Turn with me now to Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. I was reminded of this scripture And another scripture that we're going to look at, here's a little hint, I just sang it. But I was reminded of this last Sunday morning while Brother Todd was preaching to the brethren in Medida, his text was Luke 18, he was preaching from Luke chapter 18. But from what he was saying, I was reminded of something that the scripture exhorts God's people to do. and from the scripture, what it looks like to do that. What the exhortation is and what it looks like to do it. And the exhortation can be seen right here in Isaiah 45.

If you look at verse 22, our Lord said, look unto me and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. Look unto me." Look unto me. If I could say one thing to this world, it would be, look to Christ. Honestly, if I could say one thing to this world, it would be look to Christ. Just look to Christ. Just look to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This world is looking to anything and everything. And it gives me a heavy heart. I'm in the, told you before, whatever career you're in, you're invested in it. Well, I'm, by God's grace, invested in this, and it gives me the heaviest heart. And I want to tell people, just look to Christ. Throw it away. Throw it all away. and just look to Christ. Looking to Christ is salvation. It is salvation. People speak of salvation. They wonder about salvation. People wonder about it and they desire salvation. And the answer to what people are speaking of and wondering about and desiring is Christ.

And you say, well, what do you mean by that, Gabe? I mean, the man, the person, Christ. That's what not not the system. I'm talking about the man, the person. Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ looking to Christ is salvation. Verse 22, he said, look unto me and be ye saved. Look unto me and be ye saved. Looking to Christ is salvation, meaning the evidence of the result of salvation. Just look to Christ. Just look to Christ. Well.

Who? Can do that, who? Does this exhortation apply to who is he speaking to? Who is he speaking to? Well, look right here at verse 22. He said, all the ends of the earth look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. Will all the ends of the earth look? No. Why not? It's because all the ends of the earth are totally depraved sinners.

That's the reason why. That's what we need to be saved from. Look unto me and be ye saved. That's what we need to be saved from, our totally depraved sin, our rebellion against God. You know what sin is? Rebellion against God, rebellion against God's word, God's commandment. That's what sin is.

Our Lord said, you will not come to me that you might have life because you're a sinner against me. Man's condemnation is on himself. Look unto me and be you saved all the ends of the earth. Man will not look to Christ that he might be saved because he's a rebellious center against God. You say, I'm not a rebellious center against God. Well, God said you are. So you're rebelling against him in saying you're not a rebellious center against God by nature.

Man will not look to Christ. Man cannot look to Christ that he might be saved because he's naturally so blind and dead and trespasses and sin. All right, so let's ask this question. And let's really ask this question. If every single soul on this earth is a totally depraved sinner against God who cannot and will not look to Christ. Why would he tell all the ends of the earth to look to him? Here's the answer. It's because he is God and there is none else. Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else.

Now that's the exhortation. There's an exhortation given in God's Word to God's people. That is the exhortation to sinful men and women. And the exhortation begins with God. He's the one who made the exhortation. The only hope of any totally depraved, dead, ruined, rebellious sinner, the only Hope of somebody like that looking to Christ is, Christ must first say to that sinner, look to me. That's the only hope. Christ must speak first. Turn with me over to Psalm 27.

Psalm 27 verse 8, David said, when thou said seek ye my face. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard someone say I'm seeking the Lord or I have decided to seek the Lord. We don't do that. David said, When you said, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. When you said, Look unto me, that's the moment that the eyes of my heart cried, I will look unto thee. David said, That's what it took for me to say, I will lift up my eyes to you. That's what it took.

Jeremiah said, turn us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned. If you turn our eyes unto you, our eyes will be turned. If you lift our eyes up to you, our eyes will be lifted up unto you, unto thee. If you create that desire in us, Then we in turn will say this right here, go with me to Psalm 121. If you do this, this will be our response. Psalm 121 verse one says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth, the Lord our creator. That's who we're looking to. When we lift up our eyes to Christ, we're lifting up our eyes to our creator.

All things were made by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. Verse three, he will not suffer thy foot to be moved. When we lift up our eyes to him, we're lifting up our eyes to the Lord, our foundation. He's the foundation. Verse three goes on to say, he that keepeth thee will not slumber. The Lord, our keeper. That's who we're looking to. The Lord, our keeper.

If the Lord doesn't keep you, what hope do you have? I want to be kept. I want to be kept, Lord. I need you to keep me. Verse four, behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. Thy shade, your comfort, the Lord, our comfort, the Lord, our rest.

We have a brother who's on a big hike. And he's been documenting it. And I've been keeping up with him. And everything that I see, I think in my heart, oh, I wish he could find some shade. I hope he finds some shade soon. Those of you who are following him, you know what I'm talking about. Lord, give him some shade. Give him a moment of rest. Give him a moment of relief.

Well, the Lord is our relief. The Lord is our rest. The Lord is our shade. The Lord is our comfort. Verse six, the sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. The Lord is our shield. The Lord is our protector. The Lord is our defender. That's who we're looking to when we look to him, look to Christ. Verse seven, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord, our preserver. Lord, don't let me spoil myself. If you take your hand off me, I'm gonna be spoiled. Preserve me. Verse eight, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.

The Lord, our light. David said, Lord, I will look to you. I will lift up my eyes to you. That's the exhortation. That's our exhortation tonight. Lift up the eyes to Christ. Here it is. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. That's the exhortation. And that's how the exhortation takes place. By God authoring that exhortation. and causing that exhortation to come to pass. God executing the command, God starting the work, God performing the work, God finishing the work.

And when God does that in one of his own and causes that looking unto him, if God creates it in us, I want to look to Christ. Do you want to look to Christ? Well, when God does, when he creates that looking, when he causes that lifting up of the eyes to him, when he causes that to take place in one of his own, this is what it looks like.

Okay. Now here's what I, here's what I want to know. Am I looking to Christ? I want to, I'm exhorted to. The only way I can is is if God causes me to. Am I? Am I looking to Christ when God gives the command, when God performs the work, when God causes it to be evidenced?

In one of his own, this is what it looks like. This is how we can know. Turn with me, if you would, to Luke 18. Again, this is the scripture that our brother was preaching from last Sunday morning that recalled to my mind what we're looking at right now. And before we read this, I just want to point out that God himself is saying right here, this is the evidence of salvation.

This is it. This is the evidence of the fact that God has authored his exhortation. In each one of his people, God is the performer of it. So if this right here happens, God gets the glory for it. But this is what it looks like. This is what the exhortation looks like in the child of God. This is what it is. To look to Christ. This is truly what it is to look to Christ. Luke 18, verse nine.

Our Lord spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. They were good church-going people. They were righteous, others were not. Two men went up into the temple to pray. The one, a Pharisee, a church leader. and the other a publican, a member of the mafia. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this mafia member, this publican. I fast twice in the week.

I give tithes of all that I possess, and the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto. Now this is what it is to look to Christ. This is what it is to lift up the eyes of faith to Christ. Verse 13, the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

God be merciful to me, a sinner. If a sinner ever looks to Christ, number one, he will see God. He will see a holy God. He will see a sovereign God whose hands I'm in. But if a sinner ever looks to Christ, he will see a God who is merciful to sinners. If a person ever sees Christ. Not merciful to the righteous, not merciful to the good church going people who think themselves to be righteous and despise others. Oh, that person just. If a person ever sees Christ, that person will see a God who is merciful to sinners.

To look to Christ is to look to a savior. To look to Christ is to look to a cross. God be merciful to me, merciful. To look to Christ is to look to a redeemer who performed a great act of mercy. To look to Christ is to look to blood. To look to Christ is to look to God's righteousness, not my own.

That publican would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven. You want to know, you know, people told you about that woman one time who was going to pray and she said, God, it's me. To look to Christ is to not so much as lift up our eyes unto heaven.

It's a look of humility. It's a look that comes from the shame of knowing what I am. Looking to Christ has something to do with the shame of knowing what we are. It's the look of a beggar begging. That's what looking to Christ is. It's the look of a sinner in need. If I ever get to the place where I'm no longer seeing myself as a guilty sinner before God, I'm no longer looking to Christ.

If I ever get there, if I ever move on from that, if it ever leaves my mind and the forefront of my memory, You know, everybody's wanting to move on. Everybody's wanting to, you know, progress. Well, let's progress past all this. If it ever stops plaguing me that I am a wretched sinner before God in need of mercy in the blood of his cross, I am no longer looking to Christ. Sometimes we get so frustrated with ourselves thinking, will I ever get over wallowing in the misery of what I am? Will I ever learn these things to the point that I can move on from this condition? I hope not. If we do, we will no longer be looking to Christ. People say, you know, coming to me, I just, I hate me, I'm such a wretched sinner. Good. I know you are. No, but you don't know what I am. I know, I know you're much worse than I realize. So am I. If we ever leave this position, if we ever leave this, we will no longer be looking to Christ.

We'll be looking to religion. We'll be looking to our progression. We'll be looking to our flesh. We'll be looking to a lot of things, but we won't be looking to Christ. As long as we're looking to Christ. We're looking to hope. And here's the reason why. Every soul that truly looks to Christ. When I first started preaching, I used to wonder if it was right to make dogmatic statements like this. Like, how do I know? And then it finally hit me. Here's how I know. God said, what more do we need?

Every soul who truly looks to Christ shall be saved. Look and live. Our text does not say, look to the law and be saved. It does not say, look to doctrine and be saved. It does not say, look to your own wisdom and your own efforts and your own righteousness and your own resolve. It doesn't say any of that.

It just says, look to Christ. There's so much in here I don't understand. Well, do you understand this? Christ. Look to Christ. Hope in Christ. Hope in his wisdom, his efforts, his righteousness, his resolve. Have a single eye on him and nothing else. And I'm talking to myself. Ask Peter how important a single eye on Christ is. Peter is having a single eye on Christ important.

All the disciples were out there in a ship at night, and the Lord came walking on the water, and they were all scared, and he said, fear not, it is I. And Peter said, Lord, if it's really you, then bid me come out with thee on the water. Let me walk on the water with you. And the Lord said, come on. And as long as Peter had a single eye on Christ, Everything was fine.

But the moment his I moved to something else. You know what he's the moment his I moved to something else. And he started thinking no he's you know what he did. I guarantee you he did not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. He started smiting himself saying God be merciful to me a sinner. OK.

There's no salvation in looking to something else. Well, you have Christ, but then you have these other things. Lord, who else can we, who else can we look to? Where else is there to look? If I could say one thing to this world, it would be turn from everything that is not Christ and look to Christ alone. Look to Christ alone.

There's no room for anything else. There's no salvation in anything else. Cast your all on him. All of your attention, all of your focus, all of your hope. You say, well, I don't have much of that. Well, whatever you have, cast it on Christ. Turn it to Christ.

Don't put your hope and your trust in anything but the sovereign, saving, finished work that is in the blood cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This republican in Luke 18 would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but he only looked to Christ for mercy. And the Lord said in verse 14, I tell you, this man, went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Look unto Christ and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for he's God and there is none else. Lord, reveal yourself and cause us to look. Calls us to look. I want to look to Christ. Pray we all will. Amen.