Isaiah 65, Isaiah 65. I'm taking the title for the
message from verse 9 of Isaiah 65. It mentions there, God said,
I will bring forth. I will and you shall. I shall
and you will. I will bring forth a seed out
of Jacob, talking about a covenant people. for a covenant surety,
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob. Remember he said, Jacob
have I loved? We are called sons of Jacob and
out of Judah, that special tribe, that tribe, the kingly tribe.
He'd made his kings and priests under our God and inheritor. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Inheritor of his mountain and
my elect. shall inherit it. God has an
elect, an elect that shall inherit it. Again, he says that down
in verse 22, my elect shall enjoy the work of their hands. What
is the work of their hand? Christ. He finished the work
of salvation for us. So, I'm just gonna use Isaiah
65 verse one for our text But I'm going to use verse 9 for
the title of the message. And the title is, The Elect of
God Shall Inherit Salvation. There's no question about that.
God, from all eternity, chose a people unto salvation. He ordained
them and predestinated them to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ,
being conformed to His image. We are made heirs of God and
joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's so. That is so. There is an election of sinners
unto salvation. This blessed truth is taught
throughout the Word of God. I remember in the bookstore years
and years and years ago, I picked up a 50-cent book, a 50-cent
book called The Bible Doctrine of Election. The Bible Doctrine
of Election. And I took it home and read it
and read it and read it. I said, that's the gospel, written
by Claude Deval Cole, C.D. Cole. And when I read that, I
was just so happy because that's what I was reading in the word
of God. God chose the people under salvation. That is the
Bible doctrine of election. God chose the people. The elect
of God shall be saved. He chose them under salvation.
To Abraham and his seed were the promises made, and he sayeth
not to seeds as of many, but as of one, and thy seed, which
is Christ. He is called, you remember in
Isaiah 42, turn over there in Isaiah 42 just a minute. The
first time, the first time the word elect is used in the scripture,
Isaiah 42 one, Isaiah 42 one. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
the elect. We're chosen in him. We're chosen
in him and whom my soul delighteth. I put my spirit upon him. He
shall bring forth salvation to Gentiles, to sinners. He shall bring salvation. So
he is the elect. He is the seed. We're chosen
in him. We're chosen in him. I like what
someone said, whatever election is, it's in Christ. He is the
elect and we are chosen in Him. When did that take place? God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. We're bound
to give thanks unto God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. God
chose a people out of Adam's fallen race unto salvation. In Romans 9, he said, the purpose
of God according to election shall stand. The purpose of God
according to election. It's gonna stand. He's gonna
make good on his purpose, his promise. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. There is a remnant, Romans 11
five, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. So
election is not this, and here's what, when we talk about election
to some people in religious circles, they say, oh, yeah, we know about
election. God cast a vote for me, the devil
cast a vote against me, and I cast a deciding vote. That's not election,
that's Tommy Rot, as the old preacher used to say. That's
Tomfoolery, Tomfoolery and Tommy Rot. The devil doesn't have an
equal vote in this thing with God. God made a choice. God made a choice who he would
save. Does he have a right to do that?
Who are you to reply against God? Hath not the potter power
over the clay to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? In this chapter we have the glorious
truth revealed that Almighty God is going to call out his
people, his elect, not only from the nation of Israel, but also
from all nations and people upon the earth, Jew and Gentile, sinners,
And that is who salvation is for. When we were yet without
strength, Christ died for the ungodly. He came to seek and
to save the lost. The Lord is going to have a people
chosen out of all people upon the earth and He is going to
redeem them and save them by His sovereign grace, Jew or Gentile. You see, He knows His sheep by
name and He calls them out. Remember, we studied 2 Timothy
2.19 The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this sealed, the Lord knoweth them that are His. He knows them that are His. He's
known them from all eternity. He chose them and loved them
forever and ever. Remember from our study in Revelation
5, and they sung the new song saying, thou art worthy to take
the book to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, every tongue,
every people and nation, 10,000 times, 10,000, and 1,000, and
1,000. God knows every one of them by name. He chose them unconditionally
and gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ. How often does he refer
when the Lord prayed in John 17? He prayed about all those
that the Father had given Him. Remember, He prayed and He mentions
those at least five or six times in that prayer. He said, All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and those that come
to me I will never cast them out. The God of Israel, the church,
the God of Israel and the church is a spiritual nation, a kingdom
of chosen sinners from among Jew and Gentile. All of God's elect shall be saved. None of the sheep of the Lord
Jesus Christ can perish. Doesn't he say that in John chapter
10? He said to those Pharisees, when they said, if you be the
Christ, tell us plainly. And he said, I told you, but
you believe not because you're not my sheep. My sheep, hear
my voice. I know them. I know them, and
they follow me. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, and no man can pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father, we're one. I
quoted that scripture one time to a man that I was, when I,
was visiting different businesses and calling on different businesses,
and I got acquainted with this man, and he told me he was a
preacher, and he preached in water, and believed in water
and work salvation. And I quoted that scripture to
him one time, John chapter 10, 27, 28, 29, 30. And I said, no
man can pluck them out of the Father's hand. He gives them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. He said, yeah,
but a man can pluck his own self out of the father's hand. I said,
that's ridiculous. They got to get their little
free will thing in there somehow, don't they? He gives them eternal
life and they'll never perish. Now, what does that mean? That
means for those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ chose, those
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died, in time he calls them out
with the gospel and they'll never perish. There's no one in hell
for whom Christ died. There can't be. If that's so,
then his atonement is a failure. Right over in Isaiah 42 verse
four, he cannot fail. all those for whom he died, they're
saved, they're justified, they're justified, justified, eternally
justified. Now, I just want to look at verse
1, Isaiah 65 verse 1, I am sought of them that ask not Now, we
seek the Lord, and we only seek him because he first sought us.
I am sought of them that ask not, that ask not for me. Now, he's talking about by nature,
no man seeks the Lord. Remember, he said, no man can
come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him, and I
am found of them. You see, we were lost sheep,
he found us. I'm found of them that sought
me not, and I said, behold me. Behold me unto a nation that
was not called by my name. He's talking about his elect
among the Gentiles. He's talking about us. A remnant
according to the election of grace. We see the cause and purpose
and call of God saving mercy unto us. who by nature are without
God, without hope, and without Christ. What we are by nature,
dead in sin, ruined in Adam, having no salvation, having no
hope, having no interest in the gospel until the Lord gives us
that interest in Him. The Lord says unto us, this is
a way of His salvation, this is a way He saved us. I was sought
of them that did not ask, that did not call. I was found of
them that did not seek me. In our experience of grace and
salvation, before the Lord was pleased to call us by his gospel,
we had absolutely no vital spiritual interest in the true gospel of
God. We had no true saving knowledge. We had no true repentance, no
true faith. We had no true saving knowledge
of his person, who he is, or of his work. his redeeming work,
his priestly work, even though we might have been very religious. Now, I don't know about you,
I don't know all of your life story, but I grew up in religion. I mean, I was in religion from
the day I was an infant. I was born into works religion.
Works religion. I cut my teeth on works religion.
Raised in religion and was very religious, but I did not know
God. I did not know the gospel. No
man by nature does. We are born into this life with
no interest in the true and living God. We are born into this life
ignorant of God. We are born into the dark. And
here's what I've always said. By nature, we adopt the religion
of our environment. If you were raised in Iran or
Iraq, raised in a family that was Muslim, well, what would
you be raised? A Muslim. If you were born in
China and your family practiced, what is that? Buddha? You would be a Buddhist. Same
way with the people in India. Same way with whatever church
you're raised in, whatever church religion you're exposed to, you
adopt the religion of your environment. That's what I did. My parents
were Mormons and I was Mormon. Didn't know God. They didn't
know God. They died in their sin. Out of all my 10 siblings, None of them have an interest
in the gospel. They think I'm a nut. They think I'm an absolute
nutcase. God chose me from eternity and
gave me a vital interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's true
of all God's people. By nature, we don't know the
truth. By nature, we're dead. By nature, we're ignorant. Behind the reason of us eventually
truly seeking the Lord and calling upon Him is the fact that the
Lord revealed Himself unto us after we heard the truth of the
Gospel. When we heard the truth of the
Gospel and God sent that Word, preached in the power of God
the Holy Spirit, He opened our eyes to see the glory of God
that shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. We only truly
seek Him because He first sought us out. We only truly begin to
love Him because He first loved us. We only believe Him and embrace
Him by faith because He chose us in that eternal covenant of
grace. You remember what He said to
His disciples? His apostles, really. He said,
you didn't choose me, I chose you. James and John were out
there fishing. And the Lord walked by and said,
follow me. Matthew was sitting at the receipt of custom collecting
taxes. And he said, Matthew, follow
me. He closed up his books, closed up shop, and followed the Lord
Jesus Christ. You see, we only believe Him,
love Him, and embrace Him because He chose us in that covenant
of grace. We only love Him. We love Him because it says in
1 John 4, 19, we only love Him because He first loved us. He
loved us with an everlasting love. It is the Lord who has
made us to differ. We didn't make the difference.
I mean, there's ten children in my family. The Lord didn't choose me because
of anything He saw in me. The Lord chose me because He
would. His choice. His desire. Who make you to differ from another?
What do you have that you didn't receive? The Lord is the cause
of us seeking Him. Psalm 27 says, When thou saidest,
David writing in Psalm 27, When thou saidest, Seek ye my face? My heart said unto me, Thy face
will I seek. When the Lord gives you an interest
in Him, you will seek the Lord. Because it says in another psalm,
Thy people shall be willing in the day of His power. Remember?
Thy people shall be willing in the day of God's power. Blessed
is the man to whom, blessed is the man whom thou choosest and
causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy court.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even thy
temple forevermore. Psalm 65 verse 4, blessed is
man whom thou choosest and causes us to approach unto him. You
see, he has to give us faith. We don't have that by nature,
do we? We love darkness rather than
the light. This is condemnation that light has come into this
world and men love darkness rather than the light. A spiritually
dead sinner cannot come to God until God in saving mercy comes
to the sinner and fetches and draws him out of darkness into
God's marvelous light. He must command the light to
shine out of darkness to shine in our hearts. That gives him
all the honor and glory. Our Lord said this in John 6,
no man can come to me. That's pretty exclusive, isn't
it? No man can come to me except my Father which sent me draw
him. There's any part of no you don't understand. I used to tell
my boys that when they were little. What part of no don't you understand? No means no. No man can come
to me except the Father which sent me, what? draws them. And He draws them irresistibly. He draws them affectionately.
How does He do that? He makes Himself irresistible. When we see His beauty as altogether
lovely, we must have Him. He causes us to look to Him.
Paul, applying this verse in Romans 10, unto the salvation
that we enjoy, says, I was made manifest unto them that ask not
after me. Salvation comes by the revelation
of the Holy Spirit, showing the Lord Jesus Christ unto us, his
person, his work, who he is, what he has done, and why. He reveals these things unto
us. He reveals Himself unto us. He hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babe. The natural man
does not receive the things of God. They must be spiritually
revealed unto us. That's why the Lord said to Peter,
you are a blessed man. When Peter confessed, when the
Lord said, Peter, whom do you say that I am? Peter said, you're
the Christ. And the Lord said, well, you're
a blessed man. Because flesh and blood didn't reveal that
to you, but my Father which is in heaven. Eye hath not seen,
ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit
searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what
man knoweth the things of man, sayeth the Spirit of man which
is in him. Even the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit
of God. Now we have received not the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
That's from 1 Corinthians chapter 2. The Lord Jesus Christ is made
manifest unto us and revealed unto us through the preaching
of the word, through the preaching of the word of the Lord. And
he says that there in Romans chapter 10. How shall they call
on him of whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in him
of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? You can't believe what you don't know. You can't
embrace the Lord Jesus Christ in ignorance. He hath to hear
the word of truth. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of truth. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, being born again, not of a corruptible seed,
but of an incorruptible seed, the word of God. Of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth. Look at verse 1 again, Isaiah
65 verse 1. He says twice, behold me. Behold me unto a nation that
was not called by my name. Here's the gracious call of God. He says to sinners in need of
mercy, you look to me. Look to me. That's what the word
behold is. Look. Look. Salvation's in a
look. Look unto me. Turn to Isaiah
45. Remember this? Isaiah 45. Salvation's in a look. Behold
me. Behold me. Isaiah 45, the last
part of verse 21. God said, there is no God else
beside me. Isaiah 45, 21. A just God and
Savior. There is none beside me. Look. Now that's a pretty simple word,
isn't it? L-O-O-K and two letters are just the same. Four letters. L-O-O-K, O-K. Look, look to me. Look unto me, the just God and
Savior. Look unto me and be saved, all
the ends of the earth. I am God, there none else. Behold
me. He says that several times. Turn
over here to, I believe it's Isaiah 40. Turn over there. Look
at verse nine, Isaiah 40, verse nine. Oh, Zion, Isaiah 40, verse
nine, that bringeth good tidings, that get thee up into a high
mountain, oh Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings. Lift up
thy voice with strength. Lift it up and be not afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold
your God. Behold Him. Behold my servant,
my elect. Let me show you another one.
Turn back a few more pages. Behold me. He says, look to me,
Isaiah 28. Turn over there. Isaiah 28, 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
behold. You got it? Isaiah 28, 16. Behold, thus saith the Lord God. Pay attention. I lay in Zion
for a foundation of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Now that verse is quoted twice
in the New Testament. It's quoted over there in the
book of Romans and also in the book of 1 Peter. And there it's
quoted, he that believeth on him shall not be ashamed. He
that believeth on him shall not be confounded. He that believeth
on him shall not make haste. You know what that means? Never
forced out. Never forced out. He saves us
with an everlasting salvation. It says that, doesn't it? Where
is that? He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. Where is that at? Yeah, Isaiah 45, 17. But Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You
shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end. Boy, that's
good news, isn't it? He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. Behold Him, behold Him. You remember
what John, the prophet of God, John the Baptist, he's called? He said, behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away our sin. One old writer said this, behold
Him, turn towards Him, fix your eyes mind upon him, acquaint
yourself with him, admire him, adore him, look off from your
idols that you've made and look upon the living God who made
you. Matthew Henry, 1600. Faith is always, the faith of
God's elect is always coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. To
whom coming? To whom coming? It's always looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, come unto me.
As a mercy beggar, we come. He said, come unto me, all you
that labor heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Come boldly unto
the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy, find grace
to help in time of need. The prime example of this idea
of looking to Christ for all salvation, you remember over
in the book of Numbers chapter 21 when Israel was all those
years in the wilderness, 40 years, And they often complained to
Moses about the way. They often complained about having
not enough water. And God gave them water out of
the rock. They often complained about having
no bread. And God rained manna from heaven
for 40 years. And yet they complained and complained
and complained. And you know what the Lord did?
He sent fiery serpents among them and bit the people. with a sting of death. And they
began to cry unto Moses, Moses, do something for us, help us,
we're in trouble. You remember what the Lord said
to Moses, make a fiery serpent, a brazen serpent, and put it
on a pole and raise it up, and whoever is bitten when he looks
to that brazen serpent shall live. Look to that serpent and
live. Now, what does all that mean?
Turn to John chapter 3. Look and live. I wish we had
the words of that song in our book. Look and live, my brother,
live. Look to Jesus Christ and live. But turn to John chapter
3. Our Lord uses that providential type of that brazen serpent biting
the people, and that's a picture of us being bitten with sin.
And then that brazen serpent lifted up is a picture of Christ
being lifted up. John chapter 3, look at verse
14. As Moses lifted up a serpent
in the wilderness, Numbers 21 verse 9, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish
but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him
Believe it in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn it,
but that the world through him might be saved. Now, who is this
world? His elect, his elect. Now, a lot of people want to
try to use these verses to prove freewillism, and they try to
use that word whosoever. You remember we read in Romans
10, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. You know, I'm a whosoever. Because,
and here, they camp on the word whosoever, but look at the next
word. Whosoever, what? Believeth on Him. How do we believe? We only believe according to
the working of His mighty power. Faith is not something, faith
is not something that blooms in our heart naturally. What
blooms in our heart naturally? Unbelief. Arthur Prink said,
Arthur Prink said, that saving faith is exotic. It's something
that blooms outside of us and God puts it in our heart. to
cause us to believe. We don't naturally have this
gift. You know, faith is called, there's
not many things in the Word of God that's called precious. Peter
uses that word precious, 1st and 2nd Peter, he uses that word
precious, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
you who believe He is precious, but he also uses precious to
describe faith. is the precious gift of God that's
obtained with the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith,
then, is the gift of God. Faith is not native to our depraved
nature. Faith is precious. Now, listen
to this. Most religious people really,
really, really lost religious people. Let me put it that way. Lost religious people. They think they believe and then
they're born again. That's what lots of religious
people and what they say. It's just the exact opposite.
We're born again by the Spirit of God and then we believe. Now,
I can make good on that. 1 John 5, 1, whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. You see, we don't believe
to be born, we believe because we have been begotten of God. That just makes good sense, doesn't
it? Faith is the gift of God. The
faith of God's elect, we're going to see this in our lesson Sunday
morning, faith and repentance both acknowledge the truth. Now,
how do I know if I have true saving faith? How do I know if
I have true repentance? Repentance, like faith, are both
the gifts of God. Repentance toward God and faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Both are gifts of God. Faith and repentance are like
a sheet of paper. A sheet of paper has two sides.
They come together. Faith and repentance are both
the gift of God. Faith and repentance both acknowledge
the truth. If I have true faith, I believe
the truth of what God says in His Word. If I have true repentance,
I acknowledge the truth. God is God. We are sinners. Salvation is in Christ. Salvation
is of the Lord. You see, salvation is all of
God. It's God that takes initiative.
God is the first cause and last end of our salvation. In election to glorification,
it's all of God. All of God. All of God. Salvation
of the Lord in His planning. Salvation of the Lord in His
purchase. Salvation of the Lord in His
execution. Salvation of the Lord in His
application. Salvation of the Lord in His
sustaining power. That's a good outline. Spurgeon
brought that back in about 1850. That's a good outline. Salvation
of the Lord. He called us first. He sought
us first. He gave us faith. to look to Him, to seek Him.
If the Lord waited on us to take the initiative, we never would
have been saved. We'd still be dead in our sin.
You see, it's the irresistible call of God. It's the irresistible
grace of God. The Lord's on the trail of His
sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to our own way. The Lord seeks His lost sheep
and He finds them and He calls them out. Makes them new creatures
in Christ.