God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways and His thoughts are
infinitely wiser, infinitely higher, infinitely better than
we could ever imagine. Therefore, we ought willingly
to submit to His will. and His way in everything. Now, if we tried to understand,
as we usually do, the things going on around us, the things
going on in our lives, the things going on in our nation, the things
going on in the lives of our friends and our families, if
we tried to understand those things only by human reason,
only by human calculation, only by our puny, puny, puny limited
abilities. We would constantly be driven
to despair, constantly be driven to utter anguish of heart and
of mind because there's no understanding of things in this world apart
from understanding that our God rules this world. Not only does
he rule it, but he has revealed to us That's why he does everything
he does. He's revealed to us what his
purpose is. He hasn't shown us the details.
He's shown us the grand picture. It's best for us, while we live
in this world, to live by faith in him, trusting his wisdom,
his goodness, his power, his grace, not that we should live
by sight, trusting our understanding. And so he's not revealed the
details to us. He has simply shown us the overall
purpose that he has in all things and what he's doing in all things. And that ought to give us contentment.
Let's take one more look at Isaiah chapter 45, the last paragraph
of this glorious, glorious chapter. And I want to talk to you this
evening about that which God has sworn he will do. Now there
are some things that God from eternity purposed, and those
things He is doing, and when this world is done, when God
has done the final act of His providence, when He has accomplished
the final end of all things, these five things which God has
sworn to do shall be accomplished exactly according to the purpose
of God. Now when you ask yourself, why
did God do this? Why has God brought this to pass? Why did God allow this thing
to happen? Always remember, He did it for
this purpose, to accomplish His purpose of grace toward us in
Jesus Christ. Everything. And when I say us,
I'm not talking about you and me personally, though that's
certainly included. I'm talking about us, the whole body of God's
elect collectively. Everything in the world is ours. Everything past, everything present,
everything to come. For we are Christ, and Christ
is God. That's what the book says. All
right, now here in Isaiah 45, in verse 20, the Lord describes
all lost religious people as a people who have no knowledge,
who pray to a puny peanut God like themselves, who cannot say. And I'm telling you that those
who pray to a God who cannot in and of and by himself, save
whom he will, pray to nothing but a puny figment of their imagination. He's no God at all. And such
people have no spiritual knowledge. In verse 21, the Lord God describes
himself. He says that he is God. I am
the Lord. There is no God else beside me. And this is my character, a just
God and a Savior. Now let men say what they will,
let men quibble as they will. You and I who believe God understand
this. Everything that God does is right. Everything. Everything. Sometimes I'm asked how can you
bear to imagine someone you love perishing under the wrath of
God. What God does is right. It's right. My children and my
family no more deserve God's mercy than yours or Judas's.
Whatever God does is right. He's a just God. And even when
he saves sinners, he does it on the grounds of righteousness.
Only when justice is satisfied. Only through the sacrifice of
his son by whom righteousness is brought in and justice satisfied. And then God describes faith.
Oh, what a description of faith. I've read books on faith, large
books on faith. It's one of those subjects about
which much language and much talking is just much confusion.
This is faith. Look unto me. Look unto me. Simple as that. Simple as that.
It is looking to Jesus Christ for everything. Look to him for
life. Look to him for righteousness.
Look to him for strength. Look to him for direction. Look
to him for everything. Look unto me and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth. Why look to him? He says I'm
God and there is none else. And then in verses 23, 24, and
25, the Lord God describes his providence for us. Now here God
tells us what he's doing in this world. When God gets done with
this world, everybody in the world, every demon of hell, every
man in the world, lost and saved, all the regenerate and all the
unregenerate, all the elect and all the reprobate, everybody
is going to know who God is. Everybody. God raised up Pharaoh
and destroyed him and the armies of Egypt for the salvation of
his people in order that all men might know who he is. what
he said read Romans chapter 9 he said even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee that everybody
might know might know who I am and I'll tell you what I don't
know anybody I've ever met who doesn't know about Pharaoh and
Red Sea I don't know anybody. They may not understand anything
else, but they know God dumped His carcass in the sea. God rules
everywhere, and He did it for the saving of His people. When
God got done, at the end of the day, everybody in Egypt and everybody
in Israel knew who He is. Everybody. They didn't all know
Him, but Bobby, they dead sure knew who He was. A big difference
between knowing Him and knowing who He is. And God tells us here
concerning this man Cyrus, that He raised him up to deliver Israel
out of Babylonian captivity. Cyrus, a splendid type of Christ,
was raised up to deliver Israel, to deliver them in a specific
way, for the very same reason that Pharaoh was raised up in
Egypt. Look at verse 6 of Isaiah 45. He said, I raised you up
for this purpose. that they may know look at this
that they may know the Lord God raised up his son Jesus Christ
the antitype of Cyrus that they may know everybody from the rising
of the sun and from the west what's that mean everybody in
the world everybody from the east to the west that they may
know that there is none beside me I am the Lord and there is
none else now this is what I'm saying God created, rules, and
disposes of everything in the universe for His glory, for the
one great reason that everybody might know Him, and glorify Him,
and glorify Him in the saving of His people. When it gets done,
when God gets done, Rex, the whole universe Is going to adore
and magnify and praise him even those with unwilling rebel hearts
They will acknowledge adore and praise him for the way he's disposed
of everything for your salvation Everybody well, can you show
me that in the book right here where we are look in isaiah 45
verse 7? Read it with me I formed the light and create
darkness. I make peace and create evil. Now you can do with that what
you want to. I'll tell you what I'm going to do with it. I'm
going to bow down and worship God. Drop down ye heavens from above
and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open and let them
bring forth salvation. That's what it does. Everything
in this world, bringing forth God's salvation. And let righteousness
spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. Man says, but I don't like that.
I don't like the way God does things. I don't like God ruling
everything. Woe unto him that striveth with his maker. Let
the pot strive with the potsherds of the earth. In other words,
let clay strive with clay. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, Why, what makest thou? or thy work he hath no
hand? Woe unto him that sayeth to 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 of me concerning myself. Concerning the work of my hands,
command ye me. I have made the earth. Now here's
God's answer. Lord, what about your sons? What
about the earth? What are you doing? I have made the earth
and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched
out the heavens. Look at this now. And all their
hosts have I commanded. All of them. So much, even stars
and meteors and comets. I command them all. Talk about
the prince and power of the air, I commend them all. Talk about
the angels of glory, I commend them all. All their host have
I commended. I have raised him up, talking
about Cyrus and talking about Christ. I have raised him up
in righteousness. I will direct all his ways. He
shall build my city. He shall let go my captives. Not for price nor reward, saith
the Lord of hosts. Thus saith the Lord. Now look
at this, look at this. The labor of Egypt, those pagan,
ungodly, even Egyptians, and the merchandise of Ethiopia,
all of it, and of the Sabaeans, every one of them, men of stature
shall come over unto thee. I've got my elect in all of them,
but not only shall men of stature come over to you, But they shall
be thine, and they and their possessions, both the possessions
of the elect and the possessions of the non-elect, the possessions
of the believer and the possessions of the unbeliever, the labor
of the righteous and the labor of the wicked, they shall be
thine. They shall come after thee. In
chains shall they come over, either in chains bound over to
destruction, or in chains as willing prisoners of the Son
of God. And they shall fall down unto thee, and they shall make
supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee, and there
is none else. There is no God. Verily thou
art a God that hideth thyself. Buddy, that's what you were talking
about back there in the office a little bit ago. God hides himself. He hides himself. How is it that
people can't see? How is it that God hides himself? How does it mean he can walk
in such darkness? God hides himself. And when God stands in darkness,
there's no seeing. There's no seeing. Surely thou art a God that hideth
thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed
and also confounded, all of them. They shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols. But not everybody. Not everybody. But Israel shall be saved. Saved in the Lord. Saved with
an everlasting salvation. You, the Israel of God, shall
not be ashamed nor confounded were of without end. For thus
saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed
the earth and made it, he hath established it. Look at it now.
He created it not in vain. God didn't create this world
to run around and wind up in chaos. God didn't create this
world, send it out spinning like a yo-yo in the middle of nowhere,
spinning top out in space, you wonder what's going to happen.
He didn't create it for nothing. He created the earth for a purpose.
And everything in the earth for a purpose. He brings everything
to pass for a purpose. Look at it. He created it not
in vain. He formed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord and there is none else. Now that which he has purposed,
he will do. Nothing in earth, nothing in
hell can prevent it or even hinder it. Here's what he says he'll
do. Look at verse 23. I have sworn by myself. Because
he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. And this
is what he said, Larry. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness. My decree, my purpose, my predestination
is righteousness, and it shall not return. In other words, what
I purposed, I'll bring to pass. That to me, every knee shall
bow, no exceptions. Every tongue shall swear, no
exceptions. 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." Our God is the God of purpose, and our God is accomplishing
His purpose. with everybody, exactly according
to schedule, not one heartbeat ahead, not one heartbeat behind.
Now in this passage the Lord God declares to the assembled
host of angels and men before his august, sovereign, holy throne
exactly what he's going to do. You can mark it down. When God
gets done with this world, when God snuffs out the light of the
sun, when God burns up the present heavens and earth, when God makes
all things new, these five things will be finished. All five of
them. Just hold your Bibles open and look at them, just briefly.
Number one, every knee shall bow to the Lord Jesus Christ,
acknowledging and confessing that he's Lord And he has every
right to be. And what of it? I have sworn
by myself the word gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and
shall not return that unto me. Every knee shall bow, and every
tongue shall swear, either bowing to him in submission, in repentance,
seeking his mercy, or bowing to him as he calls his angels
to bind them hand and foot and cast them into hell. Every knee
shall bow to Christ, you and me. Your children and mine, your
parents and mine, your siblings and mine, every knee shall bow
to Jesus Christ. No question about it. Somebody
said, won't you make Jesus your Lord? You ain't got anything
to do with him being Lord. Nobody does. You will bow to
him as your Lord, either now and willingly take his yoke upon
you, or later and be cast into hell, but bow to him you will. Every knee shall bow. This is
what Paul said in Philippians chapter 2. Being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, look at it, of things
in heaven, and things in the earth, and even in hell, things
under the earth. And every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now
it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. Sooner or
later, everybody's gonna know who He is. Sooner or later, everybody's
gonna bow to Him. Sooner or later, everybody's
gonna confess Him. Our Lord God said to His Son,
as He spoke to Him in the covenant of grace, you can read it in
Psalm 2, verse 8, Ask of Me, and I'll give you the heathen
for your inheritance. And He said, Now, Father, I finished
the work which You gave Me. Glorify Your Son. And He gives
Him the heathen for His inheritance. He reigns and rules. He's taken
his seat in heaven, waiting, expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, either made his footstool by grace or made
his footstool by justice, but made his footstool for sure.
All right, here's the second thing. The Lord Jesus Christ
shall have a people to worship and serve him. Look at verse
24. Surely shall one say, Why does he say one when he's
talking about hordes? Why does he say one when he's
talking about 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands of
numbers which no man can number? Because they confessed it one
at a time. Individually. Not collectively. We confess
it now collectively, but each one individually by personal
faith calls on him and one says, in the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. You see, there is a people in
this world, chosen of God, who must and shall be called out
by His grace, born of His Spirit, because Jesus Christ redeemed
them, God the Father chose them, and swore that the Son should
have them for His people, and have them He will. In Psalm 22,
we read that He was cut off out of the land of the living, that
He was cut off, but who shall declare His generation? And the
psalmist answers the question, a seed shall serve him and it
shall be counted to him for a generation. Where's his seed? He's unmarried.
Where's his seed? He has no bride. Where's his
seed? His seed is a spiritual seed born of his spiritual bride. His church brought to pass by
his spirit, by his power through the word preached in this world.
I don't know who God's elect are. I just know he's got them.
I don't know where they are. I just know he's got them. I
don't know when he's going to call them. I just know he will.
Well, what do you do then? We preach the gospel and wait.
Wait. I preach the gospel expecting
somebody to believe. Oh, there's somebody going to
believe. Somebody going to. And you know, I suspect it's
best. I know it's best. That we not really know how where
and when God uses what we do for the purpose of the gospel.
Just wait and find out. The day's coming. The day's coming.
God's going to gather his elect to him. We preach the word and
wait. We preach the word in praise.
We preach the word without compromise, without fear, as faithfully as
we can by the power and grace of our God, and we wait on God
to make it effectual, because we know that there is a people
who will come and say in the Lord, I have righteousness and
strength. That's the confession of every
believer. Every child of God, every man,
woman who's born of God's Spirit confesses, Christ is my righteousness. I have none other. Christ is
my strength. I have no other. He's everything.
He's everything. People say, well, I don't believe
that. I believe we have some righteousness
of our own. I said believers said this. Oh, but I know folks
who are believers who don't believe that. No, you don't. No, you
don't. You know religious folks who
have no knowledge who believe that. Believers say, in the Lord
have I righteousness. In the Lord have I strength.
All right, here's the third thing. Every one of these people, every
one of God's elect, shall come to Christ. Surely shall one say
in the Lord, have I righteousness and strength, even to him shall
men come. To him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is our righteousness and strength. Turn over to that passage
Rex read a little bit ago, John chapter 6. The psalmist said, blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee.
Blessed be his name, he causes his people to approach to him.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Willing
to come, willing to trust, willing to believe, willing to take Christ. Look here, John 6, verse 37.
The Lord Jesus speaks and says, all that the Father giveth, make. I've shown you this so many times.
Right now, right now, that's the present tense. As we preach,
as we seek to proclaim the gospel around the world, the Father
is giving a people to his Son. In his providence and in his
grace, inclining a people to come to him. All that the Father
gives me shall come to me. All of them and nobody but them.
And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is my Father's will, which hath sent
me, that of all, look at it now, which he hath given me. Back yonder in eternity, in covenant
love, mercy, and grace, he gave a people to his Son. All which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
has sent me. that of every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. All right, here's a fourth thing.
Look at verse 24. The last line of this verse. Even to him shall men come, and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. Everybody. What does that mean? That means
that every rebel, every rebel, and that's what we all are by
nature, every rebel, every son of Adam, every demon of hell,
every rebel incensed against the Son of God is going to bow
before his throne in utter shame and confusion of faith. Well,
how can that be? I have been brought to bow to
his throne in utter shame for what I am and for all I have
done and all that I am doing. Utter shame. Utter shame. And I'm going to tell you something.
Once the sinner has been brought by God's grace to bow at his
throne In utter shame of himself, he stays right there. In that
condition, utterly ashamed of himself. He never gets any better. He never rises above that. Utterly
ashamed. And the more he bows there and
sees him, the more of his own corruption he sees. And he's
utterly ashamed of himself. We bow to him in repentance with
shame. But I'm warning you, if you don't
bow to Him in repentance, you will bow to Him with utter shame
and forever and ever and ever cast away into a lake of fire
in utter shame and confusion of faith. I don't even pretend
to have an idea of what hell is. But I know this much is involved.
In hell, forever, men and women will be keenly aware in their
inmost, sensitive, keenly awakened consciences of what they are. Fully deserving God's wrath. and yet never improving, in utter
madness and insanity, suffering the wrath of God forever in shame
and confusion of faith. Here's one more thing. Every
chosen sinner will indeed be saved, and being saved by grace
alone, they will every one glory in the Lord forever. Look at
verse 25. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. All of it. Now sometimes
folks will read that and they say, well that's talking about
the Jews, Abraham's physical seed. No, I don't think so. I don't think so. If that were
the case, then Judas would be saved. If that were the case,
sons of Korah are going to be saved. This is all the seed of
Israel. He's not talking about physical
seed. He's talking about spiritual seed. He's talking about God's
elect. He's talking about that same seed of Israel spoken of
in Romans chapter 11, verse 26. And so all Israel shall be saved,
as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. In verse 17 of Isaiah
45, the Lord says, But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with
an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor
confounded, world without end. And these who are saved in the
Lord with everlasting salvation, being saved by free grace alone,
they say not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name
give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. They glory,
but not in themselves. They glory, but not in their
experiences. They glory, but not in their deeds. They glory,
but not in their feelings. They glory in the Lord. They say, of Him are we in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. Therefore let no flesh glory
in His presence, but he that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord. And when God gets done, that's
exactly what's going to happen. And to the degree, to the degree
that we can right now believe it, Paul, to that degree we can
submit to God's will in everything. To the degree we can believe
it, Sam, we can bow to Him and say, Thy will be done. This is
what God has purposed, and this is what God shall do. Amen. Mind you, let's sing number 267,
I believe it is, All Things Work Out For Good.