In Isaiah chapter 45, our text
will be found in verse 11. Thus saith the Lord, the Holy
One of Israel, and His Maker, Ask of me the things to come
concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command
ye me." The encouragement of God, the encouragement of God
here is to ask concerning His sons and His work. He encourages us to ask of Him
concerning His salvation. And not only ask, but what does
he say at the last? He says, command ye me. What
an encouragement here is given. But in introduction to this passage,
I want us to see some things as we go through this text. As
I went through and studied this chapter, I saw it as it was broken
down into these sections, and I thought they'd be beneficial
to you. and helpful to every believer.
And then we'll get to this text. The first thing that we see in
this chapter is the purpose of God in all providence. Look at
this in verses 1 through 4. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before
him. And I will loose the loins of
kings, and open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates
shall not be shut. And I will go before thee, and
make the crooked places straight, and I will break in pieces the
gates of brass, and cut asunder the bars of iron. And I will
give thee the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret
places, that thou mayest know that I The LORD which hath called
thee by thy name am the God of Israel." We see the providence
of God in declaring this man Cyrus by name 200 years before
his birth. He declares that this man Cyrus,
he would raise up to be a great person, a great king, to conquer
a great nation. And we know that nation is Babylon. how their walls were so high
and their gates so strong that no army on earth could ever siege
that great kingdom. But what does God by providence
decree? He said, I'm going to leave open
two leave gates for thee. And we know in history, this
happened in Daniel's book, that how the king Nebuchadnezzar,
his grandson, worshiped with his false gods. And he was safe
and secure. But you remember that there were
two lead gates open in the subterranean tunnels by which this man Cyrus
was able to conquer this mighty kingdom. Now, what was all this
for? What is the purpose of his conquest? Look at verse 4. For Jacob my
servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, have I called thee by
thy name. I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, there is none
else, there is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou
hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the
sun from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord,
and there is none else. was the purpose of him raising
up Cyrus to deliver Israel. We can learn something from this,
believers. I want you to know what the purpose of God is in
every providence. It is to save Israel. That's a lesson for us to learn,
isn't it? Because we're oftentimes cast down by the providences
we see. We see things and we don't understand
how it is. that God would use this, or why
God would do these things, and yet God says, I'm doing everything
for the salvation of my people. What do we do with this information?
Believe it. Trust in God. Hope. Put your confidence in
God. Did He not do what He said He
would do? And you can be sure of this,
He will do what He said He's going to do. What? Save Israel.
He is going to save Israel. This is what we can learn. I
remember this brought to my mind, Naaman the leper. Who would have
thought that this captain of the Assyrian army, this man who
worshipped a false god and served under the king who worshipped
a false god in a nation who believed in false gods, how should the
gospel reach this man of such a high position? You remember
they were allowed to capture Israel and there was a maiden,
a young maiden that she told of the prophet and the God of
Israel and by that he went himself and was saved. So why did God allow Israel to
be captured by the Assyrians to save Naaman? So that he should
hear of the God of Israel. Remember the Philippian jailer
down in that dungeon? How in the world should the Apostle
go down into the dungeon? God used those wicked men to
falsely arrest the Apostle Paul and put him in the dungeon so
that the jailer might hear. You see, God do everything according
to the counsel of His own will for the salvation of His people.
All power, Jesus said, is given to me in heaven and earth for
what? I may give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
me. So what is He doing? That's what He's doing in purpose.
Secondly, I want you to see the supremacy and sovereignty of
Jehovah. He said in verse 5, I am the
Lord, there's none else. There's no God beside Me. I girded
thee, though thou hast not known Me. Isn't that what He does with
all the wicked? Does He not gird them in supremacy
when they set forth their weapons of war against Him? Does He not
allow it or restrain it at His will? He does. This is the supremacy
of God to control all men, to rule all people that He has created. He alone is God and does this.
For what purpose that they may know from the rising of the sun
and from the west that there is none beside me, I am the Lord,
there is none else. Listen, I form the light and
create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things."
The supremacy of God. Consider the supremacy of God
to give light. He who created light is the only
one who can give light. Behold, believer, how we sat
in darkness. We walked in darkness. The scripture
says you were what? Darkness itself. That's what
you were. But God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus.
I create light! Who created the light in you?
It was God. Why? He sovereignly did it of
his own free and sovereign will. He says, I create light and darkness. Do you realize God is not chargeable
with sin? But God has allowed sin into
His creation. Why? That He might show them
and manifest His great grace and glory toward His people. The third thing in the next verses,
the promise of Christ, verse 8. Drop down, you heavens from
above. and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up and let
them bring forth salvation and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it."
This is a promise of Christ. This is the command of the Sovereign
Lord who rules over all things. He says, drop down, O you heavens. What is this but Christ coming
down? Is He not the King of Heaven?
When He came down, did not Heaven descend to Earth? Why does anybody
want to go to Heaven? Because Christ is there, and
where Christ is, is Heaven. He dropped down. Heaven came down. Isn't that
the song? Heaven came down, and glory filled my soul. Heaven
came down. He came to dwell among men, even
as God decreed He would. The seed of the woman shall crush
the head of the serpent. Unto us a child is born. Unto
us a son is given. His humanity. A child is born. A son is given. His deity. The
God-man was to descend from the heavens and come down. For what purpose? The government
shall be upon His shoulders. that he should order and establish
his kingdom. What is that? His church. The government, the church, his
elect should rest upon his shoulders. He came down from heaven to be
surety for all his chosen race. He came down from heaven to save
spiritual Israel, his elect, as we were upon his shoulders.
that he should be our high priest and mediator to accomplish what? Righteousness. He said this,
let the skies pour down righteousness. And what will be the result of
his work of righteousness? It says this, let the earth open. Let them bring forth salvation
and let righteousness spring up together. Let the earth open
and bring forth righteousness and salvation. The result of
this is the opening of man's heart. The opening of the earth
is man's heart. That they might receive what?
Salvation and righteousness. That they should spring up in
the soul of a man. Solomon said in Psalm 72 he testifies
of this when he says he shall come down like rain upon the
mown grass as showers that water the earth. Have you ever seen
the mown grass on a scorching summer day? It's all burned up. And then the rain comes. And it drinks that moisture in,
and what does it yield? Life! The grass begins to grow
and spring up and become green again. Let this be our prayer, that
God should rain down upon men the righteousness of Christ. Was that song, Mercy Drops Round
Us Are Falling? Oh, for the showers we plead.
I long to see men come to Christ, don't you? I long to see many
come. I would love to see many believe that God would rain down
His righteousness, that He would open the hearts of men so that
they might receive it and have life. This should be our prayer,
that He should cut them down, that He should mow down the flower
of man's self-righteousness and pride, that He would abase them
and burn up all their works, so as that He might in grace
pour down the rain of righteousness and peace and salvation that
they might believe on Jesus Christ. For we know this, who have believed,
that He is all our salvation. Isn't that what you receive?
When you receive Christ, what is it? You receive Him as all
your salvation. This is not a cooperative effort,
thank God. This is all His work, all His
person, for God hath made Him to be all our wisdom, all our
righteousness, all our sanctification, and all our redemption. Now, the fourth thing I want
you to see is this. the vanity of striving against
God. Verse 9, woe unto him that striveth
with his maker. Let the potsherds strive against
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say unto him that
fashioneth, what makest thou? Or thy work he hath no hands. Woe unto him that saith to his
father, what begadest thou? or to the woman, what hast thou
brought forth?" Man here is likened unto the fragile clay pot. And
what happens when you put two clay pots and you bang them together? They both break. They both break. They break into pieces. This
is what happens when men fight against men. There's nothing
accomplished by it. Since when has war ever really
accomplished anything? It hasn't accomplished anything. It's just men killing other men.
God said, fine. Strive against man. But how much
more maddening is it to strive against God? To strive against
God. It's utter madness to say to
the one that formed you, The one that made you, the one that
fashioned you. You've got no hands. You have no right here. You have no eyes. You cannot
see. You have no hands. You cannot wield your power on
me. How foolish is that? Any contention against God's
nature against His providence or His salvation, which is by
the free grace of God alone and the work of Christ alone, is
utter madness and insanity. Listen, free will works religion
is madness. It's madness. It's insanity. It is to strive against God's
free grace. Why would you strive against
that? It's free. It's mercy. Completely without price. Come you to the waters, buy and
eat. With what? Without money and
without price. And yet man in madness says, I will pay. I will
have my part. That is to strive against God.
It's madness. It's insanity. equally as senseless is the thought
of the child describing against his father about how he is. Isn't that the cause of the world?
I am what I am because of my mom and dad. Well, it's your
fault! Like we planned this. Like we
planned to have a loser. Me and my wife got together and
we just said, why don't we just have a loser? No, that's not
what we planned. But what else can sinners bring
forth but sinners? What else can we do? It's insanity
to do that. Sinful men can only produce sinful
children. Polluted mothers can only produce
polluted children. For who can bring forth a clean
thing out of an unclean? Is that possible? No. Why do
you strive against it? But in light of this, how precious
then is Jesus? How precious then is he? How
blessed it is when a man is made to see his corruption and pollution,
when he is made to see God in sovereign right and holy nature.
Only then can striving cease. When a man is brought to the
end of himself, only then does striving cease. When a man finds out who he really
is before God, I tell you this, He won't fight. He'll plead. He'll beg for mercy. Only then will the sinner be
at complete surrender. Behold and see that on the cross,
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has been made sin for us. And God, pouring out His holy
justice, paid for all our striving. And there God laid on Him the
iniquity of us all, and there the blood flowed to pay the price
for our sins. When that Roman soldier pierced
the side of the Lord Jesus Christ, what flowed out? Blood and water. blood for redemption and water
for cleansing. He is our redemption price and
yes, He is the one who cleanseth us from all our sins. Do you feel your need of redemption
and cleansing? Then come to the fountain, rich
and free, that flows from the side of the Redeemer and He will
cleanse you. Why strive ye it is? And so now we come to this, behold
the encouragement of Israel. Look at your text. He says, Thus
saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker, ask
of me of things concerning my sons, and concerning the work
of my hands, command ye me. The Lord Jehovah here, the Father,
and the Holy One of Israel is the Son. And this term, His Maker,
this is not referring to Christ, for Christ had no Maker. This
is referring to man. He's saying the Father and the
Son is speaking to those that He has made. He is the Maker
of all men. This is the One who is speaking. you who are born again of the
Holy Ghost, you who have received the reign of righteousness and
salvation and have ceased striving against your Maker, you who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. God says to this, ask of me two
things, the things to come concerning my sons and secondly concerning
the work of my hands. How sweet an encouragement it
is to the people of God to hear this! God says to you, listen,
listen to what He says to you, Ask Me! What an invitation that
is to us! Ask of Me! Ask of Me! For Jehovah, through the Holy
One of Israel, I want you to understand, He is ready to hear!
How often do we feel that God is not willing to hear? As I prayed, I'm telling you,
within the very core of my soul, I fear at times God is not willing
to hear. But that is just my unbelief.
For God says, ask of me, and I will hear you. I will hear
your prayers. Ask of me. Jesus told us plainly,
ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find, knock
and it shall be opened unto you. James says this, he says you
ask, you have not because you ask not. How many things do we
complain of not having and yet have we asked? And we ask. And yet we have it not mainly
because we ask concerning our lusts. We ask according to our
lusts. Now if you don't have something
according to your lusts, of course you don't have it. If that's
what you want it for, to consume it upon your lusts, that's what's
not going to be given. How deceitful and wicked is our
heart. in prayer how deceitful we sometimes really believe that
what we're asking for for the glory of God but man sometimes we just don't
know our own heart the heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked above all things who can know it God can know it God can
know it We think we need something or
someone and claim it for the service of Christ, and so we
ask, and yet God refuses. He will not give it. Why? Because it is not to the furtherance
of the gospel or the good of the church. Now, what God gives
I tell you, it's always for that purpose, the furtherance of the
gospel and the good of his church. So if we ask for things, let
us humble ourselves under the wisdom of God, who surely knows
our hearts and what's good. Remember Paul, he had that infliction,
that infirmity in the flesh, the thorn in the flesh, and he
asked God three times to remove that, and what did God say? Well, he didn't answer the first
two, and the last time he answered this, my grace is enough, my
grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect
in your weakness. What Paul said, therefore I shall
glory in what, my infirmities, for the glory of Christ. But in this we may be sure to
have what we ask for, if we ask according to the Word of God. Isn't that right? If you ask
concerning the promises of God, you may be sure of this, you'll
have it. You'll have it. Listen, God says,
Ask of Me, and He doesn't give a carte blanche here. He said,
Ask of Me concerning a very specific thing, and I will give it to
you. What is it? The things to come concerning
my sons and the work of my hands." What is this but the gospel?
Ask of me to understand the gospel and I will give it. Who here
needs to understand the gospel? Have we grown so far in the gospel
that we do not need to learn anymore? No, we always need to grow in
the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. So what does God say?
Ask of me. Ask of me concerning these things.
The first thing here, he says, the things concerning his son. The first thing that God reveals
about his sons is this. They were chosen. They were chosen. The sons of God were chosen and
adopted of the Father in sovereign election. Ephesians chapter 1
clearly explains this, I think better than most other texts,
there are many other texts, but Ephesians chapter 1, Paul blesses God He said, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, listen, as
we were in Christ, in Christ, in union with Him, according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
And listen what He said concerning His sons, that they should be
holy. Ask of me about my sons, and
I will tell you I chose them." When did you choose them? Before
the foundation of the world is when He chose them. And what
did He choose them for? That we should be holy and without
blame before Him, in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good
pleasure of His will. to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. The whole purpose of God from
eternity was that His elect should be holy and without sin. In free
grace the Father in love adopted and predestinated them unto the
adoption of sons. He has decreed this. Remember what He said before,
I am the Lord, there is none else. Our God is in the heavens and
has done whatsoever He pleases. Learn this, what God purposed
for His sons. He purposed that they should
be holy, that they should be without sin before Him, before
His eyes, before His judgment bar. They should be blameless,
blameless. Yet we know these sons, according
to natural birth, differ nothing from Adam's fallen race. They
differ nothing. We were children of wrath, Paul
says, even as others. Yet before we were born, before
they had done any good or evil, God loved His sons and decreed
all their salvation should be by Jesus Christ. Behold then the glory of His
grace, that He chose some of Adam's race, that He purposed
to save them, that all things should come together and work
for their good. All things should come and in
time and in providence He should bring them to Himself. These were no sons of God by
work of their own, but God in purpose put them in union with
His Son. In union, inseparable union with
His Son before the world began, and that by Jesus Christ they
should be saved as all God's chosen sons fell in a representative
man, God in eternal purpose, purpose that they should be redeemed,
reconciled, and ransomed by a representative man, Jesus Christ. How clearly
this is pictured in that high priest's sacrifice on the great
day of atonement. You remember that a high priest
was one taken from among the people. that he was chosen out
from among the people of Israel, and God anointed him and purposed
that he should represent the people in gifts and offerings
unto God. Even so, God has chosen one for
his high priest, Jesus Christ. One that He had chosen that He
should represent His people. And as that priest, the high
priest in the Old Testament, he was clothed in fine linen,
clean and white, and he had that breastplate upon his chest that
had all the jewels that represented the 12 tribes of Israel. He had
the Law of God written on his sleeves. And he came in and he took those
two goats and on one goat he confessed the sins of all the
people of Israel. The scapegoat. And then the other
goat he killed and brought the blood into the Holy of Holies
and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat before God. And then he came out of that
veil, out of that temple and he proclaimed blessings. Proclaimed blessings upon the
people of Israel. This too is our Lord Jesus Christ,
isn't it? He who is robed in clean and
white linen, a picture of His perfect righteousness. The law
of God written on His heart and His mind, so as He did no sin,
thought no sin, felt no sin. Can you imagine? I have no idea
what that's like. This is who he was, the righteous,
holy son of God. And what did he have? He had
the names of his elect written on his heart. He represented
them as he obeyed the law of God and he sewed the garment
of our righteousness with his own hands so that not one stitch
of righteousness was done by us. It was all his work. And as that high priest confessed
the sins and iniquities upon the scapegoat, even so did God
make Christ to be sin for us. made our sin to dwell in His
own body on the tree. And as that goat was slain, so
Christ, our Redeemer, was slain. For the atonement of our sins
He suffered, and He died for our sins under the justice and
the wrath of God. And that blood was sprinkled
before the mercy seat of God. And you know what God said? It's
enough. It's accepted. ask of me concerning
the work of my hands." This is the work of His hands. The crucifixion
of Jesus Christ is the work of God. Remember what Paul Peter said,
you have by wicked hands taken and crucified the Lord of glory. But this was determined by God.
It was determined at counsel and foreknowledge of God that
He was crucified. This is the work. Ask of me concerning
my work, and I will show you my Son." My Son is my work. Father, I have finished the work
which Thou gavest me to do. You made an atonement for our
sins. And you remember what happened
to that scapegoat. What happened? They picked the strongest man
they could find and he picked that goat up and he took it out
into the wilderness and that goat was never seen again. What's
that picture? When Christ bore our sins in
his own body on the tree, he bore them away. Behold the Lamb of God that beareth
away the sin. of the world. Do you not realize
this concerning his sons that God will not remember their sins? Why? He cannot. They're paid
for. They're paid for. Justice was
satisfied and our sins were as far removed from us as the East
is from the West. Friends, this is the work of
God. And know this concerning his
sons, he raised up Jesus from the dead. He raised him from
the dead to show that there was no more sin to be paid. There
was no more sin to be paid for. You realize that, believer, that
we never are going to pay for our sins. They were already paid. How many times do we fall into
that trap of trying to redeem ourselves or try to do something
because of what we've done? We try to make up for it. No. There was one sacrifice for sin
and Christ made it. Christ made it. In that day shall the sins of
Israel be sought for and they shall not be found, the sins
of Judah, God cannot find them by searching.
They're gone. They're gone. This only is the
work of God for His sons. For His sons. Behold, the work
of God for His sons is to forever and always by Jesus Christ redeem
us from all our sins. Look at that in verse 13. He
says, I have raised Him up in righteousness. I will direct
all his ways. He shall build my city. He shall
let go my captives, not for price or reward, saith the Lord." This
is the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? He raised him up in righteousness.
He directed all his ways. For what? To build his church. Jesus said, upon this rock, I
shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. And what did he do this for?
Not for merit or reward. Not by merit. Not to receive
your work. But to let the captives go. Freely
let the captives go. And thirdly, now ask of him what
he is doing for his sons. What is he doing for his sons?
I'll tell you this, he is saving his sons. Right now, His Spirit
has gone forth into this world, and He, through the Gospel, is
saving His children. That's what He's doing. He's
calling them. He's calling them by His grace. Remember, all of them are sons
of Adam, sinners. There's none righteous, no, not
one, none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They all together become unprofitable. But in the time
decreed of the Father, this is His work, that the Spirit of
God should open their hearts, should quicken their souls, and
give them life. Ask of me what I'm doing. I am
saving my children. I'm saving them. He quickens
them to feel and know their guilt that by no means of works of
the flesh could they ever please God." This is the work of God.
I love that song by Mr. Hart. A sinner is a sacred thing,
for the Holy Ghost hath made him one. No one is a true sinner except
God reveal it. And when God reveals it, what
does He do? He doesn't leave him there. He draws him in, he
brings him in, he calls him by his love. He reveals Christ to
him and the sinner then vows and flees to Christ for all his
refuge, all his salvation. It is a work of grace to reveal
this to the hearts of men. When you came to Christ, was
it not more of a matter of desperation? It was. We fled with hope against
hope. Peradventure, He might save me. And what did we find? We found
His work perfect. We found His work complete. in hearing of Christ and His
perfect work, we cleave to Him with all of our souls to be all
our salvation. We come empty with nothing but
sin. And you know what we're left
with? We're left with nothing, no sin. We come with nothing
but sin and we leave with nothing, free, free. We come by faith, and listen,
faith is the work concerning His sons. For by grace you are
saved through faith, and that faith not of yourself, yet faith
is a gift of God and not of works. Jesus said this is the work of
God, that you should believe on Him whom He has sent. Faith
is no light thing, friends. Faith is a miracle of grace.
And listen, this is, faith is the evidence of our sonship.
Listen, you have no right to be called the Son of God except
you believe on the Son of God. And all who are believers are
sons! Now listen, my faith didn't make
me a son. My faith just proves I'm a son. A son chosen. A son redeemed. Now a son called. And what else
does God do concerning His sons? He keeps us. He keeps us. How many of our so-called brethren
have gone away? How many of you have seen, sadly,
return to their vomit? Why are you still here? Ask of me concerning my sons,
and I'll tell you, I kept you here. I'm kept in the faith, aren't
you? The love of Christ constraineth
me. I'm not kept by law. I'm kept
by grace. I'm not kept by merit. I'm kept
by love. I'm kept by power, not my own,
but God's. And so God will keep us. And
what will God do? He will bring all His sons. Look
at this. In verse 23, he said this, I
have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return that unto me every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall swear. What is this? Judgment's coming.
Everyone must stand before God in judgment and every knee shall
bow. But here's our hope. Surely shall
one say in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. That's Christ.
And listen what his son's going to do. Even to him shall men
come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
Do you not see what happens at judgment? All that believe in
Christ shall be saved. And all who are incensed shall
be damned. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel, what? Be innocent, justified, and shall
glory. Ask of me concerning my sons,
concerning my work. I have chose them. I have redeemed
them. I have called them. That is my
work. And what is it concerning these
sons? They shall believe on me. They do believe on me. And I
will keep them and I will bring them to glory. Ask of me and
I'll tell you what I'm going to do for you." Not need to know that? How many
times a day do we not need to know that? What does God say?
Ask of me, and I'll tell you. I want you to get this last thing
for your encouragement. Many times you don't feel as
though the Lord is going to answer you. I know you don't. You're
overwhelmed with sin. You're overwhelmed with this
flesh. You're overwhelmed with the misery. You're so wrapped up
in the things of the world that you forgot God, that you've left,
it seems, in your heart from Him. You don't think? If I ask
Him, surely He will deny me. This is for your encouragement.
Look at your text. One last time. He says, first of all, ask of
me. But look at this last word. He says, concerning the work
of my hands, command ye me. Hawker says, it is though God
had given the reins of heaven into the hands of me. can you imagine demanding something
of God? and yet what does God say to
you? you command me and I will give
it what? my gospel my gospel are you not encouraged then to
ask? yea, demand of God the things concerning Christ,
the things concerning what He has purposed to do for you. If He has said such strong language,
how should we not do it? There is no more comfort anywhere
else. There is no more encouragement to be found except in the Gospel
of Christ. there's no more peace to be had
except to be found in Christ. This is my comfort, salvation, and all that entails is of the
Lord, the work of His hand, the things He purposed concerning
His sons, us, even us who believe." So what's his encouragement?
Ask of me. Command of me these things. Shall he not then give us what
he's told us to ask for? Shall he fail to give it to us?
No. He will do what he said he will
do. May God give us peace in that,
trust in Him. Let's stand and do this mass
in prayer.