Would you want to follow along
please turn to Isaiah chapter 45? Isaiah chapter 45 And begin reading in verse 17
Of Isaiah 45 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded
world without end. For thus saith the Lord that
created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made
it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is none
else. I have not spoken in secret in
a dark place of the earth. I said not unto the seed of Jacob,
seek ye me in vain. I the Lord speak righteousness. I declare things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come,
draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They
have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image,
and pray to a God that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them
near, yea, let them take counsel together, who hath declared this
from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God else beside me? a just God, and a Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I
am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto
me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear, 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.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall
glory. What I'm going to endeavor to
speak to is that last little bit in verse 21, a just God and
a savior. But I had to read all that before. I have a suspicion that most
people will have no frame of reference for this message today. because most people think they
might know a savior. But I'm gonna tell you this,
most people do not know a just God. They don't know a just God. And
here, God says, I am both. Not just one, I am both. What I mean by that, most religious,
steady, church-going folks will not understand this miracle of
grace and mercy and justice, justice. Some will have no conscious
thought about why I'm preaching this and they'll see no reason
for me preaching this. Because they don't understand
what's the big deal with God being a just God and a savior. Because they don't understand
this is a miracle I started to say biblical proportion. No,
it's everlasting proportions this miracle of grace It's not the Savior concept that
the world doesn't get I said Although they really don't get
the Savior concept They don't get the Savior It's the concept
of a just God that doesn't even enter the minds of most people
Most people can go through their whole lives and they'll never
think of anything having to do with them needing punishment
for sin. They never think of sins as an
act against God, an offense unto a holy God, an attack on a righteous
God. But that's what sin is. They
think God forgives just by wishing it. That's what they believe,
but God says different. Now I'm not gonna use any big
theological terms. I'm just gonna use those four
glorious words of the scripture. Thus saith the Lord. That's all we need. He's told
us more than we can ever understand. and he's told us here what's
going on. Verse 21, tell ye and bring them
near, yea, let them take counsel together, who hath declared this
from ancient time, who hath told it from that time, have not I
the Lord? This is absolutely nothing new,
not even in Isaiah's time. which was hundreds of years ago.
It's absolutely nothing new. But those first two words, tell
ye. You tell them. You tell them. What am I to do? What are you
to do? Tell ye. Tell ye them. Now we're not all preachers,
but we are all witnesses if you know Christ. Will they hear when
you tell them? I don't know. I don't know. And tell them anyway. That's
what he says. He didn't say tell only those
who'll listen, he just says tell them. And who's he talking to? Well,
at the end of, who are we supposed to tell this to? It says at the
end of verse 20, where it says, ye that are escaped of the nations,
they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image
and pray unto a God that cannot save. Understand, we've got a
message for sinners. Now God has to make the sinner
here, but we have a message. Thus saith the Lord. Now let's be clear. See, if people
wanna say, oh, this is the Old Testament, they were worshiping
a graven image. We know that's wrong. We know that's wrong. Some of them had a golden statue. Dagon, whoever. That's not all. And that's not
the only God who can't save. Because I'll tell you this right
now. It doesn't matter whether you pray to an isle of wood or
if you pray to a God who has done all he can do and now it's
up to you. You're praying to a God who can't
save. That's exactly what you're doing. Because you're just admitting
it when you say that, that he's done all he can do and now it's
up to you. You just said he can't save. Because now it's up to you. You
understand? People are so depraved, they
don't even understand the logic of their own statements. The true message of Arminianism,
of free will, is that God didn't do enough. That's what it comes
down to. The Bible never speaks that way. Not ever, not in one place. What did he say? Verse 17, but
Israel shall be saved. But he didn't just stop there.
He said they're gonna be saved in the Lord. In the Lord. With an everlasting salvation. And you shall not be ashamed
nor confounded. What, world without end. World
without end. Guess what, that's what everlasting
means. It's not gonna end, it's not gonna end. Who has declared
that all Israel shall be saved? The Lord. And who is to tell them? We are,
we are. We let all who know the Lord
praise his holy name. Sing his songs, tell of his love
for his son and for his people. Oh, by the way, that's the same
love. It's the same love. Ah, I like
that. Read his word, speak your testimony,
and praise his holy name. Praise this one who is what?
The Lord, a just God, and a Savior. Thus saith the Lord, I am a just
God, and a Savior. and a savior. This is the part
the world doesn't get. This is the part that the religious
world may pay lip service to, but they don't really believe
that God is just. How dare I say something like
that? Well, I said it because Christ said it. And Christ said
it, quoting Isaiah 29. In verse 13, I was gonna read
that. This people honoreth me. 28, sorry about that. Wherefore, the Lord said, for
as much as this people draw near me with their mouth and with
their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from
me. far from me, and their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of men. You understand, Christ told
them, you care more and believe more in your own traditions than
you do God, than you do the Christ of God, than you do the Messiah
of God. In Mark 7, 6, he put it this
way, he said, well, in Isaiah's prophesied of you, hypocrites
fakers as It is written the people this people honoreth me with
their lips, but their heart is far from me Because the natural
man will honor his traditions over thus saith the Lord every
time You understand that was one of
the things I found out about the Catholic Church I You know
why the Catholic Church is not that concerned with this book?
It's because that's not all they have. They have the writings
of the fathers, as they call it. They have the traditions
of the church. Listen, if your tradition's not
here, your tradition belongs nowhere. And that's the truth
of God. A just God, here spoken, means
a righteous God, a holy God. He is light. God is light. He's not the light, although
he is, he says God is light. You understand? It's not like
he's a bulb and there it is. No, he's the light. What does
that mean? Well, it means that in him, there
is absolutely no darkness at all. At all. No darkness. So what am I driving
at? It means that in him is absolutely
no sin. It means that in the presence
of God, no sin is acceptable. So lots of people think, well,
God will just overlook that. I had a man one time told me,
well, he didn't tell me. He told a friend of mine, and
the friend of mine talked to him, talked to me. He said, because
this gentleman espoused some religious beliefs. He went to
church regularly. Now he drove all the way to Christiansburg
so he could go to a bigger church, but he went to church religiously.
And I mean that in the worst possible moment, worst possible
way. He says, what in the world do
you think God's gonna say to you? My friend asked him this.
When you go up there and you've been doing all this blind, being
a salesman, and that's It's what he did, folks. I mean, I'm not
making this stuff up. And this is what my friend asked him about
it. And he said, oh, God won't mind,
that's just business. And that's the way people think.
You understand? And it may not be that they think,
oh, it's just business. They may think, oh, well, everybody's
human. Yes, we are. But that's not an
excuse. That's the problem. We are human. We are fallen, depraved creatures. You understand? We were so bad,
we got kicked out of the Garden of Eden and deserve to be kicked out
of the Garden of Eden. Matter of fact, we asked for
it. He told our mother and father Eve what not to do, so guess
what they did? They did what he told them not
to do. They sin. But in the presence of God, there
is no sin that is acceptable. And it never has been acceptable. And it never will be acceptable. Because he is a just God. He is of purer eyes than to behold
evil. He is a just God. says in the
scriptures that the Lord cannot look upon iniquity. He is a just God. He will in
no wise acquit the wicked. He's a just God. He will never
clear the guilty. And here it is, folks. He's a
just God. The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. That's how bad, and it doesn't
say sins a lot. Sins really bad, Walter. No,
just the soul that sins. Paul tells us, if you offend
in one point, you're guilty of all. And trust me, folks, we've
offended in more than one point. I'm reminded there's 10 commandments,
guess what? I break every one every day.
I don't like it, I don't want to, but I know what I am. Yes, everybody is human. Everybody
is human. And if you think you keep the
10 commandments, you're fooling yourself. Or somebody else is
fooling you. Might be deceived. He's a just God and he said he
will punish sin. And what does that mean? That
means he will punish sin. I'll go this far. He must. He must punish sin. Why? He's just. He's a just God. The penalty is death. and a just
God will enforce that penalty or he'll be unjust. You understand? See, that's what
the world doesn't understand. By their thinking that God can
just wish away sins for no particular reason or just ignore some, they're
making God, they're saying God's unjust. You understand? I mean, this is an affront to
the holiness of God that we will have right all around us in churches
innumerable today. They will proclaim, without saying
it, that God is unjust. Don't you worry about it. Don't
you worry about it. No, no, he's the just God. Because
here's one of those stubborn statements, Walter. God is either
absolutely just, or he's not. Or he's not. And I'm going to
tell you this, God is just. Whether we know it or not, God's
just. Whether we like it or not, God
is just. Whether we want it or not, God
is just. You understand? Just because
you may not like what God does, that doesn't make God unjust.
That usually just means that you're ungrateful. Because he is just. Everything
he has done, is doing, and shall do, is right. It is righteous, it is righteousness,
however you wanna say it. Because we're the ones with the
problem, not God. Because we are unjust. How unjust are we? We are so
unjust. So corrupt. It takes the grace
and the power of God to even get an inkling of recognizing
that God is just. I never cared before. It never
entered my mind before to even think about whether or not God
was just, Walter. It didn't make any sense to me.
Why would I concern myself with that? And here lately, I can't
get away from it. about Mason over there mulling
on stuff. I'm usually mulling on something, pondering, confused. He's just whether we know it
or not. He's just whether we like it or not. He's just whether
we recognize it or not. And he's just whether we care
or not. Because he's just. He is just. Period. Put it there right now. He said
it. I am a just God. A just God. But thanks be to God that's not
all he is. He says I am a just God and. Now that and is that conjunction.
That's not a theological term, that's an English grammar. It's
gonna tie these two things together. I am a just God and a savior. You know, I'm not a just God,
but I'm a Savior. No. He's both at the same time. He's both at the same time. The
one who cannot look upon my sins is my Savior. He's my Savior. The one who said the soul that
sins shall surely die. He's my Savior. He's the Savior. How is this possible? How can
the Lord who hates sin, who must punish sin, how can he be my
savior? Well, there's only one way. And
that's the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus Christ, the righteous. He told us in his gospel. He
told us in his gospel. But before I go to this, I'm
gonna point this out. If you take a look here, just
for a minute, in verse 17 of Isaiah 45, but Israel shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end. Israel's gonna be saved. And I agree with John Gill was
saying this. That's the Israel of God. You
understand? Verse 25, in the Lord shall all
the seed of Israel be what? Justified, guess what? That's
the Israel of God. Talking about the seed, and the
seed's Christ. But anyhow, verse 18, thus saith
the Lord that created the heavens, God himself formed the earth
and made it, hath established it, and he created it not in
vain, he formed it to be inhabited. Who is that talking? Well, ladies
and gentlemen, that is Jesus Christ. Because you can look
in Colossians chapter 1 and 16 and 17, he says, guess what?
Nothing was made except that he made it. Jesus Christ, Paul
writing, everything that was made, the heavens, the earth,
under the earth. All humans, all people, everything
that was made was made by Christ. That's who's speaking here, and
guess what? He keeps on going and says, Jesus
Christ is the just God and the Savior. Now, you wanna see a
just God and a Savior together? Let's go to Mark chapter 15 for
two verses. Mark chapter 15, beginning in
verse 33. And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lamak sabothanai,
which is being interpreted, my God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Where will you find a just God
and a savior? You will find him at Calvary.
You will find him on the cross. You understand what Paul told
these people? Was it Corinth? I've determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. You know what Paul was also saying?
I've determined to know nothing among you except a just God and
a savior. Because that's Christ crucified.
Here you find sin punished in a perfect substitute. Here we
see the perfect sacrifice of God himself. We see our kinsman
redeemer suffering willingly the justice of God. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. God manifest in the flesh with
no sin of his own, bearing the sins of his people. God being forsaken by God. God the Father forsaking God
the Son. Martin Luther pondered this. And it's said that he spent a
few hours looking at this scripture, looking at it, and looking at
it, and saying it over again, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? And I don't know how long he
looked at it. But Luther came to a conclusion. He said, no
man can know how God could forsake God. And I agree. I don't know
how he could do it. Bless God that he did. Thank
God that he did. I don't know how he could do
it, but bless God, praise his name, I know why he did it. That's what I like. Oh, I'm telling
you, oh, you can repeat it again and again. Right here in his
death upon the tree, I can tell you why God forsook God. He did
it because he made him to be sin. Who knew no sin? And I did
not say, folks, that he made Jesus Christ a sinner, because
I don't believe that. But he made him to be sin. Yes,
our sins were laid upon him, and he bore our sins in his body
on the tree. And guess what, folks? Justice
demanded that he be forsaken. Justice demanded, a just God
demanded that he die for those sins. There were none of his
own, but he did die. Sin was punished in the Son of
God on a tree 2,000 some years ago. He hung on a cross as a criminal. He died the death of the malefactor. I like that word, I like to say
malefactor. That's what it means, a criminal. He died between two
thieves. took one of them to glory with
him. But he died between two things. He was numbered with
the transgressors. Guess who wrote that? Isaiah
did. Yeah, he was numbered with the
transgressors. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And what? By his stripes ye are
healed. You know what that is? That's
a just God and a savior. And it says here, and also in
Isaiah, and the Lord has seen the travail of what? His soul. His soul. Not mine,
his soul. But guess what? and is satisfied. Satisfied. Who's satisfied? A just God is satisfied. Ah, what's that mean? If you're
in him, you don't owe a thing. You owe nothing! Because he either
paid it all, there's one of them stubborn statements, Jesus Christ
either paid it all or he didn't. And I'll tell you this for free,
without shedding of blood there is no remission. And if it's
not his blood, yours ain't gonna do you no good. All those sins that were laid
on Jesus Christ, those sins that he bore in his body on the tree,
all that God made him to be sin of the sin and sins of all of
his people are gone. They are absolutely gone because
a just God is satisfied. You understand? He cried, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And you know what? If you're
in Christ, you will never ever have to say that. You will never
say that. Why? Because he did. He did. That's a just God and a Savior.
A just God and a Savior has reconciled us to himself. He's reconciled
us to God. See, this is the thing. You can
either have one or you can have both, a just God and a Savior. But you don't get to pick the
one you get. Do you understand? You're either gonna be dealing
with a just God, or you're gonna be dealing with a just God and
a savior. Because here's the thing. If God never decided to
choose and save a people, guess what? He's still a just God.
He always was a just God. He'll always be a just God. But
to some, He is a just God and a Savior. Oh, I like that, I
do. Because this is the covenant
between the Father and the Son and the Spirit, right here. A
just God and a Savior. This was the plan all along.
Isaiah's writing this hundreds of years before Christ came.
It was prophesied in the garden before we got kicked out. You sin, you're on your way out,
but before that, I'm gonna clothe you in skins. Now, I know it
doesn't say that, but somewhere, somehow, blood was shed to get
those skins. Somehow, somewhere, Adam found
out about offering sacrifices to God. It just doesn't tell
us, folks. And Cain and Abel knew about it, and Abel blew
it off. Why? Because he didn't think he was
dealing with a just God and a savior. He was just dealing with a just
God. And he found out. This is the covenant between
the Father and the Son and the Spirit. Here it is. Romans three and
verse 26. Well, let me read 25 first, because
I love it. whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, Jesus Christ, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the, what? Forbearance of God. Now, Jesus
Christ bore them. He's not forbearing with us on
our own account. He's forbearing with us on Christ's
account. through the forbearance of God,
here, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness. Because a just God is a righteous
God. That he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You understand? Just and justifier. What's that
mean? That's a just God and a savior.
That's what that is, folks. A just God and a savior. He's
just and the justifier. How? Through the blood of Jesus
Christ. Through the blood of his son. But it does say this, of him
which believes in Jesus. Understand, if you don't believe
Christ, you got no reason to think you're dealing with anybody
other than a just God. If you don't believe Christ,
you got no reason to think you are justified. And that's what
the scriptures say. I mean, you can talk about the
elect, and I believe the elect, wholeheartedly. But you understand,
it's him which believeth in Jesus. He'll bring you to it. But if
you don't believe him, don't worry about the election, worry
about knowing a just God and a savior. Look here at verse 22, because
God had a little more to say. I am a just God and a Savior,
and there is what? None beside me. So what are we
supposed to do? Look unto me. I'm gonna say it
this way, look to Christ. Look, that's who's talking here.
That's who's talking. See, people got this, I wanna
say stupid idea, but it's a silly idea, okay, I'll be nice. People
have this silly idea. In the Old Testament, that's
God, that's the mean one, Walter. And in the New Testament, that's
Jesus and he's sweet and meek and mild. They don't read nothing. They don't read a thing. because
you read the gospels and you won't ever see a meek and mild
Jesus that way. Not a wimp. You'll see him, he
looked some folks in the eye and told them, you're your father
the devil. And guess what? He was a liar
from the beginning and you're a liar now and his works you're
gonna do. I don't want him to talk to me
that way. But he did talk that way to people.
This is Christ here. Look unto Christ. What? And be
ye saved. All the ends of the earth. For
I am God and there is none else. Ah. I know it says a just God and
a Savior, but I'm gonna say it this way. The just God and the
Savior. The only Savior, the only God. He said, there's none beside
me. You understand, I told you a
little bit of Colossians 1, 16 and 17. All things were made
by him. All things were made by him and
for him and by him. All things, what? Consist. You understand? The most relevant
thing that most people think about is the heavens and the
earth and under the earth and people and animals and stars
and suns and planets. But here's one other thing. He
made all things and not anything was made without him. It's his
salvation. He made that salvation, a just
God and a savior made that salvation. And by him does his salvation
consist. And that's why he says, Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You know why? Because by him,
his salvation consists. And only by him. Our salvation
was made by him and there is none else. Last thing, last verse. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. That word justified right
there in verse 25 is the verb form of verse 21, a just God. You understand? The same thing. We have the justification, the
righteousness of a just God and a savior. We have the righteousness
of Christ. That's what that means. Just as if I never sinned. Well that's part, but it ain't
all. Because it's just as if I'd done
everything right. Not only did I not sin in God's
sight, I've done everything right in God's sight. Why? Because
he's a just God and a savior. He's the just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. I'm not righteous in me, but
in Christ, I am perfectly, completely holy, just like God said I was
gonna be. Be ye holy, for I am holy. Now thank God he wasn't telling
me to be holy. He said, no, you're going to
be holy in my son. You're going to be holy in a
just God and a savior. And thanks be to his holy name. The world thinks this is just
crazy Jesus stuff. The religious world thinks it's
no big deal. But I know this. A just God and
a savior. tells me that God is love. He loved us and gave himself
for us. A just God and a savior did that.
You understand, Jesus Christ didn't become manifest in the
flesh. I started to write this down
and I marked it out. Jesus came into the world manifest
in the flesh. He came a just God and I put
to become our Savior. And I marked it out because it's
wrong. He didn't come to become our Savior, he's always been
our Savior. Understand, he was as a lamb
which had been slain from before the foundation of the world.
Isaiah's writing it here, you know, hundreds of years before
Christ. He didn't come to become our Savior, he came because he
was our Savior. Our eternal, the eternal son
is our eternal just God and savior. And thanks be to his holy name.
He chose to save his people from their sins and he did it. And he fully satisfied. Why? Because he is a just God
and a savior. And all I can say about that
is amen. Father, thank you for this time, this place. Oh, but Lord, most of all for
your son. I wish I could preach him the
way he should be preached. I wish I could extol his virtues, his blessings, his gifts, his
work, the way it should be. Thank you, Lord. for what you've
given us, the knowledge of your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your word. In Christ's name we pray, amen.