Now I want you to turn back to
Isaiah chapter 45 tonight. Before we leave Isaiah 45 and
get into chapter 46, I wanted to say a few more words in these
last few verses here. As the Lord has revealed his
sovereign providence in delivering Israel from the captivity that
they were going to later on experience in Babylon, how the Lord in his
power and his wisdom and his goodness toward these people,
would deliver them through the means that he had appointed,
a heathen king named Cyrus. And how the whole purpose and
mystery of providence is revealed right there, that God determined
to keep these people together, even in their captivity, even
under their Gentile domination, his people Israel, he determined
to keep them together because he had purpose to save a people
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation by sending
the Messiah through that nation. When Christ came, he came of
the Jews. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. Humanly speaking, he himself
was a Jew. But he was more than human. He
was the God-man. He is the God-man. And the very
reason that God held these people together against all of their
sin and rebellion and unbelief was to accomplish his purpose
to save his people from their sins. That's related here in
verse 8 of chapter 45. Drop down, ye heavens, from above,
and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, and let them
bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it. Now, there is an application
of that verse to Cyrus delivering the children of Israel out of
Babylon. But the thing about it is, Cyrus was totally incapable
of saving any sinner from sin eternally. That task would be
left to one much, much greater than Cyrus. That's speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who was sent down from heaven, and yet
who sprang out of the earth in his humanity. As God-man, he
established the only righteousness by which the Lord could be just
to justify the ungodly. And so as he goes on, he speaks
of our Savior. He says in verse 11, Thus saith
the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, his Maker. He goes on, he says
in verse 13, I have raised him up in righteousness. Just like
God raised up Cyrus to do his bidding, his righteous bidding,
his just bidding, he raised up his only begotten Son through
the Virgin Mary, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by
the Holy Spirit and raised him up. directed his ways. He said,
I will direct all his ways. He shall build my city. You remember
Cyrus, God put it in his heart to send the people back to Jerusalem
to rebuild the city and rebuild the temple. Well, Christ was
sent of God to build the church. Remember when he told his disciples,
he's in Matthew 16, as it's recorded, he said upon this rock, I will
build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it. And it's not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of Hosts."
I think that has a twofold application. In other words, there was no
payment given as far as us, as we are concerned, that came from
us. In other words, God has no salvation
for sinners that's based upon the payment or reward given by
the sinner. It totally comes from God. It's
all out of his goodness, out of his mercy. And he says this
is the Lord of Hosts speaking. And then he begins to mention
several countries, Ethiopia, Egypt, the Sabaeans. He's speaking
of his Godhead, his sovereign rule over all the earth. He's
not just the God of Israel. He is the God of Israel. And
that identifies him. But that's not where his domain
ends. God's domain does not end with
geographical borders, or racial borders. He's the God of this
world. And so he mentions Israel here.
He says in verse 16, look at this. Or verse 15, he says, Verily
thou art a God that hidest thyself. That's speaking of God's hiding
himself in the revelation of his character to the Gentiles
for so many years. And he says, O God of Israel,
the Savior, Verse 16, they shall be ashamed and also confounded,
all of them, they shall go to confusion together that are makers
of idols, but Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting
salvation. Now, I've entitled tonight's
message this, All the Seed of Israel. When I preach from this
passage up here in verse 17, the title was Israel shall be
saved. Now, who is Israel? And that's
what I mainly want to deal with tonight. Who is this Israel?
Well, we see here it's Israel who shall be saved, they shall
be saved. In other words, whoever this
Israel is, whatever persons make up this nation Israel, whatever
kind of nation it is, one thing we're sure of, they shall be
saved. They're not going to perish eternally. They will not be confused and
confounded. And then it says Israel shall
be saved in the Lord. That means their salvation is
of the Lord and not of themselves. They're going to be the recipients
of a salvation that they don't deserve and they cannot earn.
It is totally out of God's free, sovereign mercy and goodness
that this Israel is going to be saved. So wherever you find
anyone who persists in their lives unto death, of trying to
earn God's salvation, earn salvation from God, then you can know,
well, that's not a citizen of this Israel. And then it says,
Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. This is an eternal salvation.
This is not just a temporary salvation. If you go back and
look at the physical nation of Abraham, sometimes they were
safe and secure within their land and within their borders,
and then other times they were invaded, they were taken captivity,
they were scattered. And so you couldn't say that
any deliverance that God gave them, physically speaking, was
an everlasting salvation. And they lasted until the time
of Reformation, until the time that the Messiah came. And then
in A.D. 70, the whole nation was destroyed
and dispersed. So whatever salvation he's talking
about here for this particular Israel, it's an everlasting salvation. It will not end. It's stated
that way in other passages, world without end. This is not a temporary
thing. It's not a physical thing. And
then look at verse 17. He says, You shall not be ashamed,
nor confounded, world without end. In other words, they're
never going to be ashamed or confused. Now, you know, the
Bible teaches that whosoever believeth not on the Lord Jesus
Christ shall be ashamed. So another thing we know about
this Israel is they're going to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. What God does here is he begins to identify this Israel,
and he does it this way, and this is the wisdom of God. He
does it by first identifying himself. You see, our identification
as the chosen of God, as the redeemed of the Lord, as the
regenerated, the born-again people, our identification as the Church
can only be determined as we are identified with the God who
saves. Not who tries to save, but who
does save. And so he begins to identify
himself as distinguished from idols. There are those who worship
idols, and then there are those who worship the true and living
God. And so how does God distinguish himself? Well, look at verse
20 again. He says, "...assemble yourselves and come, draw near
together you that are escaped of the nations." Now, that tells
you something else about this Israel. They don't just blend
in with the world. They are escaped of the nations.
They've escaped this world. Now, how'd they do that? Well,
we know it's by the grace of God. God brings them out. And that's what the Lord told
his disciples. I've brought you out of the world. You're in the
world, but you're not of the world. I've overcome the world,
he said. And he says, they have no knowledge that set up the
wood of their graven image and pray unto a God that cannot save.
I'm going to tell you something. If you're praying to a God that
cannot save, you're praying to an idol. And this God that is
being preached today who will save you only if you will let
Him, that is exactly how you can describe Him. He is a God
who cannot save. Any God who cannot save unless
you let Him save is an idol. Isn't that right? Our God not only can, but He
does say, and He says in verse 21, "...tell ye, and bring them
near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this
from ancient times?" This is no new message. This is no new
idea. This is no passing fancy or philosophical
notion that has its day and is going to come and go away. This
has been told from ancient times. Who hath told it from that time?
And he says, Have not I the Lord? Now, none of these idols have
ever said this. They've never spoken words like this. They
can't tell you this. The gospel message of salvation
by God's grace in Christ is older than this world. Isn't that right? It's an everlasting covenant
of grace. And the moment Adam fell, when
the Lord was pronouncing the curse upon the serpent in Revelation,
by the way, he'd already given the gospel in time, because I
believe the creation of the world is a type of the gospel. But he gave it out expressively
in the promise of the woman's seed, Genesis 3.15. Now, who
declared that? None of these idols that they've
got to carve out and mold out and pick up and carry and put
them where they want them. They didn't declare that. But who
did it? He says, have not I the Lord?
And there is no God else beside me. Verse 21, a just God and
a Savior. There's none beside me. Now look
unto me, look unto me, a just God and a Savior. Have you ever
looked to a just God and a Savior? You say, well, I can see God's
just, but I don't see how he can be both a just God and a
Savior. Well, you've never looked to a just God and a Savior then.
He's both. And that's what I dealt with
last time. He's a just God and a Savior. And this is the heart
of the gospel now. This is the God that this Israel
who shall be saved everlastingly, world without end, is going to
come to. My question to myself and you, have we come to Him?
Have we looked unto Him? Look unto me and be ye saved.
And who's to look? All the ends of the earth. Not
just the Jews, not just the Gentiles, but any sinner. who needs salvation,
any sinner who needs Christ. That's who's to look. And that's
the heart of the gospel. That's why Christ came into the
world, assumed human nature without sin, and died as the sinner's
substitute. And this is how he died. Mercy
and truth are met together. If you want to know how God can
be both a just God and a Savior, that's Psalm 85 tells us. Mercy and truth are met together. In other words, in order to show
mercy to a sinner like me, God doesn't have to lie. He can be
totally truthful, totally honest, and totally just, and still save
a sinner like me in mercy. How can he do that? In the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how mercy and truth are
met together. Righteousness and peace, it says
in Psalm 89, have kissed each other. Where did that happen?
That happened at Calvary, didn't it? And all of God's people before
the cross and after the cross were justified based on that
one act that Christ performed in time. Mercy and truth kissing
each other, righteousness and peace. Mercy and truth, iniquity
is purged, you see. And it all happened at Calvary.
And that's why Paul, the apostle, said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, upon
the basis of his finished work, upon the basis of satisfied justice
through the blood of Christ, grace is proclaimed to sinners.
Now, God can say in verse 22, He can command, look unto me.
and be ye saved." He didn't say, look unto me and I'm going to
make a stab at it. He doesn't say, look unto me
and I'm going to try to save you. He didn't say, look unto
me or I may or may not save you. He didn't say, look unto me and
if you'll do what you're supposed to do, I'll save you. He says,
look unto me and be ye saved. Now, you know what salvation
is here? Looking unto Him. It's not trying to establish
a righteousness of your own. It's not trying to earn your
way into His favor. It's looking unto Him who is
both a just God and a Savior. And how are you going to look
unto Him as a just God? You look to Christ on the cross,
satisfying God's justice, the crucified, resurrected Lord Jesus
Christ. And so he says here, look unto
me. This is the message that God
declared from the beginning. The gospel has not changed, and
it never will. God's way of salvation has not
changed, and it never will. This is the way God justified
his people in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Just
think about when Adam sinned, he was cast out of the garden.
You know why? Because God is just. He must punish sin. But Adam went forth with a promise,
and it was the promise of a Redeemer, wearing the garments of an innocent
substitute, a sacrifice, because God slew an animal, shed blood,
and clothed Adam and Eve with coats of skin. What is that showing? That's a picture. That's a type
of how God can be just and justify the ungodly. You see, God is
our Savior. The world was destroyed by a
flood because why? God is just. But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord and was saved in the ark that God had
provided. You know why? Because he's a
Savior too. God's a Savior too. That ark
represented Christ. who took the full impact of the
wrath of God in that flood, just like that ark did. But everybody
who was in the ark, you know what? They were safe. And that's
the same way it is with everyone who's in Christ. We're safe from
the wrath of God. It does not abide on all who
are in the ark, Christ Jesus. God destroyed Sodom in the fires
of his wrath because he's just. But he delivered Lot from the
city of destruction. Why? Because God is also a Savior. How can that be? It's on the
basis of the promised sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
law was given from Mount Sinai. It thundered forth and the lightning
and the thick darkness came with it, showing condemnation because
God is just. But you know what? There's a
tabernacle given. There's a mercy seat. covered
with the blood of atonement. Why? Because God is a Savior,
too. And that's the message of the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the Christ of God. Look unto me and be ye saved,
he says. And when he was made sin for us, and the wrath of
God fell upon his Son, because he's just, yet by that very act,
his people, his Israel, is saved with an everlasting salvation.
He's a Savior. That law was a schoolmaster to
lead sinners unto Christ. So he says, look unto me. Look
unto who? A just God and a Savior. Look
unto who? Look unto Christ. Don't look
to yourself. Don't even look within yourself to find a reason
for God to save you. I'm preparing a message for Sunday
on examine yourselves on that kind of faith. Well, we are to
examine ourselves, but that doesn't mean you're to look to yourself
for salvation. That doesn't mean you're to look within yourself
to find a reason. Don't look to yourself. Don't
look within yourself. Look unto Christ and Him crucified. Look to His blood and His righteousness. Don't look to the law. The law
can only condemn the best sinner. Do not look to your works, for
by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified. Don't look to your
church or your religion. All that can do is make you two-fold
more the child of hell than those who led you in there are. Don't
look to your heritage or your pedigree. That means nothing. Listen, if you want to look to
your heritage and your pedigree, just trace it all the way back
to Adam. And forget everybody else in
between. And what does that say? We've all sinned and come short
in the glory of God. Don't even look to your faith.
Because if you have faith, God-given faith, what are you looking to?
Who are you looking to? You're looking to Christ. Don't
look in your own heart. The heart can deceive you. Look
to Christ. He'll never deceive you. That's
right. He says, look unto me and be
ye saved. He's not speaking deceptively here. You remember back there,
he made the statement, he said, He said, I said not unto the
seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain. God never commanded or
invited or offered anybody to seek him in vain. Somebody said, well, I don't
know if my heart's right with God. My friend, your heart's
not right with God. Look to Christ. That's why you
need salvation. Only God can make your heart
right before Him. Isn't that right? Look to Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. John wrote, he said, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up. What is he talking about? The
cross. That all for whom He died, all who come to Him might be
saved. Look unto Christ on that cross, satisfying the justice
of God. Now, who may look to Christ and
be saved? Who does he say here? All the
ends of the earth. Not just one class of people. Not just one
family. Not just one nation, but all
the ends of the earth. And look at verse 23 of Isaiah
45. He says, now listen to this,
he says, 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, every tongue shall swear. God swears an oath here.
You remember Paul wrote about that in Hebrews chapter 6 about
God swearing an oath to Abraham. Now what is that talking about?
God has engaged everything that He is, every attribute of His
nature behind keeping this promise. I'm telling you that all who
seek the Lord shall find Him. They shall be saved. All who
look unto Him shall be saved. Why? Because He swore an oath.
He engaged Himself behind keeping that promise. If God would fail
to save any sinner who is looking unto Him, Truly looking unto
him as he reveals himself now, then he'd have a whole lot more
to lose than we would. He'd lose his glory. And here's
what he says here, he says, that unto me every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall swear it. You, listen to me, you know
what? You will bow to Christ. Everybody outside this building
is eventually going to bow to Christ. Now here's the question. Will you bow right now under
His mercy and His grace, looking unto Him as a just God and a
Savior? Or will you bow under His judgment against your sins?
Because every knee is going to bow. Look unto Him now. Now is the day of salvation. Don't wait. And then look at
verse 24. Now, here's the difference. He
says, Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. Even to him shall men come, and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed." Here's
another verse of Scripture that divides the whole world up into
two classes of people. There are those who look unto
God, the saved, who say, in the Lord have I righteousness and
strength. I don't have any righteousness
in myself. I don't have any strength in
myself. But in the Lord, in God who is both a just God and a
Savior, in Christ, I have righteousness and I have strength." Now, all
others who are incensed against him, which means they believe
not, they're going to be ashamed. Now, you remember back over in
verse 17, he says, Israel shall be saved. You shall not be ashamed. So who is this Israel? They are
all those who say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. is built on nothing less than
Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. Well, now, aren't you a Jew? Somebody might say, well,
yes, he's a Jew. But I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. Haven't you worked hard to be
a good person? Somebody might say, well, I think
I've worked hard most of the time. But I dare not trust the
sweetest frame. I wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking."
That's Israel. "...who shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation." Everybody else is going to be
ashamed. I don't care if they're a Jew or a Gentile or whatever. Who
are they? All who are justified. All the
seed of Israel. Look at verse 25. "...in the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, be declared not
guilty." Now think about that. Think about God, the judge of
all, looking at you and saying, not guilty. Can you imagine such
a thing? I can't even imagine such a thing
except in one way, as I stand in Christ. That's it. In the Lord. Not in myself. O Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? David cried, Blessed be the man
to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. I need someone to take
my place, take my sins, and die the death that I deserve and
have earned. And that's what Christ did on the cross. So in
the Lord shall all the seed of Israel, not just one part of
it, not just the Pharisees or the Sadducees, no, all the seed
of Israel. That's talking about God's chosen
people. That's talking about His church. And you know how
you know? Because they're going to be justified.
They're going to be declared not guilty. They're going to
be declared righteous in God's sight. How? In the Lord, in Christ. And then they're going to glory
in Him. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. Now, this cannot be talking about
national, physical Israel. Now, let me just give you some
scripture. I'm going to read it to you, and you write them
down. If you want to, I'll try to go slow enough that you can.
But it cannot be physical Israel. He has to be talking about spiritual
Israel. Now, why? Why? Well, first of
all, many of the Jews, physical nation of Israel, had already
perished in unbelief under the wrath of God. Many of them. You remember when they were brought
out of Egypt? And they wandered in the wilderness, the commentary
upon that nation as the majority. Now, not every individual in
that nation. You see, listen, here's the case. Being a physical Jew, a physical
descendant of Abraham does not damn you forever, nor does it
save you forever. Has nothing to do with it. Do
you understand that? What nation you come from, if
you could trace your lineage right back to Abraham without
any interruptions or any co-mingling with heathen people, that would
not damn you forever, nor would it save you forever. You remember
when Paul was speaking in Philippians chapter 3, and that's one of
the scriptures I'm going to look at here in just a second. He
said, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I've got to be honest with you,
I don't know how he knew that. But he was speaking by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit there. And now what he's saying there
is there's no mixed blood in Saul of Tarsus. He was a full-blooded,
pure-bred Hebrew. He had papers. He came from the kennel, you
know. He wasn't just somebody who stepped off half-breed and
all that. He's saying, well, is there anything
wrong with being a full-blooded Hebrew? No. But I'll tell you
what, if you think that's your salvation or that recommends
you unto God, then it becomes wicked and evil and unbelief. You see, being a full-blooded
Hebrew won't save you. Now, it won't damn you either.
You see, the only thing that matters in the kingdom of God
is how do you stand in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, His
Son? You say, well, I'm a Gentile.
It doesn't matter. In fact, God's no respecter of persons. What
that means is God doesn't even take that into consideration.
Now, men may. You know, men may look at Him
and say, boy, I wish I was born a Jew. It doesn't matter. God's
the one who determined what family you'd be born in. He determined
your habitations. Paul said that in Acts 17. So
whether you're a Jew or a Gentile, you've got nothing to brag about,
you've got nothing to be ashamed of in that. The only thing that
matters in the Kingdom of God is where do you stand in relation
to His Son. What think ye of Christ? That's
it. So these Hebrew children, most
of them perished in unbelief the book of Hebrews chapter.
They wouldn't enter into the rest. But they had already perished
under the wrath of God. Now, John 3, verse 18, listen
to this. Book of John, this is after he's
speaking to a Jew named Nicodemus. And he said, "...he that believeth
on him is not condemned." What's he saying there? He said, anyone
who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, truly believes, and we'll
put it this way in light of our context here, anyone who looks
unto God, a just God and a Savior, who looks to Christ, is not condemned. Well, what if he's a Jew? Doesn't
matter. If he believes on Christ, he's not condemned. What if he's
a Gentile? Doesn't matter. If he believes
on Christ, he's not condemned. That's the Israel who shall be
saved. He's a citizen of a spiritual
kingdom, a spiritual nation. He's a spiritual child of Abraham,
I'll show you that in a minute. But he goes on in John 3.18,
he says, But he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
So if you believe not, it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile,
you're condemned already. Verse 36, John 3.36, He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not
the sun shall not see light, but the wrath of God abideth
on him." I believe that's talking about those who die in unbelief. They persist in it all their
lives, and they die in unbelief. And when a person believes, what
does that say? It doesn't say he earned everlasting
life. It means he has it. In other
words, the evidence that he has the life given to him by God
is that he believes. You see the difference? Romans
chapter 1 and verse 16 most of y'all can quote that I Won't
ask you to try I've got it written down up here Romans 1 16, you
know, what is Paul said for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew
first Now that's talking about time Christ himself was a Jew
and The gospel began to be preached in Judea, so it came to the Jew
first, and also to the Gentile. To the Gentile. It's to everyone
that believeth. And he says, for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed. What does that mean? In the gospel,
it's revealed how God can be both a just God and a Savior.
How? Through His righteousness. Where
do we find that? In the person and work of Christ.
You say it? For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, for as it is written,
the just shall live by faith. The justified. Romans chapter 2 and verse 28.
Listen to this one. He says, for he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh. Verse 29, but he is a Jew. which
is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God." Now, what's he teaching there? He's teaching about the
new birth here. And back over in Deuteronomy,
Moses spoke to the children of Israel about the same thing.
The circumcision of the flesh, the physical circumcision that
the male children in the Jewish nation went through on the eighth
day according to the law, that was no salvation for them. That was a sign of that physical
covenant, that they were part of that nation and part of that
covenant. But it was a type, that physical circumcision was
a type of something greater and something better and something
eternal. And it wasn't baptism. You know, so many people, that's
why they baptize babies, because they say, well, the physical
children of Abraham, the males, were circumcised. No, no, no.
Here's what it typified. It typified that which is of
the heart. Circumcision of the heart. What
is that? That's the new birth. That's the new birth. Who is
this Israel, then? Those who are circumcised in
heart. They've been convinced of sin.
and know their deservedness of eternal death and punishment,
and they've been driven to Christ for relief, for salvation, for
hope. Have you been physically circumcised?
Do you look to Him whom to know is life eternal? Look unto me
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. That's what it's
talking about. So who is this Israel? All who are circumcised
in heart and ears. Romans chapter 9 and verse 6,
listen to this one. Now what Paul's doing there,
and I'm not quoting these just as proof text now. You go back
and read the context. I've preached on every one of
these in context, verse by verse. In Romans 9, 6, what he's doing,
he's answering a question. God promised to save Israel.
Is that not right? He sure did. I'm reading it right
here in Isaiah 45 and verse 17. Israel shall be saved. Paul quoted
it in Romans chapter 11, and he said it this way. He said,
all Israel shall be saved. So now did God promise to save
Israel? And the answer is yes, but now if you look at the physical
descendants of Abraham, the majority of that nation rejected Christ. So what's the problem? Did God,
did He just, was He just fooling around? He said He was going
to do it, but He really didn't, didn't mean it. Did God fail
to keep His promise? Was not God able to keep His
promise? Is God going to bring them all
back and give them a second chance? I heard a preacher say that.
Is that what's going on? Nothing in this Word about that.
Well, here's how Paul answers it. Now, this is by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. Romans 9 and verse 6. Listen
to this. Mark this down and look at it yourself. He says, not
as though the Word of God hath taken none effect. It's not as
though God's promise wasn't effectual. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel." Strange language, isn't it? Well, listen
to what he says, verse 7, "...neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children." What's he saying there? He's
saying just because they're children of Abraham by physical birth
does not mean they are children of God. He says, but in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. Now, you remember the story of
Isaac, Abraham and Sarah's child by promise in their old age.
He was the child of promise. And what the point that he's
making about Isaac is Isaac was the child of promise. Ishmael
was the child of the flesh. The Messiah was to come through
the child of promise. He's talking about Christ here.
Not just Isaac personally. But he says, in Isaac shall thy
seed be called, the one seed who is Christ, the seed of woman,
and then all the seed which springs from him, the seed of Israel.
And so he says in verse 8, that is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. Now, did you
hear that? They that are the children of
the flesh, These are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed." Now, he says here
in verse 25 of Isaiah 45, he says, he says, "...in the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified." And then he says
over here in Romans 9 and verse 8, "...the children of the promise
are counted for the seed." Now, who are the children of the promise?
Tell you exactly who it is. Anybody who believes the promise
is a child of the promise. Well, what's the promise? Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I
am God. There's none else. Look to Christ. Whosoever believeth
on him shall be saved. There's the promise. Look to
Christ. Galatians 3, verse 26. He says,
For you are all the children of God. Now, who's he talking
about here? Jew and Gentile. by faith in
Christ Jesus. Who are the children of God?
Those who believe in Christ Jesus, who rest in him. Verse 27, for
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
You've been placed into Christ. You've been united to Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek. Did you hear that? In Christ,
there's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and
heirs according to the promise. And then Paul writes in Galatians
6, 14, But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and
I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature, a new creation.
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them,
and mercy, and upon who? The Israel of God. Paul wrote
in Philippians 3.3, he says, for we are the circumcision,
which worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh. That's the all Israel, all the
seed of Israel, right here, justified before God, not by natural birth,
not by circumcision, not by keeping the law of Moses. You see, if
this text promises that, then it contradicts the whole gospel.
The whole realm of salvation. No, justified by the blood and
the righteousness of Christ. And the new birth has nothing
to do with our natural birth. If being a Jew had anything to
do with salvation, why would Christ look at a Jewish man named
Nicodemus and say, you must be born again or you cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven? Why wouldn't he say, well, you're
a Jew, you're all right. You're already there, partner. Maybe
I can get in too. He says you must be born again.
Salvation is free to all who look to Christ, Jew and Gentile. And don't fail, don't wait another
moment to look unto Him.