I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 45. Isaiah
45. If there's anything that a believer
wants to hear, the truth concerning salvation. They want to see the truth in
the scriptures, and they want to hear that truth clearly proclaimed
from a man's sin of God, because he pleased the Lord through preaching
to save them, I believe. They need the assurance, which
is only found in the Word of God. So I want us to look for
a few minutes at a few verses out of Isaiah 45 concerning salvation. Here's the truth of salvation. Isaiah 45 verse 17. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation. He shall not be ashamed
or confounded, world without end. What a wonderful declaration
from the Lord. It's a declaration that settles
the truth of a sinner's need. Here's what it says. The Lord
of glory is going to save a people. God's going to save a people
that he refers to as Israel. That's where he is. But Israel
shall be saved. Now, we know this, that he's
not talking about a country found across the ocean. Turn to Romans
9 for a moment. Who is he talking about when
he says Israel? But Israel shall be saved. Here
again, you have to take Scripture and prove Scripture with Scripture.
Numbers 9, 6 to 8. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are
of Israel. Now, you know what that means.
Just because someone is an Israelite, that doesn't mean that they're
the true Israelite. They're not the ones the Lord's talking about.
Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, or they're all
children. but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. So back in Isaiah 45
when it says, but Israel shall be saved, the Lord is saying
this, there's a people that I've eternally loved, chosen. They're
children of promise. God's going to save them. And
here's how He's going to save them. Same verse. Israel should
be saved. Here's how He's going to save
them. In the Lord. In the Lord. What does that mean?
That means not in their worth or in their labor. Because salvation
is of the Lord. They're going to save them in
the Lord. They're going to be saved with an everlasting salvation
according to God's will and God's Word and God's purpose. And also
in verse 17, they're going to be saved with an everlasting
salvation, and ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world
without end. They're not going to be put to
shame is what it means. And they're not going to be confounded.
They're not going to be insulted. They're not going to be humiliated
before Him. Now here's the word that we have.
God said, Israel, His Israel, His chosen people, they're going
to be saved. And they're going to be saved
with an everlasting salvation. They're going to be saved in
the Lord. And they're not going to be ashamed
before Him. They're not going to be humiliated before Him.
He's going to divide the sheep and the goats. He's going to
say to the sheep, he said, enter in. That which was prepared for
you from the foundation of the world. Salvation is of the Lord. And he says in verse 18, 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. Now how wonderful to behold
how that the Lord who is speaking of the surety of salvation to
His Israel, He speaks unto them according to His character, He speaks as one who can be believed
and trusted. The omnipotent creator of heaven
and earth. He who speaks. And it is. He said, Israel is going to be
saved. And this is who said it. God. God said it. The Lord, thus saith
Jehovah, capital L, capital R, capital T, that created the heavens,
that formed the earth, formed this earth, he fashioned the
earth, it's like a potter, take a lump of clay, fashioned it,
accomplished that which he, he established it, that's what he
said. It's firm, it's fixed, it's stable. And he said, I didn't
create this earth in vain, in formlessness, or in confusion,
or unreality, but rather I formed it to be inhabited. Be a place
to dwell. Be a dwelling place for all that
he's created. And then he said, I am the Lord.
And there's none else. So when we're hearing this truth,
let's understand, who's talking? One who made everything, created,
formed it. He said in verse 19, I've 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. He said this, I have not spoken
in secret. I didn't speak in a covering
or a shelter or in secrecy. I didn't speak in a tongue being
slanderous. I didn't speak in a dark place
of the earth. I don't speak in obscurity. The Lord, He's spoken. First of all, I know this. He
said, I didn't speak in a dark place. I know He's spoken in
nature. I know that. Romans 1.20, for
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power of Godhead, so that they are without excuse. He said, I didn't speak in darkness. I'm not speaking in obscurity.
Look around. Where do you think all this came
from? I made this. He speaks in the
conscience. Romans 2, we've read this before,
but here's God speaking. Romans 2, verse 14, 15, the scripture
says, for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law, these having not the
law or a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness
in their thoughts, you know, the mean while accusing or else
excusing one another. I told you that just the other
day. We were talking about places where people never heard the
gospel before. God's put a conscience in them. They know right from
wrong. They know it's not right to steal. They know that. They
know something of law and order. If somebody comes in there and
burns down somebody's house, you know somebody's gonna do
something about it. They know that. God speaks in nature. He speaks in conscious. And then
the scripture says it. We got the scriptures. We got God's word. Look at Hebrews
chapter one. Look at Hebrews one. Hebrews 1 verses 1-3, God speaks. God, Hebrews 1-1, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high." Now let me tell you something. The Lord said, Israel's
going to be saved. You're going to be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. My Israel is not gonna be ashamed.
You're not gonna be ashamed, you're not gonna be humiliated,
confounded. For I said this, I said this. The Lord created the heavens,
formed the earth, made it, established it, created it not in vain. He said, I've formed it to be
inhabited. I'm the Lord, there's none else. I've not spoken in secret. I've spoken in nature. spoken
in the conscience. And let me tell you something.
Nobody is without excuse. You can buy a Bible anywhere.
You can buy a Bible anywhere. This is the inspired word of
God. You are without excuse. Without excuse. God said, my
people are going to be saved. Then he said, I've not spoken
in secret, verse 19. The latter part says, I've not
said under the seed of Jacob, seek me in vain. I, the Lord,
speak righteousness. I declare things that are right. I said not under the seed of
Jacob, seek me in vain. I didn't say to the seed of Jacob,
seek me Emptily is what the word is. Emptily. Mr. John Gill said
that to no purpose. He said, I didn't say to the
seat of Jacob, seek me without a purpose. I, the Lord, speak
righteousness. He said, I speak justice. That which is just, I declare
things that are right. What comfort is drawn from what
the Lord has not said? This is what he said, he said,
I said not, I didn't say to the seat of Jacob, seek me without
a purpose. I didn't say that. So we know
this, we have the assurance that the Lord will be approached,
he will be heard and he'll answer because he didn't say, Seek me
in vain. If he'd have said, seek me in
vain, do you know what profit any man would have had if he'd
have said, seek me in vain? There would have been no profit
to it. There would have been no approaching the Lord. The
Lord has been pleased to not leave his people unto themselves. And so Israel, God's Israel,
those that the Lord is going to give a concern for their soul. You know, this is one of the
greatest evidences of a believer when they find themselves concerned. Concerned. Concerned about their
eternal soul. That's a blessed, blessed evidence
when they're concerned about it. Because man by nature is
not. But let me ask you this. Do you
have a heart to look to Him? Do you? If you have a heart,
do you look at disgust with your own efforts, former comforts? You say with the Apostle Paul,
I count all those things that he once trusted in, he said,
I count them as dung that I may win Christ. You have no confidence
in your flesh. And you listen to a religionist
talk. I gave my heart to the Lord. The scripture tells God's people,
we come to Him, we come to Him, we come to Him, we cry out to
Him, Lord save me, save me today, save me today. Somebody says,
well why would you ask Him to save you if you believe He saved
you? Because I need salvation right
now. I need salvation. God save me now. Him, look to
Him. He said, all that the Father's
given me, they're gonna come to me. And him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast out. Verse 20. 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. Now let me tell you what he just
said. He said, here the Lord is speaking to the remnant according
to the election of grace that by his power and good pleasure
has escaped the nations. They've been called out of the
darkness of unbelief. When he's talking about escape
the nations, he's talking about out of that which the world by
nature believes. They have salvation in their
hand. He said, assemble yourselves and come, draw near together,
ye that are escaped of the nations. And who are those nations? They
that have no knowledge. That's the nations. They that
set up the wood of their graven image and pray unto a God that
cannot save. That's the nations. You come
and you assemble yourselves, you that have escaped. that has
been brought out by the mighty power of Almighty God. He said, I want you to come out
from them and something's gonna be said to them. What are you
gonna say to them? To these that have wood and graven
images and pray to a God that cannot save. And somebody said,
well, I never did set up a wooden image or pray to a God that cannot
save. Really? Really? You mean to tell me that every
vessel of God's mercy has not been called out from the nations?
called out from that little G-God that could not save? That's the
God that we worshipped before the Lord revealed Himself to
His people. You didn't come into this world
believing God's sovereignty, that salvation was of the Lord.
No. You believed that you were the author of your salvation
because that's the carnal mind that's enmity against God. The God of the Bible rules in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
does as He will. He shows compassion, mercy to
whomever He will, and His counsel is going to stand, and He's going
to do all of His pleasure. The God who's worthy to be worshipped
declares all of His counsel, and it is. He said, now you assemble
yourselves, and you come and you draw near together, you that
are escaped of the nations. those they that have no knowledge,
that set up the wood of their graven image and pray unto a
God. And then verse 21 says, 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's
no God else beside me, or just God and a Savior? There's none
beside me. Now here the Lord is admonishing
those that have been called out of the nations, who've escaped
out of the darkness of sin and unbelief by his powerful hand. Not by themselves, they were
brought out. by God's power, and you tell
those who trust and pray to the God that cannot save, those who
lay all their trust in that little G God that they must help, the
God that's gonna accept, they think, their self-righteous works,
and you tell them to take counsel together, and you tell them,
You guys take counsel together, and I want you to prove that
your God is God. That's what he said. You tell
them, take counsel together, and prove that their God is God.
Now let me read it again and see if that's not what he's saying.
Tell ye and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who told it from that time? You
take counsel together and you show me in these scriptures that
your God is God. Then he says, have not I the
Lord? I did that. There's no God else
beside me or just God and a savior. There's none beside me. Who's declared everything that's
going to come to pass from antiquity? Who announced all these things
from that time? Didn't I do it? I, the Lord, did it. The true
and living God is a just God. That's what he said. There's
none beside me a just God and a Savior. There's no God but
God who is just, the one who will in no wise clear the guilty. He's not going to leave sin unpunished. God is going to deal with sin,
all sin. He must because He's just. He must because He's God. Because except His justice be
satisfied, unless the guilt of sin is dealt with, God Almighty cannot Show mercy. I'm a just God. That's why when
we say that the Lord Jesus Christ, He hath made Him to be sin for
us. He who knew no sin. That we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. As the surety of
the sheep, He paid the debt owed to the broken law of God. He
restored that which He took not away. Fellowship. God, peace
with God, and His justice has been satisfied for His people,
the Israel. They're gonna save, I'm gonna
save them. I'm gonna save them. I called you out of the nations.
These nations, they can't prove what they believe. You try to
get any false religion to prove what they believe by this scripture
right here. You can't prove that. You can twist them if you want
to. You can try to, man, it's not gonna do you any good. It's not
worth saying. God is God, he said, and there's none else.
There is no God but our God. Verse 22, look unto me and be
you saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there's
none else. How many times has he said that
now? Three. Lord told him, he said, there's no other God but
me. The world hates the God that we love. They hate God because
he's sovereign. He said, you look, you turn,
is what it means. You turn unto me, which is by
faith, which is given. Man by nature doesn't have faith.
It's given unto you to believe. You look or you turn not to your
own works, your own idols, your own self-righteousness. You look
unto me and be ye liberated. Be you delivered. God's people
look to a person, a person. They don't look to five points
of Calvinism. They don't look to, I'm a member
of so-and-so church. My mama and daddy was there and
they were there and they were there. They look to Christ. You look
unto me. You look unto the Lamb. God's
Lamb who finished the work of redemption and salvation. You
look unto the only mediator between God and men, the man, Christ
Jesus. You look unto me, all the ends
of the earth, all the extremity of the earth. Christ has a people. He has an elect, and they're
a remnant. They're found in every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue, and they've been given unto the Lord
Jesus Christ by the Father from the foundation of the world.
And they're His. They're His. They're His by gift
from the Father. They're His by purchase, by His
blood, and in time. Sewing will be a sewing together.
They're gonna be his by willing consent made willing in the day
of God's power He said I'm God He got keeps reminding us. I am God. There's none else verse
23. I have sworn by myself. I The
word's gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not
return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear. He's taking an oath, an oath
of allegiance. He swears by himself. Scripture
says, Hebrews 6, 13, because he could swear by no greater,
the word gone out of my mouth in righteousness. The word has
exited. It goes forth, it departs. Everything
that Almighty God has said concerning righteousness and justice, he
said, that went out of my mouth and it shall not return. It's
not going to be turned back. It's not going to come back to
him void and unprofitable. It's going to accomplish the
purpose for which it was sent. Here's what I'm saying. He said,
you listen to me. I've sworn by myself, word gone
out of my mouth, and righteousness shall not return, that unto me
every knee shall bow. Every knee shall bow. Every tongue
shall confess, shall swear. It's gonna happen. Every knee's
gonna confess you're the Lord, and there's none else. Spirit
of God moved upon the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2, 10 and
11, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things
in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The glory of God the
Father, verse 24, 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. To trust in our own righteousness
and strength is natural to the carnal man. The people of God
know that they were not delivered, they weren't saved because of
their righteousness, but rather by the grace and good pleasure
of God. And in the passage we're looking at, Scripture declares,
this is what they're going to say, in the Lord, have I righteousness
and strength. Spirit comes in regenerating
power. That regenerated center thinks
differently. That's what repentance means.
It means to think differently. He learns the spiritual language
of the heart, that's what he does. And that's by faith in
Christ. I have no confidence, again,
in my flesh. The Lord's people, they know
something about spiritual weakness, and they admit it. That's what
Paul said, I see in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth
no good thing. Every believer will admit that.
But here in this verse, surely shall one say in the Lord, have
I righteousness? And my margin says, surely he
shall say of me. It's what the Lord says. Surely they shall say of me,
the Lord is all my righteousness and all my strength. That's what
God's people gonna say. I have righteousness and strength.
So, and then that word righteousness also, in the margin, it's righteousnesses. It's a plural word. And that word is defined righteousness,
and it's speaking of the effects. God's people are righteous. Their
sins have been purged by the blood of Christ. He paid the
debt. They have no guilt. They have no guilt. He paid the
debt. He paid the debt. They don't
have a... They're sinners unto whom the Lord will not impute
the sin. Not going to charge them with it. Why? He charged
it to Christ. That's what He did. And He's robed them in the
righteousness, in the obedience, the holiness of Christ. So in
the Lord, they're righteous. But there's an effect also. There's
an effect that happens. There's a... In the Lord, and
the Lord have our righteous in its righteousnesses. but it's
the effect of the Spirit of God's, the fruit of God's Spirit. Here's
the effect. Something happens. They're not
robed in the righteousness of Christ and their sins purged,
and it has no effect on them. Oh, it has an effect on them. The fruit of the Spirit is manifested
in them. What do you mean? What are you
talking about? They believe God. They believe
the Lord. They trust in the Lord. They're
continually coming to the Lord. They follow Him. They wait on
Him. They glory Him. That's the effect
of salvation. Even to Him shall all men come. All men? No. But all that the Father has
given Him. All kinds. He's not going to
fail. He has his people. He's going
to bring them. And he said, those that are incensed,
that are angry against him, they will be ashamed. They're going
to be ashamed. All that are angry with him,
angry with his sovereignty, he's told them, I'm the Lord. And
there's none else. I'm the Lord. You prove this
little G God. You won't do it. I'm the Lord.
You're going to be put to shame. You refuse to bow to him now? Verse 25, in the Lord shall all
the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory. In the Lord,
all the seed of Israel. Here's what it means. They're
gonna be right. They're gonna be right. Righteous and just
by the Lord, and shall glory in the Lord, in the Lord, by
righteousness. Oh, the blessed truth of salvation,
it's sure, it's sure. When you find one that desires
to make their calling and election sure, which is what we're admonished
to do, let me ask you this. Do you need him to save you? Peter said, Lord, save me. Three
word prayer. Lord, save me. I can't save myself. I can walk
down that aisle until I wear that carpet out. It won't do
me one bit of good. Has the Lord given you a heart
to call on the Lord Save me. Him that cometh to me. How does
a man come? He comes in heart. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast him out. Lord, give me a heart. Give me
a desire to come. For your glory, my good.