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'd like
for you to turn in your bibles if you'd like to follow along
in today's message to the book of isaiah chapter forty six isaiah
forty six i'm gonna look at the last few verses of this chapter
beginning at verse nine the title of the message is this a near
righteousness a near righteousness as opposed to a far-off righteousness
this is a near righteousness now this whole chapter And actually
this whole section is a prediction, a prophecy of God through the
prophet Isaiah to Jerusalem and the whole southern kingdom of
Judah concerning their future in a captivity. The Babylonian
captivity is what it's called. And later on, several hundred
years later, this nation would be uh... destroyed and be taken
off into captivity by the babylonian empire and then after seventy
years god would deliver that nation out of the hands of the
babylonians and bring them back into jerusalem and they would
be enabled to rebuild the city of jerusalem and rebuild the
temple You know, the Temple of Solomon that existed when the
Babylonian army came down, that was destroyed completely. But
they would be able to rebuild their temple after 70 years of
captivity. And God is prophesying here through
Isaiah about how he was going to deliver them. But the most
important lesson here and this passage has to do with what all
this means and the purpose that god was going to uh... of god
in doing all this in the history of israel and i want you to see
that the purpose of god and think about this and and you need to
understand this especially people today because and reason i say
that is because so many people have their eyes on palestine
in israel places like that that place The purpose of God in all
of this is His purpose to save His people, His elect people,
not just among the Jews, but among the Gentiles. God's elect
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation to save His
people from their sins by the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Messiah who was promised and prophesied here. And that's
the ultimate purpose of everything that God did in history and does
in history and everything that God will do in the future. Christ
has come. He has accomplished his great
work of redemption through his death on the cross of Calvary.
As Daniel spoke of it, Daniel was a prophet during the Babylonian
captivity. He was in Babylon. And Daniel
prophesied of him that he would come, the Messiah would come,
and he would make an end of sin, he would finish the transgression,
he would bring in everlasting righteousness, he would seal
up the vision and the prophecy, and God would anoint him as the
Most High. You see, all of that was the
purpose of God working throughout history to bring His Son into
the world and to bring His people to His Son. Now listen to how
He puts it here in Isaiah chapter 46. Look at verse 9. The first
thing He says is, Remember the former things of old. now he's calling upon israel
judah here to remember their whole history and it's an amazing
thing here it's an amazing prophecy remember your whole history how
god has worked how god has sovereignly and powerfully operated in his
providence to bring them to this point to how he's going to accomplish
everything that he's ever said that he was going to do how god
is sovereign and this this historical perspective here it sets god
apart from anything anyone else he says in verse nine remember
the former things of old for i am god and there is none else
israel think about what god has accomplished what he's done he
said i'm god and there's none like me not only is he the only
true and living god He's the only one like God. There's no
one you can even compare him to. He says in verse 10, declaring
the end from the beginning. I've told my congregation, I
said, right there is a statement that people don't like to face
because you know what it teaches? It teaches predestination. That's what that statement means.
Let me show you what I mean. He says that God declares the
end from the beginning. Now, you and I, we can declare
the beginning from the end. For example, I can tell you what's
happened an hour ago, or two hours ago, or three hours ago.
Now as I get older, I may lose my memory. They say you lose
your short-term memory first. That may be so. But on the whole,
man has the mental ability to tell you what happened this morning,
but now I cannot tell you what's going to happen tonight. God
can. God can tell you what's going
to happen a thousand years from now. Now listen to me very carefully
here. I want you to see this. God can
tell you what's going to happen a thousand years from now not
because God is a fortune teller, not because God is a crystal
ball gazer, Not because God looks down through a telescope of time
and foresees what's going to happen as decreed by some higher
power. God can tell you what's going
to happen a thousand years from now because He declares it. He declares the end from the
beginning. He determines things. And I know
people say, well, that's just difficult for me to understand.
And I will tell you without any reservation, join the club. Yes, sir, it's difficult. It's
impossible for you and I to understand. We're finite human beings. You
can't understand fully the infinite mind of God. And it's foolish
to even try to do so. the things that we can understand
are the things that god reveals to us and it's and we shouldn't
have any problem knowing that just like our children as they're
growing up there are things you tell them there are things you
hold back from them because they can't wrap their minds around
the adult things of life yet well my friend that's the way
it is with god we who know god we who are saved by his grace
through christ we're his children We're totally dependent upon
Him. And His mind is so high above and far above our minds. Don't deny the truth of God because
you can't wrap your mind around it. And I know what people say. They say, well, if I believed
that, I wouldn't do this, wouldn't do that. You do what you want
to do. The secret things belong to God. The revealed things belong
to us. But He declares the end from
the beginning. That's an amazing thing. He's
the God of predestination. He's the God who works all things
after the counsel of his own will. And he says in verse 10,
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done. And here's how he says it now.
Now listen to this. He says, my counsel shall stand. You see, the things that are
not yet done, that are going to be done, God doesn't say,
He didn't say, well, I just know the future. No, He says that
He calls them My counsel. What that means is that's a company
with infinite wisdom and knowledge. And He said, I will do all My
pleasure. I'll do it. You're not gonna
stop God. God's not waiting for you. God's
works and acts doesn't hinge on your decision or your cooperation. God is God. And he runs it, lock,
stock, and barrel. And he works all things after
the counsel of his own will, and yet he's not the author of
sin. well he mentions a specific work here verse eleven he says
calling a ravenous bird from the east the man that executes
my counsel from a far country yeah I've spoken it I will also
bring it to pass I've purposed it it's his purpose you see not
accident I will also do it and he's talking about the deliverance
of Judah from the Babylonian captivity by calling a man from
the east one named Cyrus of the Medes and the Persian who would
be God's instrument to deliver his people. Now, what about this
near righteousness? Well, here is the purpose of
it all. And I want you to see it. Here's
the mainstay of this message. In verse 12. Now, he says, hearken
unto me, you stout-hearted that are far from righteousness. Hear God. You believe this God
is worth hearing, this one who declares the end from the beginning,
this one who gave you the gift of physical life, the very next
breath you take, hear him, hearken unto him. And who's he calling
out to? He says, you stout-hearted, that's
self-righteous, that's proud, that's unsubmissive, unbending,
that's sinners. That's man by nature right here.
We're all by nature stout-hearted. That refers to the inward state
of our natural, fleshly, fallen, depraved hearts. Our minds, our
affections, our will. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. We walk according to the prints
of the power of the air. That's Satan. We are, we are
sinners. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And the reason is, is because
we're far from righteousness. We're far from it. And let me
tell you something, far from righteousness describes the best
people on earth and the worst people on earth. Man cannot even
come near to righteousness by his greatest attainments, his
greatest accomplishments, his greatest efforts. Man in economics
cannot become righteous. You can be rich and rich in my
own land, but you're still far from righteousness. Man in his
philosophy, cannot come near to righteousness. You can think
and figure things out, debate and discuss, write books, figure
it all out, but you still cannot make yourself righteous by that
way. Man cannot make himself righteous
by his own ethics and morality. You can be a philanthropist. As Christ told the rich young
man, you can give all your money to the poor but you still will
not make yourself righteous. Man cannot even come near to
righteousness in his religion. Cain worked hard and brought
the best that he could offer to God, but he still was not
even near to righteousness. They built the Tower of Babel
trying to build a monument to God and work their way to God,
but they still did not come near to righteousness. The Pharisees,
they were physical children of Abraham, they were circumcised,
they tried to keep the law of Moses, but they still could not
come near to righteousness. Man today, he can walk an aisle,
he can make a decision, He can get baptized, he can give his
tithe, he can wear a Sunday school pin, but he can go out and witness
on various nights of the week, he can make mission trips to
Africa, but he still cannot come near to righteousness. How can
a sinner be made righteous before God? Well, look at verse 13.
God says, Hear me now, you stout-hearted that are far from righteousness.
Your works cannot make you righteous, but he says in verse 13, I bring
near my righteousness. That's that near righteousness. I bring near, not your righteousness,
not my right, but God's righteousness. God's righteousness. That's the
near righteousness. Over in the book of Micah, for
example, in chapter 6, when God brings an indictment, charges
against Judah through the prophet Micah, who was a contemporary
of Isaiah, he relates their whole history, how he brought them
out of Egypt, how he protected them, and then he brought him
up to the brink of the promised land and before they went in
he related this through the prophet Micah and through Moses who's
quoting it and he says for this reason in verse five that you
may know the righteousness of the Lord that's why he did all
that this is why God did these things these former things of
old he said I bring near my righteousness it shall not be far off man trying
to make himself righteous, trying to justify himself, trying to
make himself clean before God, trying to work his way into God's
favor, trying to wash himself clean from his sins, trying to
justify himself with all of his attainments and his efforts and
his accomplishments and his works. In that system, righteousness
will always be far off. you'll never make it. Israel
sought righteousness by their works of the law, but they didn't
attain it. But God says, I bring near my
righteousness. Well, how does he do that? Well,
listen to the rest of the verse. It shall not be far off and my
salvation. Now, he's talking about salvation. Now, who needs to be saved? Well,
those who are sinners. those who deserve condemnation
and death and hell. Sinners who are lost in their
sins. You see, Christ said this. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but to call sinners to repent. If you're already
righteous, you don't need salvation. This salvation is for sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. this is a salvation for
those who are by nature stout-hearted and far from righteousness far
off they cannot make themselves righteous so god says and my
salvation shall not tarry it shall not wait how does he do
it? he says i will place salvation
in zion for israel my glory what's zion? that's the church who's
israel here? he's talking about spiritual
israel what is this salvation my friend this salvation is christ
it's the grace of god in christ when when mary and joseph brought
the baby jesus on his eighth day to the temple to have him
circumcised you remember the old man simeon that was there
and the holy spirit had revealed to him that he would see the
christ child before he died and they brought the baby to Simeon
and he picked up that baby and he called him the consolation
of Israel and he said now I'm ready to depart for mine eyes
have seen thy salvation Christ is my salvation and the reason
he's my salvation is because Christ is my righteousness the
righteousness here That is, the righteousness of God is as near
as Christ. And you know what? He is a near
kinsman, the scripture says. He's a God-man mediator. He identifies
with His people in our name and in our nature, yet He is without
sin. When I say our nature, I'm talking
about human nature. He took upon himself the likeness
of sinful flesh. Why? To bring near righteousness. And how did he do it? Well, Romans
10 and verse 4 says, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. He's as near as anybody who believes
by God-given faith. You're not going to believe that
on your own. It's not of your own free will or your decision.
It's the work of God. He brings near righteousness.
He brought righteousness near when he sent Christ into the
world to accomplish the redemption of his people. And Christ did
it through his obedience unto death. He kept the law perfectly
as the substitute of his people. Christ didn't come to be a martyr,
and He didn't come to be just an example. He is an example
of obedience, but that's not why He came. He came to redeem
His people from their sins. He came to establish righteousness
under the law of God. The sins of His people were charged
to Him. He was made sin. Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
His righteousness charged to them. we're justified not by
our works but by christ and his work over in the book of isaiah
chapter forty five the lord identifies himself in verse twenty one as
a just god and a savior he sent christ into the world to stand
in the place of his people his chosen people and die for their
sins be buried and raised again the third day for their justification
And it's in Christ that God is enabled to be both a just God
and a Savior, a righteous judge and a merciful loving father.
And he says in verse 22 of Isaiah 45, he says, look unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. Anybody
who wants this salvation can have it. The problem is, is that
man by nature doesn't want it. He wants it his own way. Why?
Because he's stout-hearted and far from righteousness. He said,
for I'm God, there's none else I've sworn by myself. The word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness. Now, righteousness is as near
as Christ himself. He came to this earth and accomplished
that great work. But righteousness is also as
near as the gospel. preach to you the word is nigh
thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou shalt believe
with thine heart that Jesus Christ that God raised him from the
dead that he accomplished the work he put away the sins of
his people by his precious blood and he established righteousness
and he says and shall not return that unto me every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall swear now listen verse 24 of Isaiah
45 Surely shall one say in the Lord
have I righteousness and strength not in myself, but in him And
he says even to him shall men come and all that are incensed
against him shall be ashamed My friend without him there's
nothing but shame and he says in the Lord shall all the seed
the children of Israel Be justified and shall glory who are the children
of Israel that that's spiritual Israel That's an elect company
of Jews and Gentiles all under the headship of Christ All washed
in his blood and clothed in his righteousness and That righteousness
Christ is as near as the preaching of the gospel God says I invite
over here in Isaiah 46 verse 13. He says I bring near my righteousness
You know men in religion are always seeking to attain righteousness,
attain salvation and assurance. It's always something that's
out there that you've got to grasp and then if you finally
get a hold on it, you may lose it. But not this, not this near
righteousness. He says, I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off. My salvation shall not tarry. It shall not wait. My friend,
it's a present reality to the people who come to Christ. That's right. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And who's qualified
for this? None of us are qualified for
it. We're sinners. And that's who Christ came to
save. If you have to qualify yourself for it, it's not grace.
If you have to fix yourself up, you know, I've heard people say
that, say, well, I'm going to, I'm going to finally fix myself
up or get right with God. And then I'll start doing, no,
this is a salvation for centers who don't deserve and cannot
earn salvation. And I've said this before, I've
said it on this program. I've been preaching the gospel
of God's grace in Christ for over 30 years now. And I still
don't deserve salvation. And I still have not earned salvation. If I have to deserve it and earn
it, it's far off from me. But I have a near righteousness
because I have Christ. Not only is he near and I'm near
to him, he's within me by the power of his spirit and by his
word. That's how near he is. Can't
be any nearer. And that righteousness that he
brought forth is an everlasting one, unchangeable one, it's an
eternal one. And that salvation is an ever-present
reality for the people of God who stand before God justified,
washed clean from all their sins in Christ. When he says, I will
place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory, You can make a physical
application to the actual birth of Christ, the actual life of
Christ, the actual death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on
earth in Palestine in that area. But the spiritual application,
the eternal application, is Zion is the church. And who is the
church? The elect of God. The chosen
ones, the called out ones, the redeemed of the Lord. And Israel
here, as I said, is spiritual Israel. He said they are not
all Israel which are of Israel, but it's the children of the
promise that are counted for the seed. Galatians chapter 3
says we are all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, talking
to believers. And in Christ there's no Jew
nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, Christ is all and
in all. That's how near He is. he's the
foundation of the church he's the head of the church and he
is the heart of the church he's the husband of the church he's
the lord of the church he's the founder of the church you see
what i'm saying this is a near righteousness here not one far
off it's a near righteousness because christ who is our righteousness
is near He said, lo, I am with you always, he told his disciples.
He said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I'll
be in the midst of them. He said, I'll never forsake you.
I'll never leave you. He's always near. And my friend,
His people are never, even though sometimes we may lose sight of
Him because of our own sin and doubts and circumstances, all
of these things, but He never loses sight of us. He'll never
let go of us. He'll never leave us. He'll always
be near. He'll always be within His people. What a blessed truth of God's
Word. I hope you understand this and
I hope it's been helpful to your understanding of the Scriptures.
If you'd like a copy of the message, listen to the announcer and he'll
give you the information you need to order. The title of this
message is, A Near Righteousness. And 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.