Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of
Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, chapter 45. Isaiah 45. And the title of the message
is taken from verse 17, which reads, shall be saved in the Lord with
an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor
confounded, world without end. Now the title of the message
is Israel shall be saved. Israel shall be saved. And the
prophet here, Isaiah, in this passage, is prophesying of the
providence of God to take this nation Israel and use it for
his glory mainly in bringing Christ through this nation, Christ
into the world through this nation. Christ in his humanity. Now we
understand the person of Christ as revealed in the Bible. He is both God and man in one
person. God, very God, the second person
of the Godhead, the Son of God who has no beginning and no end.
His deity, you could say this one person with two natures,
a nature of deity and a nature of humanity, yet without sin. And so his deity was not created,
had no beginning and no end. But his humanity was created
for him in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. And
he was not born of man, but he was born of the Spirit, his humanity
now, body and soul, created in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
And so, he united his deity with his humanity. and became the
Word made flesh to dwell among us. John, the apostle John, wrote
about that in John 1 and verse 14. The Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. Isaiah
prophesied of it. In Isaiah chapter 9 and verse
6, he said, Unto us a child is born. That's the sinless humanity
of Christ. and unto us a son is given. That's the deity of Christ. You
see, the son was not born. He had no birth. in his deity. But as God-man, deity united
with his humanity, he had a birth. And that's what people celebrate
on what they call Christmas. We don't know what day it was,
and I don't believe it was December 25th, but whatever, that's not
material to the message that I'm preaching today. But what
he's talking about here is Israel's special task, that God had chosen
them for, Israel the earthly nation. And he says, he tells
them that he's going to provide for them and keep them together.
And I don't wanna get into all of this because I've already
preached on it several times, but especially the tribe of Judah. Now you know there were 12 tribes,
actually 13, because the tribe of Joseph was split into two,
his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And one of the tribes, the sons
of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, one of them was Judah. And Judah was the royal tribe,
the kingly tribe, from whom David came, King David, And that's
the tribe that the humanity of Christ came through, the tribe
of Judah. The Bible says in Romans chapter
1 that he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. And that's the Messiah. You remember
when Jacob was on his deathbed in Genesis chapter 49, when he
prophesied to his sons, and each one he had certain things to
say. When it came to Judah, he said, the scepter, that's the
king's scepter, The rod of ruling, sovereignty, the rule of righteousness,
the scepter of righteousness, shall not depart from Judah until
Shiloh come. And I believe that Shiloh is
a derivative of the Hebrew word for peace. The Messiah was going
to bring peace, not between nations on earth, but peace between God
and sinners. God and His people. The elect
of God. So, Isaiah prophesies of that. He even starts this chapter in
Isaiah 45. Listen to it in verse 1. 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. Now, what is that talking about? I've told you before, Isaiah
prophesied about 700 years before Christ actually came into the
world. And it was about 100 years or so before the tribe of Judah,
the southern kingdom of Judah, was conquered and taken into
captivity by the Babylonian empire. Now, Isaiah lived under a time,
the northern kingdom, you remember the kingdom was split, Israel
was split into the northern kingdom, consisting of 10 tribes, and
the southern kingdom, the two tribes, mainly Judah, and that's
why it was called Judah, the northern kingdom was called Israel.
Well, the Assyrian Empire was coming to destroy the Northern
Kingdom and scatter those people throughout the known world. And
Isaiah prophesied of that. And he said, the judgment of
God is coming because you've disobeyed God. You've turned
your back on the Lord God. See, they were under a conditional
covenant, a Palestinian covenant, a covenant with Moses, Sinai,
and they lost their position. But the southern kingdom was
kept intact, even though they went into captivity. And Isaiah
is prophesying of a king named Cyrus, who was of the Medo-Persian
empire. And it was through him, this
heathen, idolatrous king now, that God would bring to free
Judah from Babylon 100 years later. And when he says here,
he says, I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the
two leaved gates. That's the two leaved gates of
Babylon. And he said he was gonna open
them and nobody's gonna shut them. In other words, his people
are going free. So you see, a lot of this right here is prophecy
that applies to the physical nation of Judah in their captivity
and coming out of captivity. Well, why is God keeping, Judah,
we also see, they were going into captivity under the judgment
of God, too, because they disobeyed God. They disobeyed his law. And so he took them into captivity. Well, Isaiah shows them this,
and this is important. And if you miss this, you miss
the prophecies. You miss the real reason that
it's put there. He tells the people that even
though you've disobeyed God and even though you're going to be
punished, there is hope for sinners, but it's not in the physical
nation of Israel. It's not in the physical temple.
It's not in the law covenant of Sinai, the 10 commandments,
the ceremonial law. It's in the promise that God
made to Abraham. and a promise that God made from
the beginning to send the Messiah, the anointed one, Jesus Christ,
who he became, into the world to save his people from their
sins. And how would he do it? He would
do it by taking their place under the law, the justice of the law,
the wrath of God, having their sins charged to his account,
and He would die on the cross to satisfy the justice of God. He is the propitiation, the Bible
says, for the sins of His people. And that's what that means, a
justifying righteousness. And in that, God would be enabled
to be both a just God and a Savior to save His people from their
sins. But now there's another point to be made. The people
whom the Messiah would save eternally, And that's what he's talking
about in verse 17. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord, not temporarily. And he's not talking about the
physical nation Israel on earth, because listen to me, that nation
was destroyed, and Jerusalem's gonna be destroyed, the whole
earth is gonna be burned up at the second coming of Christ.
He's talking about spiritual Israel. Because the Messiah has
a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
He has a people, chosen people, and elect people out of the Jewish
nation. And He has an elect people, a
chosen people to redeem out of the Gentile nations. And this
was stated from the beginning in the covenant that God made
with Abraham back in Genesis chapter 12. He said through Abraham,
all families of the earth will be blessed. All nations will
be blessed. Well, how in the world can all
families and all nations be blessed through Abraham? There were many
nations and families that were destroyed. He's talking about
God's chosen people, chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, given to Christ, their names were written in the
Lamb's Book of Life, and they consist of all kinds of people,
not all without exception now, but all without distinction.
And that's why under the new covenant, the Apostle Paul especially
made it clear that in Christ, in salvation by the grace of
God, based upon his blood and righteousness alone, there is
no distinction of nations, of cultures, of race or creed. There's
neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, for we
who are saved, evidenced by our believing in Christ, believing
the gospel, We who are saved are all equal members of the
kingdom and nation of spiritual Israel. And when he says, Israel
shall be saved in the Lord, in other words, their salvation
is not by their works of the law, but their salvation is by
the work of the Lord, that's Christ. You see, that's what
grace is all about. Grace doesn't, salvation doesn't
come to a sinner by their works, by their wills or their decisions. You know, people today, they
believe in what I call, what some call decisional regeneration. You make a decision for Christ
and then you're born again, but that is not biblical. The Bible
teaches that if left to ourselves, without the sovereign, invincible
work of the Spirit of God in the new birth, we will not make
a decision for Christ. We will stand in opposition to
Christ. But all who believe in Him are
members of a spiritual nation. called spiritual Israel. You
know the name Israel is an interesting word. That's the name that God
gave to Jacob. Jacob was the name of his humanness,
his sinfulness, supplanter, cheater. But God changed his name to Israel. You remember that back in Genesis
when he wrestled with the angel, which was a pre-incarnate visitation
of Christ. And he changed his name to Israel.
What does the word Israel mean? It means those who have prevailed
with God. Now think about that. Prevailed
with God? What do you mean? Jacob wrestled
with the angel and he wouldn't let him go until he received
the blessing. He prevailed with God. Now it wasn't because of
his works. It's because God had determined
before the world began to save Jacob. Paul dealt with that in
Romans chapter nine when he talked about Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated. That the God's sovereign purpose
and election might stand. God made the difference. Jacob
didn't. Jacob was a sinner. He was a
conniver. He was a cheater. He didn't deserve
God's love, he didn't deserve God's grace, neither do you,
neither do I. In fact, if you look at Jacob
and Esau, if you look at their lives, Esau, according to human
morality and assessment ethics, Esau was a better man than Jacob.
But God had determined, God said, I'll have mercy on whom I will.
I'll be gracious to whom I will. He said, therefore, it's not
of him that runneth, nor of him that willeth, but of God that
showeth mercy. Now you're commanded and I'm
commanded to seek the Lord. But the Bible tells us that none
of us will seek the Lord of our own wills. that have left to
ourselves, we won't seek the Lord. But you're commanded to
do it, and if you do, what you find out from the scriptures
is that God sought you long before you sought Him. And that's the
power of God. We live in this world. And we're
responsible for the revealed commands of God, not for the
secret will of God. Somebody asked me one time, who
did God choose before the foundation of the world? I'll tell you exactly
who He chose. He chose every sinner who's ever
lived who is brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead
works. If you live your whole life in
unbelief and die in your sins, I can tell you right now, God
didn't choose you before the foundation of the world, but
He chose the people and they're called the elect. Over in the
book of Romans chapter 11, Paul deals with this and he's talking
to Gentiles who had become a little puffed up. a little proud, because
God saved them. And the majority of the physical
nation of Israel rejected Christ. God didn't save them. And so
some of these Gentile believers were thinking, well, there's
no possibility for salvation for any physical Jew. And that
nation was so instrumental in the death of Christ, but so were
Gentiles. You know, all of us by nature
stand against Christ, whether we're Jew or Gentile. So we need
to understand that if we're saved, oh my soul, it's something we
didn't deserve and didn't earn that if God ever gave me or you
or any of us, Jew or Gentile, what we deserve or what we've
earned, it would be death and hell. And so when Paul talks
about this to the Gentiles, listen to what he says in Romans chapter
11. He says in verse one, I say then,
hath God cast away his people? because the majority of the Jewish
nation, Israel, rejected Christ. And you know, back in the Old
Testament, they were called the elect, the chosen. Well, they
were in a temporary ceremonial sense, not in an eternal sense.
You see, the elect of God, the chosen of God, who are saved
eternally, they're the elect of God in an eternal sense, and
they will be saved. And he says that. That's why
he says, Israel shall be saved in the Lord. They're gonna be
saved by grace through the righteousness of Christ. They're gonna hear
the gospel and believe it. So because the majority of the
Israelites, the Jews, rejected Christ and perished in unbelief,
does that mean God has cast away his people that he chose? Paul
writes in verse one, God forbid, for I am an Israelite. Paul was
a physical Israelite. of the seed of Abraham physically,
of the tribe of Benjamin physically. But he says in verse two, now
look at it, Romans 11 two, God hath not cast away his people
which he foreknew. Now God foreknew them, that means
he foreordained them. That doesn't mean that God looked
down through a telescope of time and foresaw who would do the
right thing. as some preachers say. God foreknew
them. That means he foreloved them.
This knowledge that God has is an intimate knowledge that brings
to salvation through Christ. So he says in verse two, God
hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Those who
were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, whose
names were written in the land's book of life, God has not cast
them away. They're going to be saved. And
he says in verse two, what, W-O-T, that means no. Know you not what
the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
talking about the nation Israel, physical, and dig down thine
altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. And here's
God's answer, verse four, but what saith the answer of God
unto him? I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not
bowed the knee to the image of Baal. The majority of the nation,
Israel, at that time, when Elijah was a prophet, were in idolatry. And the prophet Elijah thought
he was the only one that was saved. And he prayed to God,
just bring your judgment on Israel. But God answered. He said, no,
Elijah, I've got 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
There's 7,000 people. Now, is that a literal 7,000
or symbolic? I don't know, doesn't matter.
But I know what he says. He says it's a small remnant
of people out of the nation Israel. Look at verse five. Even so then
at this present time, Paul's talking about his present time.
Also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Paul's
telling these Gentile believers in Rome that God still has a
people chosen before the foundation of the world whom he intends
to save in that physical nation of Israel. They're gonna be saved. He still has an elect remnant.
You know what a remnant is? It's a small part. That's not
all Jews without exception and all Israel at the physical nation.
And he says, in verse six, he says, and if by grace, then it's
no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. Now look at verse seven. This
is important. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for. The physical nation Israel didn't
obtain what they were seeking for. Well, what were they seeking
for? Well, Paul wrote about it over
in Romans chapter nine, beginning at verse 30. Israel, the physical
nation, sought after righteousness by works of the law, and they
didn't make it. No sinner can be saved, can be
forgiven, can be justified, declared righteous in God's sight by works
of the law. You can try to be the best you
can be. You can try to be the most sincere
that you can be. But if you seek salvation, If
you seek righteousness, right relationship with God, by keeping
the law, you will not make it. And that's why Paul went on to
say that they have a zeal of God, they're religious people,
but they are ignorant of God's righteousness, God's justice,
and going about to establish a righteousness of their own,
and they have not attained it. And then he says in verse four
of Romans 10, for Christ is the end, the fulfillment, the finishing,
the perfection of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth, Jew and Gentile. But look at verse seven, what
then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but
the election hath obtained it. And the rest were blinded. God's
elect have obtained it. And my friend, every one of God's
elect out of every kindred tongue and nation, they're going to
attain it. And Paul goes on to show Gentiles how we ought to
pray for the salvation of God's people all over this world. We
ought to desire to be used of God to bring about that salvation
because God uses means. And then over in verse 26 of
Romans 11, he makes this statement. He says, and so all Israel shall
be saved. As it is written, there shall
come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away
their sins. That elect remnant included in
the nation of spiritual Israel. They shall all be saved. So go
back to our text now, Isaiah 45 and verse 17. But Israel shall
be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Not a
temporary salvation. Not a ceremonial salvation. Not
a conditional salvation. You see, the covenant that God
made with the nation, the Hebrews, And that's what they were called
before Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and they were formed
as a nation. And you see, that was before
Moses. Before then they were called Hebrews, sons of Eber. And that's what they were called.
But he says, under that old covenant that God made with the nation
on Mount Sinai, You see, that covenant with that nation, now
they're being delivered from Egypt through Moses and being
brought together as a nation and given the promised land,
that was not conditioned on them. That was based on an unconditional
promise given to Abraham 400 and some years before Sinai. But their prosperity, And their
keeping possession of the land was conditioned on their obedience,
and they failed. And that's why the law was given,
to show them their sinfulness and drive them to Christ, to
look to God for His grace. And that was temporary, and it's
gone, it's over. You see, salvation is not according
to the terms of a covenant, an agreement, that's conditioned
on you and me. If it were, it would fail. Because
we're sinners. God requires perfect righteousness. And we don't have it in ourselves
or by our works. We cannot attain it by our works. You say, well, I'll repent. Well,
that's okay. But all the repentance in the
world will not make you righteous. But it's by his grace through
the righteousness of Christ. And he says here, you shall not
be ashamed nor confounded world without end. And that's an everlasting
salvation. That's a salvation that'll never
end. It's eternal because it's all
conditioned on Christ. He fulfilled the conditions and
he saves and keeps and glorifies his people from their sins. Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.