Chapter 45, Isaiah chapter 45. The title of my message this
morning is A God That Cannot Save and A God Who Can. Let's read the text beginning
at verse 20. Isaiah 45, 20. The Lord God speaks
and says, assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together
ye 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 say. Tell ye, and bring them near. Yea, and let them take counsel
together. That is, let all your gods take
counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who hath told it from that time?
Put them all together. Which one of them has declared
that which now is from eternity? Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God else beside me? A just God and a Savior, there
is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God. And there is none else. Now in these verses, the Lord
our God, the great, almighty, sovereign, eternal God of the
universe, calls before him all peoples and nations. He calls
all the peoples of the earth together and calls those who
hear the gospel. He calls to you who now hear
Him speak by the voice of this man who preaches to you the gospel
of His grace. He calls you. Every time God
speaks to men and women through His word by the voice of the
preacher, God calls you. Imagine that. God Almighty condescends
to speak to men. He condescends to speak to such
creatures as we are and calls us. He calls us to assemble before
Him. and He calls with mercy and with
grace. He speaks not in angry words
of wrath, but in tender words and reasons with us to assemble
before Him and look to Him. Now, in these verses, the Lord
God graciously reasons with sinners. He calls us to salvation. He calls us to life. He calls
us to faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. Today, if you will hear
His voice, harden not your heart. Oh God help you now to hear His
voice. God help you now to obey His
call and to look to Jesus Christ the Lord. Now hold your Bibles
open if you will, here at Isaiah 45. I want you to see for yourselves
the things that God here declares. These are not my words. They're
not the words of any church. They're not the words of any
man. They're not the words of any religious or denominational
creed. These are the words of God himself
to Bill Raleigh. I wish we could learn to read
the Bible that way. These are God's words to you and God's
words to me. And in these words, God Almighty
declares three things for us and describes three things for
us with absolute clarity, things that need to be understood and
need to be heard. We'll look at them one at a time,
verses 20, 21, and 22. First, in verse 20, God Almighty
speaks to and describes lost, unregenerate religious people. He says, assemble yourselves
and come. Draw near together ye 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 say. You see, all men
and women by nature are religious. Every one of us has some religious
creed, some religious practice, some religious faith, some religious
hope. All men do. Some claim to be
atheists, I know. Some claim not to believe in
God at all. I understand being claimed things. But I know what
goes on in the hearts of men because the book of God tells
me. And the book of God declares that God has made himself so
well known in the hearts of men by nature that no man by nature
lives without a God consciousness which makes him a religious being.
You go throughout history. find me in every part of the
globe, in the most barbaric of times, in the most barbaric of
tribes, in the most barbaric of places, and you find me attempting
in some way to reach out to and worship some kind of an imaginary
God, because man by nature is religious. And in this passage
of Scripture, the Lord God describes for us the religious peoples
of the world who know not God. The fact is, Most people in this
society of ours are very religious. Most profess to be Christians.
Most profess to be believers. Most profess to believe God.
Most people I know have been saved two or three times. They've had all kinds of religion,
two or three times. And they're very, very religious
people. I don't suggest for a moment
that they're spiritual. I don't suggest for a moment
that they're saved. I know better. But most people
are very religious. The vast majority of the people
you and I meet, do business with, most of our friends, most of
our relatives, are described here by our God as people who
have entered into the broad way and walk in the wide gate and
walk in the broad way that leads to destruction. It is a way that
seems right to a man. He looks at it, well you know
this is right. He sees his way. He says, you know, this has got
to be good. God Almighty will surely look on me with favor
because I walk in this way. And all men presume that the
way in which they live is right before God, or else they can
make it right before they die. Everybody does. But the ends
thereof are the ways of death. Now, please understand this.
Please understand this, Lindsay. in the Bible class this morning
talking so plainly concerning the necessity of preaching to
this generation the righteousness of God in the gospel. This generation
in which we live, the most religious generation topside of God's earth
ever in history, is lost, walking in a way that seems right to
me. But the end of that way is death. It's death. I don't mean it's
a less way. I don't mean it's a less righteous
way, or a less biblical way, or a less spiritual way. I mean
it's the way to destruction. It's the way to death. I hear
folks, about folks, you know, they say, well, you know, he
doesn't believe right, but at least he's going to church. Better
he didn't go. It's better he didn't go. I'm telling you, honestly,
exactly what the book of God teaches. The way that seems right
to man is a way of destruction and death. And the vast majority
walk in that way. In this 20th verse, God tells
us three things about all lost unregenerate religious people.
Number one, he says they have no knowledge. Now, it doesn't
take a giant brain to figure that out. We are not told that
they have a little knowledge. or misguided knowledge, or their
knowledge just needs to be refined and built up a little bit. We're
not told that their knowledge is just slightly different from
ours, but they have no knowledge. Now understand this. Men and
women by nature cannot, not only do they not run, they cannot
see the Kingdom of God. A man who is not born again,
He cannot discern that which is spiritual. He cannot receive
the things of God. You talk to folks about the gospel
of God's grace, and you try to witness to them. And as you describe
the things of God to them, they just kind of stand and have a
dull, blank, vacant sign in their eyes. It doesn't register. Religion registers. Religious
works register, morality registers, giving, sacrifice, devotion,
service, those things register. But the righteousness of God
that's in Christ, substitutionary atonement, just doesn't register. They have no knowledge. They
cannot discern that which is spiritual. For the carnal mind,
being enmity against God, cannot grasp the things of God. In order
for a person to understand the things of God, he must be born
again. He must be taught of God. He
must have the mind of Christ implanted in him by divine regeneration. Read the second chapter of 1
Corinthians. It doesn't matter how religious people are. It
doesn't matter how long they have studied the Bible. or what
men say about the Bible. It doesn't matter how much they
experience, how much they have experienced of wonders and miraculous
things. Doesn't matter how phenomenal
their experience is. Doesn't matter how long they've been
in church. Natural religious men and women are blatantly ignorant
with regard to the things of God. They have no knowledge.
And every time they open their mouth, they show it. You listen
to fellas talk about religious things, spiritual things. I get
so disgusted and at the same time I look at it and I think
it is so utterly silly to hear people say the things they hear.
And it's so sad because they're fully convinced they know exactly
what they're talking about. Fully convinced. Everybody's an authority
on God. Every mother's son is an authority
on the Bible. I go places and I never introduce
myself as a pastor or preacher. Never. I never introduce myself
as such. Because just as sure as I do,
somebody's going to come along and they're going to give me some suggestions
about what the book's all about. They're going to start to tell
me what the Bible teaches. They're going to start to tell
me what fine folks they are and how they go to church. And if
they find out I'm a Baptist preacher, I'm a Baptist. They don't remember
the name of the church, but I'm a Baptist. I go to that church
too. And they're just authorities on the Word of God. Men are ignorant. Utterly ignorant. They have no
knowledge. The unregenerate religious man
knows nothing about himself. He knows nothing at all concerning
God. Nothing really of the character of God. He has an idea, his own
imaginary idea of God, but he absolutely knows nothing about
God. He doesn't know God. He doesn't
know anything about God. He has absolutely no concept
of sin. He doesn't know what sin is.
And what he thinks is sin keeps changing every day. Every day
it changes. He has no concept of it, doesn't
have any understanding of righteousness. None whatsoever. This religious
age in which we live, folks talk about morality, and they talk
about righteousness, and they talk about spirituality, and
have no knowledge of those things. None whatsoever. And it's obvious
they have none. They certainly have no knowledge
of God's salvation. And then the Lord God says here
by His prophet Isaiah, secondly, they set up the wood. of their
graven image. Everybody does. Turn to Romans
chapter 1 for a moment. Hold your hands here in Isaiah. All unregenerate, lost religionists. Now listen carefully. All of
them. Worship a God that they have
whittled out of the dark forest of their own depraved minds.
In Romans chapter 1 verse 21. Because that when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became
vain, look at it now, in their imaginations. And their foolish
heart was darkened. And this is the reason the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold down the truth of God in unrighteousness. Professing
themselves to be wise. We're smart. Smart, smart people. They became fools. The smarter
they think they are, the bigger fools they are. And they changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made likened
to corruptible man. Here's God in His glory, in His
ineffable, exalted, infinite majesty, God, Spirit, holy, righteous,
and true. He's too big. He's not kind of God that's personal. He's not a God that we can feel
close to. So they get him out of pocket
knife and start whittling. And they make him like man. That's
a pretty good looking God. He kind of resembles me. But
he's still too big. So they get the pocket knife
out again and make him like a bird. I could talk about that a little
while. Most church signs these days have a bird on front of
them, don't they? And what about if I make it like
a bird? A dove, so sweet, so good, so loving, so kind. But that's too, that's too much
God. So they get the pocket knife out again and whittle him out
like a four-footed beast and creeping things. Say, well, I don't know anybody
who does that. Hang on, let's see. I realize that the refined,
civilized, educated men and women I preach to around the country
do not worship images carved out of tree stumps, chiseled
out of granite, or even molded from molten gold and silver. I realize most folks don't do
that. A few still bow down and worship images of Mary and other
folks called saints, and they Foolish enough to worship like
that, but most folks don't. Yet most of the religious people
of this world, most people in Baptist churches right now, today,
in Danville, Kentucky, I hope it's so clear nobody missed what
I'm saying. Not only in Baptist churches, but in all the others
as well. Most people worship a God, a little God. which no more resembles the God
of Holy Scripture than an ant. In worship of God, they have
whittled out of the dark, dark forest of their old, depraved
minds, and is not anything close to being like the God of the
Bible. Not anything close to it. We come and preach the gospel
of God's free grace. and describe God in His glorious
character as the sovereign, eternal, omnipotent, almighty God who
has mercy on whom He will have mercy. God who is righteous and
demands righteousness. Men say, we won't have it because
we got us a God. We made Him with our pocket knives.
We whittled Him out of our own veins and we won't have no God.
Your God's a monster to us. If I had a dime every time somebody
said that makes God a monster, I'd be right well off. I'm telling
you, God Almighty is not what you think He is. God Almighty
is not what you imagine He is. The third thing He says concerning
these lost religionists, they worship, serve, and pray. Look at it, Isaiah 45, 20. They
pray unto a God that cannot save. Now, you don't need to turn there,
but the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3, told us about perilous times,
perilous times. In these last days, perilous
times shall come. And then he describes the men
and women of this age, this age in which perilous times are,
this age in which there's great, great danger. Now remember, the
people he's describing are religious people. You read 2 Timothy 3,
he's not talking about the, he's not talking about folks over
in the prison. He's not talking about folks down in the brothel. He's
talking about religious folks. And this is what he says about
them in verse 5. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power
thereof. Had in a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof, from such turn away. Our Lord Jesus said to the Jews
and the religious leaders of his day, you do err not knowing
the scriptures nor the power of God. Now that's exactly what's
wrong with the religious world in which we live. The Apostle
Paul describes Arminian, legalistic, freewill, works religion as another
gospel preaching another God, another Jesus, another spirit,
and another salvation. Here he calls it a religion that
is a mere form of godliness and declares that this mere form
of godliness denies the power of God. I, some years ago, asked
Brother Mahan to send All of you who are members of the church
hear his bullets, and I presume that you're still receiving them.
And if you got them Friday, if you read them, you noticed he
had an article right along this line. And I copied what he said
in one of the articles because it was so very, very pertinent
to this message. He describes that form of godliness
that denies the power of God. Let me read you what he said.
He said, a form of godliness says God wills to save all men. Denying his power, adds, but
he cannot save unless men open their hearts to him. Sound familiar? God wants to save you. God will
save you. But you've got to open your heart.
You know you've got to open your heart to the Lord. Second, a
form of godliness says God has a wonderful plan for many, many.
Denying his power, adds, But you must allow him to have his
will and his way. When I was in school, you know, religious fools got
to have religious cliches and religious activities and religious
slogans to keep them going. And every year in school, they'd
get together and each class would have a slogan. They'd have a
cliche. They'd have something they'd put on banners, you know,
make you feel religious. And one year, The fellows in
our class, I forgot which year it was now, they had a real good
cliche. They said, let go and let God. Oh, that sounds good. Just let
go and let God. You don't let God Almighty anything. People don't, they didn't mean
it that way. Oh, yes, they did. I know exactly how they mean
it. I'll tell you how to prove it.
Let me preach this too. That's exactly what they mean.
Let go, and let God, and then God can be God. Having a form
of godliness, denying the power thereof. Thirdly, Henry said,
a form of godliness says Christ died on the cross for all the
sins of all the sons of Adam, that all might be saved. Denying
the power of his blood adds, but his blood has no power. or
efficacy to save anyone until man releases it to work. I talked to a preacher some years
ago in my office. I've talked to many. This particular
one didn't have sense enough to cover up what he believed.
I said, if I understand you correctly, you preach that Christ died for
everybody, that Christ provided redemption for everybody, that
Christ provided justification for everybody, but man, by his
faith, gives merit and power and efficacy through the blood
of Christ. When he established me, he said, that's right. It's denying the power of his
blood. A form of godliness, but denying the power of it. Fourthly,
a form of godliness says the Holy Spirit knocks at everyone's
heart with a desire to enter and work repentance and faith. But denying the power adds, you
must open the door. The Lord's knocking at your door.
Won't you open and let him in? You see that silly, of course
all pictures of Jesus, imaginary pictures of an imaginary Jesus
are just idolatry, but you see the silly picture. Supposed to
be Jesus, that little effeminate looking thing standing outside
a door, and he's standing there knocking with a lamp in his hand.
He who is the light of the world got a lamp in his hand. And He's
tapping at your heart's door, the fellow who made it. That's
right, the one who made it. He's tapping at your door and
says, won't you let me in? But there's no handle on the
outside, you have to open the door. If God Almighty puts His
finger on your heart's door, it'll fall in. He's not waiting
on you to do something. He's not waiting on you to open
to Him. I'm not talking to you about a pure God, a God who cannot
save, but He who is the mighty God. The form of godliness Henry
wrote says, salvation is of the Lord. Denying the power adds,
but those whom he saves may fall away and perish. Oh no. He who is God saves with everlasting
salvation. How are we to treat such religion?
People ask me all the time, I'm in a church like that, what should
I do? Get out? Get out. Wipe the dust off your
feet and get out. But that's a cursed thing. That's
what it is. Paul tells us plainly, from such
turn away. Don't have anything to do with
it. Well, I think if I stay in the ministerial society, I can
have more influence over those fellows. And if I stay in the
denomination, I can have some influence for good. I know what
you want. Stay around and you'll compromise
everything there is. Oh, no. He says from such. Turn
away. Just turn away. There's not any
question about that. The issue is not, what should
I do? The issue is, are you going to do it? That's the only issue. And I have no question at all.
Folks who ask the question know exactly what they ought to do.
And some of them are going to hear this tape. The thing's not, what
shall I do, but are you willing to do it? Get out! Turn from
them! They have no knowledge of God. None at all. All right, second,
look at verse 21. Isaiah 45, 21. Here the Lord God contrasts Himself
with the gods of men, gods who cannot say. He tells us that
He is a God who can say, and in this verse He asserts His
own glorious saving character. And bring them near, yea, let
them all take counsel together. Gather up all your little gods.
Let them all hold a council. Get their notes out. And put
their notes together. Put their heads together like
a good faith tank. Let them all come together. Who
hath declared this that now is from ancient times? Where is
the God who declared from eternity what now is? He's God. Read it. Who hath told it from
that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there
is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none
beside me. Now look at this verse closely.
Too often we read a familiar passage of Scripture and read
it too quickly and miss the detail and scope of its teaching. In
this verse of scripture, the Lord God declares five things
about himself. Five things which identify him
as God. Now listen carefully, I hope
you'll jot them down as we go along. If the God you worship,
if the God I worship, if the God to which we pray, if our
ideal, our concept of God, lacks any one of these five things,
doesn't matter if he's got three or four, if he lacks any one
of these five characteristics, then our God is but a graven
image, a useless imaginary God, you just as well worship a stone.
Now this is God's description of God. Number one, he who is
God has an absolute, unalterable, sure purpose. A purpose by which
all things are governed. In the opening part of this verse,
the Lord challenges men to bring all their peanut gods together
and let them all take counsel together. And I challenge men
to do the same. Gather up all the gods of men,
Baptist gods, Buddhist gods, Mormon gods, Catholic gods, Russellite
gods, Hindu gods, gather them all up and let's find out where
there is a God who declared from eternity what is now. I'm not talking about one who
looked out and saw what probably was going to be. I'm talking
about one who from eternity declared with absolute sovereignty what
now is. You find me wanting a whole bunch
who has declared absolutely from ancient times, from eternity,
all things that are, have been, and shall hereafter be? That's
God. God describes Himself. Listen
to what it says in Isaiah 14, verse 24. The Lord of hosts hath
sworn, say, surely as I have thought. No, that's something. We're not talking about a God
like a man. He's infinitely beyond us as I have thought. So shall
it come to pass. As I have purposed, so shall
it stand. In verse 27, he says, For the
Lord of hosts hath purposed, and whoso dishonored his hand
is stretched out, and whoso turned it back. Turn over one page here
to Isaiah 46. Look at verse 9. Isaiah 46, verse
9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. Now,
understand what that means. Don't just read it and say, well,
that means something, but I'm what it is. Here's the end of
all things. Here's the end of it. Here's
the beginning of all things. Everything. Everything. Back
here in the beginning, God declared what this was going to be. And
now He's doing it. That's sovereignty. You understand
that? From the end, from the beginning. From ancient times,
the things that are not yet done. That is, I declared from back
yonder in eternity, things that haven't yet come to pass. Saying,
my counsel shall stand. And I will do all my pleasure. The Lord wants to. The Lord's
trying to. The Lord wills to. Let me tell
you something. Bobby Estes, whatever God Almighty
wants to, tries to, wills to, pleases to, is. That's exactly
right. It's exactly right. God doesn't
try to do anything. God doesn't want to do anything.
God doesn't please anything except what is. He's God Almighty. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east. Folks say, well, what if? If God wants to feed his
prophet with a raven, he'll cause a raven to bring him some meat.
Who ever heard of a raven feeding anybody? A ravenous bird. God
calls one to. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country.
That's what Isaiah 45 is all about. God called Cyrus. He said, now, Cyrus, you don't
know me. You don't know who I am. You don't know what I've done,
but I raised you up, I've strengthened you, I've girded you, and I sent
you to deliver my people. Calling a man from a far country,
that the man that executed my counsel from a far country, yea,
I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed
it, I will also do it. He who is God has an absolute,
unalterable purpose, and he worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. That song Judas sang a little
while ago, oh, what a hymn. It is the Lord. He has the right
to do what he will, and he does what he will, everywhere, with
everybody, at all times, according to his purpose. Now, there's only one thing you
can do with that God. You can't fight it. Let the potions
of the earth strive in the potions of the earth. But don't you dare
fight against God. You can't resist Him who has
resisted His will. I don't know God. Secondly, he
who is truly God truly is God. Look what he says. He says, I
am the Lord. I'm the Lord. Now that word means
a lot of things, but I'll tell you what it means in a second.
You can write this down somewhere. This is a plowboy interpretation. This is what it means. Boss. I'm the boss. I don't mean I'm
the foreman. I'm the boss. I don't mean I'm
the fellow who's responsible for running the shop. I'm the
boss. I don't mean for you to understand I'm responsible for
things up in heaven and I'm boss there. I'm the boss. I don't
mean for you to understand I'm the boss over the elements of
the world. I'm the boss over you and everything in heaven,
earth, and hell. I'm the Lord. Now, Lindsay, he
who is God is boss. He's the Lord. Absolute, absolute
boss. The one who owns you. The one
who controls you. And the one who will do with
you exactly what he will. Say, we'll preach you the way
you talk. Nothing's up to man. Nothing's
in man's hands. And nothing is by chance. Nothing
is by luck. Nothing is by fate. Nothing is
by the fall of the cards or the roll of the dice. You're exactly
right. That's what I'm talking about. He controls the roll of
the dice. He says the lots cast into the
lamp, but the disposal thereof is of the Lord. Back in the days when they had
the draft, some of us are old enough to remember, we kind of
every month kind of sweated because the lottery came. And if your
number was up, you're going. My number came up the week I
got married. My number was up. Who did that? God. Oh, they just put that in
a barrel, rolled it around, leashed in there blindly, pulled one
out. They were blind, but not God. You understand that? You
roll your dice on a Monopoly board or in the back alley shooting
craps. I'm telling you, God controls
the roll of the dice. Everything. He numbered the hair
on your head. He controls the thoughts of a
man. So that a man's heart, even the king's heart, is in the hands
of God Almighty. Oh, children of God, take comfort
in this. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Helms and Mr.
Gingrich and all the others, their hearts are in God's hands. And he turns them more easily
than you turn a water hose to water your flowers. Exactly where
he will. Exactly where he will. He turneth
it like rivers of water, whithersoever he will. He says in verse 7 of
Isaiah 45, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace
and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. I'd like to see some Barbarian
Jewel. That's not a while. I do it all. are of God. All things are of God. Thirdly,
he who is God is God alone. He declares there is none with
him, none like him, none but him. Most people really are pantheists
and polytheists. They believe God is in everything
and everybody and everywhere. They believe just that every
man's notion of God really is God. The Buddhists have their
God, the Mohammedans have their God, the Jews have their God,
the Patriots have their God, the Mormons have their God, the
barbarians have their God, the Baptists have their God, but
everybody's got a God, and everybody's God's God. Just recently, the
Pope declared God and Allah to be
the same, making gestures to bring the Jews and the Mohammedans
and Protestants all under the huge umbrella of the papacy. In order to do that, Allah is
God. And the Jews' concept of God
is God. Next thing you know, if the old
man lives long enough, he'll be in India declaring that cows
are God. The reality is everybody, everybody
by nature, thinks God is everywhere in everybody and what folks think
He is. I really see absolutely no difference between our modern
environmentalist, these environmentalist nuts in our society. The television
programs talk about Mother Earth. Don't you ever call this Earth
my mother. I didn't crop out of it. No,
not Mother Earth. I see no difference in worshiping
Mother Earth in the name of environmentalism and worshiping cats and dogs
and cattle and rats as they do in India. None whatsoever. The only difference is the environmentalists
are educated and other folks from third world countries. That
don't cost anything extra. Fourthly, he who is God is a
just God. Much could be said about this
and should be. I'll say more about it this evening with the
Lord willing. But for now, hear these two things. A just God
must and will punish sin. God's going to deal with your
sin. He's going to deal with your sin. He's going to deal
with your sin in justice, in strict, strict justice. He declares
He will by no means clear the guilt He declares that he will
not pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin. God's going to deal
with your sin. He's going to punish your sin. And a just God
cannot save sinners apart from the satisfaction of His justice.
By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, but not by any other
means. Now, blessed be His name. The
justice of God has been satisfied for sinners. by the obedience
and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, his dear Son. In him mercy and
truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Therefore, upon the grounds of Christ's obedience, upon the
grounds of Christ's righteous obedience unto death, he is just
and the justifier of the ungodly. And he says, behold, I am a just
God and a Savior. God Almighty has taken the sins
of his people laid them upon His Son, and punished His Son
to the full satisfaction of justice, so that Jesus paid it off, all
the debt I owe. Sin had left the Prince, instead
He washed it. Why does it now? God in justice
has forgiven my sin, because there is no more. Fifthly, this
just God is a Savior. He is a Savior. Most people pray unto a God that
cannot save. Here's God who can. He's a Savior. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Preacher, you mean God is able
in His just and holy character to save a sinner such as I am?
Oh, yeah. Not only is He able, Rex Bartley,
as surely as you believe Him, He has saved you. Sitting right where you are,
as surely as you believe Him, He has saved you. Look at the
next line. Isaiah 45, 22. Here's the last
thing. Our great, glorious Lord God,
who is both a just God and a Savior, now declares the salvation which
He performs. Oh, if you would be saved, hear
and obey His word. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else. The Israelites looked away to
that brazen serpent. Because they had no choice. They didn't have any choice. They'd been bitten by fiery serpents. And they were dropping like flies
in the wilderness. And there was no balm, no healing,
no cure anywhere to be found until God said, Moses, make a
serpent. a serpent of brass, like one
of those fiery serpents that's bitten the children of Israel,
and lifted them up on a pole. And it shall come to pass that
everyone, everyone who looks on that raising serpent shall
be healed. And I expect folks to look around
and thought, talked, debated, and said, don't make any sense
to me to look. And I've tried. I've tried grandma's remedy,
grandpa's remedy, and your grandma and grandpa's remedy didn't help.
I've been to every doctor around here. None of them could help.
And you're telling me that looking to that brazen serpent's going
to help? Yeah. Not me. I'm too smart for that. Go on and die there. But everybody
convulsing with death in their throat who looked, as quickly
as they looked, to Him. And I'm telling you that everybody
who looks to the crucified Son of God, lifted up in the gospel,
sitting now on the throne of glory, look to Him. And just
as quick as you look, Life is yours. In fact, you're looking
as proof that life is yours. Look unto me, be ye saved. All
the answer. Well now preacher, you mean to
tell me that all this problem with sin, all this problem with
depravity, All this problem with ungodliness, all this problem
with a guilty conscience, all this problem with torment and
death and hell in my soul, all this problem that gives me uneasiness
as I think about death and eternity, all of this can be taken care
of with a look. I'm too smart for that. Give
me an aisle to walk down. Give me an often-dear lad. Give
me a prayer to say. Give me some rosary beads to
count. Give me some work to do. Give me a mission field to go
on. Give me a sacrifice to make. That makes good sense. That's
a way that seems right unto a man. Keep on, he'll take you to hell.
Preacher, my God, I'm dying. Hell's in my heart and I can't
get any relief. How can a sinner like I have
mercy from God Almighty? Look to Christ. It's mine. It's mine. Look to Jesus Christ. Look to Christ alone. Look to
Christ for everything. Everything. Say, well, don't
be too extreme. Just go with the extreme. Look
to Christ for everything. Look to Christ always. And he
says, looking to me, you shall live. God help you to look. Amen. All right, let you continue
to sing.