There'll be, and this won't be
a surprise to any one of you, there'll be a lot of activity
going on in churches everywhere today as it does every Sunday. Worldly religion attracts a worldly
crowd. Even John the Apostle on the
Isle of Patmos, when he was taken by the elder to see this woman. This is in Revelation chapter
17. This woman who is a type, a picture of worldly religion. That's exactly what it is. With
whom the kings of the earth had committed fornication and the
inhabitants of the earth had been drunk with the wine of her
fornication. And when John saw her, verse
4, she's described being arrayed in purple and scarlet collar
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. My, my, what
an attraction. Having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations, now that's not so pretty, is it? And filthiness
of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery Babylon, the great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. That's a picture of worldly religion.
But look at verse 6, or listen while I read. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, now this
is John speaking. He said, when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration. Even John was momentarily captivated
by her appearance, dazzled by it. But verse 7, And the angel
said unto me, Wherefore dost thou marvel? Wherefore do you marvel? Does anything in worldly religion
compare to the wonder of Jesus Christ revealing himself to any
sinner. Does anything in worldly religion
compare to a real revelation of God in the face of Jesus Christ? You remember once when he sent
the disciples out, actually 70, and he gave them power, this
is recorded in Luke 10, and he gave them power to cast out devils
and to heal and preached the gospel, and they came back rejoicing,
and they said, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in
your name. And he said what must have seemed
strange to them at first. He said, in this, rejoice not. Don't rejoice that the devils
are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names, your
names are written in heaven. And in that hour, we read, Jesus
rejoiced in spirit and said, Father, I thank you, Lord of
heaven and earth, that you've revealed these things to babes. Hid from the wise and prudent,
but revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. What may go on to attract the
world? by worldly religion all around
us today is nothing compared to this. In John's Gospel chapter
1 we read, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten
Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He had revealed Him. He's revealed Him. And our Lord
said His mission was this, I'm reading now from John 6, verse
40. Still along this line of the
revelation of Jesus Christ, and this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Paul is a perfect
example of that revelation of Christ that he is darkened, at
the same time very religious soul. He's on the Damascus Road. You know the story. But there
were other men traveling with him. And in chapter 9 verse 7
we read that those men heard a voice. But they didn't make
any sense of it. Not like Paul. They heard a voice
but they saw no man. They saw no man. And I suppose
afterwards they would go back to Jerusalem after leaving Damascus
and they would tell about that bright light and some indistinguishable
voice they heard. But the Apostle Paul, he would
never get over what happened to him. Because that day, Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, revealed himself to the apostle Paul.
And he would write afterwards, even though I was a blasphemer
and persecutor and injurious, but when it pleased God to reveal
his son in me, he called me by his grace. Paul would never get
over that. There's nothing to compare to
that. Do you remember? Now, I said
that to bring us to our text here in Isaiah chapter 45. This
revelation of God in the face of Jesus Christ. May the Lord
enable us, those who he has been pleased to reveal Christ to,
may he, as the old hymn says, draw back the curtain of memory. I've got a tendency to forget.
And even worse than that, to take it for granted. Oh God,
draw back the curtain of memory now and then. Remind me where
you brought me from and where I could have been. Remember this,
child of God. Look unto me. Remember that. Look unto me and
what happened? And be ye saved for all the ends
of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Look unto
me. The other evening I was reading
a sermon by Charles Spurgeon. I read quite a bit of his messages. And I believe this text of scripture
here in Isaiah 45 verse 22 is a very special one or was to
Mr. Spurgeon. It may have been his
favorite. This sermon he preached that
I referred to was preached to the great congregation in London
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on January 9, 1876. And Mr. Spurgeon said in introducing
his message, I preached from this text a good many times,
the text here in Isaiah 45. And he said, nearly to this day,
26 years ago, I looked into the Lord and found
salvation through this text of scripture. And that was in January
of 1850, when as a 15-year-old boy, you know the story, but
I'd like to just briefly refer to it again. 15 years old, young Spurgeon
was seeking peace and finding none. Mr. Hart wrote, what comfort
can a Savior bring to those who've never felt their woe. A sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. Young Spurgeon had been made
so. He had been made a sinner. He
had been stripped, seeking peace, as I said, but having yet to
find it. He started out that January morning,
that cold, snowy, wintery Sunday morning to go to a church, but
the weather prevented him from getting there. So he was forced
to turn down an alley. There's a sign, a primitive Methodist
church. And Young Spurgeon goes in and
he sets down. He says there's about 12 or 14
people present. The weather kept everyone home.
The pastor didn't even get there. There was this man, got up, didn't
want to send the folks away completely without anything, so he read
this passage in Isaiah chapter 45. And Spurgeon said, he looked
down at me and he said, young man, you look miserable. And
Spurgeon said, he knew that he did. He was miserable. He was seeking God's mercy and
grace. He wanted to know the living
God. He'd been stripped. His sin had found him out. And
that man said, young man, look. Look unto me, God says. Spurgeon
said he pointed the finger at him and said, young man, look,
look. Look unto me and be ye saved. And Spurgeon said in that
instant, in that instant, he said, I looked. I looked. God removed the scales from my
eyes and I looked and my spirit saw its chains broken to pieces. I felt I was an emancipated soul,
an heir of heaven, a forgiven one. Does anything compare to
that? A forgiven one accepted in Christ
Jesus. I passed from darkness into marvelous
light, from death to life, simply by looking unto Jesus. I was
delivered from despair, and I was brought into such a joyous state
of mind that when they saw me at home, they said, something
wonderful has happened to Charles. He heard his mother say those
words to his father outside the door, and he was eager to tell
them all about it. who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, have shined into our hearts to give the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 42 years after that cold January
morning, 42 years after God revealed himself to Mr. Spurgeon, young
Spurgeon, His body lay in the tabernacle in a coffin. And on
top of that coffin there was the Bible that he preached from
so much of those mass congregations for all those years and it was
open to this text of scripture. Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else. And on the monument to his memory
erected at his tomb, there are these words. E'er since by faith
I saw the stream, thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming love
has been my thing, and shall be till I die. Then in a nobler,
sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save, when this poor, lisping,
stammering tongue lies silent in the grave. I love that story
of Mr. Spurgeon because I can identify with it. Lester, I can identify with it. God opened my blinded eyes one
time. He came to where this rebel was,
right in the midst of my rebellion. got me lost, as old Barnard said,
for the first time in my life. For the first time in my life,
I began to think seriously about my soul, about salvation, and
how I could be just with God. And he, like he did Spurgeon,
like he does for every sinner redeemed by Christ's precious
blood, he revealed Christ to my soul. Verse 22 here in Isaiah
45 describes the experience of God's great salvation or rather
how salvation comes. Look unto me. Look unto me. Look unto me and be ye saved.
The look is to believe. The look is to come to Christ. The look is to be saved. To be
saved with an everlasting salvation. Think about that. to be saved
with an everlasting salvation, a salvation that will never,
ever end. Salvation by grace is a salvation
to the very uttermost. The wise man said, I know that
whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put
to it, nor anything taken from it. And God doeth it that men
should fear beforehand. He that hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a glorious salvation.
You remember when our Lord deliberately, the Lord Jesus Christ went about
doing the will of his Father deliberately, purposely, always. And one day he deliberately went
through Samaria. He deliberately, as we made mention,
I think, last Lord's Day, set on the whale because he knew
soon one of the sheep that his father had entrusted into his
hands before he ever created the world was about to come that
way. And when she came, he deliberately
engaged her in conversation. In John chapter 4, you know it
well, In verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest
the gift of God, and she didn't, she didn't. If
thou knewest the gift of God and who it is, notice that. If thou knewest the gift of God
and who, who. Salvation is not in things. Salvation
is not quitting things and beginning things. Salvation is knowing
Jesus Christ the true and living God. Is this not what he himself
prayed? Father, this is life eternal
that they might know thee the only true God. Have I been so
long a time with you and yet thou hast not known me, he said.
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. If thou knewest the
gift of God and who Salvation is in a person. Salvation is
to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And who it is that saith unto
thee, give me to drink. If you just knew that. If you
just knew that. Every time I read that verse,
I think of my children. Oh, if they just knew. Louis,
if they just knew. if they knew the gift of God
and who it is that saith unto thee give me to drink thou wouldest
have asked of him and he would have given thee living water
exactly as Isaiah said look unto me and be ye saved for I am God
and there is none else verse 14 here in John 4 but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but
the water that I shall give him shall be in him shall be in him. Religion deals with touch not,
and taste not, and handle not, and wear not, and go not, and
be not, and act not. Oh, but the water that I shall
give him shall be in him. Salvation is an inward work. Salvation is a product of God's
amazing grace. Shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life. And then in chapter 7,
Along the same line, our Lord, after that great feast of the
Jews, it had went on for days, seven or eight days. And here
in John chapter 7, can you just see Him? Just what we read in
our text. Look unto me, look unto me and
be ye saved. Here in John chapter 7 verse
37, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood. He had watched them going through
their religious ritual. Just going through the motions. That's all it was. And then he
stood and he cried. Can you just picture that? With
a heart just bursting with mercy, grace. If any man thirst, he
says. If any man thirst. Anybody thirsty? Anybody for whom this religious
tradition you just went through is not enough? Is anybody really
thirsty? Is anyone not satisfied with
that? Does anyone want to know the
living God? If any man thirsts, what should
he do? If any man's really thirsty,
Let him come unto me. Look unto me. Come unto me and
drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly should flow rivers of living
water. Look unto me and be ye saved. This is God speaking. He said,
I speak in righteousness. I declare things that are right.
I don't mock a thirsty soul. Look unto me and be ye saved. Matter of fact, without question. And this salvation, Paul says
in Hebrews 7, is the salvation to the uttermost. Can you tell
me how much that is? How much is salvation to the
uttermost? Do you know? I don't either. But I know this, it must be enough. It's a salvation that gives grace
that reigns unto eternal life. It's grace that Bobby sang about
a moment ago, that reaches deeper than the stain has gone. Uttermost
salvation is salvation today. No matter what today may bring
forth, and we don't know. James said you ought to be careful.
in saying today we're going to do thus and thus and thus and
thus because you don't know what a day may bring forth. You ought
to say, if the Lord will, we'll do thus and thus. We don't know
what the day may bring forth. Don't know what it might hold.
Don't know what sudden storms may arise and rock your little
vessel. Don't know what waves might roll
over your head. We just don't know. It can happen
so suddenly, but even so, God tells us we're saved with
an everlasting salvation. Uttermost salvation means today
I'm saved. It means there is nothing that
can happen today. There is no design of the devil
or man. Nothing can separate this sinner,
this believing sinner that's looked unto him and been saved
by his mighty grace. Nothing that transpires today
can separate me from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. Nothing. Nothing. That's exactly
what Paul said in Romans 8, did he not? What shall separate us
from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus? Shall tribulation?
Paul had his share of that. Shall distress? He knew something
about that. Shall persecution? He endured
a lot of that. And Paul went on to say, I'm
convinced. Oh, how happy the sinner that's
convinced that there's nothing. Happy that sinner who's persuaded
That nothing present, nothing in my past, nothing to come,
shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Uttermost salvation is to be
saved today, to be saved tomorrow, and to be saved forever. Uttermost
salvation, the salvation that every sinner who looks unto Christ
receives, is a salvation from sin's penalty. I like the story,
and I'm aware I've probably told you this, too. I like the illustration
that I heard Brother Henry Mahan use years ago. It's been a long
time. I don't recall where it was. That's not important. But
Brother Henry was talking about the believers' non-condemnation being in Christ
Jesus. And he told the story about when
those people in the day of the horse and buggy and the covered
wagon would make their way west. Come west, young man. Seek your
fortune. And he said on one such trip
as that, a prairie fire just broke out. And man, these folks
that were traveling in their covered wagons could see it just
coming toward them. You know what they did? They, before it reached them,
They deliberately set a fire where they were. It burned. And then they got on that burnt
ground. And as they stood there, a father
standing and his young son grasping his hand and saw that prairie
fire come toward them. And the son asked his father,
father, father, what are we going to do? And he said, son, don't
worry. We're already standing on burnt
grass. Brothers and sisters, that's
exactly what Paul said. There is therefore no condemnation,
Romans 8 and 1. There is therefore now, right
now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ
bore the penalty. Christ bore my curse. Christ was made sin for me. I'm standing on burnt grass. Thank God she'll never be condemned. Uttermost salvation doesn't only
mean salvation from sin's penalty, but from sin's power. Sin shall
not have dominion over you because you're not under the law, but
under grace. And blessed be his name. One
day, this uttermost salvation shall deliver me from the very
presence of sin. Do you mean, Larry, from sin
around you? No, I mean sin here, here in
me. Uttermost salvation shall keep
me from falling and present me faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy. Is this not what the psalmist
said? Turn if you will to Psalm 84. Psalm 84. I love these few verses that
speak about the certainty of God's mercy and grace. The sure success of the great
shepherd of the sheep. Psalm 84 verse 7, speaking of
God's people, In the context, God's suffering people. But he
says in verse 7, they go from strength to strength. Every one
of them, every one of them, in Zion, appeareth before God. Look at verse 11. For the Lord
God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give. If he gives,
we'll receive. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the
man that trusteth in thee. John saw a multitude in Revelation
7 that no man can number. A multitude. Standing before
the throne of God, every one of them had the palm leaf of
victory waving it in their hands. Every one of them stood before
the throne of God and of the Lamb. Every one of them was singing,
Salvation to our God that setteth upon the throne and unto the
Lamb. Every one of them was clothed in white linen, pure and white. John, who are these, the elder
asked. And John said, Thou knowest.
And the elder said, These are they which came out. These are
they which came out of great tribulation. Oh, my soul, God's
grace proves sufficient to every one of them. Oh, they often were
tempted to do what Job's wife tempted him to do, curse God
and die. They often wondered, they often
doubted, how can this work for my good? And yet, here they are.
They all came out of great tribulation. and wash their robes in the blood
of the Lamb. And that great God, that great
God and Savior, the God of all grace says, look unto me, for
I am God and there is none else. If I were to ask you to take
a pencil or a pen or a highlighter and circle the most important
word in that text of scripture, what would it be? Me, of course. That is the Lord God. Look unto
me, a just God and Savior. There is none else. I'm God. Remove him, and there is no Savior. I've noticed a commercial on
TV about a certain program that's supposed to start sometime soon. I forget the exact title, but
it's In Search of God. Have you seen that advertised?
in search of God. It may be on National Geographic. I guarantee you this, I don't
know where it'll end up, but it'll not end up with the true
and the living God. He can only be found out by a
divine revelation to the soul. People, as we said in the reading,
think that all religions worship the true and living God. Isaiah's
very name means the salvation of the Lord. That's what Isaiah's
name means. Or the Lord will save. And the
Lord Jesus Christ said, all the prophets, including Isaiah, spoke
of me. Look unto me and be ye saved. Look like old Simeon looked. That old man was brought into
the temple that day, being led there by God's Holy Spirit. At
the very same time, God works that way, doesn't he? There are
no loose ends. At the very moment that Joseph
and Mary brought the young child to the temple to do as the law
commanded, Simeon is brought there as well. And God whispers
in his ear and says, that's he. That's him. Can you see that? Can you picture that? As he goes
over and takes the child from the arms of its mother and says,
Lord, I'm ready to die. I'm ready to die. I'm ready to
go stand before a just and holy God. I'm ready. How can you be ready? because
my eyes have seen your salvation." And he was looking at the Lord
Jesus Christ because he is salvation. That is to look to him, to embrace
him. Christ is why God can be just. Did you notice in the reading?
He says, I am a just God and Savior. Salvation is as much
a matter of justice as it is mercy. How can a man be just
with God? And how can God be just in justifying
a guilty sinner? How can that be? God, old Scott
Richardson used to often say, must do something for himself
before he can do anything for you. And God in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ is perfectly just in justifying a sinner.
Mercy and truth are met together, the psalmist wrote, In Psalm
85, mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Turn if you will to Romans chapter
3. Romans chapter 3. This is what we read here. Paul tells us how that God can
be just and justify a sinner. God can be just in declaring
a sinner not guilty. Verse 23 of Romans 3, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified
freely, freely, without a cause in them, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness, His righteousness, for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, that is
God, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You
remember when they come to the garden to take the Lord that
night? Whom seek ye, Jesus of Nazareth, I am he, I am he. Let these go their way. That's
exactly what we read here. The justice of God was satisfied
when it poured its wrath upon the Son of God. God's justice
was fully satisfied. And now all those for whom Jesus
Christ suffered and died must go free. They're not guilty. They're declared to be so on
legal grounds. Look, if you will, in chapter
3 again here in Romans. Romans chapter 3. I'm sorry,
chapter 4, verse 6. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness
without work, saying, Blessed are they, blessed are they, this
describes every child of God, that he would bring this blessed
truth of my mind when I lay down the night. Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. That's a blessed man. And whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Oh, look unto me and be ye saved. A sinner has never been saved
otherwise. You remember when Paul was in
the prison at Philippi. The jailer, thinking they had
escaped, that is the prisoners about to commit suicide, and
Paul shouts out, do thyself no harm, we're all here. And the
jailer, fearing, trembling, fell down before him and asked, sirs,
what must I do to be saved? And Paul told Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Look unto me and be
ye saved. No sinner, no sinner has ever
been saved who didn't look to Christ. Notwithstanding election,
notwithstanding redemption by the Son or election by the Father,
sinners must look to Christ or they'll perish. Look unto me
because all who are saved Or rather, all who have looked are
saved. Ask Bartimaeus. Ask Bartimaeus. Lord, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And Jesus stood still. Ask the thief on the cross. Every sinner saved by God's grace
have looked unto him and found the mercy and pardon they needed. I like the story of old Happy
Jack. He was interviewed for church
membership by some stern elders of the church, and they wanted
to hear his experience. They wanted to know how much
he understood, and all they could get out of him was this, I am
a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all
in all. That sounds good to me. He was
complete in Him. What can a sinner lack? Paul
said, it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And if a sinner is accepted in
to be loved, what could he possibly lack? If he lacks anything, the
deficiency would be in Christ, and there is none there. God
sees my Savior, and then He sees me, in to be loved, accepted
and free. Look unto me and be ye saved
for all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none
else. Have you looked? Have you looked? People say well I know my Bible. Have you looked? I've been baptized. Have you looked? Have you looked? You remember in Exodus chapter
33 Moses requested that God would show him his glory. Lord, if
I've found grace in your sight, show me your glory. And God said,
Moses, no man can see my glory and live, but I'll do this. There's
a place by me, and I'll set you up on a rock. And when I pass
by, I'll put you in the cleft of that rock. There is a place by me, There
is a place by God, at the right hand of the majesty on high,
where sinners safely reside in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Top lady wrote, while I draw
this fleeting breath, when my eyes shall close in death, when
I soar to worlds unknown and behold thee on thy throne, rock
of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
for I am God, and there is none else. Amen.