I'd like for you to turn with
me to the book of Isaiah chapter 45, if you would please. Isaiah
chapter 45. One thing that you'll hear me
say often in my preaching is this. The gospel message is not
a difficult or a hard message to understand. It's really not.
The gospel is simple. As I mentioned last week, I don't
know of anyone here this morning, with the exception of some of
our very young ones, that would not understand that statement
from Scripture that Jonah made when he said salvation is of
the Lord. It means exactly what it says.
It means that God does the saving. It's not a hard message. Any
way you say it, it's the same. Of the Lord is salvation. It means the same thing. Anyone
that has a basic understanding of the English language knows
what that means. Let me give you another one.
The Lord Jesus said this. Listen closely to it. He said,
you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. It can't mean anything
else, but what it says. It's one or the other. If God
chose you, then you couldn't have chosen God. And if you've
chosen God, then God couldn't have chosen you. What did the
Lord say? He said, I've chosen you. And
that settles it. That settles the matter. I know
there used to be an old bumper sticker, God said it, I believe
it, that settles it. Well, you can leave out that
middle part. God said it, that settles it. It doesn't matter
if you believe it or not. What does that say about men's
free choice, men's free will? You have not chosen me. What does that say about our
free will that we supposedly exercise? It says that it has
nothing to do with salvation. It says that salvation has everything
to do with God's choosing of us. We were dead in trespasses
and sin. Dead means dead. It means dead. You can't be half dead. You're
plumb dead. You're completely dead. A dead
man has no choice or will to exercise. Can we agree on that?
And when God gave us life, He made that choice for us very
easy. You know what the choice is?
Either come to Christ or you'll die in your sin. That's the choice. Either come to Christ or perish.
Either look and live or don't look and die. Salvation is of
the Lord. It can't mean anything else.
It settles the matter on who does the saving. It settles it
because God said it. Our Lord said, you've not chosen
Me, but I've chosen you. That settles it. No discussion. No debate. No arguing. For the
children not being yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. Not if it works. Not of your
doing, but of Him that calleth. Who's He that calleth? It's God
Almighty. What about this statement? One
of the Lord's closest friends said it. He wrote in a letter
to other believers and he said, we love Him, speaking of God. We love Him because He first
loved us. Do you reckon that means that
God loved us first? Well, you better believe that's
what it means. It couldn't mean anything else. We love Him because
He first loved us. There's no doubt about it. God
doesn't love us because we first loved Him. It's just the opposite.
We love Him because He first loved us. The same beloved disciple
said, herein is love, not that we love God. Oh, let me straighten
you out real quick on that John said. Herein is love, not that
we love God. No sir, but that He loved us. He sent His Son to be a propitiation
for our sins. That's the proof of His love.
He sent His Son to pay a debt that we could not pay. A debt
that He did not owe. God reveals to His elect that
there's only one way to have their sin put away. Have you
seen what that way is yet? There's only one way to become
perfect in righteousness and holiness, and that's by the propitiations
of sins by and through the sacrifice and substitute of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not that we made a commendable,
faithful choice. There's one way and there's only
one choice, one right choice. Oh, there's a way that seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof is a way of death. He
that hath the Son hath life. and he that hath not the Son
hath not life." Do you understand that? That is so plain, so simple. It's not a hard message. No,
sir. Do you believe it? Well, it's
impossible to believe apart from God's grace and revelation. We
all know the verse in Ephesians 2. I bet most all of you could
quote it. Ephesians 2, for by grace are
you saved through faith. We know that it's God that gives
the grace, and it's God that gives the faith to believe. Without
either, we would not be saved. He said, that's not of yourselves.
Plain, simple language. It's the gift of God. Is there
anything about that we don't understand? It's by grace, through
faith, God gives both. It's not of ourselves, it's the
gift of God. Is that above your understanding?
No. No, it's not. Salvation is by faith in Christ,
through the faith of Christ. Christ is God's gift to His elect
people. He that hath the Son hath life.
How do we get Him? God has to give Him to you. If
you don't have Christ, you don't have life. That's how serious
it is. But that's how simple it is.
Salvation is not of works, lest any man should boast. Do you
know why He said that? Because man will boast. Nothing
for us to boast in. Paul goes right on to say, for
we are His workmanship. We're not ours. Created in Christ
Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. You're not saved by your works. No, sir. We don't have any good
works to trust in. None. But our salvation is by
God's work of grace. It's His workmanship. And it's
good. It's good. And we're created
in Christ unto good works. And all these good works God
has ordained, God has purposed that we should walk in them.
Now you're not going to have to entice true believers to serve
in the cause of Christ. You're not. You're not going
to have to entice or shame believers into supporting the gospel. You
won't have to plead or shame men and women to come hear the
gospel preached. And you won't have to preach
a series on tithing to pressure God's people to give and support
the preaching, the preacher, and the church. You just won't
have to do it. Not God's people you won't. If
that's what the church has become, then maybe it's time to shut
it down. It's God who impresses upon men and women to serve.
It's God who impresses upon men and women to give. It's God that
provides for the church. God knows where that box in the
back is. And He'll see to it that you
find it if He wants you to give. It's just that simple. Are we
going to submit to His way? His way is the only way. We better.
Isaiah chapter 45. Look at verse 17. My message to you again this
morning, my dear friends, is one of redemption. Redemption
in Christ Jesus. There is redemption nowhere else. Verse 17, but Israel shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. It's everlasting. It's eternal. You shall not be
ashamed nor confounded, world without end. As you know, when
the name Israel is used in the scriptures, it refers to both
the nation of Israel And it also refers to the elect people of
God whom God often calls Israel. We saw that last week when God
in the book of Hosea called Israel God's people. He called them
Ephraim, he called them Israel, Jacob, one of God's names for
his people. So we know that the name Israel
is used in the scriptures both as the nation and also as the
elect people of God. And Paul in Romans 9 verse 6
says this, he said, these are not all Israel that are of Israel. And what he means is this, the
believer, the child of God is the true seed, the true children
of promise, the children of faith. In Romans 2.28, Paul writes,
he is not a Jew, he is not an Israelite, which is one outwardly,
by natural birth, by natural descent, being a descendant of
Abraham. He's a Jew and an Israelite,
which is one inwardly. You see, circumcision is not
in the flesh, it's of the heart. Spiritual circumcision is of
the heart. And whenever the word Israel
is used in the Bible, it's in reference to redemption. It's
talking about the elect of God, not the nation of Israel. Now,
here God says, all Israel, all God's elect, all God's people,
shall be saved, and all Israel shall be saved with what? An
everlasting salvation. It's referring to the children
of God, whether they're Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or
female. They are the children of Abraham
by faith, not being one of natural descent. In Galatians chapter
3 verse 7 it says, They which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. I'm a child of Abraham because
I believe God. And I believe Christ. You're
the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, is what the
Scriptures say. If you be in Christ, then you're
Abraham's seed, and you're heirs according to the promise. Believers
in Christ are the true Israel. Do you see that? That's what
I want you to see. They which are of faith, they
are the children of Abraham. You're the children of God by
faith in Christ. Now if you be in Christ, then
you're Abraham's seed. Is that of any interest to you?
It is if you're true Israel. It's an interest to the people
of God. Look at 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. Who did? God did. He formed it to be inhabited. And then He says, I am the Lord,
and there is none else. Oh, God here makes it very clear
who we're dealing with. He's the One that established
it all. He's the One that created the heavens. He's the One that
formed the earth and made all that's in it. The earth is the
Lord's in the fullness thereof. It all belongs to Him, Louis.
It's just on loan to us. It's all the work of a sovereign
God. The One who was in the beginning
before there was a beginning. This is the Omnipotent Creator. This is the Lord. Capital L-O-R-D
that created the heavens. This is God Himself. That's what
He said right there. He says, Thus saith God Himself
that formed the earth and made it. He hath established it. He
created it not in vain. God formed the earth to be inhabited. And He said, I'm the Lord and
there is none else. The God of the Bible, friends, is a far
cry. I'm telling you, a far, far cry
from the God that I had preached to me most of my life. Man-made
religion has just sucked all Christ's perfect righteousness
out of their message. And they've replaced it with
their own filthy rags of forced religion. That might sound hard,
but it's the truth. And it's nothing new. It's been
going on since the days of our Lord. The message of the self-righteous
is always the same. Have it we. Haven't we preached? Haven't we cast out? Haven't
we done many wonderful works? You hear it and so do I. All
we did was in Your name, they say. Oh, we did it in Your name.
These were questions that those self-righteous folks in Matthew
chapter 7 asked. The Lord said, many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy
name? Question mark. It was a question. They asked
Him this. They said, have we not cast out devils? Question
mark. Have we not in thy name done
many wonderful works? They knew what the answer was.
They were asking Him. They wanted Him to say it. They
were wonderful works, weren't they Lord? But when you ask the
Lord a question, you're going to get an honest answer. And
the Lord said, depart from Me ye that work iniquity. I never
knew you. Your righteous works, your haven't
we done's are nothing but works of iniquity. God will not accept
it. Blood has to be shed. A sacrifice
has to be made. A substitute has to be provided.
And it must be a perfect one at that. That's why we don't
come to Christ trusting in our works. We come relying and adhering
and trusting alone in the perfect work and righteousness of the
Lord Jesus. And this is all through the Scriptures.
In verse 19, God continues and says, 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. He certainly does. This is no
secret work. The work of redemption is no
secret work. God lets His righteousness be
known. God declares things that are
right. Paul said, the king of Grippa,
he said, this wasn't done in a corner. God's promise and God's
purpose in this matter of salvation, in this matter of redemption,
is for all to see. This is no secret work. This
is not something God has secretly and quietly done. Throughout
the Word of God, God's work of redemption in Christ is declared. throughout the Scriptures. It's
no hidden work. First of all, when Adam and Eve
sinned in the garden, immediately the Gospel was preached. And
God said, the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.
There's one coming. There's one coming. This was
speaking of Christ, that one born of the Spirit of God and
came from the womb of a virgin. The God-man, Christ Jesus, the
one mediator between God and man. Is He of any interest to
you? Then came along Cain and Abel,
and they were taught some things by their father Adam. And they
went out to offer a sacrifice unto God. But Cain didn't care,
and he brought the fruits of the field and the works of his
own hand, and they were the best that he had. Cain had hoped that
God might accept his work. Let me tell you something, God
won't accept His work. He won't accept yours. It's got
to be perfect to be accepted. But He accepted Abel's sacrifice.
Why? Because blood was shed. A lamb
was sacrificed. That's pointing to Christ. God's
message to the whole human race then and now is, it's the blood
that maketh atonement for the soul. That's the message. The whole world watched the ark
being built for 120 years. We know that the ark's a picture
of Christ, a type of the Lord Jesus. Those who were in the
ark, safe from the flood of God's wrath. All who were in the ark
were delivered from the judgment and the wrath of God. But what
about those on the outside? They perished. He that believeth
on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
of God shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. Get in the ark. He that believes on Christ comes
to Christ. They get in Christ, for it's
being in Him that saves us from the wrath of God. The whole world
saw that, but it was too late. It was too late. In our study
of Exodus, we saw how Egypt witnessed the death of the firstborn. Egypt
was the most powerful nation in all the world. But God demonstrated
His redemptive purpose, His redemptive work, and His redemptive will
without a single weapon. And the most powerful army in
all the world at that time was defenseless. Because God sent
flies, and God sent frogs, and God sent germs, and wiped them
out. You know a match for God? No
match for God. in the most powerful capital
of the whole world, the mighty city of Egypt. Moses, who pictured
Christ so well, delivered his people for all the world to see
with a shepherd's rod and the Word of the Lord. But God didn't
do it in secret. He said, I didn't do this in
a corner. Rahab the harlot knew about it. All the people in Jericho
knew about it. They said, we heard what the
Lord done for you and our hearts didn't melt. Have you heard? God showed Israel that Jesus
Christ is, was, and would always be the only way that sinners
could be saved. Why people don't love that message,
I don't know. God has provided a way. When
He had them put the blood on the doorpost on that Passover
night, He said, at midnight, I'll pass through. But where
there's no blood, the firstborn in every home will perish. But
where I see the blood, and when I see the blood, I'll pass over
you. And later that night, the whole
nation of Israel experienced that firsthand. Those covered
with the blood were saved. And Israel shall be saved with
an everlasting salvation. Isn't that such good news? Not
a secret work, not a hidden thing. The scripture saith unto Pharaoh
and to everyone else, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Christ didn't come secretly
into the world. God hung a star over the place
that He was born. God sent down angels to announce
His birth, His coming. Behold, we bring good tidings
of great joy unto you as born this day in the city of David,
a Savior. You need a Savior who's Christ
the Lord. God can't come to earth secretly.
All the world knew, even Herod knew it was so, for he had all
the children in Bethlehem to be slain under the age of two
years old, hoping that he could do away with the promised Messiah. It's fruitless. Can't do it. None can alter the will of God.
Aren't you glad? Begin verse 19, I'm 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.
God's people don't seek Him in vain. Nobody's ever sought the
Lord in vain. When God enables a sinner to
seek Him for salvation, let me let you in on something. God's
already saved him. That's right. But God's already
given him life. We seek Him because He sought
us and He found us. And He gave us life. And we,
like Lazarus, who was dead, came forth. See, he was dead. But
he wasn't dead when he came forth. Never seen a dead man do anything,
have you? We're not dead anymore. Life
wasn't given when we came. It was given before we came.
And that life given by God is how we came. And if it hadn't
been for God giving it, we wouldn't have come. We could not come
and we would not come. And God says in verse 20, assemble
yourselves and come. Draw near together, ye that are
escaped of the nations. Do you know what that means?
That's talking about God's elect. Speaking of God's elect, God
is here going to tell His people the difference between them and
others. I'll give you a hint. It's a difference that God makes.
God says, they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their
graven image and pray unto a God that cannot say. Who are these
elect that God is telling to come to draw near together? Well,
first, they are those that have no knowledge. They don't know
who God is. Now, stay with me. When God called
me, I didn't know who He was until He revealed Himself to
me. Neither did the Apostle Paul. Christ said, He's on His way
to Damascus. And God knocks him off his high
horse and blinds him. And he says, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? And you know what Paul said?
He said, who are you? He didn't know who it was. When
God called me, I didn't have any idea who he was. I was doing
what every other lost person did. I was setting up the wood
of my graven image. I was praying to a God that could
not save. Such was my case. We were men
and women with no knowledge of God, and such folks usually wind
up making their own gods. I'm not talking about men and
women worshiping a tree stump that they've carved into something
and call it their god. I'm talking about all the everyday
things that men and women make their idols and make their god.
Whether it be houses, properties, farms, possessions, careers,
business, doesn't matter, children. We can make anything a god, anything
an idol. Education, politics. Finances. The love of money.
We make them all idols and gods. You see, to set our affection
on anything and to love those things equally are more than
Christ is to make them a god. It's to make them an idol. Put
anything before Christ is to do that. God won't have it. Not
with His children. God's going to see to it that
His elect know some things. What is God going to make sure
we know? Well, look at verse 21. He said, Tell ye and bring
them near. Yea, let them take counsel together.
Who declared this from ancient times? Who had told it from that
time? Have not I the Lord? Now listen
friends, God has something to say. He's been saying it from
the beginning. And it's for our own good. If
you're one of God's elect, everything in this book is for your own
good. And it do you good and do me good to listen and to learn
this. Look at verse 21. God says there
is no God else beside Me. A just God and a Savior. There is none beside Me. There's
only one God. Well, I know that preacher. Do we? Do we really know that? He's one God and He's a just
God. Did you know that? Did you know
that God is holy, that God is just? Did you know that He's
a Savior? He's the only one that can save.
Just one Savior. And He's God. He's a just God
and He's a Savior. You see, He has to be just in
order to save. God cannot save a sinner apart
from fulfilling the law and satisfying His own justice. We talk about
that every single week. It's so. Christ is the only one
that can do that as God and man. Only God the Son is a suitable
substitute and sacrifice. And that's what I've been trying
to tell you every week for almost six years now. Time goes by fast. Still preaching the same gospel.
The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins, it shall
die. God's holy justice requires our death. God cannot die. So what did God do? He became
a man. The most glorious thing I ever
heard. God the Son became a man so that He, as the perfect man,
so that He as the God-man, the man who knew no sin, the Scripture
says, the man who had no sin, the man who was made sin, He
knew no sin. He was made sin. The God-man,
Jesus Christ, took all the sin of all the elect throughout all
time upon Himself. And Christ, the God-man, the
perfect man, paid the price of every single sin. Every one of
them. Every sin. What a Savior. God and Christ has justly fulfilled
the law of God, fully satisfied God's justice, and eternally
justified the ungodly that were given to Christ. In other words,
there's no Savior than Christ. No Savior than God. There can
be no other Savior. Why? Because the sinner's substitute,
the sinner's Savior, must be just in order to save us, and
He must be perfect to be accepted in Jesus Christ's vote. He's
a just God and an accepted Savior. And there's none beside Him.
So what is our message? I told you that it was a simple
one. It's found in verse 22. This just God, this one and only
Savior says this. Here it is. Look unto Me, and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and there is none else. Now that's our message. God said
in order to be saved, you're going to have to look to Him. Why Him? Well, He is God and
there is none else. None else that can do what? Save. He's a just God and a Savior. Now however weak, however poor,
a man can look. I see young and old. I see rich
and poor. Male and female walking through
this life. without any interest in looking
to Christ at all. The reason they don't look is
that they don't know that they've been bitten with the fiery serpent
of sin. And you know in Numbers chapter
21 when the people of Israel, it says that they spake against
God and against Moses. God wasn't just sitting in heaven
one day and said, I think I'll just call serpents to come up
out of the ground and bite these people. No. No, they spake against
God and they spake against Moses, and it says the Lord sent fiery
serpents. The Lord sent them. God didn't
send those serpents for their entertainment. God didn't send
those serpents for their enjoyment. The Lord sent the fiery serpents,
the serpents bit the people, and the people died. That's what
the Scriptures say. And it says much of the people
died. Many of them died. That's what
sin does to us. It kills us. But it seems today
that men and women don't take their sin seriously. They act
as though sin is something to entertain them. Sin is something
that gives them enjoyment. God's people aren't looking for
an excuse to sin. God's people are looking for
the pardon and the removal of sin. That's what we want to hear
about. God said, make thee a fiery serpent
and set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that
everyone that is bitten, have you been bitten? Do you see that
you've been bitten by sin and that the poison of sin is permeating
your body? Look, there upon a pole is a
fiery serpent made in the likeness of the serpents that bit the
people. You look to that serpent and you live. On the last day
of the feast, the Lord Jesus stood and He cried to all who
would hear Him. He said, Come unto Me, all you
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Who's
to come? Those who labor and those who are heavily weighed
down. That's what that word laden means.
Weighed down with sin. What happens if they come to
Christ? He'll give them rest. That's
His promise. Do you need rest? Well, can you
look? If you can, you can be saved.
Who can be saved? All the ends of the earth. All
who look. Whosoever will. Can you come? Well, if you can and if you will,
God's the only one who can make you both able and willing. Give Him the honor and the glory.
You wouldn't have come unless He'd made you willing in the
day of His power. And when you come, you'll find
life and God will give you rest. What are you waiting on? Huh?
What are we waiting on? Come to Christ. Look and live.
Why won't you come? Could it be that you don't believe? May God make it so that you do.