So we are going to the book of
Isaiah, chapter 45, and we'll read from verse one. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before
him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go
before thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break
in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of
iron. And I will give thee the treasures
of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest
know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the
God of Israel. For Jacob, my servant's sake,
and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. There is no God beside me. I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know
from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. Drop down ye heavens from above
and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open and let them
bring forth salvation and let righteousness spring up together. I the Lord have created it. Woe
unto him that striveth with his maker. Let the pot-sherd strive
with the pot-sherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, he hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto
his father, What begettest thou? Or to the woman, what hast thou
brought forth? Thus saith the Lord, the Holy
One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning
my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. I have made the earth, and created
man upon it, I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and all their hosts have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness,
and I will direct all his ways. He shall build my city, and he
shall let go my captives. Not for price nor reward, saith
the Lord of hosts. Thus saith the Lord, the labour
of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia, and of the Sabaeans,
men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be
thine. They shall come after thee. In
chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto
thee. They shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God
is with, surely God is in thee, and there is none else, there
is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest
thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. They shall be ashamed
and also confounded, all of them. They shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end. For thus saith the Lord
that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth
and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain,
he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. I have not spoken in secret in
a dark place of the earth. I said not unto the seed of Jacob,
seek ye me in vain. I, the Lord, speak righteousness.
I declare things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come,
draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They
have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image
and pray unto a God that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them
near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this
from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else beside me, a just
God and a Saviour? There is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I
am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. Thereunto
me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall
one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall
men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall
glory. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Cyrus the Great, Cyrus the Great
of the Achaemenid dynasty, or the Persian Empire, is a principal
character in Isaiah's prophecy that is before us today. This
man was the ruler of a mighty empire. He reigned over, indeed,
the largest empire that the world had seen up to that date. And he was reigning in Persia
and the whole of the Fertile Crescent, all the way to the
Balkans in the north and almost to Europe in the west, in towards
India, in the east and south towards Africa, all around the
base of the Mediterranean was all under the control of this
man Cyrus. He reigned from 550 to 530 BC.
So over 500 years before Christ came, Cyrus was reigning over
the Persian Empire. But nearly 200 years before he
came to power, Isaiah describes this person. and he describes
the Lord God speaking of this person, speaking of Cyrus and
calling him by name. Almost 200 years, over 150 years,
not quite 200 years before Cyrus was born, God called him by name
within Isaiah's prophecy. And the Lord says that he will
anoint Cyrus, he will elevate Cyrus, he will establish his
power and he will enable him to defeat his enemies. However, the Lord also makes
it clear in this prophetic word that Cyrus is an instrument in
God's hand to accomplish God's purpose. especially with respect
to the deliverance of the remnant people among the Jews and to
make provision for the church in the Old Testament. So we read
in verse four, So many wonderful verses in this chapter. We are
spoiled for choice and we can only touch upon a few of them
today, I'm afraid. But we read in verse 4, For Jacob
my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, "'I have even called
thee by thy name.'" So he's speaking to Cyrus. And he says, "'For
Jacob, my servant's sake, "'and for Israel, mine elect, "'I have
even called thee by thy name. "'I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known me.'" And this remarkable prophecy, not
least because Cyrus' name is given, but his position is described
and several features of his coming to power are referred to. such as the opening of city gates
before him and his recovery of hidden riches in secret places. These were things that were written
concerning Cyrus's reign in reports and in other extra-biblical writings
of that age. And yet, as we have seen repeatedly
during our studies in Isaiah, Isaiah's prophecies are not about
the history of the times, though this is their backdrop, though
this is their context, though they have reference to these
things, but they're spiritual. They're spiritual. It's a spiritual
word to a spiritual people. It focuses on Christ's coming. It is focusing on the success
of the gospel. And let us remind ourselves,
as we often do and we should not forget, that Isaiah was writing
to comfort the small, faithful, remnant people of his age and
of ages after. When times grew hard, when the
future looked bleak for these people, when the little flock
feared for its existence, and the promises of God's coming
Messiah didn't look as if they were ever
going to be fulfilled. then the people could draw comfort
from these truths from Isaiah. They could see in Isaiah's prophecies
how the Lord would gather his elect from all the world and
that truth shone forth to encourage his people in their trials. the
rise of Cyrus and the role he'd play in God's purposes would
have happened whether Isaiah had foretold these things or
not. But that God's glory be established
and that Christ's people be blessed and sustained This chapter is
revealed, first of all to Isaiah, and thereafter written by him
for the church's reassurance. And let me just take a moment
to emphasize what I mean here. These things are spoken for the
blessing of the people of the Lord. The Lord reveals himself,
not for Cyrus' sake, not for the sake of the people of his
empire, not to show in some sense that Israel had the truth and
that you don't have it. These things were written for
the help and the comfort and the blessing of the small flock. And the way in which that happens
was God was saying to them, this is who I am. This is the God
that I am. I'm not an idol made of wood
and weak and inconsequential like the nations around about.
I am your God and this is the God I am. It is self-revelation. It is God speaking in the first
person about himself so that his people might be comforted
in knowing who it is that they follow. In verses seven and verse
eight in this chapter, he says this, I am the Lord, and there
is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, and let them
bring forth salvation. And let righteousness spring
up together. I, the Lord, have created it. Now, I don't want to appear presumptuous,
but I want to paraphrase this, these words that I've just read
from these verses, because it is as though, it is as if the
Lord is saying to his church, whatever happens, I'm in control. I create and order, light and
darkness, war and peace, prosperity and hardship, good and evil.
All the days and seasons and experiences of your lives are
in my hand. I'm in charge. No one else. And I promise that I will make
you righteous and I will bring you to eternal glory. That's
what the Lord is saying. And our Lord Jesus Christ, in
his own lifetime, some 700 years later, said something very similar
when he told his disciples, fear not, little flock, for it is
your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. In truth,
although Cyrus was called the great. His greatness, for what
it was worth, was all derived. It all came from the Lord and
it paled into insignificance compared to the truly great one
of whom Cyrus is here a type. Cyrus means the sun. But the real son, the real son
of righteousness in this picture is our saviour Jesus Christ. And the central message of this
chapter is the success of the gospel of Christ in bringing
many sons to glory. Cyrus was raised up to deliver
the Jews of his day and cause the temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. But it is Christ the Messiah
whose work is being lauded and praised in these verses. In verse
13 it says, I have raised him up in righteousness. Not Cyrus,
but Christ. I have raised Christ up and I
will direct all his ways. He shall build my city and he
shall let go my captives. Not for price nor reward, saith
the Lord of hosts. And here are three encouraging
examples of Christ's saving power and the gospel success that Isaiah's
chapter reveals to the Lord's people. So I've got three things
that I want to say here today. Here's the first one. There is
this little reference that in chains shall they come over. And in verses 14 to 20, Isaiah
speaks of a day when the elect from among the Gentile nations
shall rejoice to make their way into the church of Jesus Christ. That's what this is a reference
to. This is a reference to the gospel
age. We can personalise it even more. We can say this is a reference
to our age. It has extended for several thousand
years, but to these people in the days of Isaiah, it was just
that period that lay ahead. And you might say, why are these
Egyptians and Sabaeans and Ethiopians that are spoken of in this passage,
why are they said to come over to the church, to come over to
Zion, to come over to Jacob and Israel? Why are they said to
come over in chains? Well, it's a good question. And
it's maybe a question we should ask those free will believers
as well. But here's the answer. It is
because they are a people who have been subdued by the power
of the gospel of grace. Here are a people subdued by
grace. Here are a people who would be
arrested by apostolic preaching. Here are a people that would
be bound up in Christ with cords of love that cannot be broken,
that would be redeemed so that they are no longer their own
but are Christ's because they have been bought with a price.
And in this sense, we come over into the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ in chains. These are men and women quickened
by the Holy Spirit, converted under a mighty gospel, saved
in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and made to follow
Christ their Saviour. Believers are those who have
been apprehended. That's what the police do. The
police apprehend the fugitive. They capture him. They take him
into custody. They put him in handcuffs. They
put him in chains. They apprehend. And that's what
believers are. We are apprehended. We are laid
hold of. We are detained by Christ as
prisoners of hope. So that Paul can say, I am free
in Jesus Christ, and at the very same time, I am the prisoner
of Jesus Christ. And both are equally true. And
I admire how the Lord speaks to these people of Isaiah's day
through the prophet. speaking to them with a compelling
authority. He says to them, as it were,
assemble yourselves and come, draw near together. So the word of the gospel goes
out as it is preached and it comes with power to those who
are in this world who are bound in
the chains of sin, who are under the control of the devil and
it comes with a compelling authority. Assemble yourselves and come
draw near together. There's no if you would like,
there's no by your leave, there's no if you're willing in the command
of the Lord. It's a directive. The call of
the gospel is a powerful and empowering call. And it goes
to a people made willing in the day of Christ's power. The gospel day. And it is a call
to assemble and come. Maybe In that little phrase,
assemble and come, there's a sense of orderliness. I like that idea. That they are to assemble by
the suitable means and the proper method. You see, Christ is building
his church and he builds it as a master builder. This assembly is being assembled
by the Lord and it is being assembled carefully and it is being assembled
properly. It's not a haphazard activity. It's not rushed by the Lord.
It's not random. It is a building, the Church
of Jesus Christ, the Temple of the Lord is a building carefully
assembled and well constructed. and indeed the church itself
participates by gospel ministry. The means is speaking forth the
truth and preaching the gospel. The method of doing so was the
solemn word of the Lord. Just as Isaiah did in his own
age. Just as was done by the remnant
people there in Israel. It was done studiously. It was
done faithfully. This isn't gimmicks. This isn't
a comedy show. This isn't just a mere interest. This is the solemn work of assembling
the people of God. And the outcome is a beautifully
appointed, carefully constructed, perfectly ordered assembly of
saints. This gospel, preached publicly,
declared openly, will gather Christ's people. The Gospel isn't
a secret, whispered in a dark place of the earth, nor is it
spoken in vain. The great congregation of God's
chosen people will gather themselves. They are the General Assembly
and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and not one will fail to make the cut. How else is the success of the
Gentile in-gathering described in this chapter? Well, we are
pointed to a just God and a saviour. In verse 22 and verse 23, we
read the verse, the words, look unto me and be ye saved, all
the ends of the earth. for I am God and there is none
else. Do you see the frequency throughout
this passage with which the Lord identifies himself and says,
I am the Lord and there is none else, there is none beside me?
This is the one God that we worship and this is the one God who is
explaining himself, revealing himself, and demonstrating to
his people that he will be successful in accomplishing his will and
purpose. What a God, what a saviour we
have in Jesus Christ. He says he is a just God and
a saviour. Mercy and wrath met in him. and there is none else like him. Justice and grace are perfected
in him, and there is none else like him. He upheld the holiness
of God in his perfect obedience, and yet he bore the judgment
of God in his willing sacrifice, having been made sin for us. A ransom was found in Jesus Christ. A price was paid by Jesus Christ. And the gospel of Christ goes
forth. Look unto me and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Or as the Lord Jesus Christ himself
says in John chapter 12 verse 32, I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. Not everyone without
exception, but everyone for whom he died, everyone to whom the
gospel goes in power. Assemble yourselves and come
unto me. Our blessed Saviour was indeed
lifted up from the earth, when on the cross he suffered and
died for all those placed into his hands by the Father's electing
decree. That people were not only a scattered
remnant among the Jews of Isaiah's day, but they were widely distributed
throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth. And when the crucified Christ
is lifted up before men in gospel preaching, when they are enabled
to look on him with the eye of faith for the righteousness they
need but have not got, they see in him a just God who does not
deny sin and enable saviour. who died to take their sin away. They look and see a holy God
whose wrath is placated and a bleeding saviour, a bleeding lamb in whom
to trust. They see a gracious God who made
a way of escape and a loving friend to embrace. they look and see a just God
and a saviour. Back in the days of Isaiah, the
Lord's people knew that there was but one way of salvation
and they looked beyond the holiness of the law that justly condemned
them and focused rather on the promised Messiah who would save
them. The Lord promised them that in
that day yet to come, that same Messiah would gather a great
congregation from the Gentiles, from the isles and the ends of
the earth to make up his jewels. The redeemed of the Lord shall
come from the ends of the earth with singing, and they will come
to Zion, the city of the great King, and they shall come to
a just God and a Saviour, and they will not be disappointed. And that's what we are doing.
That is what we are doing when we hear the gospel and we come
to the footstool of our God and we come and worship our King. And finally, here's my last point.
Under the ministry of this successful gospel, the Gentiles being converted,
they will testify to this. In the Lord, I have righteousness
and strength. This is the end of the chapter,
verse 24 and verse 25. In the Lord, I have righteousness
and strength. And that's God's promise. And
it's the believer's confidence. In Job, the question was asked,
How should man be just with God? And there's only one way and
there's only one answer. We need righteousness beyond
our own doing, beyond our own getting. We need the ability
to possess that righteousness and enjoy it. So we need both
righteousness and we need enabling. We need justification and we
need conversion. And the Lord Jesus Christ gives
both. Brothers and sisters, depend
upon it. By grace, we have a full, free,
complete and acceptable righteousness in Jesus Christ. Everything needful
for our acceptance with God and His total satisfaction has been
obtained for us and freely distributed to us and shall never be removed
from us. by the Lord Jesus Christ. I admire the way Isaiah assures
us that we may have confidence that this is the case. We should have confidence that
this is the case. It's not super spiritual to nurture
doubts or to feign false humility on this matter. We are a righteous
people in Christ. We have been made holy in Christ. And when the Lord reveals to
us the grounds of our justification, I have justifying righteousness
in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we should accept that and believe
it to be true. Maybe someone will say, I'd love
to know and believe, but my faith is just too weak. Well, that's
what Isaiah is talking about. It isn't only righteousness that
we get from the Lord, but it is strength to believe it as
well. In the Lord we have righteousness
and strength to believe that we have that righteousness. In
the Lord I have righteousness and strength. Paul tells the
Galatians, we are justified, that is, we are made righteous
because that's what that word means. We are justified and made
righteous by the faith of Jesus Christ. And he goes on, the life
which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. You see what
he's saying? We are righteous and the life that we now live,
we live by the faith of the Son of God. So it is Christ who gives
us righteousness and Christ who enables us and strengthens us
to live a life following after him. Paul knew that. The Galatians knew that because
he told them. Isaiah knew it. And the Old Testament
believers knew it. And it's the same gospel then
as it is today. It is the same saviour then as
it is today. So I hope you know it too. Some of us Some of us are getting
old and some of us are getting a little bit frail and a little
bit weak. And maybe we think that we are
not so strong now as we used to be, we're not so robust. And maybe that's true in bodily
terms, but that is not true in spiritual terms. You are as righteous
today as you were the day you were first converted and you
are as strong today as the day you first believed. Remember
what Isaiah said a few chapters ago, in chapter 40, he said,
Our justification and faith, our sanctification and confidence,
our peace with God and our acceptance with God. is all in and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. Three times in this chapter Isaiah
tells the people that what they have by grace is all in the Lord. Verse 17 he says, in the Lord
we are saved. with an everlasting salvation. Verse 24 he says, in the Lord
we are justified with an everlasting righteousness. And in verse 25
he tells us, in the Lord we are glorified with an everlasting
glory. And I don't think it gets any
better than that. Because that's the gospel right
there. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians
2, he has called you by our gospel to obtaining the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We are called by the gospel to
obtain glory, that he might make known to us the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath prepared afore
unto glory. Right, I'm done. Let me just
say this. 700 years before Christ, in the Iron
Age, Old Testament believers looked forward to the coming
of Christ. They anticipated the spread of
the Gospel among the Gentiles and they rejoiced, these Old
Testament believers rejoiced that sinners like you and me
would be called by the same Messiah, by the same Jesus Christ in whom
their hope was fixed. How blessed we are to be blessed
with them. with faith in Christ, our just
God and our Saviour. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.