Today, for our Bible study, let's
turn in our Bible to Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. And let me read these first four
or five verses of Isaiah 43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. God said, I have redeemed thee,
Jacob. Fear not, I have called thee
by thy name." God said, you're mine, I chose you, you're mine. When you pass through the waters,
I'll be with you. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow you. God said, when you're in trouble,
I'm with you. When you walk through the fire,
you'll not be burned, not be consumed. The flame shall not
kindle upon thee. God said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. Now Isaiah 43 verse 3, for I
am the Lord thy God. the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior,
knower of the name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must
be saved." Just one Savior, that's Jesus Christ, the Holy One of
Israel. He said, I gave Egypt for your
ransom, and he did. He destroyed a nation to save
his national people, Israel. I gave Egypt for a ransom, Ethiopia
and Seba for thee, since thou wast precious in my sight. Thou
hast been honorable, I have loved thee, therefore will I give men
for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with
thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east, and gather thee from the west. I'll say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my son from far,
my daughter from the ends of the earth, every one that is
called by my name. Now listen, for I have created
him for my glory, I have formed him, yea, I've made him." Now
every believer, every believer, Those who've been called by the
grace of God, who trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone for all His
salvation. Every believer is a creation
and a formation of God's almighty grace. We are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul put it this
way, by the grace of God, I am what I am. If you believe and
trust God, And look to Christ alone for all your salvation. It is the Lord that worketh in
you. This is God's doing and it's
marvelous in our eyes. God created Jacob so he could
make him into Israel. You read the record back in Genesis
32. God gave Jacob, O Canaibin cheat
Jacob, God transformed him and made him into Israel, Prince
of God. And God did this on purpose and
God did this by His grace because of Christ. Even so, God created
all men in Adam that He might take out of Adam, form and transform
a people into the very image of Christ. The apostle, when
he wrote, To the Colossians, Paul said, we give thanks to
God. He has made us fit to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in Christ. He transformed us
out of the kingdom of darkness, translated us out of the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. What I'm saying
is salvation, as I've said over the years on this broadcast,
salvation is a work of God. God's purpose and God's grace
given us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Now
all this God has done for us and in us for one reason, that
He might be glorified. That's the bottom line in salvation
and the grand design. One of the greatest preachers
that ever lived in this country, Jonathan Edwards, who was one
time president of Princeton University, back in the early 1700s, wrote
a book called The History of Redemption. And one of the lines
I remember in that book was he made the statement that the grand
design of redemption is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that is true. The Word of God bears this out
clearly. In our text, verse 7, he said,
I've created him for my glory. I've formed him. Yea, I have
made him. Salvation is a work of God. It's
His glorious work. It's God's enduring work. That is, God saves His people
not with a temporary salvation. God saves His people with an
everlasting salvation. He says that in several places,
but in Isaiah 45 verse 17, He said, I saved you with an everlasting
salvation. And God's salvation is a perfect
work. You see, it's the work of God.
It's not the work of men. Salvation is not what we do for
God. Salvation is what God has done
for us. And my friend, He never does
an incomplete work. It's a perfect work. It's an
enduring work. It's a glorious work. And my
friend, it is a complete work. Colossians 2 verse 9 and 10 says,
In Him dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily and we are
complete in Him. Now the word of encouragement
in this text is Isaiah 43 verse 1, Fear not, fear not for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee, By your name, God said,
you're mine. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now let's look at these particulars
in these verses here, verses 1, 2, 3, and 4. I would encourage
you to get your Bible and turn over to Isaiah 43 and let's read
these verses together. Now, here's a word of encouragement
to you who believe. God Almighty says, thus saith
the Lord that created thee and that formed thee, he said, I
have redeemed thee, I have redeemed thee. Now instead of God justly
leaving us to pay the debt of our sin, the Lord Jesus Christ
stepped in In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. Instead of God leaving us to
justly pay our sin debt, in which we are unable to do, the Lord
Jesus Christ stepped in and paid all the sin debt for God's covenant
people. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, Hebrews
9.26. He obtained eternal redemption
for his covenant people, Hebrews 9.12. Now several things we know
about this redemption when he said, I have redeemed thee. The
first thing we know, it was a costly redemption. We're not redeemed
by corruptible things. We're not redeemed or delivered
by our works. God bought us with his own blood. Peter put it this way in his
epistle. He said, you're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. It's costly, it's precious, isn't
it? That's what redeems us from sin,
it's the blood sacrifice of Christ. And this blood sacrifice of Christ
is complete, that is, he completely put away the sin of God's sheep. He said, I'm the good shepherd,
the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. In 1 John
1, verse 7, we read the blood of Christ cleanses us from all
sin. Matter of fact, the blood of
atonement and we're redeemed so completely in Christ and so
fully and so totally that God Almighty said their sin and their
iniquity will I remember no more. So it's a costly redemption.
bought with the blood of Christ. It's complete redemption. He
redeemed us from the curse of the law. And my friend, it's
a particular redemption, a particular. He said in the text here, I have
redeemed thee. In Matthew 121, the angel messenger
from heaven said, call his name Jesus, which means Savior. He
shall save his people from their sin. Now the blood atonement
of Christ is not something that's scattered and miscellaneous.
God doesn't work that way. He shed his blood for God's people. He said, for the transgression
of my people was I stricken. It's particular. The atonement
of Christ was given to save God's covenant elect people that he
chose from the foundation of the world and they shall be saved.
Not only that, but this redemption is satisfying. Satisfying to
God. Isaiah 53 says, he shall see
the travail of his soul, the sacrifice of his soul, and shall
be satisfied. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. You see what I'm saying? These
are words of encouragement. God said, I have redeemed thee.
And that gives me comfort and hope because I know I'm unable
to put away my sin. I'm unable to redeem myself.
He redeemed us. And then he says in this text,
for I have redeemed thee, then he said, I've called thee. I've
called thee by thy name." Now the Lord Jesus Christ has called
us unto himself. All those bought with his precious
blood shall be brought to Christ in saving faith. God calls his
people with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the good news
of the gospel. Now we didn't call upon him first,
nor did we choose him first, nor did we love him first. We
love him. Because He first loved us. We've
chosen Him because God in that covenant of grace first chose
us. He called us with the gospel. That's what He said here. As
a matter of fact, in this same text it says, you've not called
upon Me. Isaiah 43 verse 22. He said, you didn't call upon
Me. God called upon us and he does this with the gospel. When
Paul wrote to the Corinthians he said it pleased God through
the preaching of the gospel to call you. Now this call of God,
this call of God with the gospel is a personal call. He said,
I have redeemed you therefore because I have bought you with
my blood I have called you by your name. It's a personal call. In John 10 we read, the good
shepherd knows his sheep and he calls them by name. Something
else about this call of the gospel, it's an effectual call. It's
an effectual call. In the same chapter, Isaiah 43,
he said, there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will
work and who shall prevent it? Who shall stop the work of God?
It's an effectual call. He said, my sheep, hear my voice.
I know them and they do follow me. It's a powerful call. powerful call of the gospel.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of God's power. And my
friend, it's irresistible. It's irresistible. God irresistibly
calls. Can a sinner prevent the work
of God? Well, who do you think God is? My friend, He's Almighty. None
can stay His hand. None can stop Him. None can say
to Him, Lord God Almighty, what are you doing? Salvation is of
the Lord. Salvation is all of grace. That's
why we call this broadcast the Sovereign Grace Broadcast. Because
the scriptures teach that salvation is a work of God. God saves whom
He saves on purpose by the will of God. And then let's read on
in Isaiah 43. Verse, he said, when you pass
through the waters, I'll be with you. God won't forsake his people. They're redeemed, they're called,
they're a tribe people, but my friend, they'll never be, they
will never be forsaken. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. When you go through the waters
and through the fire, they won't consume you. He said, my grace
is sufficient for thee. And then in verse three of our
text, he said, I am the Holy God. I'm the Lord thy God. Now
who can make such a broad, far-reaching, wide-sweeping, comprehensive
promise? I am the Lord thy God, the Holy
One of Israel, thy Savior. Jesus Christ, my friend, is God
our Savior, and he will spare, and he did not spare any expense
to save his people. He said, with my own blood I
bought you, you're mine. He's the Savior of the people. He's God our Savior. And then
in verse 4 of our text, Isaiah 43 verse 4, he said, you were
precious in my sight, you're honorable, and he said, I've
loved thee. Now let's look at three words in verse 4. Precious,
God said we're precious in his sight, that is his elect, his
people, honorable. And God said I've loved thee,
three words of encouragement, precious in my sight. Now we're
not precious in our own sight. We say with Paul, wretched man
that I am. But my friend, every believer
is precious and valuable in God's sight. We're valuable to God
not because of what we've done for Him, but my friend, because
what He has done for us in Christ. He's made us new creatures in
Christ, a new creation. And then He says, you're honorable.
Now, we're born in a dishonorable state. In Adam's sin and guilt,
we dishonored God. We've dishonored God by our own
sin, but we've been made honorable by the sovereign grace of God,
by a new birth in Christ, by a new dress. He is the Lord,
our righteousness, by a new nature he has given us, by the inheritance
that we have in Christ, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
In his sight, Because of Christ we are precious, honorable, and
loved of God. And my friend, this is the spring
and source and fountain of all spiritual blessings to us. The love of God which is manifested
in Christ Jesus. Let me tell you, give you five
things about the love of God we find in scripture. It's eternal
love. God said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. It's sovereign love. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. God will love whom he will. God
doesn't love all men everywhere. The love of God is manifested
in Christ. It's eternal love. It's sovereign
love. It's unchangeable love. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. And my friend, it's free love, justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. He said,
fear not, I'm with you, I'll bring thy seed from the east
and gather thee from the west. What he's saying in these verses
here, 5, 6, and 7, God is saying, those for whom I chose in eternity,
those for whom Christ died and redeemed, those for whom He perfected
righteousness, they shall be saved. None for whom the Lord
Jesus Christ died will ever perish. The covenant of grace and the
oath of God, the promise of God will not permit such. He said,
all the Father had given me will come to me and those that come
to me I will in no wise cast out. Words of encouragement,
Isaiah 43.