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Chapter 1

The Conference Table

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it (Isaiah 1:18–20).

Before we can comprehend what supernatural faith is capable of, we first have to ascertain if we are in a right relationship with God. We can’t be in some sort of sin, unbelief, or doubt and believe we can disable or quench fiery darts. It’s imperative we understand the significance of the conference table before we are enabled to walk in supernatural faith that disables the enemy’s tactics.

We usually relate these verses in Isaiah with a salvation message. Although salvation begins at the conference table, for this book, we must comprehend that God is talking to his children in the scripture text. He is bidding us to come to the table and be made clean of our unbelief, our doubt, our sin stain.

Once we realize what the Lord is saying, we are motivated by its beauty. We feel beckoned like a refreshing dip in the pool on a hot and humid day. I believe too many are forgetting or have forgotten the beauty of God’s word. This scripture should humble and inspire us at its meaning.

Yet, much of God’s word is taken in a superficial manner going in one ear and out the other. Once we understand what Isaiah is saying to God’s soldiers, we will stand in awe and fall to our knees at its implication.

Do we comprehend that our sin stains are so bright and revealing, and yet we are called to the conference table with God? Christians who choose of our own free-will to rebel against our savior, who choose to ignore God and go our own way, who choose to not believe his word, who allow false teaching to instigate our faith, who blatantly turn our back on God are called to his conference table.

Through all our rebellion, God is extending compassion and grace. By rights, a meeting, a pleading for mercy should come from the offending party. We are the ones who have offended God. Yet, He is calling us to come to his conference table.

Any time we choose a way contrary to God, we will get hurt. If we travel the wrong way on a major highway, we will most likely get killed if not seriously injured. Yet, why do God’s soldiers, time and again insist on being hearers and not doers of his word and become deceived? (James 1:22). Why do we not heed his word? Why do we claim to love God and keep not his word or commandments? Jesus makes clear that if we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15).

Why do we hear his word and not do it? It’s simple. We really love self and choose what “I” want. We cannot decide to obey the Word of God that suits us and disobey what we don’t like. Why are we so bent on refusing to heed God’s word that is full of warning signs exposing danger if we take a wrong turn?

It seems to be a vicious cycle of ignoring God’s word and getting hurt. Then we blame God. The word of warning or caution signs were there, but we chose to ignore them because they went against what we wanted to do. We decided that self had precedence over God’s word and blatantly disobeyed. We preferred to be a hearer only and not a doer of the word.

The sad reality is that when we get hurt, we accuse God. We point a finger at him and say, “I trusted you, and you failed me.” Or we say, “I prayed for your will. Why am I in this predicament?” Through our own choices, we allow ourselves to miss out on God’s blessings promised for obedience. We were a hearer only and blame God for reaping what we sowed. His word is unchangeable. If we sow something, we can’t expect to reap or harvest something different (Galatians 6:7). Disobedience to God’s word will reap chastisement or punishment. Obedience to God’s word will reap his promises.

Let me give an example. A woman I knew was dating and about to marry a non-Christian. She was allowing him to smoke and drink in her house. I gave her the Scriptures about not being unequally yoked together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14). I tried to warn her that if she married him, she would have Satan as her father-in-law. The devil’s kid can only act like the devil. Anyway, she became angry and quoted scriptures back to me.

1.Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

2.How shall they hear without a preacher (Romans 10:14).

3.For God is love (1 John 4:8).

I explained the love we are to have is loving enough to tell the truth that will keep them from going to Hell. That means telling them the reality of their sinful condition and hopefully bringing them to repentance. God doesn’t want his children to love the lost in a carnal way that dates them, marries them, fellowships with them, goes into business with them, etc. in deliberate disobedience to his word.

After she married, he was drunk most of the time and physically abused her. When he became tired of her, he left her for someone else. She deserted the Lord for a while claiming she prayed for his will. It took time, but she repented of choosing her will and not God’s. His will was clear in his word, but she ignored God’s word about being yoked with unbelievers and the signs of his intoxication to satisfy what she wanted. The moment she chose to be a hearer and not doer, she gave place to be deceived (James 1:22).

We can’t claim to be praying for God’s will when we are a hearer only of his word. His word says to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. How can we claim to pray for his will when his will is clearly stated in his word?

I don’t know how many times I have been told by Christians, “My situation is different, those scriptures don’t apply to me.” How ridiculous is that statement? We are driving down the street and see a sign “Bridge Out—Detour” and we decide it doesn’t apply to me. We drive on.

Do we think our car will fly over the danger? How ridiculous to think we can continue on the path and ignore the warning signs. We will pay some serious consequences.

Man ignoring God’s word is not a new thing. It started in the Garden of Eden. Just as the Fall of Man caused hurt and pain, our falling today will cause hurt and pain. When we find ourselves in such circumstances because of disobedience, we hold a grudge against God for our actions. Until we admit it was me and not God, we believe we can’t trust him, and our faith walk is hindered.

Now, even though we’re holding a grudge against God, He still calls us to the conference table. In all that we do to hurt, offend, blame God, etc., He still calls us to a meeting to straighten out our mess. God didn’t make this mess, we made it of our own free-will.

Do we comprehend what God is saying to us in Isaiah 1:18? Do we realize the one who possesses all power and in a single moment could crush or destroy his offenders, those who have ignored his word, are called to meet him at his conference table?

How can God who has been so offended by our sin call us to a conference table? He is moved by his love and mercy. Think about that. We are guilty and have committed a crime against God, yet He is willing to not only drop all the charges but to cleanse us, to reconcile us, and to deliver us from the mess we got ourselves into.

God doesn’t want to condemn and destroy his people. He offers the conference table to give us an opportunity to receive full forgiveness and complete pardon when we repent. To repent means that we change our mind (we admit the error of our way and turn away from our sin). God’s forgiveness is available the moment we confess our sins, repent, and accept spiritual cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7–9).

Any time we have a deep stain on something, it is essentially impossible to eradicate. The stain of our sin is equally permanent. But God promises if we meet him at the conference table, the blood of Christ will remove the stain from our life. There is no excuse to continue perpetually stained. If we are willing and obedient, Christ will forgive us and remove the most deep-rooted, the most engrained, the most embedded stain from our life.

When we became born again, we met at the conference table. Now, the conference table is not a one-time meeting. Even after we are saved, there are times we will choose to ignore God’s word. We will find ourselves not denying self and being out of God’s will.

That’s why God calls us to his conference table. He knows that we fail, but He doesn’t want us to stay down. If we fall, we will not be utterly rejected. The Lord will uphold us with his hand (Psalms 37:23–24). God is ever there to help his child who stumbles and beckoning us back to a right relationship with him.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

No matter how great or how small the wrong, the sin, the injury against God is, go to the conference table (the throne of grace) immediately. It is immediately accessible to us the moment we realize we have sinned against his word. There is no waiting line. God is there waiting for us.

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living . . . And when he came to himself , he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son . . . But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him (Luke 15:11–20).

That is what our heavenly Father does when He sees us coming towards the conference table. He is not standing there with a whip in his hand ready to beat us for our sins. When we repent, He is there with open arms welcoming us back into his fellowship. There is no love as forgiving than that of our God who gave his life for this relationship.

If we are a Christian and have found ourselves in a situation because of sin, we must understand we ignored or disobeyed the warning in his word. If we can’t understand why God didn’t stop something from happening, guaranteed, we ignored his word. We heard, but we didn’t do. We allowed ourselves to be deceived. We were where we shouldn’t have been. We did what we shouldn’t have done. We yoked up with unbelievers. We believed a lie and ignored the truth.

We have to admit in our heart that it was me and not God. Once we admit we sinned against God, we receive an inner peace. Until we admit from our heart that we sinned, we will continue to blame God for not stopping us and not preventing it from happening. His word makes clear that we have been given a free-will. God can’t stop us from doing what we willfully choose to do. A free-will means it’s our choice. We choose to obey God’s will or our will. God doesn’t tempt us to sin, we sin when we allow sin to entice us and yield to it (James 1:13–15).

Faith welcomes the conference table. What do I mean by that? We realize we must always go there to be reconciled with God for disobeying his word, for disbelief, or for going our own way. Faith knows that if we meet God at the conference table, He will forgive us, deliver us, and cleanse us. Our stain is washed as white as snow!