I know that we had just resumed our study in the book of Ecclesiastes. And I was actually halfway through preparing a sermon on Ecclesiastes chapter 7. But this text wouldn't leave me.

[3:48] And every time I try to settle down and study on Ecclesiastes, this is all I was thinking about. These words. This text wouldn't leave me. And so I just want to put Ecclesiastes to one side just for this week.

[4:00] So we can consider this wonderful verse and its context. Because in this wonderful verse, this beautiful verse, and in the surrounding context in the chapter, we are reminded here of three simple things.

[4:14] Three simple things. The problem, the plea, and the promise. The problem, the plea, and the promise. So if we look first of all at the problem.

[4:27] The problem. If you go back to verse 1 of chapter 1. It says there, Probably most well known for his prophecy about the suffering servant in Isaiah chapter 53.

[5:08] Where Isaiah, he prophesies there about the cross of Jesus Christ. And he makes that prophecy 800 years before it actually took place. Isaiah prophesies so vividly that the suffering servant would be wounded for our transgressions.

[5:25] And he would be bruised for our iniquities. Isaiah had this prophetic vision of the cross of Calvary.

[5:38] And it was a vivid foreshadowing of all the horrors that Jesus would experience on the cross. And endure on behalf of sinners. But you know, Isaiah, he wasn't just a foreteller.

[5:51] Who foretold what would happen in the future. Isaiah was a foreteller. He wasn't just a foreteller. He wasn't just a foreteller. But also a foreteller. Isaiah was a preacher of the gospel.

[6:04] He was a herald of the truth. Isaiah was a minister of God's word. And we're told in verse 1 that Isaiah's ministry had spanned the reign of four kings.

[6:16] His ministry was during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah, Isaiah's ministry was a long ministry. And Isaiah's ministry was also a Christ-centered ministry.

[6:30] Because you know, for an Old Testament prophet, Isaiah proclaimed so much about Jesus Christ. So much about Jesus Christ that when you're reading this book, you'd be certain that he wrote it when he was looking at Jesus.

[6:45] At the time of Jesus. But, and yet, 800 years before Jesus walked upon the earth, Isaiah is writing about the birth of Christ. And the anointing of Christ.

[6:56] And the ministry of Christ. And the rejection of Christ. And the sufferings of Christ. And the death of Christ. And the resurrection. And even the kingship of Jesus Christ. Isaiah wrote so much about Jesus Christ that this book has often been described as the fifth gospel.

[7:12] But even though Isaiah's ministry was a long ministry and a Christ-centered ministry, it was a difficult ministry. And what made Isaiah's ministry difficult was the sin and rebellion of the people.

[7:29] His congregation, those whom he preached to week by week. That's what made his ministry difficult. Their sin and their rebellion against God's word.

[7:39] Because when Isaiah was called to be the Lord's prophet, to foretell and forth-tell the Lord's message to his people. He had to keep preaching a message of coming judgment.

[7:51] To a people who weren't listening. And they weren't interested. And they had no care or concern for their soul. Isaiah, he had been called to preach to a people who had turned their back upon the Lord.

[8:05] And they had turned to serve other gods. But Isaiah, he had to keep preaching to them the message of the Lord's coming judgment. Because he wasn't called to please them.

[8:17] He was called to be faithful. And in order to be faithful to the Lord, Isaiah had to preach the Lord's message. And the message was, judgment is coming.

[8:28] Judgment is coming. You need to repent. Because judgment is coming. And that was the problem for the people of Israel. Judgment was coming. And they needed to repent.

[8:38] They needed to turn back to the Lord. But they were ignoring all the warnings. And we can see all these warnings being presented to them. In the verses leading up to verse 18.

[8:51] Because we're told in verse 2. That the people, they have rebelled against the Lord. And then in verse 3. The Lord claims that the people don't even know him anymore.

[9:01] He says, The ox knows its owner. And the donkey its master's crib. But Israel does not know my people. Do not understand. They don't know me anymore. Then he says, A sinful nation.

[9:13] 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.

[9:24] Estranged. They don't know me. They don't care about me. They have no interest in me. But you know what's shocking about the whole thing? Is that they still came to worship the Lord.

[9:37] They didn't care about the Lord. But they still came to church. In their hearts and in their home life. They were far, far away from the Lord. And you know, with this, the Lord is criticizing his people.

[9:52] For having an outward appearance of religion. But having no love for the Lord in their heart. And you know, it's just what Jesus said about the Pharisees.

[10:03] Jesus quotes Isaiah and he says, You hypocrites. Isaiah prophesied well of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me.

[10:14] And that's what Isaiah was facing. He was facing a people who were just paying lip service to the Lord. My friend, we should never come to church. To give lip service to the Lord.

[10:27] Because the Lord, he knows our heart. He knows our motives. He knows our conscience. He knows what's going on in our mind. The Lord knows the condition of our soul.

[10:38] We can fool others. But we can't fool the Lord. And if we're only here this morning just to please ourselves. Or to appease our conscience. Or to make an appearance.

[10:51] If we're only here with our lips. But we're not here with our heart. Then the Lord knows that. And he knows that there's a problem. And our problem, as it was for the people of Israel.

[11:03] Is that our heart is divided. Our heart is divided. We're not committed to the Lord. We're not putting the Lord first. We're not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

[11:16] We are being a double-minded man or woman. And the Bible tells us that a double-minded man or woman is unstable in all their ways. And that was the problem for the Israelites.

[11:30] They wanted to please the Lord. They wanted to make an appearance. But they also wanted to please themselves. And in order to please both.

[11:41] In order to keep both parties happy in their own mind. They would come and worship the Lord. But then after they would go and worship all their other gods. And sometimes they blasphemed the Lord.

[11:55] Because they brought their gods with them into worship. They wouldn't put the Lord first in everything. They would bring the Lord down to their level. And make the Lord just one of them.

[12:06] They would worship him. And sometimes make everything common. And you know we can do the same. We can do the same. We can claim that we're too busy to read our Bible.

[12:20] But we're never too busy to watch TV and catch up on soaps. We can claim that we're too tired to go to church. But we're never too tired to stay up late or go out with friends.

[12:31] We can claim that we don't have time for visiting people. Or speaking to people about their soul. And yet we waste our time on a whole manner of things. That don't matter in comparison to eternity.

[12:44] But the problem is as it was for Israel. Is that we don't put the Lord first. Our heart is divided. We want the best of both worlds. We want to please the Lord.

[12:55] And we want to please ourselves. But the truth is we're like Israel. We've turned our back upon the Lord. We're going our own way. We're doing our own thing. And we're just giving lip service to the Lord.

[13:08] But what does the Lord say about all this? What does the Lord say? Look at verse 5. The Lord says this is your problem. Why will you be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel?

[13:20] The whole head is sick. The whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head. There is no soundness in it. But bruises and sores and raw wounds.

[13:31] 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.

[13:42] It is desolate as overthrown by foreigners. The Lord says that they're rebellion. And the fact that they've turned away from the Lord has left them with wounds and bruises and putrefying sores.

[13:55] The image that Isaiah is giving is like deep lacerations to the skin. That's oozing with blood. It's being caused by a weapon, a sword.

[14:08] And there's this blood oozing from it. In other words, he's saying you're in a complete mess. And you're in desperate need of healing. You're in a complete mess.

[14:20] You've turned away from the Lord because of your sin and rebellion. You're in a mess. But you know what's remarkable? And what's so beautiful? And what's so undeserving?

[14:33] Is that the Lord addresses the problem. He addresses the mess. And he addresses our problem. And he addresses our mess. And he addresses it not with punishment.

[14:44] But with a plea. With a plea. And that's what I'd like us to consider secondly. The problem? The plea. The plea.

[14:54] Look at verse 18 again. 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.

[15:09] In the verses leading up to this beautiful verse in verse 18. There is this build up of accusations against the people. And the Lord is highlighting to the Israelites.

[15:22] He's highlighting to them their problem of sin and rebellion against him. But as we said, what's so beautiful about this passage is that when the Lord addresses the problem of sin and rebellion.

[15:33] He doesn't address it with punishment. He addresses it with a plea. Come now. Let us reason together, says the Lord. And you know, those words, they're some of the most beautiful words in the Bible.

[15:49] Because these words, they're full of grace. They're full of compassion. They're full of love and tenderness and patience. Where instead of receiving punishment for our sin and rebellion, we're shown mercy.

[16:03] We're shown kindness. We're shown grace. And it's for that very reason, because of our sin and our rebellion, the Lord could have cast us off forever. He could have punished us in a moment.

[16:16] He could have struck us down in an instant. He could have thrown us into hell without a second thought. And he would have been righteous and just to do so. Because we deserve his wrath and curse.

[16:29] We deserve the fires of hell. We deserve his hatred and anger against sin. We deserve his punishment. But that's not what we're met with here. We're not met with punishment.

[16:41] We're met with a plea. The plea is come. Come. And you know, this plea, it's a personal plea to you as a sinner in need of a saviour.

[16:54] Come. Come. And this personal plea, it's been given. And it's been issued not by Isaiah. It's been given not by me.

[17:06] Not by the church. This personal plea is being issued to you by the Lord himself. The Lord himself is issuing this plea.

[17:19] And he's the one you have sinned against. He's the one you've turned your back upon. He's the one you've acted rebelliously towards. My friend, the Lord's personal plea towards you is come.

[17:33] Come. He doesn't say, stay where you are. He doesn't say, come if you're in the elect. He doesn't say, sit and wait for something to happen.

[17:45] He doesn't say, wait for this bright light and the voice from heaven to tell you that you're now a Christian. No, he says, come. Come now. The Lord's personal plea towards you as a sinner is come now.

[18:03] The Lord doesn't say, come when you're good enough. He doesn't say, come when you're worthy enough. He doesn't say, come when you know enough. He doesn't say, come when you've done enough.

[18:15] He says, come now. Come now. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Come now.

[18:29] And you know, this wouldn't be the last time that Isaiah would have to issue the Lord's plea to come. Because when you go through this book and you come to chapter 55, the Lord is still pleading.

[18:43] Still holding out his hands. Still saying, come. In Isaiah 55 it begins, the Lord says, Come, everyone who thirsts.

[18:54] Come to the waters and he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. And the Lord asks, Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?

[19:08] And why do you labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me. And eat what is good. And delight yourselves in rich food.

[19:19] Incline your ear and come to me. And your soul shall live. And what the Lord is saying to us. What the Lord is saying to you personally.

[19:30] What he's saying is, You don't need your money for what's on offer. Put away your wallet. Put away your purse. Because salvation has been freely offered to you.

[19:44] The debt has been paid. It's without restriction. It's an open offer. It's, you could say, on the house. It's free of charge. Call it what you will. It's yours for the taking.

[19:56] So come. Come. Come now. Let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

[20:07] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become as wool. But you know, this plea from the Lord, this plea for us to come to him for salvation, we have to see that it's personal.

[20:22] It's just for you. And you have to see that it's direct. It's aimed at you. Because the Lord is saying here, I don't want your religion.

[20:35] I don't want your outward appearances. I don't want your pomp and your ceremony. I don't want your lip service. I want your heart. I want your love.

[20:48] I want your commitment. I want you. And that's what we see in the verses that lead up to verse 18. You look at verse 13.

[21:00] The Lord says, Bring no more vain offerings. Incense, it's an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocations, I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

[21:12] Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates. They've become a burden to me. I'm weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen.

[21:25] Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.

[21:35] Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause. The Lord is saying to us as a people, I don't want your empty sacrifices.

[21:48] I don't want your meaningless offerings. I don't want your insincere prayers. I don't want your dishonest worship. I don't want hypocrisy. I want genuine, heartfelt love and commitment to me.

[22:01] I want you to love me with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And that's why the Lord issues this plea, this loving and personal plea.

[22:12] Come now. Come now. Let's 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.

[22:26] And you know, I love those words. Let us reason together. Let us reason together. What the Lord is saying to us so personally and so intimately and so directly, what the Lord is saying to us is, let's talk about your sin.

[22:47] He's not shouting at you. He's just pulling you aside and saying, let's talk about your sin. Let's talk about your soul. Let's talk about your need of a saviour.

[23:01] Let's talk about Jesus. Let's talk about Jesus. But maybe for you, my friend, that's not something you want to talk about.

[23:14] Because maybe you're happy just to come to church. You're happy to sit in church. Maybe you're happy to even listen in church. But you don't want anyone to speak to you personally.

[23:28] You don't want anyone to speak to you about your sin, or your soul, or your need of a saviour. You don't want anyone to speak to you personally and directly about your need of Jesus.

[23:40] Not now. Not yet. Not today. And you know, there are many of you in here. You're willing to talk about everything and anything else except what you need to talk about.

[23:56] You're willing to talk about everything and anything else except your sin, your soul, and your need of a saviour. But that's what you need to talk about.

[24:09] And don't be afraid to talk about it. That's what you need to talk about. That's what the Lord is personally pleading with you to talk about. Because the Lord wants you to talk about Jesus.

[24:21] The Lord wants you to talk about your sin and your need of a saviour. And He's pleading with you today. This is the wonder of it. He's pleading with you today and He's saying to you, after highlighting all your sin, all your false, you could say, your double-mindedness, and He's saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[24:39] Just come. Come now. Let's reason this out. Let's reason this together. Come, let's talk about your sin. Let's talk about your soul.

[24:50] Let's talk about your need of a saviour. Let's talk about Jesus. Let's talk about Jesus. And my friend, the reason the Lord is pleading with you to talk about Jesus is because with Jesus, there is a promise.

[25:08] With Jesus, there is a promise. And that's what I'd like us to consider lastly. The promise. The problem, the plea, and the promise.

[25:20] The promise. Look at verse 18 again. Come now. Let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

[25:32] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. And in his commentary, the Welsh theologian, Derek Thomas, he says that the start of this prophetic book is as though Isaiah is just asking us, when did you last speak to God about your sin?

[25:57] When did you last think about God's punishment of your sin? When did you last consider the realities of heaven and hell?

[26:09] Or, have you ever spoken to God about your sin? Have you ever spoken to God about the punishment of your sin? Have you ever spoken to God about the realities of heaven and hell?

[26:21] Because, like the Israelites, if you continue to ignore the problem of your sin, and if you continue to ignore the plea for dealing with your sin, then you will never experience the promise of salvation.

[26:36] How do you ever expect to experience the promise of salvation? But you know, what we see in the latter part of verse 18 is we see God's promise of salvation.

[26:49] And this word, you could say, this word of grace in verse 18, it's given to us in unforgettable terms, because it's given to us using this violent imagery of murder.

[27:00] The words scarlet and crimson, they are, as you know, they're the colour of blood. They're red. And the image that this verse is implying is the hands of a murderer covered in blood.

[27:17] And you know, it's a fitting description, because the Bible reminds us that our sin has brought death. Our sin has left our blood on our own hands.

[27:29] And that if we were to stand before a judge, if we were to stand there with blood on our hands, they would know that there's enough evidence to leave the judge in no doubt that we're guilty.

[27:42] We have sinned. We've come short of the glory of God. We have brought death. And our hands, they are stained in scarlet and crimson blood. Our blood is on our own hands.

[27:55] We deserve to go to hell. Not because of anyone else's sin, but because of our own sin. Our own disobedience. Our own rebellion.

[28:06] Our blood is on our own hands. But you know, our problem is, our blood is on our hands, and we are guilty before God. But the plea that's been issued to us is, come now.

[28:22] Come now. Let's talk about this. Let's reason together. Let's deal with your sin. Let's talk about this. And the promise that follows the plea is, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

[28:40] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. And with this promise, there's a promise of cleansing, a promise of forgiveness, a promise of renewal, a promise of salvation.

[28:55] And it's a beautiful promise that guilty, hell-deserving sinners whose hands are blood-stained because of their own sin, they can be washed.

[29:06] They can be purified. They can be made as white as snow. And you know, that promise that's been given here in verse 18, that's what was fulfilled at Calvary.

[29:20] Jesus was crucified. He was wounded, bruised, maligned, not because he was guilty. This man hath done nothing amiss. And yet Jesus was there at Calvary condemned in our place, dying for our sins, taking the guilt and the punishment that we deserve.

[29:38] And what will wash away the sin? What will wash it away? What will wipe away the stain of sin upon our life?

[29:51] What will wash away this scarlet and crimson blood upon our hands? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. It's not what the hymn writer said.

[30:04] What can wash away of my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.

[30:19] No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And that's the promise of Calvary. The promise of cleansing. The promise of being cleansed as white as snow.

[30:32] And you know, it's because of this promise of Calvary that David could say in Psalm 51, Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean.

[30:45] Wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow. Psalm 51, as we said, it was written as a psalm of repentance. David was confessing his sin. He was repenting before the Lord for committing adultery, for lying, for being a murderer, for being an unfaithful king.

[31:05] David's hands, they were covered in blood. Not only his own blood, but also the blood of another. And David knew that he was guilty. He knew that he deserved God's punishment. David knew that he was, he wasn't worthy of the least of God's mercies.

[31:20] And yet he came before God, clinging not to his own righteousness or to his good works, but he came before God, clinging to the promise of Calvary, the promise of being cleansed and made white as snow.

[31:37] And it's because of the promise of Calvary that David could say, Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

[31:48] Wash me and I'll be whiter than snow. And you know, David's request where he says, Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean.

[32:00] It's a significant request because a Hyssop branch was often used in the act of cleansing and purifying someone who had leprosy.

[32:11] Where the Hyssop branch, it would be dipped in blood and then sprinkled upon the leper in order to grant them forgiveness and cleansing. And that's the image David is pleading for.

[32:24] He's saying to the Lord, I'm a leper. I'm full of sin. I'm unclean. Unclean. Unclean.

[32:35] But he says, Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Wash me in the blood of Jesus and I shall be made whiter than snow.

[32:52] And as you know, looking outside today, there's nothing, nothing whiter than freshly fallen snow. There's nothing as clean and as pure as snow.

[33:03] There's nothing as untainted and untouched as fallen snow. And the promise of the gospel is that when we come to Calvary, when we look to Jesus, when we ask him for cleansing, when we commit our life to Jesus, we will be made as white as snow.

[33:21] My friend, this promise in Isaiah, it's all about Jesus. And it's being issued to us as sinners. Come now. Let us reason together, says the Lord.

[33:35] Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall become like wool. But you know what I love about this verse?

[33:50] It's not only that it emphasizes our problem of sin and God's plea to come and God's promise of cleansing. It also emphasizes that when we come to Jesus for cleansing, we will be made like him.

[34:07] We will be made like him. Because the promise of the Bible is that if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness only for the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin.

[34:23] And the promise of cleansing is that we will be made as white as snow. We will be made like Jesus. Because you know, that's how the New Testament describes Jesus.

[34:36] In the book of Revelation, John gives to us his heavenly vision of Jesus. And he says that Jesus, when he sees him, he is white like snow and he's white as wool.

[34:50] He says Jesus is pure. He's perfect. He's glorious. He's untainted. He's sinless. And that's the promise of the gospel.

[35:01] That when we come to Jesus for cleansing, we're not only clothed in his righteousness, and we're not only made perfect in God's sight, but there's also a promise of the life to come.

[35:16] Yes, we'll sin in this life. We'll continue sinning. We'll have to continue confessing our sin. But John's heavenly vision, it proves that when we see Jesus, we will be like him.

[35:30] We will be made like him. We will be pure and perfect. We'll be sinless and glorious, untainted, just like Jesus.

[35:42] We will be like Jesus, as white as snow. And you know, was that not asked of those who were in heaven?

[35:53] Do you remember that vision in chapter 7, where the elder asks, who are these who are clothed in white robes? And where have they come from?

[36:06] And John says, sir, you know. You know this. And the elder says, yes, speaking about the Christian in glory, yes, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes, and they have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

[36:28] They're whiter than snow. It's a beautiful picture that salvation begins here, but it continues into glory.

[36:39] And you know, my friend, with this problem of sin that we're presented with in this passage, the Lord's plea, his personal plea to you today, is come.

[36:53] Come now. Come now. Let's talk about Jesus. Let's talk about your sin. And the promise when you come is that you'll be washed and you'll be made white, white as snow.

[37:12] So my friend, you come because the Lord is saying to you today, come now. Let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow.

[37:26] Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. May that be true of each and every one of us by coming to the Lord for salvation.

[37:38] May he bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee for the gospel invitation, the invitation to come, that we do not deserve to come at all.

[37:56] But we thank thee, Lord, that thou art the one who bids us to come, who calls us to come, who invites us to come to thee, to be made as white as snow.

[38:08] And Lord, we ask that thou wouldest cleanse us. We ask, Lord, that thou wouldest speak to us and that we, O Lord, would respond by coming and confessing our utter need of thee.

[38:20] O Lord, bless thy word to our souls, we ask. Watch over us in the week that lies ahead. Grant us travelling mercies as we go to our homes. And keep us safe, we pray, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake.

[38:34] Amen. We're going to conclude our service this morning by singing to God's praise again from Psalm 51. Psalm 51, we're singing at verse 8, just picking up where we left off.

[38:53] Psalm 51 at verse 8, and we're singing down to the verse marked 13. Psalm 51 at verse 8, of gladness and of joyfulness, make me to hear the voice that so these very bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

[39:09] All mine iniquities blot out, thy face hide from my sin. Create a clean heart, Lord, renew a right spirit me within. Down to the verse marked 13, to God's praise.

[39:21] of gladness and of joyfulness, make me to hear the voice, that so these very bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

[39:54] O my iniquities slaughtered, thy face hide from my sin.

[40:09] Create a clean heart, Lord, renew a right spirit me within.

[40:23] Cast me on from thy side, nor take thy Holy Spirit away.

[40:41] Restore me thy salvation's joy with thy free spirit me stay.

[40:57] Then will I teach thy ways unto those that transgressors be, and those that sinners shall then be turned unto thee.

[41:29] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.