Alright, now if you take your
Bibles and turn with me to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 45. Isaiah chapter
45. I'm going to read these verses
again to you. I just read them, but I see it
necessary that I should remind us again. Our God here says to
the prophet, assemble yourselves and come, draw near together
You that are escaped the nations, they have no knowledge that set
up wood of their graven image and pray to a God that cannot
save. Tell ye and bring near, yea,
let them take counsel together who hath declared this from ancient
time. Who hath foretold it from that
time? Have not I the Lord? There is
no God else beside me, a just God. and a Savior, there is none
beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."
The title of my message is simply this, A Just God and Savior. A Just God and a Savior. Here in this chapter, No less
than five times does God declare Himself to be the only true God. Look at this in verse 5. In verse 5, He says, I am the
Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside Me. Verse 6, I am the Lord and there
is none else. Verse 18, I am the Lord and there
is none else. In verse 22, I am the Lord and
there is none in verse also in verse 21 there he says there
is none there's there is no God else beside me you get the point
you get the point God is making a strong case here he's saying
look there's no other God but me and to prove this he he at
the beginning of this calls out Cyrus King of Persia, hundreds
of years before His birth. God says, I have called out Cyrus. I'm going to use a man that does
not know Me to deliver My people. This proves the deity and power
of God over all human flesh. That He would use a man that
did not know Him to accomplish His sovereign And we know that
came to pass. We know that Israel was enslaved
under Babylon for 70 years, and it was King Cyrus the Lord used
to bring them out. This is the God who created all
things. This is the God who swears to
raise up one in righteousness. If you look at that in verse
23, He said, I swore by myself, the word's gone out of my mouth,
in righteousness. It shall not return. Every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall swear. And this is who they're going
to swear to. This is who they're going to bow to. Surely shall
one say, I have righteousness and strength. Even to him shall
men come. Who is this? This is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is swearing just like He swore
by Cyrus to deliver His people. Now there's one coming in righteousness
to deliver His people. He said, My word's gone out.
It's not coming back to me. It'll do exactly what I said
it would. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world just like He said He would. And men who come unto
Him shall find salvation, life, peace, pardon, joy, even as the
Lord said, He says in verse 25, in the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be what? Justified. Without sin. Perfect. How? By this One. This One who comes
in righteousness. Jesus Christ. And so then in
our text, I want you to see that God calls all men to hear His
Word. He says this, Assemble yourselves
together. Draw near together. You that
are escaped of the nation. Our God here is calling forth
all who profess to believe. You that are believers, you profess
to be escaped. You profess to be free in Christ. And so God calls everyone who
professes Christ. Come here. Come and hear my word. Come and assemble yourselves
together. You that claim to escape the
pollution of sin. Now listen, all men by nature
are religious, but not all men are spiritual. All men are religious, but not
all men are spiritual. There are men who profess to
believe in God, believe in Christ, and they are by all accounts
outwardly moral, outwardly zealous. in their religion. And I say
this, they are very sincere. They are very sincere. But only those born again are
spiritual. You can be outwardly moral, but
not be spiritual. Many religions, I dare to say
this, who among us could outdo the Pharisees? In their day,
we could not show forth the works that those men did. But we know
this, they were not spiritual men. They were carnal men. They followed the law carnally,
not spiritually. Now, but there are some that
are spiritual. And who are they? Those are the
ones born again of the Spirit of God. If you are born again
of the Spirit of God, yes, we are zealous. We are sincere. We seek to be morally sound,
God's people. But what makes the difference?
What makes the difference between a false religious man who's moral
and zealous and sincere and a spiritual man that is moral, zealous and
sincere? You see, it's not our sincerity.
It's not our zeal that makes the difference. Who maketh thee
to differ from another? Or what hast thou, thou shalt
not receive? What makes the difference is this. They are born of the
Spirit of God. Are you born again of the Spirit?
Go to 2 Peter. Go to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter
chapter 1. Look at verse 4. The Apostle says, "...whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises." Listen,
when were these promises given us? In other places it says they
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. These
promises of salvation, these promises of pardon and peace
with God, they're given us in Christ. That by these. What? These promises of God.
that you might be partakers of the divine nature. Why are you
partakers of the divine nature? Because God swore to make you
partakers of this. Because of the promises of God.
Listen, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust. Now which of you has escaped sin? Who here says they're without
sin? No believer says that. But what it's saying is this.
We've escaped the pollution and corruption. We've escaped condemnation
because God has created in us a holy nature. When you are born
again, you are created after God in true holiness, Paul says
in Ephesians. But what of those who are not
spiritual? Look at verse 20. For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through knowledge, you see, it's not
by the promises of God they've escaped these corruptions, but
by their carnal knowledge. They've only outwardly escaped
them. They have a show of religion,
but not a true religion. They've only escaped by knowledge,
not by regeneration. of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
are again entangled and overcome. And you can see that in the parable
of the sower. Remember those that fell by the
wayside? Those that were among thorns? They wither. Their faith doesn't last long.
They're tossed about. They go back to carnality of
the law. Why? Because they only have a
head knowledge. They're not spiritual creatures. And so behold, you who are professed
to believe in God, you who profess Jesus Christ to be your Savior,
God calls us then all together to determine which are you. Isn't
that an important question? I know to the believer there
is nothing more important than to know this. Am I His or am
I not? Is my faith real or am I pretending? Nothing more important. I want
to know. I know whom. I believe. Do you know whom? I believe.
He calls us together for this purpose. You that escape the
nations. Is our God God? Are we worshipping God or are
they worshipping God? Is our Christ Christ or is He
not? That's important. Is our God only the idol of our
imagination? Is our faith only of the flesh
and mere will? Is our salvation of God or is
it salvation by an unholy mixture of works and grace? Which is
it? The Lord says, come, let us reason
together. How gracious is that? If somebody
offended you like you offended God, do you suppose you'd have
that kind of language? And if God does, He says, come, let
us reason together. Be as scarlet. Listen, you believe
on Christ, they shall be as white as snow. Here God is declaring the difference
then between the true God and a false God. If you want to know
if your faith is real, you've got to know who you have faith
in. Is your God real or is He just a figment of your imagination?
Is He the true God or is He an idol? Because the difference
is this, God says of a false God, He says this, He cannot
say it. That is a true characteristic
of every false God. A false God cannot say it. But God says of Himself, I am
the only God, a just God. And what? A Savior. Imagine if that second part hadn't
been added. What hope would there be for
us? I am a just God, period. There'd be no hope. Oh, but he
says, I am a just God and a Savior. A God that false gods cannot
save. It's my harsh desire then that
if you are lost, it is my harsh desire that you should hear the
living God. that you should assemble yourselves together, abandon
your false God, abandon the God of your imagination, and bow
before the risen Christ. Bow before a just God and a Savior. And you that have bowed, you
know what? It is my heart's desire that you be comforted by this.
That you have assurance, not in yourselves, but in your God. just God and a Savior. Now I've
got three points. Three points I want them to see.
First, a description of the lost and their God. I want to set
that up. A description of who are lost. God gives us a description of
them. And He describes their God. Then
I want you to see, in contrast, the true God who describes Himself
as a just God and a Savior. And then I want you to see the
effect of this salvation. The effect of God's salvation
upon the heart of sinners. Alright, let's see this. The
description of the lost. Look back at your text. He says, "...assemble yourselves
together, come near, You that have escaped the nations." Now
he's talking about the nations here. He said, they have no knowledge
that set up wood of graven image and pray to a God that cannot
say. First thing he says is they have
no knowledge. They have no knowledge. Man by nature is very religious.
He's moral. He may be zealous. But this is
no evidence of salvation. You got that? Your morality is
not the evidence of your salvation. Why? Because a lost man can do
exactly what you did. Now I know it's not that believers
don't desire to be moral. We do. We long to do those things
that are pleasing to God. But guess what? So do they. That
doesn't make the distinction. So many around us make some sort
of profession. Have you ever found anybody that
hadn't made a profession in faith? I'm hard-pressed to find people
that are just honest and say, well, I don't believe in God
at all. Well, hey, that's more honest than the church down the
road. They make professions. They're very religious people.
They say they believe in God and Christ and yet the Lord declares
this of those that are lost. He said, they have entered in
at the wide end. And broad is the way that leads
to destruction. The first description is this,
the lost, they have no knowledge. The lost religionist is totally,
absolutely ignorant of all spiritual knowledge. And you know when
it's evident? When they open their mouth. When
they start to speak about their God, One thing I automatically,
when men start speaking about their God, what do you do? You
that do believe in God, you take God you know, and you put it
up against the God that they know, and you begin to see they're
not the same. Something's wrong. Either I'm
wrong or He's wrong. They don't have any knowledge
of the true God. They're exposed to be ignorant
of His righteousness. Remember, that's what Paul said
about his kinsmen. In Romans 10, he says, I bear
them record that they have a zeal for God. What was the problem? Not according to knowledge. Now,
how did he know that they didn't know God? They professed they
knew God. But how did Paul know that? He
said this, they're ignorant of the righteousness of God, for
they go about to establish their own righteousness. You find a
man who's going about to establish his own righteousness before
God, and I'll show you an ignorant man. I'll show you a man that's
not spiritual. A man who is lost. He goes about
to establish his own righteousness. These people may be very versed
in Scripture. They may even have a natural
knowledge of true doctrine. I'll tell you this. A lost man can be a Calvinist.
A lost man can be a Calvinist. But true spiritual knowledge
comes only to those that are born again of the Spirit. Go
to 1 Corinthians 2. Look at this 1 Corinthians 2.
1 Corinthians 2, look at verse
14, what he says about the natural man. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. Two reasons. They're foolishness to him. He
thinks he's wise. He thinks he's got it down. He
thinks his God is God. And so what does he think about
your God? Your God's foolish. My God's God. But the things
of God, they're foolishness. Neither can he know them because
he's spiritually discerned. He's spiritually judged. What
about the spiritual man? But he that is spiritual, listen,
he discerneth all things. He discerneth all things. Yet
he himself is discerned of no man. No man knows what you are. You know all things. You that
truly believe on Christ. You know all things. You know
why? Because you know Him. You know Him. You know all things. Yet no man knows who you are.
No man can distinguish you from anyone else. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord that we may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. See, it is one thing to have
outward knowledge. It's totally different to have
inward experience. Inward experience. I'll illustrate
it like this. You have a man born blind. And somebody comes
up and describes a rose to him. And then later on, somebody comes
along and asks him, what is a rose and what does he do? He begins
to regurgitate what he heard the other man say. He has no
experience of it himself. He's never actually seen it for
himself, but he's just reiterating what some other guy told him.
He has no real knowledge of it. But then you take another man
who is born blind and he is made to see. You give him a rose and
he sees it. He feels it. He knows it for
himself. And so when somebody else asks
him what a rose is, he can describe it from experience. The same
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of you can regurgitate.
If you're lost, I'm sure that you have knowledge enough to
spit out the Gospel. But if you're lost, you have
no real experience of it. Paul said this, I know who I
have believed. Do you? Or you just know about
Him? Do you know Him? Or you just
know about Him? See the difference? I know this, if you know Him,
His Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are the sons of
God. We are the sons of God. It is
our knowledge. It's not just head. It's in our
hearts. This differentiates between those
who are saved and those who are lost. If you are born again,
you know all things. But those that are not, they
know nothing. First of all, they don't know
anything about themselves. Lost man don't know anything about
himself. A man who may be religious, but he doesn't know that in himself
is nothing good. The natural man believes that
there is something still in himself. Some ability within himself.
I'm not really dead in sins. I still have some ability to
please God. They don't know anything about
themselves. You that believe, you know something about yourself,
don't you? I know that in my flesh dwelleth
no good faith. Second of all, they don't know
anything about God. Paul says this in Romans chapter
1. He's talking about creation.
He says that they know God by creation. He says, because that
which they knew when they knew God, they glorified Him not as
God, neither were thankful. They became vain in their imagination.
Their foolish hearts were darkened, professing themselves to be wise.
They became fools and changed the glory of God, of the uncorruptible
God, into the image like unto corruptible man." When a man
doesn't know himself and he doesn't know God, what does he do? He
makes a God after his own image. Now what God told them in the
Old Testament, He said, that I was altogether such one as
yourself." This is what lost men do. They take something they
know about their life and their experience and they mold a God
after that. They mold a God of their own
making. Everyone who thinks to God to
be much like themselves is ignorant of God. which is the case of all natural
man. They think God to be forgiving somehow by overlooking justice. They believe God can be pleased
by their best efforts. And the last thing is they don't
have any knowledge of sin. They don't really think sin is
exceeding sinful. Natural men think sin is something
to be rebuked. Yeah, I deserve rebuke. I deserve
a little pain. I deserve a little suffering.
They don't believe sin actually deserves damnation. They don't know anything at all
about sin. They don't know anything about righteousness. They believe righteousness to
be something like this, their best effort. That's what natural
man believes about righteousness, is that righteousness is just
the best that they can do. I can obtain righteousness if
I just try really hard. They're ignorant. And they're
ignorant of the things of salvation because they believe salvation
is within their grasp. They believe God put out salvation
right there and all they got to do is reach out and grab it.
They believe that they can just exercise their will, exercise
the determination of their own heart, if they can just pull
themselves up, just reach out there and grab it. They believe
salvation is something they can obtain. They're ignorant of salvation.
Therefore, because of this, they cannot see God. They don't know
God as God. They don't know themselves. They
don't know righteous. They don't know anything about sin. They
don't know anything about depravity. And therefore, they form a god
of their own making. We live in such a civil age though. They form a god. In time past,
men used to really make gods out of wood and stone and chisel
them out and put them out there. I mean, this was common practice
for centuries. But now we live in a civilized
age, right? An age of reason. An age of academic
understanding. For the most part, most men don't
bow down to idols. Now, you've got the Catholic
Church. They still bow down. But most of them see it as a
symbolic measure. Really, they're not saying that
that's a person or anything like that. They bow down as a symbol.
But anyway, we live in an enlightened age. But I'll tell you this. Men still, for the most part,
have carved out of God, not of wood or stone, but out of imagination. The natural man, this is a God
factory. The mind is a God factory. But the God that men make, the
God that men bow to today may not be of stone and wood, but
He is no God at all. I put this in your bulletin recently,
just this morning, but I thought I'd quote this from Pink. It's
really good. It says, the God of this generation
is helpless, effeminate being who commands the respect of no
really thoughtful man. He no more resembles the supreme
sovereign of holy writ than does a flickering candle the glory
of the midday sun. Take the God of this generation
and you hold Him up to the God of Scripture and He's nothing
like it. Why? He's a God of man's imagination. God of man's imagination. So
they eagerly worship a God that does not exist. A God made up
of their own feelings and opinions, traditions and creeds. Now they
may call Him Jehovah. They may declare His name to
be Jesus. But whatever they call God, God describes them no matter
who He is. If your God cannot save, then
your God is not God. Look what He says. Go back to
your text. Look what He says. He says this, you pray to a God
that cannot save. Mark it down. Any God who cannot
save is not God. If your God requires your help
in saving you, He is no God. He is no God who requires anything
of you. He is no God at all. Look at
2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
5. The apostle says that perilous
times are coming. Men are going to be lovers of
their own selves. They're going to be covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unruly, without natural affection, truth breakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of
God. Oh, that sounds horrible, doesn't it? But I want you to understand,
He's not describing the wicked outside the church. He is describing
the religious inside the church. Because of what he says next.
Look at that. Having a form of godliness. A form of godliness. But, denying the power thereof. This is exactly what is wrong
with those of free will works religion. These people have a
form of godliness. Outward show. of godliness. What's
wrong? They deny the power of salvation
belonging to God alone. They take upon themselves what
truly belongs to God. Salvation is of the Lord. Period. They deny the power of God. I like this, Brother Henry wrote
this a long time ago, it was good, about this scripture. It
says, a form of godliness says, God will save all men. Denying
the power adds, but He cannot save unless you open your heart. A form of godliness says, God
has a wonderful plan for your life. Denying the power adds,
but you must allow Him to have His way. A form of godliness says Christ
died on the cross for all the sins of all men that they might
be saved, denying the power adds, but His blood has no power or
efficacy until you release it. A form of godliness says the
Holy Spirit knocks on every heart desiring to enter, but denying
the power says you have to open the door. A form of godliness
says salvation is of the Lord. Denying the power adds this,
but those He saves may also perish. From such, Paul says, turn away. Run as fast as you can in the
opposite direction. Why? Because I'm telling you,
listen to me, it appeals to our nature. Don't think you don't. Don't think you're above it.
It appeals to our nature. And all who worship such a God,
I want you to know this. That is a God that cannot save.
A God that needs your help is a God that cannot save. He is
a God that might fail. That God is not God. For God
says, all who worship Him, He cannot save them. God says in
Isaiah 41, He says of all false gods, they
cannot save. He said, behold, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. An
abomination to him who ever chooses you. Any man who desires the
God of free will works religion is an abomination. The Apostle tells us that the
worship of the true God, that we should turn away from such
who worship a God that cannot save. Be not unequally yoked,
wherefore come out from among them and be you separate, saith
the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing and
I will receive you. I will be your father and you
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Almighty. Now how do
we do this? Are we going to separate ourselves
by how we dress or how we work? No, that's not any different
than anybody else. The separation is this. Who's
your God? Who saves you? That makes the
distinction, doesn't it? You who believe on Christ, you
know this. My God is a just God and a Savior. He is no failure. I wanted to say, I believe it's
in Isaiah Isaiah 42, he said this, He shall
not fail nor be discouraged. You see, my God is not that God.
My God is a God that does save. Now that's what I want to get
to the second point, is the God that saves. The character and
work of God. The true God declares Himself,
now go back to your text in verse 21, declares who He is. He said,
Tell ye and bring near, yea, let them take counsel together,
who hath declared from ancient times, who hath told it from
that time. Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God beside Me, a just God and a Savior." A just God and
a Savior. God separates Himself from all
the dunghill gods. All the dunghill gods, He separates
Himself by this characteristic. He is absolutely, completely
sovereign over all things. All things. Any God who is not
sovereign It's not God. He said, which God among them
has told you what's going to happen before it happens? Which
God planned all things from eternity? He said, from ancient times.
The things that are not yet done, saying this, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasures. God declares Himself to be sovereign. You bring all the other gods
together and all the other religions, and all the other religions,
their god is wondering what in the world is going to happen.
Oh boy, what's man going to do? I don't know. I'm kind of nervous. Maybe he'll receive me. Maybe
he won't. I don't know. Dunghill God. That God's not
worthy to pee on if He's on fire. He's not worthy of that. That
God's not God. God is God. Listen to what God
says in Isaiah 14. He says, "...the Lord of hosts
hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come
to pass." How many things do you think? I mean, we think a
lot of things. How much of that stuff comes
to pass? A lot of things I think about
and say, man, I don't want that to come to pass. Everything God
thinks comes to pass. Everything He determines comes
to pass. The Lord of hosts hath purposed. Who shall disannul it? His hand
is stretched out. Who shall turn it back? Now that's
God. Is that your God? My God is sovereign. If your God's not, Your God is
not God. Behold, our God is the one who
wills and decrees all things before the world began. By His
own power, He accomplishes all He purposes to do. Who then shall
stay His hand or say, what doest thou? None then can thwart the true
and living God. None can change His purpose. Behold then the contrast between
the God of modern religion who wills but cannot perform, who
decrees but cannot do, against the omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign
will of Jehovah who worketh all things after the counsel of His
will, and everything He decrees shall stand. Now that's God.
Is that your God? Second of all, God declares Himself
not only to be sovereign, but He declares Himself to be just.
A just God and a Savior. Oh, first of all, notice this.
He says, I am the Lord. In other words, I'm the only
one. I'm the only one. There's only
one Lord God. He is not a Lord among many.
This is He who says, things and people and events in time are
in His hands. Isn't this comforting to you
that know Him? Isn't it comforting to know that all things are working
in perfect harmony with His will? That nothing falls out in time. It's morning. I mean, I'm sitting
there. I'm getting ready to come to
church and I'm not feeling well as it is. having a pretty rough
morning. I turned the shower on just to
get ready, and all of a sudden, the pipe breaks at the toilet
for no reason, and water's spewing out everywhere. I'm trying to...
I'm thinking, chaos! God says, no, order. Everything
is in perfect harmony and order. Everything moves after the counsel
of His own will. The sea and the wind as well
as men obey Him. The wrath of man shall praise
Him. You see men getting upset? You see men hating the Gospel?
You see men despising the Word of God? Don't worry. That shall
praise the Lord. And what does it? He restrains. Whatever He won't praise Him,
He'll restrain it. This is God, friends. Our God
is in the heavens and hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. Is there peace in the land or
a calamity? Who does this? God says, I, the
Lord, do this. If you look back in verses 6
and 7, look at that in your text. Look back at verse 6 and 7. He
says, that they might know me from the rising of the sun. from
the West, that there is none beside Me. I am the Lord and
there is none else. I form the light. I create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. You see, this is a God that demands
all. This is a God not like yourself. who is altogether different. He is separate. He is just. And now then, he says, I am the
Lord, there is none else. He tells us that evil king, Cyrus,
I girded you, you didn't even know it. I gave you strength,
I opened the gates for you, and you didn't even know I did it.
I did it. I did it for what? The salvation
of my people. Isn't this amazing? That everything
that is done is done for the salvation of God's people. Everything. He's for your good. He works
all things after the counsel of His own will for His glory.
And you're good! You're good. And so then now see this, He
is a just God. Just God. I got to move on. Just
God. He declares Himself a just God and the Savior. The God,
the one true God, is holy, righteous, and without sin. All of His attributes
and all of His works are perfect. Therefore, if any of His creatures
are to be accepted. Now listen to this. If He is
a just God, this is only true. Everyone who is accepted of Him
must be holy. If He accepts a sinner, then
He Himself would be unjust. Do you remember the story of
Ruth? How she had that nearer kinsman,
and that nearer kinsman, he said, I can't take her lest I defile
myself and my family. You see, if God took you as you
are, then He would defile Himself. He's a just God. And if He accepts
you, you must be as holy. Be ye holy even as I am holy.
A just God demands perfect, sinless obedience. Now you listen to
me. Any God that doesn't demand that
is not God. Any God that will accept your
best is not God. Somebody asks, well, how are
you doing? Well, I'm doing the best that I can. God says that's not
good enough. A just God would say that's not
good enough. But I want you to see this, that
God is also merciful. He who is a just God is also
merciful. See, I've got it here. In Micah
chapter 7 and verse 18, he says, Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity, that passeth by transgression of the remnant
of his heritage, that retaineth not his anger forever, because
he delighteth in mercy? He will turn again. He will have
compassion on us. He will subdue our iniquities.
He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which Thou
hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. God is He that
delights in mercy. Now the question is, how can
God be just and merciful? How can God be just and still
accept the guilty? I want you to understand this.
There is no way, nowhere does God ever have mercy at the expense
of His justice. I suppose the world believes
God to be something like an old grandpa. You know, just kindly
old man, you know, just forgiving his grandchildren, and you know,
they did wrong, but He still just kind of embraces them without
payment. Not this God. He is a just, He
must and He will demand payment for sin. Any God that doesn't
is not God. What then does God require? A
just God requires in order to show mercy. He requires this,
a perfect offering. That's what a just God requires,
a perfect offering. In the law He says it like this,
that the offering shall be perfect to be accepted. If you are to
be accepted, you must make an offering that is perfect. Now,
what offering can you make that is perfect? When you have the Catholic Church
and now the Baptist Church or whatever, they have an altar.
They call that an altar in the front. They say, come down to
the altar. What do you do at an altar? You
make a sacrifice. That's what you're doing. They
say, well, Christ made a sacrifice, but you too must make a sacrifice.
You come down to this altar and you sacrifice your will and your
life, and then God will accept you. You're making an offering. Find it. Find it where your sacrifice
is acceptable. You know why your sacrifice is
not acceptable? No matter if you give your life.
Because you and I are contaminated with sin. Everything we touch
is contaminated. It's like the leper. That law
of the leper. Anything he touched was contaminated. It was defiled. And anything
we touch is defiled. We cannot offer a perfect sacrifice
to a just and holy God. It's impossible. This is what
religion does all the time. They try to make sacrifices.
Well, if I just do this, then God will accept me. If I just
obey the law, then God will accept me. If I just make a decision,
God will accept me. If I just sacrifice something,
God will accept me. No! Your sacrifices are worthless
because they're contaminated with sin. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. When Adam fell, he died
spiritually and everything he touched was contaminated. They're doing like our father
did. He sowed fig leaves to cover his nakedness. That's what religion does. What
man does. Man is born dead. So what does
he need? What do you need to be saved
by a just God? You need a perfect altar. But
this next part is the good part. A just God. has for Himself provided
a perfect offering. God in eternity purposed that
His Son should be the offering for sin. That by that one offering
of Christ, that all the sins of His people should be forever
removed from us. Therefore, when Christ came into
the world, He came as a representative man. He came as a representative. Had Him represented the race?
Us. All of us. And when He fell, we all died.
I was speaking to a woman this week and she was concerned about
infants dying and something like that, that they, well, you know,
she just, well, God has to take them. I said, well, why does
God have to take them? She said, because they're innocent.
No. No. They're not innocent. They're
born sinners. And the only reason God accepts
infants is the only reason God accepts me. Because of the offering
and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Because He died for them. That's the only reason they're
accepted. Christ came to be a representative
man. And as such, He obeyed the law
of God perfectly in our state. It's as though He sewed the robe
of righteousness by His own hand. He is the Savior that came into
the world. The Scripture says that even
the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God which is
by the faith of Jesus Christ, How is your righteousness made? Did you put one stitch in this
robe? Is there anything you've done
to add to this righteousness? You that know God, that He's
just, you know this, you've not added one thing. You gather up
all of our service, all of our sincerity together into a dung
pile. It's not worthy of righteousness. Righteousness was made by Jesus
Christ. He was made by Him, by His obedience,
by the faith of Jesus Christ. And this righteousness is imputed
and imparted to all who believe. He laid on Him the iniquity of
us all. I like this. Listen to what the
just God says about His sacrifice. He said, He shall see of the
travail of His soul and be satisfied. You do not see how Christ satisfied
the justice of God. Who did he die for? That's a
good question, isn't it? Who did he die for? I don't know,
but whoever he died for, God satisfied. Whoever he died for,
God satisfied. You mark this down, if he died
for every man, there would be no hell. There would be no hell. But we know that's not the case.
We know this then, according to the Word of God, He died for
His people. The difference between a dung-heeled
God and the true God is this. Was your Savior successful? Did He actually save? Or did
He just make it possible? Dung-heeled God said He made
it possible. The true God says He did not fail. He was not discouraged. How do you know? How do you know
He was successful? Where is He? Where is Christ? Right now, where is He? He is
seated on the throne of God. There's a man in heaven sitting
down. He's sitting down because the
work's done. It's finished. God's satisfied. Therefore, the
Spirit of God is now sent into the world to give life to every
one of those He died for. What is the evidence then of
this life? Look back at your text. Listen what God, who is
a just God and a Savior. I want to mention this. If He's a Savior, That means
He saved. Can He be a Savior if He didn't
save? No. He actually saved. Now then,
listen to this. God says this in verse 22. He
says, Look unto Me, a just God and a Savior, and be ye saved. What then is it for a sinner
to be saved? It is simply this. to Christ. In order to look to Christ, you
must consider this, you have to abandon your God. If Christ is God, then bow to
Him. If your God is God, you won't
bow to Christ. You won't look to Christ. Look unto Me and be ye saved. What a promise! This is a promise
of an omnipotent God. A promise of a powerful God.
The all-true and living God. He says, look unto Me and be
ye saved. All the ends of the earth. Whoever
you are. For I am God and there is none
else. I swore by myself the word has
gone out of my mouth and righteousness shall not return. That unto me
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear." That's what
he tells us of Christ, isn't it? That every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord through
the glory of God the Father. Come now. Abandon your God and look to
the God who saved I don't want a God who don't say. What good
is a God like that? I want Thee, God. And I know
this, Christ is the only one who can save you. Don't look
to me. Isn't it wonderful you don't
have to do anything for this? It's like those Israelites who were
bitten by that serpent. You remember He made that serpent
of brass upon a pole and He said simply, look and live. He didn't
say kill the snakes. He didn't say, suck the poison
out of your veins. He didn't say, go see a doctor. No, He said, just look. How simple is it to look? Well,
if you're alive, it's pretty simple. If God gave you life,
you know what you'll do? You'll look and you'll be saved. You'll be saved. Look unto Christ. Look only to Christ. Look to Him alone. Look to Him
for everything. And you that have looked, what
are you doing right now? I'm still looking. I'm still
looking. Spurgeon said this, It is not
thy hand, it is not thy hold on Christ
that saves thee, it is Christ. It is not thy joy in Christ that
saves thee, it is Christ. It is not even thy faith in Christ
that saves thee. Though it's an instrument, yet
it is Christ and His blood and righteousness alone that saves. Are you looking to Christ? Do
you know God? Is your God sovereign? Yeah. He does whatever He pleases.
Is your God just? Absolutely holy. Just in everything
He does. And He won't accept anything
less than holy. But He's also merciful and a
Savior. Christ is all my salvation. And I want you to know, carry
this with you. Carry this with you. I'm thankful God's just. You know why? Because a just
God cannot demand twice payment for sin. Isn't that amazing? He can't
ever bring it back to me. Christ paid it. It's paid. That's
why He said, I have removed your sin from you. He said the sins of Israel shall
be sought for and there shall be none. Why? Because the Lord pardoned whom
He reserves. I pray that God would magnify
Himself in your hearts, that Christ would be exalted, that
you would look to Him now and always. Always. Is He not worthy? Let's stay and be dismissed in
prayer.