先知們會用盡一切方法來讓百姓知罪。他們會聲嘶力竭的斥責，或淚眼盈盈地規勸、以情用理來呼籲百姓悔改，就像現代的佈道家一樣。他們會告訴百姓，神正在等候他們回轉歸向祂；他們又會提醒他們注意不悔改的嚴重後果。我們今天同樣需要這些信息；而透過研讀以賽亞書，我們將會更清楚地明白神對祂的百姓究竟設定了甚麼恆久不變的準則。

以賽亞書第一章勾劃了一幅罪的全景圖：

第一，罪使關係破裂(2節)

還有甚麼比關係破裂來得更可悲呢？自從人類始祖因犯罪而被神逐出伊甸園之後，人類便與神隔絕。神渴望與人相交，但罪卻破壞了神人的關係。讓我們檢視自己，看看有沒有因罪的緣故，與神的關係日漸疏遠？還是因為離惡行善，而與神的關係日漸親密？

第二，罪使人變得自我中心(3節)

畜牲知道誰是主人，對餵飼牠的主人也懂得表示感恩；然而，神的百姓雖然經常領受神的賜予，卻全無感謝之心。牛懂得服從主人，但神的兒女懂得順服他們的主嗎？

第三，罪只會帶來更多的罪(5節)

一次犯罪，只會導致更多的犯罪；但神的赦罪之門總是大開，歡迎我們隨時悔改歸回。就讓我們今天為到神的赦罪之恩來感謝祂吧！

Day 20

ISAIAH-THE OLD TESTAMENT GOSPEL

Isaiah 1:1-9

1 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.

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;

3 The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”

4 Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.

5 Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.

7 Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.

9 Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.

Message

Isaiah is one of the greatest books in the Bible. It is one of the longest but it has a very clear gospel message. In it are some of the best known passages and prophecies concerning Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament prophets were men raised up by God to speak plainly to the people of their day. They spoke to those who had taken everything God had given and then had turned away from him. They may have been worshipping him outwardly but inwardly they were very far from him. The prophets were raised up to call men back to God.

The prophets spoke plainly about sin in all its forms. They called for repentance with all the passion and power and pleading of a modern evangelist. They told of God waiting for his people to return to him or they warned of what would happen if people did not repent. These themes are still needed today, and these readings in the book of Isaiah may help us to see more clearly what are the unchanging standards of God for his people.

In this first chapter of Isaiah there is a very complete picture of sin.

1. Sin causes broken fellowship, v. 2.

Can anything be more tragic? It was first seen in the Garden of Eden and has been the same ever since. God's great desire is that he might have fellowship with man but sin has destroyed that relationship. Think about yourself. Has there ever been a time when God has seemed closer, when you have known greater fellowship with him?

2. Sin brings self-centredness, v. 3.

Animals know who feeds them and are grateful but God's people so often take all that he gives and are not thankful. The ox obeys its master. Does God's child obey his master?

3. Sin leads to more sin, v. 5.

One sin leads to another, but the road back to God is always open. Why not thank God for this today.