“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” (Isaiah 1:18).
TEXT — Isaiah 1:16-18
Message
Michael was born in Brooklyn on 27 May 1951 into a life of crime. His father, John ‘Sonny’ Franzese, a notorious Colombo underboss, was jailed for fifty years for robbery. Michael continued in his father’s steps. In 1985, he was arraigned on a 14-count charge, earning him ten years in federal prison. But in 1992, the love of God found him in prison and he became converted. He summoned the courage to tell his family of his conversion. He was seriously persecuted for turning his back on the Colombo Crime Family. He subsequently wrote his autobiography, Quitting the Mob, to dissuade the youth from crime.
Some people believe that the crime or evil they have committed is too heinous to be forgiven by God. How wrong they are. In the text today, God invites backslidden Israel back to the Father’s love. He promised complete cleansing from sin, no matter how grievous, if only they would repent and seek Him.
Before his conversion, Apostle Paul was a chief of sinner, a blasphemer and an injurious person who persecuted Christians (1 Timothy 1:12,13). He encountered Christ on the way to Damascus on an expedition to persecute followers residing outside Jerusalem. He was cornered and conquered by a greater love, pardoned and forgiven. He experienced radical transformation and eventually became the most prominent figure of the apostolic age.
How far have you gone into evil? You cannot be as terrible as Saul of Tarsus. There is no sin, however grievous that God cannot forgive if you truly turn to Him in sincere repentance and plea for mercy. You will receive pardon and be free from all guilt.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
