TRANSCRIPT


God Is Calling You; Settle Your Differences With Him! (Isaiah 1:2-20)
A Sermon By Elise Beatrice - Friday 18 July 2025


Lord, we love You. 
Thank You so much for using this passage to plead, for I know that there are always people out there who are listening. It might not be the time for one person, but it could be the time for another. And when that person is ready, they will hear the truth, and they will listen, and they will do something about that. So, Father, in Your Holy Name, Lord, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, please hear my prayer and take over. Let Your Holy Spirit take over and guide us with this. In the Name of Your Son Jesus, I pray. Amen. 


Isaiah 1:2-20,
"2 Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, Earth! This is what the Lord says:
“The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. 3 Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.” 

I'm sorry, Lord.

"4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are—loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. 5 Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is sick. 6 You are battered from head to foot—covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—without any soothing ointments or bandages. 7 Your country lies in ruins, and your towns are burned. Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see. 8 Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege. 9 If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah. 10 Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.” 11 “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to worship Me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? 13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting—they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. 14 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them! 15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims. 16 Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. 18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 

Yes, again, this is another powerful passage about God pleading through His prophet Isaiah to all His people, to all those who will listen. This is a call, another call for repentance. 

Who holds the Holy Bible today?

We. We are the ones holding the Holy Bible today in our hands and reading these words of God. 
These words of God are so powerful and relevant today just as they were in those days. God's people were not just in that generation, but in all the generations until today and tomorrow. 
The Lord is pleading here, using words that don't just touch the hearts of those in the past, but also the hearts of all believers today who are not doing the right things. We cannot hold this Bible in our hands without believing in the words of God. So God is calling the heavens and the Earth to witness what He is about to say. 

We, believers, today, can we say that this is only in the past? God is using the same words to plead with us today, because whatever happened to the Israelites, as a consequence of disobedience to God, is still happening today to most Christians and also the Jews who have not yet accepted the Son of God. How many believers today are not recognising the Lord's care for them? How many believers are still moaning and complaining, not happy with what they've got? How many believers are still expecting more and forgetting everything God is doing? How many believers?   So this is disobedience to God, ungratefulness. 
Gratefulness goes a long way; when people are grateful and thankful, it goes a long way. But when God is doing all the great things He has done since the beginning, when He's continuously there, patient with us, reaching out to rescue us, when we're sick, we call upon Him, He comes, and then, when we're feeling better, we go away again, and we always come back and cry out to God, and He's always opening His arm to take us when we repent of that sin that has led us away. But when God is doing something like this continuously, that is His nature; God Is, He Is; He's Who He Is; He does not pretend, He is LOVE, He's Everything good. He feels love and compassion. That is why He always forgives those who come back, and who come back truly, because He loves them, because He's a God of LOVE. But when He's pleading like this, and I'm reading this, it hurts me. I feel for the Lord, and I wonder how a beautiful, glorious, awesome Lord can be treated this way by His own people.

"My people don't recognise my care for them." 

So, from Verse 1 to 3, this is how God feels. God feels rejected. 
He feels abandoned by His own people, and the people of God are not limited to those in the past. Among the billions of Christians today, there are about a billion of them who are not listening to God; they are rebelling against Christ.  
Look at the churches of today: Why are believers so divided? Why are the flock of Christ so scattered in some churches? Why are there false teachers filling up some churches? Why are there evil spirits polluting some churches? It is because of disobedience to God. So, God is pleading, speaking these powerful words that will last in all generations, because in all generations, we're encountering the same trouble, problem to do with sin, with disobedience to God. 

"Oh, what a sinful nation they are—loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. 5 Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is sick. 6 You are battered from head to foot—covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—without any soothing ointments or bandages. 7 Your country lies in ruins, and your towns are burned. Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see..." 

This is what will become of them. 
God is showing Isaiah a vision of what is going to happen to them. It is a powerful prophecy, warning them of future, even greater judgment, which eventually led to the Exile. This is the result of disobedience to God. This is the consequence of sin, of continuous sins with no repentance. This is the fate of those who embrace sins and won't turn from them. We are all powerless without God. 

We become the devil's food when we push the Lord God, our protection, away. Without obedience to the Lord God and the help of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual fields are barren, because satan and his demons plunder them all. Our bodies and churches are spiritual fields. If we invite in evil spirits by rebelling against the Lord Jesus, they come and take over.

So while this is a physical prophecy that happened, it is also speaking to us about the spiritual prophecy. This is showing us the consequence of sin; the same fate of all people in all generations. In fact, all these physical things described here happened to them. And now, what happens to us when we do the same things in a spiritual sense? We let demons turn us into rebels, evil, idolaters, hypocrites, and more, and the fate is the same; we become barren, fruitless, unrecognisable, filled with diseases, no strength, because the One who pours His rain on us, His living water on us, to nourish us, our fields, isn't there with us because we have completely shut our doors on Him.  
So, "foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see." 

In John 10:10, the Lord Jesus says, 
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." 
So, if we are not living in the Lord Jesus Christ and in obedience to Him and His Father's will, the thief, satan, steals everything the Lord God has ever given us, including God's beautiful image in us.

It was still the devil using humans to inflict that pain on them physically because, by rebelling against the Lord God, they had invited that same very devil while rejecting God's protection. If you don't want God, He's out of your life, bearing in mind that rejecting God means accepting the devil, whether or not you know this. And so you become the prey of demons, and all kinds of trouble come your way, and you have no rescuer. 

God was pleading here because it was not too late yet at the time He spoke to them. He was pleading for them to listen. Their Hope, God, was still there, willing to forgive them if they turned from their wrong ways. They still had Hope for restoration, if only they had listened then. Just as we have the same Hope, today, the Lord Jesus, and if we listen to Him and do not despise His teachings, we won't end up like those who did not listen then, and those who are not listening today.

"8 Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege. 9 If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah. 

So, we can see here that God has spared a few of them. God does not show favouritism. But those ones He spared are those who have listened. 
Those who listen, God reaches out and spares them. So every warning of danger is out of love, and that's what God continuously does, warning us of the danger ahead, warning us about the situations of our lives, so that we don't live in spiritual blindness, so that we know what is going on in order to take precaution. 

In Verse ten, Isaiah is pleading to these people, 
"10 Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” 

He's calling them leaders of “Sodom” because they are living just like the people of Sodom. They're evil shepherds, living in continuous sins just like the people of Sodom. They are the leaders of sins, the leaders of a place that has no true God, since it is satan they listen to. The fate of such a place is that it's going to be destroyed. 

"Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.” 11 “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats." 

What pleases the Lord is that we obey Him. All those gatherings with selfish gains; they do them for themselves; they couldn't care less about God, yet they're using God as a ploy for doing what they want. God rejects every single thing that is done for selfish reasons. He's saying, 
"15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims."
Those leaders of Sodom were killing innocent people physically. Also, we have to understand that there are many leaders of Sodom today among the churches; the false prophets, the false teachers, they are all the leaders of Sodom. Though they are not killing people physically, they are killing people spiritually, and that is even the worst death: to kill people spiritually. 
Those people are also praying to God, and God is not listening to their prayers unless someone among them is pleading to God for forgiveness because they have understood that they're doing something wrong and want to change their ways. God listens to prayers like those. But in those churches with those leaders of Sodom, with those evil shepherds, they are killing the believers spiritually and turning them into hypocrites and lukewarm. 
So, while somebody may look at this and say, "Well, I'm not killing people physically," you have to see that teaching the words of God wrong and disobeying God continuously while you are a leader, who's supposed to give a good example, you are killing the congregation, you are killing them spiritually, and that is worse than physical death; you are taking their souls away, you are leading them into darkness, you are scattering them, and in the eyes of the Lord, that is worse. 

Spiritual death is worse than physical death. You can kill someone physically, and if they were in the Lord, they will go to Heaven. But when you kill someone spiritually by stealing from them everything that is from God, you are killing them spiritually, and that is the worst death because they will end up in hell because of what you did. Of course, they contributed to that damnation, but you were, as a leader, supposed to teach them right in the Lord's ways. If you had taught them right, they might not have been there in the first place. 
So, if you're taking the souls of people and handing them to satan, God is not hearing your prayer at all. And when you pray in your church as loud as you can with your intellectual words, God is not listening. 

"Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims. 16 Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows."

This is clear for all of us to listen. What amazes me is the graciousness of God, the patience of the Lord, and His faithfulness, and His promise. He always reaches out and helps us.  
Even though those people did this, God did not just turn His face away and forget about them; He still went ahead, knowing well that some might not listen, but He went to speak for the sake of those who would listen among them. 
And He is pleading, and inviting you back to Him and saying to you, 
"Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
So, the Lord is saying, there is nothing big that cannot be settled. We can settle this together. 
This is Father, a loving Father, here, who loves His children, who loves His creation, who loves His people, and even though they are rotten, full of sin, He still wants to reach out to rescue them, to revive them, to restore them. There is no problem bigger than God.
So, whatever problem you have with God, listen to what He is saying. He's calling you back to Him, He's calling you to come, He's inviting you to have a relationship with Him. 

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey Me, you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 

Yes, the Lord has spoken indeed, and it is the truth, for the Lord is The Truth who always speaks the truth. Nothing is bigger than the Lord; nothing is bigger to Him. Nothing surpasses Him. He hates sins, but although you are immersed in sin to the extent that He looks at you and sees only sins, red like scarlet and crimson, He will make them as white as snow and as white as wool. 
God is telling you that you don't have to remain with those sins. You can take those sins to Him, and He will amaze you with how He can rapidly blot out those sins out. This is a call for you to repent and to turn from those ways, because those ways are not doing you any good; they're just killing you spiritually, damaging you; they're destroying you. There is nothing beautiful about darkness; darkness is ugly. Everything evil spirits and satan bring is sheer ugliness. 
This is your opportunity to listen to God and let Him fix you. For the fate of the Israelites back then, who did not listen, is the same fate of the rebellious believers today, the Christians who are rebellious and are not listening to Christ. The fate is the same; it is a matter of sin, unrepented sins. And the solution to those unrepented sins is the same. God is the solution. His ways are the solution, obedience to Him is the solution, whether in the past, in all generations, today or tomorrow, it is the same. 

So, I pray you will listen and take this opportunity to run back to God, to run back to His Son, Jesus, for He gave His Son to us so that we don't have to end up like some people back then. We have the opportunity to let the Lord Jesus change our ways. We are blessed to have the full Scriptures today. We are blessed that the Saviour came and died on the Cross for all of us, so that we don't remain in the darkness and act like we're orphans, when God is there, willing to adopt us all, and to save us and restore us and set us free from the lies and the deeds of darkness. 
I pray you will not let this opportunity pass by, and this sound teaching fly past your ears, that you will listen. It's the reason why God is pleading with the words from His own mouth, pleading to you, to wake you up, for He loves, yes, He does love you. 
Listen to His Son, as He said. Listen to Christ Jesus. And may the Lord Jesus be with you who are hearing and are eager to do something about it. The Lord will be with you, who want to do something about it. You have to just take that decision and remain firm in it, because it is good. You must take that decision because it is good, because it is the only way to the Lord Jesus Christ, who takes you to Heaven. 
The Lord is willing to help you. You only need to listen and turn from your ways. Let Him help you to turn from your ways if you find it difficult. Nothing surpasses the Lord; nothing. 

Holy Father, thank You so much for Your powerful words. Thank You for taking the time, for coming to share your heart with us, for us to know how You feel, for us to know what Your thoughts are, for us to put ourselves in Your shoes just a little bit, just at least to have a hint of how You feel. 
Lord, thank You so much You created us, and You did not abandon us. You are here to rescue us. Thank You that You are so patient. You continuously plead even today, through your servants, even using me now to do this and all Your servants of today who are listening to You. 
Thank You for Your Son, Jesus, Father God. Thank You so much. We are not without a Father, and we are not without a Saviour; we have the Saviour, the Only Saviour, Christ. Thank You that You have rescued those who listened, just as You will rescue those today who listen, just as You have rescued those in all generations who listened, just as You will rescue those in the generations to come, who listen. For You are a gracious God, a faithful God. You are a God who always keeps Your promises, and You said to us, 
"I will never leave You nor forsake you." 
When we're listening to You, Lord, of course You never leave us nor forsake us. 
I pray that many will begin to listen to You, for it is good, and let You fix them, let You heal them, let You restore them. 
Thank You, Father. Thank You for You, Your Son Jesus and Your Holy Spirit. Please hear my prayer, in the Name of Your Son Jesus. Amen.