The book of Isaiah, chapter 45. My title this morning is, Look
Unto Me and Be Ye Saved. It's a simple statement recorded
here in Isaiah the prophet, by Isaiah the prophet, in verse
22. Our Lord says, look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and
there is none else. Now before we get into the primary
text, there are some important words to be considered prior
to this command, and that's exactly what this is. This is a command. He says, look unto me. and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there
is none else." If you will look in your Bible at verse 17 of
chapter 22, you'll read this. But Israel shall be saved with
an everlasting salvation. Who is this Israel? Who is this Israel that shall
be saved that he's speaking of here? Our Lord says, Israel shall
be saved with an everlasting love. In another passage of Scripture,
it says, all Israel shall be saved. Well, who is this Israel? Have you ever wondered about
that? The first time Israel is recorded in the Bible, the first
time that name ever is mentioned is in Genesis 32, 28, where Jacob
is wrestling with the Lord. You may recall the story. He
wrestled with an angel of the Lord, and that angel of the Lord
was none other than Christ Himself. It's a picture of you and I before
the Lord came to us, wrestling with the one who is the Savior,
the one who is God Almighty, saying, I will not have that
one to rule over me. Before the Lord departed from
that very experience with Jacob, He asked Jacob, what is your
name? Jacob replied, my name is Jacob. And then the Lord said,
your name shall no more be Jacob, but your name shall be Israel,
which means a prince of God. That's the first time the word
Israel is recorded in the Word of God. After that, the word
Israel is used more than 2,500 times in the Bible. Now the word
Israel refers to the nation Israel, It's a typical of that nation.
It's a nation of Jews beginning with Abraham. And when the word
Israel is used most times in the Bible, it is used as a literal
application referring to the people. In Israel's spiritual application,
as it is used here in Isaiah, And as it is used in the New
Testament when it says, all Israel shall be saved, it is a spiritual
and figurative application of the word. And it always refers
to all of the true believers. When it says that, it's talking
about all of those who Christ died for on the cross. If Christ
died for your sins, if you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, if
He has loved you before a star ever twinkled in the sky, Before
time ever began, you're Israel. He says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. That's the exact same thing where
it says in 17, but Israel shall be saved. Not maybe, not might
be, not possibly if they do something, but shall be saved. I don't know
about you folks, but that's a great, great, Comfort to this man's
heart. All Israel shall be saved. And
it refers to all true believers in Christ. Israel, in the Word
of God, spiritually speaking, is the true people of God. I
can show you that, and I want you to listen to the Word of
God. Turn to Romans 9. Hold your place here in Isaiah, because
we're coming back. Turn over to Romans chapter 9 if you would. In verses 6-8 the scripture says,
They are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Or in other words,
everybody that is descended from Abraham is not of Israel. We're
talking about the spiritual sense here. They which are the children
of the flesh are not the children of God. That's what we used to
think we were. We used to think we were the
children of the flesh. In Ephesians chapter 2 verses
2 and 3 and 4, I believe it is, the Lord talks about that very
thing. We walked in the flesh, according to the flesh, as children
of disobedience. A man is not a child of God simply
because he is a descendant of Abraham, or from anybody else
for that matter, but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed, it says. When we talk about Israel, naturally
speaking, and literally speaking, Paul is saying these are not
all Israel that are of Israel, but the Israel is the true seed.
The children of the promise. The children of faith. Whosoever believeth in me." Whosoever
has faith in me is what that's saying. That's what faith is.
It's to believe. Believe with your heart and your
soul that Jesus Christ is God Almighty in the flesh. To believe
that He and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God.
Three distinct persons, yet one God. And to believe that with
all your heart is the gift of God Himself, is it not? Children of the faith. Look at
the 27th verse of Romans chapter 9. Though a number of the children
of Israel, that is the natural seed of Abraham and natural Israel,
though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the
sea, only a remnant, only a small part, You know what a remnant
is? It's that little strip of cloth
that's on the bottom of the garment there, kind of like these pants
that are folded up right here at the edge. If you look at the
pants in total, there's a lot of cloth there, but the remnant
is just that small little piece around the bottom edge. Where was I? Though the number
of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only
a remnant shall be saved. Only a small part of them are
the true spiritual children of God. In the second chapter of
Romans, we read this. He is not a Jew, speaking of
an Israelite, which is one outwardly. In other words, one that was
by natural birth or by descendants of Abraham. He is a Jew, an Israelite,
which is one inwardly. Circumcision is not in the flesh.
It is of the heart. The spiritual Israel is those
who have a new heart. The old heart that we were born
with has to be cut away, removed completely out of us, and we
must be given a new heart. It's called the new birth. It's
called being born again. That's how we become children. We spoke about that in our Bible
study this morning, To be a Christian, you must become
as one of these little children, as we read in Matthew. Every time the word Israel is
used in the Bible in reference to those redeemed people, as
it says, all Israel shall be saved, and all Israel shall be
saved with an everlasting salvation, it's referring to the children
of God. Whether they are Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male
or female, They are the children of Abraham by faith. Not by being
natural descendants of Abraham, but by faith. In Galatians 3.7
it says, they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. I am a child of Abraham. Because I believe God. And I
believe Christ. And that faith was given to me
as a gift from Him. It's not something I earned by
walking down to the front of a church. It's not something
that I just decided I was going to start doing. I'm tired of
doing all those foolish things that I've been doing in the world,
getting into trouble, chasing this, going there. I'm going
to start getting smarter. I'm going to go to church on Sunday
and start following the Lord. That's not what happened at all. God gave me faith to believe
in His Son. And if you have faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, it's given to you by Him. He says, there is neither Jew
nor Greek, nor bond nor free, nor male or female, but all are
one in Christ. So all Israel shall be saved
with an everlasting salvation. That's what verse 17 is telling
us in chapter 45 of Isaiah. You can go back there now if
you'd like. And the promise that He gives
in that very thing, that they shall be saved, it's not an idle
promise. It's not a maybe. It's not a
possibility. It's not something that He has
done and He's waiting for you to do something to add to it.
It's a promise made. A promise by God. And the true and living God,
when He says something, can it be anything else? No. If it could be, then he wouldn't
be deserving of being called God, would he? That's what the
world around us is teaching us. The world around us is teaching
us that God's done this and done that, but he's left it up to
somebody else to finish it up for him. Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. Israel, in the Word of God, is
made up of every true believer. And to everyone listening to
my voice, it doesn't matter if you are from this country. You
know, this goes to Canada. We have two people in Canada
who have requested our tapes and CDs. I don't know who they
are. Never met them. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord takes the word, and
He takes it out to where He wants it to. It doesn't matter what
country you're from. It doesn't matter what nationality
or your ancestry is. If you are Israel, if you are
like Abraham, if you believe God, He says, there is neither
Jew nor Greek nor bond nor free nor male nor female, but all
are in Christ, so all Israel shall be saved. The promise is not idle. Every
true believer, every true seed of Abraham, every true Israelite,
Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female, shall be saved. In
Isaiah 45, 18, he says, Thus saith the Lord that created the
heavens. To back up exactly what he just
said about shall be saved, to give power to what he just said
about shall be saved, he says, I am the Lord, and there is none
else. He declares that openly, doesn't
He? Pretty clear about that, huh? Does anybody have any questions?
No. He's the Lord. He's God Almighty,
Creator of everything that is. He can do what He promised. It's
easy, because He promised it and everything goes exactly the
way He wants it to. There are no chances with God. It's not a possibility. It's
set in stone. It will happen exactly the way
He wants it. He said in Isaiah 46, My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. I have spoken it.
I will bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will do
it. That's the kind of God I like.
Because I can count on it when He says, All Israel shall be
saved. If I am Israel, I am saved. I
will spend eternity with my Lord in heaven, because He has done
the work, and He said it shall be done, and it will be done.
When He declares in Isaiah 45 verse 17, all Israel shall be
saved, with an everlasting salvation, all true believers in Christ
shall certainly be heirs of that promise. And the reason that
is true is because the Lord willed it. And the Lord purposed it.
And God Almighty said it would come to pass. That's a diamond of God we can
get our hands on and hold on to, isn't it? That's the kind of anchor I want
for my ship that's getting blown around in the seas of the world.
One that holds on to Jesus. A solid rock. They said to David, where is
your God? Where's your God now? Look what's
happening to you, David. Where is your God? We know where our God is, they
said. They said, ours are idols which are made with our own hands.
Where is your God? And David said this. He said,
our God is in the heaven. He hath done whatsoever He pleased
in heaven and in earth, the seas and all the deep places. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased that He did, that's a God. That's an assurance of this promise. God said, all of Israel shall
be saved with an everlasting salvation because the Lord had
spoken it. He says, I, the Lord, have willed it. I, the Lord,
have purposed it. Besides me, there is none else.
In the 19th verse of chapter 45 of Isaiah, he says, I have
not spoken this in secret. He has not spoken of it in dark
places over in the corner. Our Lord was very clear about
what He is and who He is and what He has done. Jacob have
I loved. Esau have I hated. How much more
clear can you be about that? People want to take that and
make all kinds of different interpretations of it. That's fine. Let them
do it. They're lost. If God be willing, He'll come
to them and remove them from that very thing that we used
to walk in. He says, I have not spoken this
in secret. This is no secret work that God has done. Paul
said this to the king. This was not done in a corner,
meaning not done in darkness, not done in secret, not done
in private. It was done openly. God's promises
and God's purpose in salvation and redemption is for all to
see. The whole world knows that they're sinners. Even those who say, I've never
sinned, know that they're sinners. They go and worship something.
Well, why do people worship anything? Because they know they've sinned.
They do it to appease the gods, the imaginary gods. The Incas
slaughtered their children to appease their gods. They knew
they were sinners. We're no better, folks. We slaughter
our children to appease our own desires. Now watch throughout the Word
of God how it declares that there is no secret work. Allow me,
if you would. First, when Adam was the only
man who stood on this earth, when the whole human race was
in his loins, God said to Adam, the seed of woman. Did you catch that? This is God's
Word. The seed of woman, before she was even made from His rib,
shall bruise the serpent's head. Our Lord was very clear, wasn't
He? In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. It was just God and Adam at that
time. There was no secret about it. When there was one family, Adam
and his wife and sons and his daughters and whomever else,
the boys, the two boys by the name of Cain and Abel went out
to offer a sacrifice. Cain brought the fruits of the
field and the works of his own hands, but Abel brought the lamb. God had respect to the lamb. Cain knew it. It wasn't a secret. God was very plain. I have respect
to the Lamb. And Cain was jealous and slew
his brother for it. There was no secret. The whole
world watched as the Ark in preparation for 120 years. Look at that crazy
old guy building whatever that is he's building. They saw that Ark, which was
a picture of Christ, which was a type of the Lord Jesus. And
they watched as those who were in the ark dwelled safely when
the rains came. All who were in the ark were
delivered from the judgment and the wrath of God, and all who
were outside of the ark perished. That is a picture of Christ and
His gospel. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not on the Son of God shall never
see life. The whole world at that time
saw what happened. Egypt witnessed the death of
the firstborn. Egypt was the most powerful nation
on Earth at that time. More powerful than probably even
the United States is in today's world. And God demonstrated his redemptive
purpose, his redemptive work, and his redemptive will. And
Jesus Christ was right there in the most powerful capital
of the whole world, and He did this for all men to see. The
deliverance of Israel was before everybody. Even those who couldn't see the
Egyptian army go out into the sea, they knew they never came
back. How many sons of women, they sat there and never came
back, and the woman goes, what happened to my children? Where
did my sons go? Well, they were buried in the
ocean out there when they followed Israel into it. Well, how could
that be? The walls of water stood straight
up. What a miracle. And the whole
world knew it. All Israel shall be saved with
an everlasting salvation because the Lord had purposed it. He is not doing it in some corner
He has spoken it. He willed it, and He will bring
it to pass. It is no secret. The world is
going to see how God saves sinners and through whom He saved them,
and they will know who He is. He showed them that when they
put the blood on the doorpost, He said, at midnight I will pass
through where there is no blood. The firstborn of every home will
perish. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you." That took place that night, and the whole world
witnessed it. Jesus Christ did not come secretly
into this world. God hung a star over His birthplace
for all to see. He sent angels down here to the
hillsides to announce the coming of the Lord Jesus. He said, I
didn't do this in secret. The gospel of God's mercy and
grace through Jesus Christ is preached everywhere in the whole
world. There's not a single language
that we know of out there that does not have some sort of scriptures
to know who Jesus is. God said, I did not do this in
secret. Look at verse 19. He says, I didn't say to Israel,
seek Me in vain. You see, God's people don't seek
Him in vain. I, the Lord, speak righteousness.
I declare the things that are right. Folks, this is the redemptive
work. That's what Christ is talking
about here. It is declared and it is the very expression of
the heart of God, the mind of God, and the counsel of God,
and it is the will of God that all of Israel shall be saved And the work of Jesus Christ
in the Egyptian is not only known, but it is the righteous work.
It's perfect in every way. The work of Christ honors the
law. Unlike those of us around us who forget to put a dot in
an I, or cross a T somewhere, and then somebody will come up
and hold that against you later. Our Lord Jesus Christ dotted
everything, crossed everything, and did everything perfect. He
was perfect in every way. He's God in the flesh. He could
be no less. God doesn't save men by hook
or crook. He doesn't save men by, you know,
sneaking them in. Maybe if you do this and convince
a man of that and, you know, Whatever you might think of.
If you'll just give to this. No. God saves men by the righteous
work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I am a righteous
God. I speak righteousness. He said,
I declare things that are right. Our Lord saves men by honoring
His law and satisfying His justice on their behalf in the person
of His dear Son. The work of redemption through
Jesus Christ is not only known, His work of redemption is a righteous
work, a God-honoring work, a law-honoring work, and satisfying work where
justice is concerned. The work of Jesus Christ is sure,
and it's a certain work of God. He said, it is finished. It is
finished. Perfectly. It's done. Israel shall be saved. It's not just an invitation.
That's what most churches will try to make it. God's inviting
you to come down and accept Him. No, because if you look next,
you see that there's a warning. He sounds a warning that goes
out. In verse 20, they have no knowledge. They are ignorant
who set up false gods, who worship idols and graven images. They
have no knowledge. They have no knowledge who pray
to a God who cannot save. That's what a God that's waiting
for you to do something is. Isn't it? If you're thinking of a God who's
waiting for you to do something, then He hasn't saved you completely
and it's not finished, is it? The God of Scriptures, the Son
of the Living God, He has done it all, and He's done it all
perfectly for you and I. Israel shall be saved. They pray to a God who cannot
save an impotent God, a God who cannot save as a powerless God,
a God who cannot save as a God who cannot do His own will, who
cannot accomplish His own purpose, and does not deserve to be called
God. The Lord God, in verse 21, again,
He identifies Himself. He keeps saying, I declare to
the end, from the beginning, from ancient times, the things
that are done. Is there any question what that
means? Is it not clear? Is it not open for anybody to
see? It's not a hidden thing. I declare
to the end, from the beginning, He says. He knew who you were
before you were ever going to be who you are. He knew who I was going to be
before a star ever twinkled in the sky. He knows everything. He's God. That's a great thing
to a sinner who needs to be saved. Who is Israel. And Israel shall be saved. Oh,
I love to hear that. The work of redemption through
Christ Jesus is not only known... Wait a minute, I went back too
far. God said, who hath declared this?
Who hath announced this from ancient times? Who hath declared
what shall come to pass? Who can prophesy a cross, Christ
crucified, unless he has the power to erect one and to bring
it to pass? Who can prophesy or foretell
that all Israel shall be saved unless he has the power to save?
Who can declare, my will shall be done, my purpose shall be
accomplished, except a sovereign and almighty God who can accomplish
His will because He is God? He says, known unto God are all
His works from the beginning. Or in other words, that is, the
living God doth God know. Is anything too hard for God? He said, I declare the end from
the beginning, and there is no God besides Me. You know, some foolishly try to defend
all the religions there are out there. Oh, you know, we're all
going towards the same path. It's all leading to that one
we all call Jesus, but there's a different Jesus being preached.
And scriptures declare that there's a different Jesus being preached.
It's the devil dressed in white robes looking like Jesus, but
doesn't have the power thereof. We're not all on the same path. God's people are all on the same
path. Israel is on the same path, because
God has put us on that path. The rest of the world is left
to itself. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. They say all
religions, they're all right. They just live and let live,
preacher. They think that all the cults
and sects and religiouses are all right. They think they're
all going the same place. They're just traveling different
roads. Wait a minute. A man is without understanding
who talks that way. God says, there is no God beside
me. So that Jesus who has no power
that they preach about is not the same God, is it? It's a different
God. He says, I am a just God and
a Savior. A God without perfect holiness
is no God at all. A God without a perfect law and
righteousness is no God at all. A God who is not just and does
not punish sin is no God at all. A God who has no wrath for the
ungodly is no God at all. He says, I am a Savior. I am
a just God and a Savior. In other words, He's saying,
yes, I'm merciful, gracious, I'm a Savior, but I am just and
holy at the same time, a righteous God. Any saving that I do, He
says, must be consistent with my holiness and my justice and
my righteousness. So the Lord declares, He says,
I am a Savior. And that's why all of Israel
shall be saved. The reason is because He is the
Savior. All Israel shall be saved righteously. All Israel shall
be saved in a holy manner, consistent with His justice by the blood
of His precious Son. Our substitute. Our scapegoat. Isn't that wonderful to have a scapegoat? They say, they shall be saved
the only way that a just and righteous God can save, and that
is to honor His own law. To cross every T. To dot every
I. Who is going to do that? Can
you? I can't. I can walk out that
door and stumble in a minute. I could stumble right here before
you. Lord, help me not to. Lord, help me not to when I go
out the door, but I could, and I do. No. His perfect Son honored His law
for us. He was tempted in all points,
yet without sin. God will save in a way that will
satisfy His justice, and that's all there is to it. by the obedience
of Christ in the death of His Son, and in the sinner's room
instead. As we read in Galatians 4, verses
4 and 5, in the fullness of time, when the fullness of time was
come, God sent His Son into the world, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them, born under the law. In verse
19 of Romans 5 we read, By the disobedience of Adam the many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of Christ shall many
be made righteous. God says, I am a just God and
a Savior. In 1 Peter 3.18 we read, Christ
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God. In Romans 5.10 we read, we are
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. In 2 Corinthians
5 we read, He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we
might be made the righteous of God in Him. All Israel shall be saved because
of the righteousness of Christ. His righteousness is imputed
to us. It's going to come to a point
here in just a moment. I want you to think about that. We have no righteousness of our
own. We have to look to something else. Our Lord gives us an illustration. The Lord gives us an illustration
in the book of Numbers. The Jews were murmuring. God
had sent serpents into the camp of Israel. Deadly serpents. And people were dying. That's what sin is. That's what sin is. People die
because of sin. Because we are sin. People were dying and Moses went
to God and he said, Lord help us. Lord, show mercy unto us,
your people." And the Lord said, Moses, make a serpent of brass
in the likeness of the serpents that had bitten the people. Isn't
that interesting? Our God sends serpents into the
camp, and then He says, Moses, make a brazen serpent. Put it on a pole, and then He
commanded the people to look and to live. And many did look. And those
that were bitten and did look, they lived. Notice several things
about the story. First of all, they were not told
to look to Moses, were they? Don't look to me. We talked about
putting people on pedestals. How often in the 20 years that
I've come to this church, I've seen people put the pastor of
this church on a pedestal. only to be broken hearted and
ripped apart when they found out he was just a man, a sinner
saved by grace as you and I are. Don't look to Moses. Don't look
to the preacher. Look to the brazen serpent. You see, our Lord came down here
and was made in the likeness of sin. He was made in the likeness
of what had bitten us. He was made in the likeness of
what was destroying us. He was made in the likeness of
what condemns us. He was our sins. He was made
in the likeness of sin, and He was lifted up on the cross. It
says in Scripture, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in Him hath eternal life. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ
for your salvation. It was just like when the Israelites
were in the wilderness. Scripture says, look to the brazen
serpent. Well, you look to Christ. Not Moses. Not to me. Not to
any priest. Not to any preacher. These people
were not told to help others who were bitten, were they? They
weren't told to look to those who were bitten with their good
works and save them. No. No, that's not what they
were told at all. They were told, look to the serpent. They were
not told to fight the serpents or to clean up after the camp.
You might have thought that they said, well, let's get rid of
all the serpents. Let's get rid of all the sin
here in America, and maybe we'll be saved. No. We're not going to get rid of
sin no matter what we do, no matter who we elect, to sit in
that office or that stupid building. Look to Christ. You want to help
our leaders of our country? Pray for them to look to Christ
and stop looking to themselves or to some leader to help them.
Look to Christ. They were also not told to wear
the image, were they? They weren't told to go make
a brazen image of it and then hang it around their neck and
say, see what I am. I'm a Christian, because I wear
what the Lord told. They were not told to bring an
offering to the servant, were they? No, they weren't told to go to
a room and talk to some counselor about it either, were they? People will tell you, go sit
in the pastor's office and talk to him about the troubles, and
he can help you with this, and he can help you with that. The
thing for you to do if you are a sinner and you need salvation
is to go to the room and talk to the counselor or call on the
phone and they will say, we have counselors standing by to help
you. Folks, they can't help you. They can't even help themselves. Thus saith the Lord, look unto
me and thou shalt be saved. They were not told to pray a
certain prayer. God said this, folks. He says,
I have purposed it. And I didn't do it in a corner.
No, he did it on the cross. Who in the world has not heard
about Jesus Christ and the cross? Even the Muslims admit that there
was a Jesus who hung on the cross. They know all about Him as a
man. They don't know of Him as God,
but they know of Him as a man, don't they? The world has heard
about this one called Jesus who hung on the cross. He was not
done in a corner. It will come to pass, salvation
to Israel. You look to Christ who came in
the flesh and He obeyed God's law. You look to Christ who died
on the cross and put away our sin. You look to Christ who rose
from the dead and ascended to glory. You look to Christ who
sits at the right hand of God right now as our mediator, who
looks down and says, that one's mine. I'm bringing him home. You look to Christ who will come
again to receive you unto Himself. That's where He is, there, and
you may be also. Who should look? Who should look
to Christ? We say this to everybody who
hears this recording, to everybody who the Lord brings into this
building. And we've had some visitors lately,
haven't we? And we've said it in every single message. You
look to Christ. All the ends of the earth. That's what the Word says there,
isn't it? Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth, for I am God, and there is none else. The disciples said it this way,
Well, show us the Father. And Christ said, He that hath
seen Me hath seen the Father. Do you see the Lord Jesus Christ
in Scriptures? Do you see the true and living
God in Scriptures? Then you see the Father. And you see the Father because
you are Israel. And here's a wonderful thing
for you to hear today. All Israel shall be saved. Amen.