Isaiah chapter 45. Isaiah chapter 45. We're looking at verses 1 through 17
this morning. And I imagine I would like to
go further, if God permits. We'll see. The title of the message
this morning is, The Purpose of Providence in the Salvation
of God's People, or the Salvation of Israel. The purpose of providence
in the salvation of Israel. And this is the purpose of the
message, that you who are believers might take comfort in knowing
that God is sovereign in all providence. in all circumstances,
in all events of time and eternity, and is doing everything, everything
for the salvation of His people. That's the purpose. If you get
nothing, you should get that. And this text by the Holy Spirit
is proof is proof of God's work in providence to save His people
by Jesus Christ alone. Now, let's look at these first
couple of verses here. In verse 1 of chapter 45, it
says, 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 to open before him the two leaved gates,
and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee and make
the crooked places straight. I will break into pieces the
gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron. And I will
give thee the treasure of darkness, the hidden riches of secret places,
that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by
thy name, am the God of Israel." Now, the Lord in this chapter
calls out and declares His sovereign will concerning Jerusalem, concerning
the destruction that is to come of Jerusalem and its deliverance,
and its deliverance. That's Cyrus. This man, Cyrus,
was anointed an anointed man by which Israel should return
to Jerusalem. And this was fulfilled some 200
years after this prophecy was made. This prophecy was 200 years
before the birth of this man, Cyrus. And some years after that, it
was God who opened the treasures of darkness and hidden treasures
and conquered the Babylonian kingdom by this man Cyrus. God reveals how He would do that. Look at that. He said He would
open the two leaved gates and take up all the treasures Now, the walls of Babylon were
so high, none could scale them. They were so thick, none could
penetrate them. Do you know how Cyrus got into
Babylon? Through two leaved gates under
the city. that were not shut. You remember,
Belshazzar had that drunken party that night. And God had written
on the hand, by His hand on the wall, that He was found wanting
in the balances. And the kingdom was to be taken
that very night. And that very night, the two
leave gates were opened, and none could shut them. And Cyrus
and his army went in and conquered them, just as God said 200 years
before it took place. But what was the purpose? What
was the purpose? Why should Cyrus be victorious? Why should this man be raised
up who knew not God? And we'll get to that. He knew
not God. And yet he did exactly as God determined before to be
done. How is that? What for? Why does
God do what God does? Look at verse 4. Here it is. Gives us the reason. "...for
Jacob my servant's sake, and for Israel mine elect. I have
called even thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known me." He did this for the salvation
of Israel. Behold how God uses a man who
does not even know Him, uses a man that does not worship Him,
and yet raises Him up to power, sets Him upon the throne, expresses
His purpose that He should save His people. And that's exactly
what happened. He did something no other king
had ever done. He freed them to go back to their
land and establish their own worship. Why? God said to. God purposed it, and it took
place. Did he not do this before? Have
you not seen this? Isn't this a rerun of what God
does all the time? He did this with Pharaoh, did
he not? He said, I have raised thee up for this purpose, that
I might show my name and power to Israel, to my people, to save
my people. Even so he did with Cyrus. But
the name of the Lord should be declared throughout the whole
earth. Verse 5 says, I am the Lord and 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 and from the west that there is none beside me.
I am the Lord and there is none else. God did. this for Israel that
they might know that his people might know the truth and find
comfort in it that he alone is God now you you who are spiritual
Israel this was written for your comfort this was written for
you who are the people of God the servant of God you were formed
of God You were formed of God, created of God in the new man,
the new birth. And seeing God will not ever
forget you, He will not ever forsake you, seeing He has blotted
out your transgressions by the blood of His only Son, and seeing
we are redeemed by His one offering, enrobed in his righteousness
let this be example this example of God's power in the affairs
of men and providence comfort you comfort you to know this
that all God does he does for you he does it to save you and so whatever is being done
for his people It will be used of God to save them, to bring
them and keep them in Christ. Seeing for God loved us with
an eternal love, chose us, he redeemed us, he called us, he
keeps us. He alone is God, and there is
none beside Him. What does that mean? There is
none to oppose Him. Isn't that right? If there's
none beside Him, there's none to oppose Him. There's none to
stop Him from doing what He determined. Was there any chance Cyrus would
not do this? Any? Any at all? Was there any
way for this man not to be born, not to rise to power, not to
have those lead gates open, not to save Israel? Absolutely not. Even so it is, especially with
spiritual Israel. There was no way that you were
not going to be saved. It was already determined. He
was already purposed. Listen to the Word of God in
verse 7. He says, I form the light and
create darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. And we know that God is not the
author of sin and that's not what it intended. But I do know
this, that God uses it He uses evil men and circumstances for the salvation of His people. Remember Joseph? What did he
say? He said, You meant it for evil. Now, is there any way that he
would not be sold? And yet he was sold for good.
You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Now God is not the author of
sin, Satan is. But no sin entered into God's
world except God had decreed it and purposed it for His own
sovereign will. In order to display His goodness,
there must have been sin. You got that? Sin, if God wanted to display
His righteousness, He'd allow sin into the world and just leave
it. Not save you. Someone, I put it in the bulletin,
if hell were full of men and there were no salvation, that
would be a display of God's righteousness, wouldn't it? But see, God not
only wanted to display His righteousness, He wanted to display His goodness.
And this is what it is to be saved from sin. What he meant
for evil, God intended for good. And this is a better salvation
in Christ than ever could have been accomplished in salvation
that Adam would provide. So everything is according to
God's sovereign will. In Isaiah 46 and verse 9, he
said, Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there
is none else. I am God, there is none like me, declaring the
end at the beginning. And from ancient times the things
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure. The old Satan was created of
God as all things to accomplish his sovereign will. that he should
manifest his grace and power in saving his elect from their
sins so then we should know all things are under the hand of
God he said I form the light and I create darkness I make
peace and I create evil I the Lord do all these things Both
the good of men and the evil of men in the earth are either
allowed or restrained so as to fulfill God's sovereign purpose. Scripture says, "...surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee." What about the rest? The remainder
of wrath? That wrath that does not praise
Him, what does He do? He restrains it. He doesn't allow
it. See then his purpose in using
evil and the wrath of man and Satan and all the evil host is
for the glory of his name and the salvation of his people. I'll give you another illustration.
Judas Iscariot. Is that not an illustration of
it? He was the son of perdition, the son of ruin, the son of great
loss and damnation. But you know that He was foretold
of. Jesus said that. He said, "...I
have kept them that thou gavest Me, except but the Son of perdition,
that it might be fulfilled of the Scripture." It was ordained
in Psalm 109. It declares how Judas would come
and betray the Son of God. This man was chosen. Among the
twelve, but not one for salvation, he was chosen to be the betrayer."
What was God's purpose in such darkness? In ordaining this man,
was it not our salvation? Had Christ not been betrayed,
we should not have been crucified. You see what God has done? God
used what that man longed to do. Now, he did exactly what
he longed to do. But in doing so, he did exactly
what God determined to do. This man, hatred for Christ and
love for his sin and self-righteousness, he betrayed Him. But in doing
so, he fulfilled the will of God, even so it was with Pilate,
the Jews, and everyone else. That's what Peter says in Acts
chapter 2. He says, You men of Israel, hear
these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst
of you as you yourselves know. Listen, him being delivered. By Judas? No. By the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands crucified and slain. You see both the responsibility
and sovereignty there? God determined it, yet it was
their hands that did it. Judas gets no pass because he
was ordained to this. He did exactly what he wanted
to do. Yet in doing so, he did the will of God for this cause,
to save his people from their sins. He's doing everything for
that. Look at this in verse 8. He said,
I do all this. I form the light, create darkness.
I make peace, create evil. I, the Lord, do these things.
For what? And this is what He commands. He says this, Drop
down, you heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Righteousness. Let the earth
open. and let them bring forth salvation,
and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have
created it." Herein is the gospel commanded and ordained of God.
Drop down that word righteous. In one translation it says, righteous
one. Drop down, you righteous one,
from heaven. Who is that? I do all things
that this one righteous one should come down from heaven." Isn't
that what he's doing with the salvation of national Israel?
He is preserving the line of Christ. He said, I do all of
this that the righteous one should come down from heaven. This is God's purpose in all
providence, that Christ should come down. That He, being God,
the God of heaven, the Son of God, One with the Father and
Spirit, the Deity, all in Deity and attributes, especially righteousness,
that He should come down to do what? To bring forth salvation. To bring forth salvation. He says drop down you heavens
kind of like rain. He said pour down like rain on
the desert Hosea says the same thing when he says this in Hosea
6 3 he said you shall know if you follow after to know the
Lord his goings forth is listen prepared as a morning and He
shall come unto us as the rain as the latter and the former
rain upon the earth and he who is righteous shall come as rain
upon the desert." Jesus Christ. How shall He come? Listen, the
earth is to open up. What is this but the womb? He
said He comes from the depths of the earth, which is the womb
of the Virgin. He should come forth. He should
be brought forth as a man made under the law. For what purpose? To redeem His people from the
curse of the law. He came to provide righteousness,
to establish the law. You remember what he said in
Matthew chapter 5, he says this about him and the law. He said,
I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. To fulfill the law. Fulfill righteousness. That's
what He came to do. He came to make satisfaction
of God's justice by the offering of Himself to God. So look now, believer, and see
the goodness and grace of God toward us, and that His sovereign
will and providence was for Christ to save us. in setting up a kingdom
and casting down another, in setting up wicked men and using
their evil devices. For what? So that Christ should
come and die for our sins. I praise God, he used Cyrus.
I do. Because by Cyrus, Israel was
delivered, the lion was kept, and Christ came, even as he prophesied
he would. He came down, dropped down in
righteousness. to bring forth salvation, to
spring up together. Rejoice, therefore, you elect,
for God hath from the beginning chosen you to this, and moved
all men and kingdoms to preserve the seed of Abraham by which
Jesus Christ, the righteous, should come into the world. And
it was by a sovereign decree of God, by Him you should be
made holy. Isn't that what He said? According
as He had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. How should He do all this? by
Jesus Christ to Himself. To Himself. Therefore He says,
Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of Me to do
thy will, by the which will we are made holy, sanctified by the blood of Christ once for
all. And listen what he said in verse
8 of our text, I, the Lord, have created it. In other words, I
have chosen it, I have made it, I have purposed it, and you listen,
I have accomplished it. Isn't that something? It's pretty
confident language, isn't it? Would we dare to say anything
like that? He said, look, I've already done
this. In the purpose and mind of God, this was already done.
This was as good as done. It was already done. Now look
and see the truth of the salvation of the Lord. See how He uses
Cyrus, Pharaoh, Judas, Pilate, the Jews, wicked men, and especially
all providences to fulfill His purpose. which
is to save his people's spiritual Israel from their sins and so
by our text as well by the scripture declares the whole purpose of
God in the providence of time is to do what he purposed in
eternity to save you now then you who
believe this is not offensive this is good Now, to some, this
is offensive. To some who believe themselves
to be capable of providing some righteousness for themselves,
to be capable of obtaining the grace of God by the mere act
of the human will, this is offensive to them, is offensive. It is
offensive to believe in the sovereign free grace of God because they
believe in the sovereign free will of man. That God wants men to be saved,
that Jesus died for all the sins of all men. And if man will make
a determination, that man alone has the ability to determine
his own destination. Now, to them, this gospel is
offensive. If you believe that man's will
either determines God's will, or that man's will somehow changes
God's will, or moves God by merit, this gospel will always be offensive
to you. But what saith the Word of God? Here it is. for the children
not yet being born, neither having done any good or evil." Listen,
that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand. It is said to her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid! For He told you by
Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not
of him that willeth or him that runneth, but God that showeth
mercy. Then he uses that illustration
of Pharaoh. Have I not raised up Pharaoh for this one purpose,
that I might show my name and my power? Has he not raised up
Cyrus for this one purpose, to show his name and his power in
the saving of Israel, his people? And so then you'll say to me,
why did he yet find fault? Well, if God chose a people and
Christ died for them only, and only the elect are going to be
called, how can you find fault with a man, seeing he has no
choice? Paul uses this very text. Who
are you to reply against God? Shall the thing form, say, and
did, what hast thou made? Hath not the potter power of
the clay? Look what it says. Anybody who hates this message
of Christ coming down of God using all providence to bring
in Christ and save his people What is a woe unto him that striveth
with his maker? Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth shall the clay say unto him that fashioneth
What makest thou or what thy work who hath no hands? Woe unto
him that saith to his father what begettest thou or the mother
what hast thou brought forth and in that the same thing and
what paul said who are you to reply against god this is the
purpose of god to use all men in providence even evil men to
bring forth this purpose to save his people from their save his
people from their seat you who are made of god God has
told you of His salvation, how He will use all men in providence
to bring it to pass, how Christ must come from heaven to fulfill
all righteousness, how He should be born of a woman, made flesh
under the law to fulfill the law, why then will you rebel? Why rebel against it? Is it not
futile? Is it not pointless to rebel
and resist against God? It is! But that only shows the
depravity of man to do it. And so then, if you will not
resist, do you understand your condition?
Do you understand Do you long to know if Christ came to die
for you? That's a good question, isn't
it? If God's only died for the elect, if He's only purposed
to save the... Isn't it a question that should come to the mind
of one made sensible by the Spirit of God? Am I one of these? Do I have part in this? Do I
know? How can I know? Look at what
verse 11 says. 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 hand, command
ye me. Do you long to know if this righteousness
rained down is for you? Ask. Isn't that what he's saying? Ask of me concerning my sons. Concerning those sons that I
have chosen, concerning the work that I will do, ask of me. And I'll tell you, Christ says, ask. behold the
lord jesus christ gives these things concerning his sons you
wanna know if you are look at these he says i've made the earth
and create a man opponent i am Even I, even my hands have stretched
out the heavens, and all the hosts have I commanded. I have
raised Him up in righteousness, and I will direct all His ways."
This is speaking of Christ that has dropped down. I have called
Him in righteousness. I will direct all His ways. For
what purpose? He shall build my city, my church, my people. He will save my elect. How will
He do it? He shall let go my captives. What is the sons of God? How
do you know if you're a son of God? Have you ever been captive? The sons of God by nature are
captives. Captives to sin. Captives to
the old nature. When God put Adam in the garden,
created him, he lost everything by his sin. He lost all ability. He became a captive, and so did
all of his race become captives, sold under sin. And by no means
could we free ourselves. But what then is the work of
God concerning his sons? He says, I will let my captives
go. Notice, they were captives of
His. They were captives of His justice, captives of His judgment. And He says, My Deliverer, My
Redeemer shall come, and He shall let My captives go. If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. You shall be free indeed. Now listen, this ransom price
was paid long before you ever experienced freedom. It was paid 2,000 years ago. But what was happening? In the
providence of God, He was working all things to bring you under
the sound of the gospel by which the Holy Spirit gave you life, opened your eyes to see your
need and captivity, and you cried out unto God. You are the sons of God, because
you are the sons of God. God has sent forth His Spirit
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. You see, because you
were sons, God sent forth His Spirit unto you. And the manifestation
that we are sons of God is this. We were captives, but now we're
free. Free from what? Free from the
law. Free from the law, free from the law, happy condition.
Jesus has bled and there's remission. Free from sin. That's why you're
free from the law. You're free from the penalty
of sin. The guilt of sin. Isn't that something? God has
justified you, therefore you are justified. Free from the
guilt of sin, having all the guilt of our sin imputed to His
Son and charged to Him, God poured out His wrath on Christ our Savior. Sin is paid for. And so the price
was paid long before you experienced it, but grace came, and the providence
of God worked all things together, and He has now set you free,
and you are free from the power of sin. Sin no longer reigns
in you. Sin abides in you, but it does
not reign in you. Why? Because sin is the cause
of every evil in this world. Sin is the cause of death, and
especially the death of my Savior. And we loathe the very sight
of it. It does not have the power it
once had. And one day you shall be free
from the very presence of sin. This is our hope, isn't it? This
is our confidence that God is still moving in providence to
keep us in Christ. To keep us in Christ. So then,
are you a son? Has this work been accomplished
in you? The next thing is this, you'll
be a witness of His. Look at this in verse 14, Thus
saith the Lord, The labor of Egypt and the merchandise of
Ethiopia and of Sabaeans, men of stature, shall come over to
thee, and they shall be thine. They shall come after thee in
chains, they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto
thee, and shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God
is in thee, and there is none else, there is no God." What
does God do but reveal His Son in us? And all the world comes around
in their chains, and they cannot help but say, God is in thee. Surely God is in thee. To make
such a change in such a sinner, God would have to be in you. And so then we are His witnesses.
We are His witnesses. Verily thou art God, that hidest
thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed
and confounded, all of them. They shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols." In other words, when men of the
world see Christ in us, you know what they do? They mimic it.
They desire to mimic what you have. You have righteousness. What
do they do? They desire to mimic your righteousness. You have
hope in His blood. They desire to mimic His offering. They make idols. They say, God
is too hard to be known. He cannot be known. They can't
be known to them. And what does God say? They shall
go and be confounded. What about you, son? What about
you, son of God? You who have the work of the
Spirit wrought in you. Verse 17, but Israel. shall be saved. And where is their salvation? In the Lord. And what's the duration of it? With an everlasting salvation,
you shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end." Believer, what is God doing? Right now, what is God doing? You can bet this, He is working
all of these things, evil and good, working everything to save Israel. So you can see it in anything.
You can see it in everything. So you're not confounded. You're
not confused. I know you get confused. It's
because you take your eye off the purpose of God. You're missing
the purpose. God is doing all things. to bring you to himself. Whatever he's doing, it's best. Would you dare do it another
way? I know the flesh would, but he must be killed. He must
be killed. Let God be true Every man, including
this one, be a liar if he's against God. Isn't that comforting? So he says this, look unto me,
all you ends of the earth, and be ye saved. Why? For I'm God
and there is not another one. There is no salvation anywhere
else. God saved. I pray that God would
open your hearts today and cause you to believe on His Son, to
surrender everything for Him. Why? Because He's working all
things for your salvation. And God bless this to you. Stay
and be dismissed in prayer.