Life. What's it all about? What's
the meaning of life? Why are we here? What is our
purpose? Have you ever asked yourself
those questions? There are a lot of books on the
subject. You can get a lot of differing views and advice. But there's only one book that
you need to answer those questions, and that's the book of God. It's
the Holy Bible, the Word of God. Everything that we need to know,
everything about our life, about who we are, about why we're here,
about what our purpose here is, is found in this book. It's called
the Holy Bible, which should first of all tell us something
about the God who wrote it. He's hope. What does this book
say? What does God say? It's the same
thing. His word and him can't be separated. Is life all about us? Is life
all about our successes? Is life all about our comfort? Well, we sure act like it is.
Are we here to build our dynasty? Are we here to record our legacy? Are we here to leave our mark,
as men say, or to have our name written down in history? Well,
we sure act like we are. Is that what life is? Well, I'll
tell you, if so, it seems so very sad to me. For us to take
the few years that we're given, and they are few, aren't they?
If you live to be 100, they're just a few. This life is like
a vapor. Time just flies by so fast. and to waste those precious years
selfishly living only for ourselves and for the vanity of our own
lust. That's so sad. So sad and it happens to people
every day. Every single day. Men and women
are so wrapped up in themselves that they don't have time to
give any thought to God. And pretty soon, days go by and
weeks and months and years and pretty soon our whole life has
passed and we haven't given God a single thought. If men and
women would earnestly ask God to show them, I mean reveal to
them, what the real meaning and the purpose of this life is,
He would. I know that He would. He's never
turned down a needy soul, not one. Nowhere in this book can
you find it where He has. Anyone who needed mercy and grace
found mercy and grace. Unless you know who God is, you'll
never see your need to call on Him. I can assure you of that.
Men have made God out to be the little old man upstairs when
He's really a consuming fire. Men have made God to be softly
and tenderly calling instead of commanding men and women to
repent and turn to Him. Men have made God to be the one
who loves everybody instead of the God who loves nobody but
those that love His Son. What about that God? Where do
you hear Him preach today? Men have strived to make God
a beggar, but God is no beggar. For a man to say that God has
no hands but our hands doesn't know God and don't know anything
about Himself. Modern day religion. Now listen,
I'm talking about people that you know, and people that you
love. They're attending meetings this
morning, just like this one, just like us assembling here
together, where preachers portray God to be disappointed. He loves
everybody, and very few love Him back. He sent His Son to
die for everyone, but not everybody will be saved because they won't
accept Him. They won't let Him have His way,
and God is disappointed. not the God of this book. He's
never been disappointed, because He has His way in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
His hand. Men today preach a message where
Jesus Christ, God the Son, no less God than God Himself, God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all God, where
they preach Christ, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity,
of the Godhead, as distressed I heard preachers for years talk
about God standing on the portals of heaven, pleading. Won't somebody
just come to Him? Won't somebody just love Him
back? He loves everybody. No sir. My Lord's not distressed. They
say that He died on the cross, shed His precious blood in order
to make salvation possible for sinners to accept or reject.
No sirree. Not the God of the Bible. And
Christ, first of all, is not accepted. If you could accept
or reject Him, then His blood is not what this book declares
it to be. He's not who He claims to be.
God is not who Christ claims Him to be. So somebody's lying,
and it can't be God, because this book says that He's not
a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent.
God doesn't have any need to lie. Who's gonna hold Him accountable? Everything He does is right.
If God said it, shall He not do it? That's what this book
says. Has God spoken? Shall He not make it good? Our
opinion of God is too low and our opinion of ourselves is too
high. Men have made God the Holy Spirit
to be defeated. I'm telling you it's so. He wants
to reveal Christ to everyone, but sinners just won't let Him
into their hearts. To say that God can't do what
He wants to, but only what the sinner wills and allows Him to
do, that's to say that God the Holy Spirit is defeated. But
He's anything and everything but defeated. God's not disappointed,
Christ is not distressed, and the Holy Spirit's not defeated.
Not according to this book. Would you turn with me to the
book of Isaiah chapter 45, Old Testament book of Isaiah. Right after the book of Song
of Solomon, Isaiah chapter 45. The Lord here in Isaiah chapter
45, as we see in verse 1, is speaking unto one that he calls
his anointed, and it's a man named Cyrus. God raised this
man Cyrus up, so in that sense, I guess he was anointed. He wasn't
anointed with the oil of God's prophet like David and some of
the kings of Israel were, but nonetheless, he was anointed
by God in that it was by God's purpose and providence that he
became king. Cyrus was appointed of the Lord
to be king, king of Persia. It was a heathen nation. He was
actually the founder of the Persian Empire, called Cyrus the Great. God's the one that made him so.
He was an instrument of God. God used him to do some good
things. You know, God can do that. God
can use bad men to do good things. God says here in verse 1 concerning
Cyrus. He says, whose right hand I've
holden. That means whose right hand he's
strengthened. Who strengthened this Persian
king's hand? God did. Thus saith the Lord
to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to
subdue nations before him, and I'll loose the loins of kings
to open up before him the two-leafed gates, and the gates shall not
be shut." God strengthened his hand to subdue nations, to rule
over kings, to loose the loins of kings. He defeated the the
king of Midian and Babylon. Great Babylon fell before Cyrus's
army. In verse two, we see that God
moved all obstacles out of Cyrus's way. He said, I'll go before
thee and make the crooked places straight. I'll break in pieces
the gates of brass and cut and sunder the bars of iron. A little research shows that
there were a hundred gates in Babylon's wall. Cyrus went through
them like they weren't nothing. God used this heathen king, this
is what I want you to see, to fulfill his own will and purpose. God used him even in the rebuilding
of the temple in Jerusalem. But notice what God, through
the prophet Isaiah, tells King Cyrus here in verse five. God
said, I am the Lord. And there is none else. There
is no God beside me. There's no God other than the
God of the Bible. That is my subject this morning.
There's no rival with Him. The devil is no rival to God.
Why do people think that? Read the book of Job sometime.
The devil is just God's dog on a chain. I don't know why people
think that Satan, we're no match for him, but he's certainly no
match for God. And the book of Job's clear on
that. God tells Cyrus, the king of Persia, the king of the heathen
nation, He said, I raised you up. He raised Cyrus up. Just like He did Pharaoh. God
said, for this same purpose I've raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. It was the same here with Silas. God told him,
I'm the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, and I raised you up.
I gave you all this success as a king. I gave you all these
kingdoms. God let Cyrus know in no uncertain
terms. He said, there's no God beside
me. God said, there's no other God
that can do what I can do. Have you discovered that? Or
is your God trying and wanting to do something? Now look at
what else the Lord said to Cyrus in verse 5. He said, I girded
thee. It was God that girded Cyrus.
It was God that prepared him for this challenging task. It was God that gave Cyrus the
strength, the courage, and the valor for war. Cyrus was successful
and victorious because God made him that way. But that's not
all that God said about that. God said, I girded you, I strengthened
you, I prepared you, I equipped you, I challenged you, though
thou hast not known me. Cyrus didn't know God. Why did
God do this for one who did not know Him? Why did He do these
things for one that was ignorant of Him? Well, He did it to answer
some questions concerning His own power and His own glory and
the good of His people. In verse 6 we see that God did
this and said He did so that they may know. That who may know? all the world, all the inhabitants
of the earth, everyone from the east to the west, from the north
to the south, everyone might hear the great things that Cyrus
did and might own and know and acknowledge that it was God that
did it for him and that there's no other God than the God that
raised Cyrus up. God did it for the glory of His
own name. Now beginning in verse seven,
we have God's own declaration of His absolute sovereignty. That's a word that for several
years, beginning in the middle 80s when I was first exposed
to the sovereignty of God, you didn't hear much. You didn't
hear much about sovereignty. Now you hear a great deal about
it, but folks don't seem to really understand what it means. They
say God's sovereign, but He had a backup plan when Adam sinned.
No. And nothing catches a sovereign
God by surprise. So, if you ever understand the
meaning of life, if you ever understand the history of man,
if you ever understand future events, You're gonna have to
understand that God is almighty, and that God is sovereign, and
that God is the ruler of everything, and God does what He wills. He
works all things after the counsel of His own will. All the affairs
of men are ruled by God, just as we see with Cyrus, and all
the affairs of all the nations are ruled by the same God, just
as we see with Persia, and Babylon, and the nations today. God's
behind it all. So relax. Rest. And the reason is always the
same. God does all things by just simply exercising His sovereign
will. And this is that He might be
glorified and worshipped and praised as the God that He is.
He's worthy of all things. And He's the only one that He
is. God put us here to glorify Him for who He is. And when God
says there's no God beside me, that word beside means but me. No God but me. Matter of fact,
the words there is are italicized. No God but me. The word beside
means only me. The word beside means except
me. No God except me. Just one God. Only me, God says. Only me. There is none else.
I forget how many times, like 14 times here in just a chapter
or two. Chapters 44 and 45 and 46. The Lord says there is no God
beside me. There is none else. Do you believe
that there is one God? That's what this book teaches.
Well, doesn't everyone believe that there's one God? Well, they
say they do. Say recently that God had found
His way back to them. God is not the one that's lost.
God's never been lost. God's never tried to find His
way. God knows where He is. We're the lost ones. God is sovereign. He's in control. He's ruling
and reigning. He's on His throne. None can
stay His hand. Now in verse 7, God makes some
claims here that only one who is God can. Four things here
that only God can do. Look at verse 7. I form the light
and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.
So the first thing that we see here is God forms light. God
forms the natural light, Genesis 1-3, God said, let there be light,
and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good,
and God divided the light and the darkness. The light that
we see out here right now is from the sun that God put in
the sky. God forms the moral light, that
light which Paul spoke of the Gentiles having, that light which
shows the work of the law written on their hearts. He said the
law was given to the Jews, but there are some Gentiles who have
this law written on their hearts. conscience also bearing witness. You see, God gives some moral
light as He did to some of the Gentiles who had not the law
of God. The law wasn't given to them,
it was given to the Jews. But that moral light of conscience
calls some of these Gentiles to know what was right and what
was wrong. God forms that moral light and
God forms the spiritual light. Paul said that. He said that
it was God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
and hath shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You see, only
God can form light. Satan is able to disguise himself,
as we talked about in the first hour, as an angel of light. But God's people see the darkness
in that light, don't they? And sadly, that light exposes
the very condemnation of some. And this is the condemnation.
The Lord Jesus said that light's coming to the world and men love
darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds were
evil, John 3.19. Now the second thing that God
claims here in this verse is that he creates darkness. How
does God create darkness? You ever thought about it? Well,
by withdrawing His light. It's not a hard answer. God creates
natural darkness by withdrawing the sun. God creates moral darkness
by withdrawing from the unbelieving the very light of nature. God
creates darkness in men by removing their sight. God shows and reveals
enough truth to men and women in the very light of nature and
creation for all of us to be without excuse. We've talked
about this so many times, but things don't work in the order
they work in, and just be at random. God's in control of all
of it. Men reject God and glorify Him
not as God. Paul said in Romans 1, neither
were they thankful but vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish hearts were darkened. professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. Why? Because they changed the
glory of an uncorruptible God into an image made to corruptible
man. Men and women over the history
of man, because of the fall, they've made a God out of just
about everything. They've made idols out of just
about everything you can imagine. And they do so because this idol
or this little G God, as we call them, allows them to do something
to be saved. And that's why the Lord said,
well, you thought I was altogether one like you. Nothing like you.
The God of the Bible needs no assistance. You know the Israelites
in the wilderness, they molded and they fashioned a golden calf. And you know what they said?
They said, this is our God. Now you think about all that
they saw in Egypt. God turned the River Jordan into
blood. God sent frogs. God sent lice. God sent disease. God sent darkness. Egypt was in ruins. It hadn't
even called the army. What can an army do against God?
My, they had seen the Red Sea Park, and they crossed on dry
ground, and now they make a calf, and they go, this is our God,
and He's the one that delivered us out of Egypt. My, my. It's God who creates spiritual
darkness and He just does so by simply leaving men and women
to themselves. That's all that God has to do.
The sinner that believes on Christ is not condemned, but he that
believes not is condemned already because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3.18. Then the
third thing that God claims here in this statement of His sovereignty
is that He makes peace. It is God that makes peace. Peace
between God and man. Peace between man and man. Peace
in the heart, peace in the home, peace in the world, peace in
the church. It's God that's behind that. And then fourthly, God
claims to create evil. Now this is the one that even
believers have trouble with. But this is not talking about
the evil of sin. Sin is not God's work. Let no
man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted of God. For God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it's finished,
Bringeth forth death. When the Lord says, I create
evil here, he's declaring that all afflictions, that all adversities,
that all calamities, all the providential punishment for sin,
if I can call it that, are the works of his hands. You know,
when Job lost everything, he lost 10 children in one day. He lost everything he had, and
he was a wealthy man. Very wealthy man. He lost it
all. And then on top of all that,
his wife comes to him and says, do you still retain your integrity? What have you done? Curse God
and die. What a thing to say. Can you
imagine? Don't you imagine he was feeling
bad enough? Lost everything. Holding on to your integrity?
Curse God and die. And you know what he said under
her? He said, you speak as one of the foolish women speak. He
said, what? You read it. Job 2. He said,
what? Shall we receive good at the
hand of God and shall not receive evil? Talking about affliction,
adversity, and trouble. It's all sent by His hand. And it says that Job did not
sin with his lips. It's God that brings trouble.
David was glad that he did. Have you ever thought about that?
David said, it's good for me that I've been afflicted. How
could anyone say that? Child of God knows. He said,
it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that, here's the reason,
that I might learn thy statute, that I might learn something
of God's appointments. Listen to me, trouble, affliction,
adversity, calamities, they're all appointments of God. Shall
we receive good blessings at the hand of God and not bad,
not affliction? Do our troubles that come take
God by surprise? Or does God send the trouble?
It's one or the other. Amos 3, 6, shall there be evil,
shall there be trouble, affliction, adversity, calamity, and the
Lord hath not done it. Did the death of Christ take
God by surprise? Well, no. Men took the Lord Jesus
by their wicked hands and they crucified Him. Was God helpless
to help? No. He was involved in a big
way. Christ was delivered to be crucified
and to die by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That's the only way and the only
reason that men was able by their wicked hands to take the Lord
and crucify Him. God was behind the death of His
Son. Do you know why? Well, that's the Gospel. That
He might save His people from their sin. Salvations of the
Lord. God says, I the Lord do all these
things. Do you see that in verse 7? God
said that. I the Lord do all these things. I create light, I create darkness.
I give peace, I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
I, the Lord, capital L-O-R-D, do all these things. I, the self-existent
one, I, the eternal Jehovah, I, the triune God, Father, Son,
and Spirit. I, the Lord, God of heaven and
earth. Beside me, there's no God. There's
none beside me. I do all these things. Now, do you believe that? Well,
we best believe it, because it's so. All things come from the
hand of God. I don't claim to understand it,
but I simply, by faith in Christ, believe it. If all afflictions,
if all adversities, if all trials, troubles, tribulations come from
Him, and they do, then all grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness
come from Him. It comes from His hand. Now verse eight here
is really a prophetic declaration of the saving and redeeming work
of the Lord Jesus. Look at it. It says, 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. Friends,
Christ came down from heaven to earth. God became a man. He
took on flesh and blood. He was born of a woman, born
under the law, that He might redeem us who are under the curse
of the law. Christ brought in an everlasting
righteousness. He took the believers, God's
elect sin upon Himself. He paid the debt of that sin. Justice extracted from Him, full
payment for our sin. And God was satisfied. When Christ
finished His work, salvation and righteousness sprang up together. The psalmist wrote, show us thy
mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Mercy and salvation
go together. Mercy and salvation go hand in
hand. And God said, I the Lord have
created it. And again to you I say, salvation
is of the Lord. It's the same thing. Never get
tired of saying it, not only because it's true, but because
most people really don't believe it. Salvation is something that
God does without your cooperation, without your collaboration. God
said here, I the Lord have created it. God has provided the perfect
righteousness for his people that they could not provide for
themselves. What do we call it? Substitution. Do you have any interest in how
you can obtain that perfect righteousness? Well, if you don't work for it,
it's free. It's a gift. It's a free gift.
And it's by substitution. It's by grace. It's unmerited. It's undeserved. No doubt to
the saved student of Scripture that salvation is of the Lord
in sovereign grace. You cannot read the Bible and
not see that plainly. It's all through the pages of
this blessed book. God is Alpha and Omega. God is
the beginning and the end. He's the first and the last.
God is sovereign. in the beginning God. God spoke
the world into existence. He didn't need our help to do
so. He still don't need our help. He's sure in the weak, helpless,
and beggarly God that men have tried to make Him. And I've got
to warn you before I finish that there is a consequence in striving
with this sovereign God. The very God with whom we have
to do. And verse nine tells us very plainly. It says, woe unto
him that striveth with his maker. Are you striving with your maker?
I've told you best I can who your maker is. This is the great
difference that God makes between believers and unbelievers. It
really is. The believer bows to God in Christ. The unbeliever strives, makes
great efforts against God. The believer surrenders to the
rule of the Lord Jesus. The unbeliever kicks and rebels
and wants things their way. For the believer who is in charge
along with the issue of lordship has already been settled. God
is in charge. The believer knows that. For
the unbeliever, the matter's still unsettled. Do you believe,
or are you yet an unbeliever? Will you, like Pharaoh, ask,
Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him? Will you continue to
say, I know not the Lord, neither will I obey His voice, or will
you like that poor leper that came to the Lord Jesus and fell
down before Him? I can just see him. Tissue and
muscles exposed where his flesh has just rotted away. Oh, leprosy
was a horrible, horrible disease. And such a picture of our loathsome
disease called sin. He said, Lord, help me. I know
you can make me whole, but will you? That's the way we approach
God. Will you, Lord? I know you can,
but will you have mercy? And He'll never turn one down.
There's one in Heaven's glory that has your best interest at
heart. And the day is coming very soon when God's elect people
will go see Christ face to face. And when they see Him, the Scripture
says they shall be like Him. They shall be as He is, perfectly
conformed to His image. Perfect image, I might add. It's
not about what we've done, but about what Christ has done for
us. And this is the gospel story. This is the story that God's
people love to hear. And it's the gospel story that
they believe and that they rest in. God is on His throne and
He's out to do me good for His own glory.