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. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. And if you'd like to join us,
join along in your Bibles, read along in your Bibles with the
message today, I'm going to be preaching beginning at Isaiah
chapter 45 in the Old Testament, the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah
45. I'll spend a lot of time there.
I have a couple of messages that I want to bring to you concerning
this subject. Israel shall be saved. Israel shall be saved. And this
is the first message on that. Quite often I'll have people
ask me about the state of the nation Israel today, Palestine
in the Mideast, the country which is an ally of the United States,
which I'm very very glad that the United States is an ally
of Israel. that we support Israel politically,
economically. And they'll ask me about, is
this the fulfillment of scriptural prophecy, Bible prophecy, all
of that, the nation Israel today taking back the land. And often,
quite often, they become disappointed when they hear my answer to this
because there are people today who claim to be Christian, who
base their hope the future upon what's going on in Palestine
today with the nation Israel. And like I said, I'm glad we
are, I'm glad there is a nation Israel. It's the only democracy
that I know of in the Mideast. And I'm glad that we support
that nation politically and economically. Our current president recognizing
Israel as a state. There are enemies of Israel that
border them, that won't even recognize them as a state, a
valid state, and want their existence to be wiped out. And that's totally
wrong. But here's the thing about it.
I support Israel politically, economically, as far as I know
of the goings on of politics and economics. There are probably
a lot that goes on that I don't know. But I don't support Israel
religiously because I'm a Christian. And that means I trust and follow
the Lord Jesus Christ whom religiously Israel rejects, the nation Israel. And whenever you look in the
Bible concerning prophecies of the future of Israel as far as
the New Testament is concerned, the events leading up to the
second coming of Christ, it's not Israel coming back together
as a nation physically, in unbelief, rejecting Christ. It's Israel, spiritual Israel,
coming together under the headship of Christ, in faith in Christ. And that's not to knock modern
day Israel. We're going to be talking, I'm
going to show you in scripture where the Israel that God chose
and saves eternally is spiritual Israel, and I get accused of,
you'll hear this term quite a bit, replacement theology, where people
say that we believe that the church replaced Israel. And that is not, that's a straw
man. And let me give you an example
of what I'm talking about. The church did not replace Israel. Israel, the nation under the
old covenant, was a picture of the church, and the church is
the fulfillment, not the replacement, it's the fulfillment of what
Israel pictured. It's kind of like this. From
Abel on, we see the sacrifice of animals, lambs, for example,
picturing the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, follow
my logic here. Scriptural logic. All through
the Old Testament, you see the sacrifice of lambs, for example. Well, John the Baptist comes
on the scene and he says, Behold the Lamb of God, pointing to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God. Look to the
Lamb of God. Now, did Christ replace all of
those lambs? slain on Jewish altars? No. He is the fulfillment of
what those lambs pictured and prophesied and pointed to. So
no, I don't believe in, I'm not into replacement theology. The
church did not replace Israel. But the church, the true church,
believers, Jew and Gentile, the elect of God, is the fulfillment
of what Israel pictured in their existence as a nation. And that
picture only goes so far because the nation Israel was made up
of rebels, unbelievers mainly. Now don't get me wrong, that's
no reason for us to think highly of ourselves. Somebody might
say, well, if I'd have been there, I would have acted differently.
No, you wouldn't have. The nation Israel is like a microcosm,
a picture of fallen humanity apart from the grace of God.
But we're gonna look at this. Let's look at Isaiah chapter
45. The prophets prophesied truth to the people, to the nation.
And here we have Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem. Some say that he was a member
of the royal family, which may have been so. But he prophesied
in Judah, in Jerusalem. He prophesied around the temple
and all of that. And he is speaking here of the
impending judgment of God coming upon Israel. And he says, look
at verse 15 of Isaiah 45. He says, verily thou art a God
that hidest thyself, 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. Now, idolatry was a big problem
amongst the Jewish people. They were, on a whole, the nation
were made up of unbelievers, rebels, idolaters. There were
a few believers In fact, Isaiah spoke of that back over in Isaiah
chapter one when he opened his prophecy, showing the sin and
depravity of Israel. And again, now let me caution
you, that's a picture of the sin and depravity of all of us
by nature, even America. America is not a Christian nation. I know there are certain principles
laid out in the Bible upon which our country was founded. But it was not Christianity,
the gospel. But here's what Isaiah said in
the opening of his prophecy, Isaiah chapter one, verse nine.
He says, except the Lord of hosts, and that's a way of referring
to God as the Lord of a great army. What that refers to is
the invincibility of God. He cannot be defeated. And he
says, except the Lord of hosts, had left unto us a very small
remnant." Now, you know what a remnant is. Go to the carpet
store and ask them to sell you a remnant. They're not gonna
sell you a whole room full of carpet, are they? They're gonna
sell you a little piece of a carpet. And that's what a remnant is
in Israel, or in Judah here. A small group of people, except
the Lord of hosts, had left unto us a very small remnant. We should have been as Sodom,
and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Now you know about
Sodom and Gomorrah, don't you? Everyone in those cities were
wiped out except those who came out. And even Lot's wife looked
back, you remember that. And so he says in verse 10 of
Isaiah 1, hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom, give
ear under the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. Now,
who's he talking about? He's talking to Israel, to Judah,
and he's calling them Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, their problem
in the pervading sinfulness of Israel and Judah was not homosexuality,
as it was in Sodom and Gomorrah, but it was spiritual fornication,
spiritual adultery, as they left the true and living God to worship
their idols. And so Isaiah is prophesying,
God's gonna judge you for this. You say God, back over in Isaiah
45, a God who hides himself, Why is he hidden? Because of
the darkness of our own natural thinking, our own natural minds. But here's what he says. He speaks
of judgment. If you look at the beginning
of Isaiah 45, he even prophesies of a heathen king named Cyrus
who's going to come much later and deliver Israel out of the
Babylonian captivity. And so he's saying here this,
God's gonna bring judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem for their
sins. Later on, Jeremiah, he's gonna
prophesy this and tell them that you're gonna go into captivity
for 70 years. In other words, God's gonna punish
you. But there's also a message of hope here. And that's where
I wanna get to. Look at verse 17. Now God's gonna punish you, but
verse 17 says, but Israel shall be saved in the Lord, now listen
to this, with an everlasting salvation, you shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end. Now that's a great prophecy,
isn't it? That's positive. Israel shall
be saved, Israel. Now you know the northern kingdom
at this time, which was called Israel, was being destroyed by
the Assyrian Empire and scattered. But Isaiah is prophesying in
Judah, the southern kingdom, but he goes back to Israel. That
was the name God gave to Jacob, you remember? Jacob, the sinner. He became Israel because of God's
grace in saving him through Christ, as prophesied. The name Israel,
what does it mean? It means those who have prevailed
with God. Now how can a sinner like me
or like you or like these prevail with God? Only as we look to
Christ and plead Christ and plead His blood as the complete payment
for all our sins. To plead His righteousness imputed
as our complete justification before God. That's how we prevail
with God to gain salvation, you see. Because He said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And so
he says, Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting
salvation. This is not a temporary thing,
see, this salvation. This is an everlasting salvation. Now we know that Israel and Judah
went into captivity. We know they were brought out
of captivity by Cyrus, the king of Persia, out of the Babylonian
captivity after they'd been there 70 years. But we also know that
they never in their whole existence from then on, never were out
from under a foreign ruler. And then in AD 70, the nation
was totally destroyed. Now we have Israel today that
came back, but not under the headship of Christ now. Economically,
politically, we support them, but not religiously if we're
true Christians, because they're unbelievers. We pray for their
salvation. Somebody say, pray for the peace
of Jerusalem. Well, sure. We pray for peace all over the
world. But mainly we pray for salvation for sinners. That's
what we're about. That's what evangelism is about.
But who is this Israel that shall be saved in the Lord with an
everlasting salvation? Now the Bible teaches that this
Israel is spiritual Israel. God's chosen people out of every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, Jew and Gentile, all who are
brought by God to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to look
to Him and rest Him. Now let's read some more scripture
here. Look at verse 18 of Isaiah 45. 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's none
else. God created this world in order to glorify himself. Verse 19, 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.
He's talking about the gospel here. The Bible says, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Doesn't
matter if you're Jew or Gentile. And he speaks righteousness,
justice. Now how does he do that? In the
preaching of the gospel. The gospel is the revelation
of the righteousness of God. Romans 1, 16 and 17. And that
righteousness of God is the merit the value of the glorious person
and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ to save his people,
Israel, from their sins. That's who he's talking about.
And he says in verse 20, now listen to this. He says, assemble
yourselves and come, draw near together, you 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. That's what idolatry is. Praying
to a false God, a God who cannot save. Verse 21, tell you, bring
them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? This is no new message, you see. This is the old message, this
is the eternal message. Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there's no God else beside
me. Now listen to this, underscore
this, a just God and a Savior. There's none beside me." You
see that? That's a summation of the glory
of God revealed in the gospel. He's both a just God as well
as a Savior. You see, this is the answer of
the eternal question of the ages. How can a holy and just and righteous
God, how can He love, be merciful to, be gracious to sinners? and still remain true to His
righteousness, His truth, His justice, His holiness. He must be both a just God and
a Savior. How can He do that? The answer
is in the Gospel. God appointed Christ to be the
surety of His people, and Christ willingly took that office on. He said, I will be surety. He
said, if they've done anything wrong, which we have, put it
to my charge, lay it to my account, I'll repay it. And Christ willingly
agreed in the covenant of grace before the world ever began to
do what was necessary and required to save the people whom God chose
and gave to Christ, Israel. Christ came to this earth. He
was made flesh. He was made of a woman, the scripture
says. The seed of woman, without sin,
without the aid of man. He was made under the law, Galatians
4.4 says. That means all of the conditions
of the salvation of God's people were laid upon him. He had to
keep the law and satisfy its justice. He was made under the
law, made of a woman, to redeem them that were under the law.
He had to substitute himself in the place of his people die
the death that they earned and deserved. And in his death, he
had to work out a perfect righteousness that enables God to be both a
just God, as well as a savior, a righteous judge, as well as
a loving, merciful, and gracious father. God is just to save his
people from their sins. You see, grace is not just some
arbitrary feeling or disposition that God has toward people. And
he established that from the very beginning. He told Adam
and Eve, blood has to be shed because the wages of sin is death. That's why Christ had to die.
He had to suffer unto death because of the sins of his people imputed
to him. And that's what Israel's all
about. The sins of Israel were imputed to Christ. What Israel?
God's chosen people. All who are brought to faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works. That's who. And so God
had to be just to do so. Grace is just. Romans 5 21 tells
us, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness, that's justice, satisfy, through righteousness
unto eternal life, that's everlasting salvation, by Jesus Christ our
Lord. And then look at Isaiah 45 22
then. Here's the command of the gospel.
Verse 22, look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the
earth, not just one nation, but all the ends of the earth. See this gospel call goes out
and it's to the ends of the earth and he said, for I'm God, there's
none else. Look at verse 23. I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness. You see, this is a sure promise
of God. And it shall not return that
unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Verse
24, and listen to this. Surely shall one 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. It's in the Lord, 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. Now what is it to be justified?
Well, it's to be forgiven of all my sins. It's to have all
of my sins charged to Christ and imputed to him. It's to see
myself as justified, righteous in God's sight, not based upon
my doing or my deciding anything. It's based upon Christ's righteousness
imputed. And that's who Israel is. All
sinners to whom God does not impute sin, but to whom God imputes
righteousness, that's Israel. Now Paul wrote about that in
Romans 11. And I'm gonna go over into the New Testament, mainly
next week for this. But you know, he talks about
in Romans 11, verse one, he says, I say then, hath God cast away
his people? Well, that question comes in
light of the fact that God has promised to save all Israel,
but over their history, the majority of the Jewish people have rejected
Christ, rejected the gospel. Well, does that mean God has
cast away his people? God forbid, he says in Romans
11 one. For I also am an Israelite of
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. And he says in verse
two, God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Now
that foreknew is foreknowledge. That's not just knowing something
ahead of time. But that foreknowledge there
is the word foreknowledge in the Bible, which means foreordained. See, God doesn't learn anything,
he knows everything, he's omniscient. And he foreordained this, and
the people whom he foreordained, God has not cast them off. Verse
two says, Romans 11, what ye not or know ye not what the scripture
saith of Elias or Elijah? How he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed thy prophets,
they've digged down thine altars, and I'm left alone and they seek
my life. See, Elijah thought he was by
himself and nobody else believed the gospel. Verse four, but what
saith the answer of God unto him? God said, I have reserved
to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal. Look at verse five now. Even
so then at this present time, there is a remnant, there's that
word remnant again, according to the election of grace. There's
a remnant of God's chosen people, and it's the election of grace.
They're not God's chosen people because of who they are or what
they've done. It's all of grace in Christ.
Verse six, and if by grace, then it's no more of works. Otherwise,
grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
What then? Israel hath not obtained it,
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it,
and the rest were blinded. Now, you've got to keep in mind
what he's doing here. When he speaks of the unbelievers
in the nation Israel, he's talking about physical Israel, and he
says they didn't obtain what they were seeking for. Well,
what were they seeking for? Well, I'll show you next week.
They were seeking righteousness by their works, works of the
law. They did not obtain it, but the
election obtained it. Those whom God chose, they obtained
it. Why? Because they seek it in
Christ, by faith in Christ. They look for righteousness,
not in themselves, not by their works, but in Christ. And over in Romans 11, in verse
26, 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. Verse 27, for this is my covenant
unto them when I shall take away their sins. Now that refers to
the new covenant, which is in Christ and which is the fulfillment
in time of the everlasting covenant of grace. And so God will take
away their sins. Well, how's he gonna do that?
Is he gonna just ignore their sins, turn his back on? No, he's
going to satisfy his justice in the person and work of his
son, who will wash away their sins. That's the term we use.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
And that's how Israel shall be saved. They're not going to be
saved by keeping the law. They're not going to be saved
by obtaining a geographical piece of land. They're not going to
be saved by building a physical temple. They're going to be saved
like anybody else is saved, if they're saved, by looking to
Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
And all who do, all who are brought by the grace of God, no man will
do it on his own. but all who are brought by the
grace of God to look to Christ and rest in Him and submit to
Him as their righteousness before God. That's the Israel of God. That's the Israel that shall
be saved. And so Israel shall be saved
in the Lord. It's coming together under the
headship of Christ by faith in Christ, rejecting and repenting
of our dead works. That's the Israel of God. I 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.