All right, let's open our Bibles
again to Isaiah 45. I always give my messages a title. It helps to identify them, and
then it identifies the subject. The title of this message is,
I am the Lord, and there's none else. A person doesn't have to
be a theologian or a Bible scholar to discover that that's the theme
of this 45th chapter of Isaiah. This one phrase occurs over and
over again, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. There's none else. There's no
God beside me. Let's see that first in verse
5. The first line of verse 5, he
says, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. There's none else. In verse 6, the last line of
verse 6, I am the Lord, and there's none else. In verse 14, the last
line of verse 14, surely God is in thee. And there's none
else. There is no God. There's no God
beside me. I am the Lord. And there's none
else. Verse 18, the last line, I am
the Lord and there's none else. Verse 21, the last line, there
is no God else beside me. A just God a just God and a Savior,
just and justified. There is none beside me. In verse
22, and this is the chapter that was being read and preached the
night that Spurgeon heard the gospel, the night that God was
pleased, the morning, the Sunday morning that God was pleased
to open the heart of this in eyes of this 16-year-old lad,
brought up in the church, brought up in theology, brought up in
a home of a preacher, and sitting, listening that Sunday morning
to a man preach from Isaiah 45, verse 22. That was his text.
He used the whole chapter, but verse 22 was his text. Look unto me, and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth, for
I'm God, and there's none else. There's
nowhere else to look. Look to me and be saved, whomever, because
I'm God, and there's none else. Now, let's look at the first
three verses. The Lord declares in these first three verses what
I'll tell you what we're looking for here. He declares what great
things he'll do for and by Cyrus. Now, Cyrus is a title given to
kings, certain kings in certain places. It's a title like Pharaoh
or Augustus. And there was more than one Cyrus.
But there was a Cyrus who was friendly to the Jews. and one
whom God used to deliver the Jews from captivity. But this
Cyrus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is Christ.
You'll see this in the first three verses. But you'll note
this in these first three verses, that what great things God will
do for Cyrus and through Cyrus and by Cyrus for his glory and
for the good of his people. Now let's read the first three
verses. Thus saith the Lord, to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose
right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him. And I will
loose the loins of kings to open before him the two leaved gates,
and the gates shall not be shut. The Lord openeth, and no man
shutteth. The Lord shuts, and no man opens. I'll go before
thee, It sounds like John the Baptist doesn't. I'll make the
crooked places straight, the high places low, the low places
level, crooked places straight. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
I'll break in pieces the gates of brass, cut in sunder the bars
of iron, and I'll give thee the treasures of darkness and the
hidden riches of secret places. Yet thou mayest know that I,
the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the King of Israel."
What God does, He does through Christ. What God does, He does
for the sake of His people. What God does, He does for the
praise of His glory. You remember those three things.
What God does. he does through Cyrus, his king. And he does it for the sake of
his elect, and he does it for his glory. Now, I want you to
turn to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1. Now, Ephesians
chapter 1, and let's read verses 6, 12, and 14. Now watch this. We have in Ephesians 1, the work
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. in redeeming a people. It talks about in verses 3 through
5 how that the Lord chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, and He predestinated us to the adoption of children.
And verse 6, that He accepted us in the Beloved. Now look at
verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace. That's why
He did it. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. And then you have In those next
few verses, how the Lord Jesus redeemed us in whom we have redemption,
how He enlightened us, how He enriched us with an inheritance
in verse 12, tells you why. That we should be to the praise
of His glory. What He does, He does for His
glory, for the praise of His glory. And then in the next two
verses, you have the Holy Spirit Moving in the hearts of God's
people, verse 12 says it, verse 13 says, in whom you trusted
after you heard the gospel, after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you believed
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest,
the pledge, the token of our inheritance until the fulfillment,
the rediction of the purchased possession to the praise of his
glory. Turn back to my text. To the
praise of his glory. You know, when he said in Philippians
that the Lord Jesus, let this mind be in you which was in Christ
our Lord who thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made
himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant,
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, And wherefore
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will
bow, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. Why? To the
glory of God the Father. And that's what he's saying here.
Look at verse 4 of our text in Isaiah 45, verse 4. For Jacob
my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, God is doing this
for the sake of His people. Mine elect. When He says mine
elect, the first thing you and I think of is us. But really
the first one we ought to think of is Christ. He's God's elect. We're chosen in Him. One of the
old songwriters said this, he wrote this, Christ be my first
elect, God said. And then He chose us in Christ
our head. Turn back to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42. In verse 1. Listen. Behold my servant. Now this is Christ he's talking
about here. Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth. I put my spirit upon him without
measure. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth." Who's this? It's not
you or me, it's us in Christ, but it's Christ. Look at verse
4, "...and he shall not fail, nor be discouraged." till he
has set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for
his law. Oh yes, I do this. Back to verse
4, Isaiah 45. For Jacob my servant's sake,
and Israel mine elect, but Christ is that elect, and we are in
him. Everything's in him. Let me read
you a passage over in Ephesians 2 a moment. If you'd like to,
you can turn over there. Ephesians 2. Let's begin with
verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
you are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ. that in the ages to come,
that in the ages to come, He might show. Our Lord prayed in
John 17. He said, talking about glorifying
the glory which I, which you gave me, I've given to them that
the world may know, that the world may know, that the universe
may know that you love me and you love them like you love me.
And that's what he's saying here in verse 7, that in the ages
to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. Back to my text. And see if you
don't see that here in these verses. Verse 4. Down there to the last line in
verse 3. that thou mayest know that I,
the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
And for Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have
even called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there's none
else, and there's no God beside me. I'm doing this for your sake
and for my glory. You know, when If we could just
learn this, I read this prayer quite often for my own benefit. 1 Kings, turn over there with
me, 1 Kings chapter 18. If we can't do what we do for
the glory of God, we better not do it. Now that's praying, that's
preaching, that's teaching, that's giving, that's witnessing, that's
living, that's whatever. And this is what he's saying
over here in Isaiah 45, what I'm doing, I'm doing in Christ, and I'm doing it for the sake
of mine elect, and that I might have all the glory, because I'm
God, and there's none else. And when Elijah stood on top
of that mountain, confronted with all these prophets of Baal,
450 plus 400 more, And they'd gone through all their
gyrations and all their ceremonies and sacrifices trying to get
their God to answer them, and he never did because he doesn't
exist. Elijah, time for the evening
sacrifice, and he had them build an altar and then dig a trench
around it and then soak it with water. You see, the idea was
the God that answered by fire let him be gone. Elijah knew
who the living God is. He knew. But I want you to watch
how he prayed. He soaked that altar with fire,
with water, water, barrels of water, over and over again. Finally,
he prayed. These fellows had prayed all
day. They cut themselves, they had rolled on the ground, they
had raised their hands, they had done all these things, and
the heavens were silent. Elijah prayed A 63-word prayer. Take about 30 seconds. Breath the depth of it. Listen to what he said. 1 Kings
18, verse 30, 36, verse 36. It came to pass at the time of
the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near
and he said, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known this day that thou art God, and that I am thy
servant, and that I have done these things at your word. Hear
me, O Lord, hear me, that these people may know that thou art
the Lord God. And thou hast turned their heart
back again. Then, the fire of the Lord came. Elijah was somebody, but he didn't
want anybody to think it. He wanted them to know God is
somebody. God is God and none other. Let it be known this day in Israel
that thou art God. What I've done, I've done because
you said to me. That's the only way. Our Lord said one time, you know,
I was looking at this scripture today, Luke, Luke chapter 3. This is something here. I know
you're familiar with it, but you know, we read something and
it has an impact at that particular time because that's when the
Lord's pleased speak to us about this subject. Luke chapter 3,
verse 8. Luke 3, verse 8. Listen to what
he says here. "...bring forth therefore fruits
worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father. I say to you that God is able
of these stones to raise up children to Abraham." Man said one time, when one begins
to talk of our importance and how God needs us to do his work
or fulfill his purpose, he needs to read this verse. Don't brag
about who you are or what you are or what you've done or where
you came from or your ancestry or your heritage. God's able
at these rocks to raise up folks better than you and me. And another
verse, look at Luke 19. Luke 19, this is powerful here. Luke 19, verse, it's on the same
subject. Our Lord, here in verse 38, verse
37. Luke, I want you to read this.
Luke 19, 37. I want you to look at it. And when He was come now.
Luke 19, 37. Even now, at the descent of the
Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice
and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that
they'd seen, saying, Blessed, blessed be the King that cometh
in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said, Master, talking to the Lord Jesus, Rebuke
your disciples, these fellows giving you this glory. Peace in heaven, glory in the
earth, in the highest. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Stop their mouths. Hush them from this kind
of acclaim and glory. And he answered. And he said
to them, I tell you, that if they should hold their peace,
the stones would cry out. Let it be known that thou art
God. Thou art God. That's the theme
of this chapter. I am the Lord. Verse 5, Isaiah
45, there's no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me. He knew me before I knew Him. He loved me when I didn't love
Him. He sought me when I didn't seek Him. I wouldn't have sought
Him had He not sought me. He called me. I didn't call Him.
He said, you didn't know me. You didn't know me. And He did
this, listen, verse 6. I did this that they may know
from the rising of the sun and from the west there's none beside
me. I am the Lord and there's none
else. And I form the light. And I create
darkness. How does God create darkness?
There's no darkness in God. No darkness can come from God. The way to create darkness is
don't give the light. Leave a man alone. God doesn't
have to do anything for a man to perish, but leave him alone.
Withhold the light. You've got darkness. where God
is not pleased to give light, there's darkness, total darkness.
And he said, if the only light you have is darkness, how great
is that darkness? I make peace. I create evil. How does God create evil? By
not revealing himself, not restraining evil. Just leave men to themselves. God ordained that the people
should crucify Christ. Those fellows treated him so inhumanely, so terrible. Pilate kept saying, I read this
the other day, he said three times, I find no fault in him. I find no fault in him. Read
John 19. I find no fault in him. Yet,
finding no fault in him, to please that multitude, to get them off
his back, he turned Christ over to these soldiers. who scourged
him with 39 lashes, who pressed a crown of thorns into his brow,
who spat upon him, who plucked out his beard, who harassed him
and ridiculed him, how evil they treated this man, how wretched,
how wicked, and God ordained all this. You see, God, He says,
the Scripture said that wicked men crucified the Lord of glory,
and they did what God determined before to be done. God determined
this. Well, God can't treat His Son
this way, but men do. And God just leaves them to themselves. And that's the result of being
left to yourself. That's the result. And then they
took him out and drove nails in his hands, stripped him naked,
hanged him on a cross, and laughed while he died. How could people
be so cruel? And you know when Pilate, I read
it, when Pilate brought him, when they brought him from the
soldier's hall with his crown of thorns, blood streaming down
his back, ripped to shreds, his face The Scripture says he's
visage marred, so he wasn't even recognizable. And there he stands
with his hands bound, and the gore and the blood dripping from
him. And the people were shocked.
And Pilate said, Behold the man! And do you know who took up the
cry, crucifying him? The chief priest. and the elders. I hadn't seen that before. The
people, Doug didn't say it, they were stunned. I think some of
those poor suffering people out there identified a little with
him when he stood up there with his, just torn to pieces by their
wrath and hatred. And it says that Pilate said,
behold the man. And the Scripture says the religious
leaders, the chief priests and the scribes They took up the
cry, crucify Him! Crucify Him! And then the people,
led by their religious leaders, hatred, even in the heart of
so-called pious moral men. They're the most wicked there
is. How could they do that? Left to themselves. Without the
restraining hand of God, there's no depth to which you and I could
not sink. We need to thank Him for provenient,
restraining grace all our lives. Or we'd all be in the penitentiary
right now. Or in the electric chair. Because we're all capable. That's born in every human being's
heart. And that's what He's saying here.
I'm the Lord. I form the light. I give light.
I am light. No light outside of Him. I create
darkness. By withholding light, I make
peace and I create evil by leaving them to themselves. Pharaoh, God said for this same
purpose, I've raised you up that my name might be glorified in
you. God left him. He hardened his
heart. He said God hardened his heart.
God hardened his heart by leaving him to himself. I'm the Lord. I do. I, the Lord,
do these things. And verse 8, watch this. Here's
the true Cyrus now. Watch this. Drop down, ye heavens,
from above. Let the skies pour down righteousness. This is the true Cyrus. He came
from heaven. No man ascends unto heaven but
he that came down from heaven. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
their God and their God. He says here, the skies pour
down righteousness. When He came, He came, the King
of Salem, the King of Righteousness, the King of Peace. That's the
reason those angels that night announced to those shepherds,
I bring you glad tidings of great joy unto you as born this day
in the city of David. Christ the Lord. Peace on earth. Righteousness. Goodwill. Drop
down, ye heavens. That righteousness reign from
above. He came. That's right. It's His
righteousness. It's His holiness. That's right.
That's what that's talking about. Now watch this next line. Let
the earth open, and let them together, the skies and the earth,
heaven and the earth, bring forth salvation. What's this talking
about here? Well, we know what the first
is. Drop down ye heavens from above. Let the skies pour down
righteousness. He came, lo, I come, O God, to
do Thy will. What says, let the earth open?
The womb of the virgin is born of a woman. The lowest part,
how can he be clean, is born of a woman. How can he be clean? Born of a woman. A man. But this man didn't have a human
father. This man didn't have a nature
of sin. This man was conceived by the Holy Ghost, but nevertheless,
made of a woman, just like you and me. Bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh. A man came from the lower part
of the earth, from the womb of a woman, and nursed in her breast,
and was brought up by her in her home. A man, man of man,
man of men, man among men. Bone of our bone, surety, federal
head, Representative, man from the top of his head to the bottom
of his feet, all man, tipped in all points as we are, yet
without sin, but God, the God-man. And he says here, watch it, let
them, heaven and earth, God-man, the Son of God and the Son of
a woman, let them bring forth salvation. That's the only way
salvation is going to be brought forth. and let righteousness spring
up together. I, the Lord, have created it.
A woman can't take any glory. I, the Lord, did this. I did
this that all men might know that I am the Lord and there's
none else. Only God can do this. It's the Lord's doings. The Lord's
doings. Boy, when you find that out,
you find out who this Cyrus is, who he is, he that seeth the
Son, with some understanding that the Son of God hath come
and the Son of Man, heaven and earth, who's bringing salvation
and righteousness together, he that the Son of God hath come
and given us understanding that we may know Him, He did it, that
he might be just and justify. That's right. Now then, verse
9, if you ever find that out, woe unto him. A great woe is pronounced on
him that striveth with his maker. Woe unto any man or woman, any
person who contends with or murmurs against God in this doings, in
this Cyrus, in this in this salvation, in this will and way of redemption. Whoa! Oh, God help him. David
calls him a fool. David said, the fool has said,
no God. No God for me. He said, I'll
tell you this, let the potsherds, clay pots, strive with the clay
pots of the earth. Y'all just fight it out among
yourselves if you want to. Just go ahead, have at it. That's one worm arguing with
another one. That's one worm contending with another. That's
one fool arguing with another one. Let him go ahead. But he said this, Woe unto the man that strives
with his maker! Shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, What makers thou? For thy work he hath no hands.
Let the clay pots quarrel with one another, but not with the
potter. Not with a potter. Don't argue with a potter. Turn
over to Jeremiah chapter 18. And Paul quotes this over in
Romans. You're familiar with it. Jeremiah 18. I the Lord,
I am the Lord. There's none else. I do this.
I do this. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. It pleased the Lord that in Christ should all fullness
dwell. It pleased the Lord to reveal His Son in me. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. In Jeremiah 18, verse
1, listen. The word of the Lord which came
to Jeremiah, the word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Arise
and go down to the potter's house, and there I'll cause thee to
hear my words. And I went down to the potter's house, and behold,
he wrought a work on the wheels, and the vessel he made of clay
was marred in the hands of the potter. So he made it again another
vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word
of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter saith the Lord? Behold, as the clay
is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel." Years ago when I was in the ranks
of Armenian Baptists. I'd hear preachers almost every
Bible meeting preach a sermon on what would you do with Jesus. And they'd preach it from that
statement by Pilate. You know, when our Lord stood
before him and he said, Are you a king? Our Lord didn't answer
him. And Pilate said, Answerest thou
not, knowing I have power? to crucify you or let you go.
And our Lord said, Pilate, you could have no power over me at
all, except it be given you from above. And I learned then, the
question is not, what am I going to do with him? It's what he
going to do with me. And he said, you clay pots keep
arguing it, if you want to, what you going to do with Jesus. What
you gonna let the Lord do? And the Lord has no hands but
my hands, and no feet but my feet, and no mouth but my mouth. But here's the question. What
will he do with me? He's the potter. He's the potter. He can make of the same lung,
the same mother, twins, Jacob and Esau. That's right. So woe unto him Verse 11, Thus
saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in his making. Now
here's a good question. Do we really want to know His
way? I asked this question, did I? Do men really want to know
the way of God, the will of God? Do they really want to know His
purpose in salvation? Do they really want to know?
Then he said in verse 11, ask me. Thus saith the Lord, the Holy
One of Israel and His Maker, ask me of things to come concerning
my sons." Someone said one time, do we
really want to know God's way or do we wish to prove our way
by isolated verses, ignoring His way? Well, he said, you want
to know my way? Moses prayed that. He has three
things. And over there in the book of
Exodus 33, he said, Lord, show me your way. Show me your way. And Psalm 103 says he made known
his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel, his judgment,
his ways to Moses. Moses said, Lord, show me your
way. Show me your glory." That's Christ. And if you don't go with
me, just don't let me go. Don't let me take another step.
And that's what he said here. You want to know, well, ask of
me, ask of me things to come concerning my sons. What verse
comes to your mind when he talks about concerning my sons? Drop
the plural because anything concerning his sons concerns his sons. Well,
Paul said in Romans 1, I'm separated to the gospel of God concerning
his son. You want to know the gospel concerning
his son? Ask me. Look at the next line.
And you want to know concerning the work of my hands, my purpose,
my will? Ask me. In verse 12, he said,
I made the earth and I put man on it. I made the heavens, I
even my head stretched out to heavens, and all their hosts
I have commanded." One of the men prayed tonight, maybe it
was Jim out here or back there, that God created all things and
he upholds and sustains all things by the word of his power. I'm
the Lord, ask me. Look at the next line. I have
raised him up in righteousness." That's Christ. You want to know
about that? Ask me. I've raised him up in righteousness.
He said, I came to do thy will. I must work the works of him
that sent me. I will direct all his ways. All of his works are
my works. I come not to do my will, but
the will of him that sent me. You want to know it? Ask me.
He shall build my city. I've got to read this. Take a
moment and turn to 1 Corinthians 15. He'll build my city. He will build my city. This is
Christ. He'll build my kingdom. He'll
build my city. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 24. Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God. He'll build my city. He'll build my kingdom. Even
the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, all authority,
all power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies
under his feet, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death. For he, God the Father, hath put all things under his,
Christ's feet. But when he said all things are
put under him, well, it's manifest that he's accepted who put everything
there, the Father. He'll build my city. Ask me. I read on, go back to the text.
I love this. You build my city and you let
go my captives. And our Lord read that Messianic
prophecy in Isaiah 61. He said, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me because he has sent me to preach the gospel of the
poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to give sight to the blind, and
set the captives free. Were we captives? Those Pharisees
said we were never in bondage to anybody. We were God's captives. I hear people say, well, Satan
held me in bondage. Let me tell you something. The
law had a hold on you and me. We'd broken God's law, and the
law had shut us up and refused to let us go until that law was
honored. And justice, the soulless sinner
shall die justice. We were captives of God, captives
of the Lord, captives of the justice of God, captives of righteousness,
and impossible to have liberty or freedom. And Christ came down
and met that law, and satisfied that law, and met justice, and
took his sword in his heart, and set us free. He says, let
him go, I found a ransom. Let him go. Let go, my captive. Let him go. And what's this now? Not for price. No, sir, not for
price. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, not by works of righteousness
which we've done, not for price of reward, saith the Lord. He
freely set us free. Freely. gift of God. All right, I've got to hurry.
Let's listen to this. Gentiles are coming too. Thus saith the
Lord, the labor of Egypt, the merchandise of Ethiopia, and
of the Sabaeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, come
to Christ. They shall be thine. They'll
come after thee. In chains they'll come after
thee, conquered by the grace of God. Like those old fellows
that came before the king with a rope around their necks and
said, we deserve death, he said, you can go free. They'll come
in chains, they'll come submissive, they'll come conquered by the
grace of God, they'll come over repentant, broken hearted, and
they'll fall down unto thee. And they'll make supplications
to thee. God's church, God's people in Christ, you see, these
things, these words are used. concerning my sons interchangeably,
you can't separate Christ and his bride, Christ and his church,
Christ the branch and the vine. You can't separate the head and
the body. And that's why I preach this so often. It's impossible
for a man to bow to Christ and not be identified with his church.
That's an impossibility. It's impossible for a man to
be saved and to know God and not be identified with his gospel.
He can't do it. He can't do it. It's impossible for a person
to love God and not love the character of God, the sovereignty
of God. Somebody said, you have to believe
election to be saved. No, but when you hear it, you'll
believe it. That's right. When you hear it, you'll believe
it because you hear about your God. And this is the thing, when
He says they come to you, In change, they'll come to you and
fall down before you. They'll come to you and make
supplication unto thee and say, Can we be a part of you? Can
we be with you? Can we worship with you? Can
we be identified with you? That's what Ruth said. She said, Where you go, I go.
Your people are my people. Where you lodge, I lodge. Where
you live, I live. Your God's my God. I'm telling the truth. They say,
well, if that'll please the gospel of grace, but it doesn't preach
it. Nonsense. That's nonsense. You can't love the Lord and not
love his word and his gospel. Nonsense. And these people, these
Gentiles, they're coming over to Israel. They said, your God
is God. Your gospel is the gospel. When
a man really comes to know God, that's the way he'll come. He'll
say, He won't say, well, I'm going
to honor you fellas by being a part of you. I think I'll join
up. I don't think you will. I don't think you will. Particle's
son didn't come back as far as I decided to come home. He said,
Father, I've sinned. Under heaven and in your sight,
I'm not fit to be a part of this household. Just make me a servant.
Brush a few crumbs off of me. Took him home. Took him. See
what I'm saying? That's right. When you straighten up with God,
you'll straighten up with His people. Because, verse 15, Verily
thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
What's that mean? Well, I'll tell you this, the
Gentiles for centuries had no knowledge of God. They live without
God, without hope, without God in this world, but he was in
Israel. He was in the promises, he was in the prophecies, he
was in the pictures, he was in the tribes, he was in the priesthood,
he was in the sacrifice, he was in those things and hidden from
these blind, ignorant Gentiles. And then he revealed himself.
He revealed himself. That's what it says there, that
God, Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the
Savior. Now what's this? They shall be ashamed, and also
confounded all of them that shall go to confusion together that
are makers of idols. False gods shall one day be ashamed,
eternally ashamed, but Israel shall be saved. Who are we talking
about here? That nation? No, we're talking
about spiritual Israel. We're talking about all the people
of God. All Israel shall be saved. They'll be saved in the Lord
with an everlasting salvation. And they shall never be ashamed,
they'll never be put to shame, they'll never be confounded,
war without end. The makers of idols will be ashamed,
but not Israel, not God's people. And let's read this and I'll
close. For thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens, God
himself, that formed the earth and made it, he established it,
he created it not in vain, And his words are not preached in
vain either. He formed it to be inhabited. Assemble yourselves
and come, draw near together, ye that are escaped to the nations.
They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven images
and pray to a God that can't say. That's foolish. Somebody
asked this one time, where are the false gods of the earth that
men have worshiped all through the years? These false gods so-called
deities. Men have wrote about them and
worshipped them and adorned them with poetry and praise. They're
gone. Who talks of them now? Where's
Baal, Jupiter? Where's Diana, the god of the
Ephesians? Where's Mohammed? Where's Buddha? Where are the mighty empires?
That's what he's asking here. Where are they? Where's Babylon? Egypt, Greece, Rome. Where are
the proud monarchs? The Pharaohs, the Nebuchadnezzars,
the Herods, the Caesars, the Alexanders, the rulers. Where
are the so-called wise men? Their wisdom has proved to be
foolishness. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. Where are they? They're gone. They're gone. People have no
knowledge that set up the wood of graven images. They're all
temporary. Verse 21, Tell ye and bring them
near, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared all this from
ancient times? Who's the one that declares the
end from the beginning? From ancient times are things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel will stay. Who hath
told it from that time? Who prophesied Christ's birth
and death and resurrection? all that was said and done in
his lifetime. Have not I the Lord? There's
no God beside me. That's the theme of this whole
thing. Get it? If you're not here, here. Get it here. There's
no God beside me. And here's the glorious thing.
He's a just God and a Savior. He's a just God. God didn't compromise
His justice to save anybody. God did not compromise his holiness
to save us. Almighty God, you know when a
judge, they bring his son before him, have to bring him before
him because he's the only judge. He said, I can't send my son
to prison. He's not a just judge. He thinks
more of his son than he does the law. And that's not a just
judge, but my God, justice brought his son before him. And he spared
not his own son, but delivered him up into the hands of the
most vile, filthy, wicked things this earth's ever seen. And they
nailed him to a cross, and God turned his back. He's a just
God. And I'll tell you this. He's
not going to let you go either. If you don't have a mediator,
if you don't have a Savior, if I don't have a substitute, a
mediator, an advocate, a Savior, if I don't have a high priest,
if I don't have an atonement, if I don't have a righteousness,
He's got to put me where I can do no more harm. Ever just God. If our Lord should have marked
iniquity, who's going to stand? I'm a just God. I'm a just God. And all these other gods are
not just gods. But He's a just God and a Savior.
So look at verse 22. So look to me! Do what? Look! Not labor, work, pay, tithe,
go to church. Look. Just look. Anybody can look. A blind man
can look. If a blind man can't see, yes,
he can see him. Because this look's a spiritual
look. This look is out of the depths to the throne, where Christ
sits at the right hand of God. Look! Who? All the ends of the earth. Every
nation, tribe, kindred, tongue unto heaven. Just look. All the
fitness he requires is to feel your need of him. One old fellow
said, Lord, if you can furnish the Savior, I can sure furnish
you a sinner. Look unto me, all the ends of
the earth, to Christ, to the substitute, to the Redeemer.
Why? Because I'm God. I'm God, and there's none else. That's the thing. And I've sworn by myself, and
the word's gone out of my mouth." He said, God who cannot lie,
said to Abraham, he said, "'Cause I can swear by no greater, I
swear by myself, that what I'm promising you will be fulfilled. I've sworn by myself, the word's
gone out of my mouth, in righteousness and shall not return, that unto
me every knee is gonna bow and every tongue gonna swear that
I'm God and there's none else. But if it's done now, there's
mercy. I don't want to wail to judgment
and do this. All right. Surely, this is you
and me, shall one say in the Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
I have righteousness and strength. And even to him shall men come. And those that are incensed against
him are going to be ashamed. But in the Lord shall all the
seed of Israel be justified and show glory." Perhaps I shouldn't
have tried to cover so much ground, but I'm glad we did. I'm glad
we did. That's such a blessed chapter
of good hope, isn't it? Good hope. Only hope. Because I'm God.