1
00:00:02,180 --> 00:00:06,160
In Isaiah chapter 1 we read, beginning in

2
00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:11,460
verse 4, Ah, a sinful nation, a people

3
00:00:11,460 --> 00:00:17,300
laden with iniquity, A seed of evildoers, children

4
00:00:17,300 --> 00:00:21,580
that are corrupters, They have forsaken the Lord,

5
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:26,160
they have provoked The Holy One of Israel

6
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,060
unto anger, They are gone away backward.

7
00:00:30,780 --> 00:00:34,020
Why should ye be stricken Any more?

8
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,400
Ye will revolt, more and more.

9
00:00:37,820 --> 00:00:40,320
The whole head is sick, and the whole

10
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,220
heart faint, From the sole of the foot,

11
00:00:43,540 --> 00:00:46,660
even unto the head, There is no soundness

12
00:00:46,660 --> 00:00:50,940
in it, but wounds and bruises and Putrefying

13
00:00:50,940 --> 00:00:55,500
sores, they have not been closed, Neither bound

14
00:00:55,500 --> 00:00:58,440
up, neither mollified with ointment.

15
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,440
I will stop there, friends.

16
00:01:02,100 --> 00:01:05,660
Here in our text today, God calls Israel

17
00:01:05,660 --> 00:01:09,900
a sinful nation that has forsaken The Lord

18
00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:11,960
and provoked Him to anger.

19
00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,440
Through their continual rebellion and backsliding, He compares

20
00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:22,060
them to a sick patient, physically and morally

21
00:01:22,060 --> 00:01:26,240
Sick individual wrapped into bandages of her own

22
00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,900
decay And corruption that wreak and leak the

23
00:01:29,900 --> 00:01:33,520
pus of foulness And unsoundness.

24
00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:38,360
I can't help in making the comparison Of

25
00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,400
this text to our own country of America

26
00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:42,080
today.

27
00:01:42,660 --> 00:01:45,900
No political leader can fix our problems.

28
00:01:46,180 --> 00:01:49,120
They're the way beyond the reach and control

29
00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:49,800
of man.

30
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,280
America is sick.

31
00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,740
She is sick physically with COVID-19 As

32
00:01:56,740 --> 00:02:00,360
that plague has gripped this nation worse than

33
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:01,100
any other.

34
00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,120
America is sick morally.

35
00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,320
America was once a God-fearing nation.

36
00:02:08,979 --> 00:02:11,560
It has become a sinful nation.

37
00:02:12,300 --> 00:02:13,820
There used to be a fear of God

38
00:02:13,820 --> 00:02:16,380
in the land, And a sense of shame

39
00:02:16,380 --> 00:02:17,680
in society.

40
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:22,240
America has lost her moral compass, And a

41
00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,720
morally sick society is fast spinning out of

42
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:26,380
control.

43
00:02:26,860 --> 00:02:30,060
The youth of our nation have no morals

44
00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,600
And know no boundaries of decency.

45
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,520
But besides all these, America is sick spiritually.

46
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,620
Her churches have become dead institutions That belong

47
00:02:44,620 --> 00:02:49,720
to apostate denominations Where God has been shoved

48
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,600
to the background And man is elevated.

49
00:02:53,060 --> 00:02:56,960
The typical pastor today is chosen more on

50
00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:01,440
his personality And performance in growing churches.

51
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,240
Little emphasis is placed on his call from

52
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,080
God Or his walk with God.

53
00:03:09,460 --> 00:03:14,000
Because the churches operate on money and manpower,

54
00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:15,900
God is no longer needed.

55
00:03:15,900 --> 00:03:20,580
And things like holiness are a taboo subject

56
00:03:20,580 --> 00:03:21,840
to be avoided.

57
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,700
Sin must not be mentioned.

58
00:03:25,300 --> 00:03:29,300
Hell must be a topic that is seldom

59
00:03:29,300 --> 00:03:31,340
ever brought to the fore.

60
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,360
America sits today on seats of power and

61
00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,000
stacks of cash.

62
00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,680
But she is sick from her head down

63
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:42,800
to her toes.

64
00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,940
The Statue of Liberty should be wrapped in

65
00:03:45,940 --> 00:03:47,740
band-aids and bandages.

66
00:03:48,380 --> 00:03:51,140
Where once a nation used to look to

67
00:03:51,140 --> 00:03:53,740
God for guidance And to the church for

68
00:03:53,740 --> 00:03:57,540
direction, She now looks inwardly as she sits

69
00:03:57,540 --> 00:04:01,680
on an island Of self-indulgence and self

70
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:02,600
-preservation.

71
00:04:03,580 --> 00:04:06,280
As you read the rest of Isaiah chapter

72
00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,560
1, You see God, as he tried to

73
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,760
reason with his wayward people By saying Israel

74
00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,640
will either become righteous through repentance Or God

75
00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,080
will achieve their purification through judgment.

76
00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:29,440
In verse 18, he pleads, Come now, and

77
00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:30,940
let us reason together.

78
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,400
Sayeth the Lord, Though your sins be as

79
00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,000
scarlet, They should be as white as snow.

80
00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,200
Though they be red like crimson, They should

81
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:44,260
be as wool.

82
00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:50,300
Through his remedial judgments, God is pleading with

83
00:04:50,300 --> 00:04:53,460
America to return back to him.

84
00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,760
It's either revival or ruin.