True Repentance

When we think about this first chapter of Isaiah, our thoughts go to the prophet Isaiah himself. We are told in the Bible, in the first verse of his book, of the time in which he lived, and how that the vision of the Lord came to him. “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.” This prophet Isaiah was especially called by the Lord to preach a very serious warning, particularly to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

There was a great falling away amongst the people of Israel in the time of the prophet Isaiah. What was so important for that day was true repentance which is also so very important in our day. We also live in a very dark time, much darker than most of us realize, because the most important point of salvation is experienced very little. There is much talk about Christ, but there is no room for Christ. Where there is no repentance, we know for sure that there is no forgiveness!

There is a people who under the preaching of the law become a guilty people. By grace they are given to repent, to weep bitter tears, to break with their sins, to cry for mercy, to cry and supplicate before the Lord, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner.” This text only has value for a soul that feels its sin, that feels the evil of its sin, and that must write bitter things against itself.

This is repentance. Do you know something about this personally? Before the Lord? There can be a repentance before man which has no value before the Lord. We have in the Bible examples of repentance. We know the tears of Esau; we know that Felix showed a certain anxiety, but these were not real repentance; they were not a repentance towards God. There can be a repentance which is only the fruit of our conscience. There can be general impressions of the Holy Spirit which are not the saving work of the Holy Spirit. It can go far, but still be too short.

What is the difference between conscience repentance and true repentance? The conscience can speak, and the sinner will then be happy if he thinks that the consequences of sin are taken away. But in true repentance the sinner cannot be happy with this.

Where there is true repentance, the sinner cannot be happy until he hears out of the Lord’s own mouth, “I have blotted out as a thick cloud your iniquity.” Oh, my hearers, religion is more than notion; it must be known and felt. Much that may appear to resemble it, is not true religion. Let us examine ourselves. That which we sing in Psalter 102 is repentance, and for people heavy burdened and in deep trouble, this text in Isaiah has value. For people who are not worthy to be noticed and only worthy to be cast into hell, it becomes a wonder that the church door is still open. It becomes a wonder that they see the morning light of a new day. Then they see another day of grace, another day that the Lord still bears with them. Did you ever wake up in the morning glad to see the light of a new day —a day that you had to cry out, “Still unconverted, oh, still without God in the world, and it’s my own fault!” For that people this text, the gospel, has divine value.

The greatest sinner and the holy, righteous God who has never done anything but good unto them—how can they ever come together? It is in-comprehensible. Our finite mind can never grasp it; it can only be believed by a God-given faith. Then the Lord comes to that broken sinner who lays there unworthy of being remembered by the Lord and He says, “Come now, come now.” Do you hear it? The Lord comes in such a special way. In our deep fall we became so bold, but a sinner who is brought to repentance has lost his boldness. He does not dare to come and, therefore, the Lord has to say, “Come, oh, poor sinner, come.” That is a different language from what is generally heard in our day. “Believe, accept—a little religion and a great amount of the world. We are all going to the same place anyway; you may as well be happy.” But it will not be so. That true people who are blessed with repentance, you may find in the street called Straight. “Behold, he prayeth”; that is a mark—”he crieth, he supplicateth, he confesseth.”

The Lord says, “Confess your sins.” The Lord says to those who are unworthy and who would never dare take one step toward the Holy God, “Come now, come.” That is the gospel for a poor sinner! Oh, it is not Christ who speaks here but it is the Judge of heaven and earth who stands before the door! How awful it will be if He would punish us according to our sins! But here He says to that people who by grace may repent, “Come now, come.” Oh, when you hear people tell how they came to the knowledge of the Lord, listen closely to how they came to the Word of God because it makes all the difference between life and death. It makes the difference between truth and deceit. It makes the difference between heaven and hell.

“Come, come now.” The heavens are silent and the earth is still when the Judge of heaven and earth speaks in this way to the sinner—”Come now.” Did the sinner ever expect to hear such a message? No, the wages of sin is death and the law condemns the person in every part. The soul that is convinced of his sin never thinks he will hear the words, “Come, come now.”

The Lord said, “Let us reason together.” What did the sinner say? “How is it possible? Oh, how shall we ever reason together? I am all sin and thou art all righteous.” When the sinner says, “I am all unrighteousness,” the Judge says, “With Me there is righteousness enough to cover all your unrighteousness.” Then the Judge points to the Redeemer, showing the guilty sinner that it is not his righteousness but the righteousness of the Son of God who fulfilled the law, who glorified the attributes of God, who took away the curse of the law, fulfilling the law and paying the curse with His own blood. “With Me there is sufficient righteousness.” It is an incomprehensible wonder. Were you ever led into this mystery? This is the mystery of salvation.

“Come now, let us reason together,” saith the Lord. The Lord never covers the sins of the sinner. When the Lord says, “Come, let us reason together,” we must explain about the etemal wonder which took place in that reasoning. Do you know it in your life by grace? The sinner is invited to come before the Judge of heaven and earth. That is something! It must be learned. That is where repentance will bring the person. God never gives true repentance without giving forgiveness because the sinner would sink in despair; he would come into eternal despair. When God calls the sinner, he comes in his nakedness; he comes in his eternal condemnation; He comes willingly, to be judged by the Judge. And he may hear—it is not the sinner who is given to speak the word, but it is the Judge who says, “Let us reason together.” Impossible! But what is impossible with man, is possible with God! That is what God’s people experience. “Come, let us reason together.” Oh, with me there is nothing but sin! With the Lord is nothing but holiness. Without holiness we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. But the Lord shows that in Christ we can have everything. Have you ever been led into the mysteries of Christ? With me is ignorance, with Him is wisdom; with me is unrighteousness, with Him is righteousness; with me is un-holiness, with Him is holiness. Did you ever experience this way of reasoning together, where you sat, as the recipient, to listen? There was an answer for every question. Did you ever experience something of the Name of Jesus, of His official Names: Prophet, Priest and King? Were you ever led into His natures, into His states? Did you ever follow Him in His deep humiliation? Did you see Him on the cross of Calvary? Did you see His bleeding side and hear His panting cry? You deserved to cry to all eternity, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me.” When He said, “It is finished,” the Judge said, “Let the sinner go because the Savior said, “This I do for you.” It is all of grace. Only those who have actually experienced this can tell what takes place.

Oh, what a blind world we live in! What a blind church we live in! It shouts gospel; it mocks with the gospel; it does not uncover the law; it does not proclaim repentance—oh, how far we have gone astray. Happy with nothing! Happy with a name to live and still deny the power thereof. Even in that reasoning together, while the trembling sinner lays there, the Lord says once more, “Though your sins be as scarlet.” Do you hear it? Oh, we can hear it so much but did you hear the Lord say, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow”? That’s our promise, the Lord’s promise for that person, for that people. The Lord never covers sin, the Lord never hides it—He forgives. Is there such a one who trembles, who weeps, who cannot deern it possible that he will ever be forgiven? The Lord says, “Though your sins be as scarlet.” Do you know what that means? It refers to a doubly-dyed material. This refers to original, and actual sins of the worst sort. Though your sins be as scarlet, doubly-dyed, they shall be as white as snow. That’s the promise, that’s the forgiveness, that’s the pardoning which the Lord gives through the Son of His eternal love to the guilty sinner, the weeping sinner, to the sinner, who did not come of his own will, but to whom the Lord said, “Come, let us reason together.”

There is so much in the way of profession of religion. But it will once be weighed in the balance, and woe unto us when it will be forever too late—if the balance will be found too light because everything outside of the Mediator will be too light. It is all a free gift.

We have here a double illustration— “though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.” It seems to tell us something. David said, “Remember not the sins of my youth.” Paul says, “I have been a persecutor.” They will never forget; therefore, the Lord gives a double promise. He gives an added promise but also an added reminder, “Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” The Lord comes to us with this sermon out of Isaiah. He says to us this day, “But if you refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Young and old, this puts us in a very serious position. We must repent and we cannot of ourselves; therefore, it should drive us to our knees. We should beg the Lord to bless us and our children with true repentance, because if we do not repent, know for sure that the sword is out of the sheath and justice will take its course. The Judge will sey, “Take and cast him into eternal perdition,” and that will be just. The Lord in this day, and so many times before in your life, hast knocked on the door of your heart. It could be the last time. If we go lost, then we will have to say in hell, “Oh Lord, thou art good, Thou art right, Thou hast knocked so many times.” It says here in this chapter that “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” Take it with you, wherever you may go for, “they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”

Rev. J. Spaans is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Norwich, Ontario.

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