In the book of Isaiah chapter
45 verse 22 the Lord God says look unto me and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth for I am God and there's none else. Now it seems like only yesterday
that I preached from this text but I feel impressed I believe
of the Spirit of God To bring a message this morning on the
subject, what does it mean to savingly look to Christ? Our
Lord says here, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. Now what
does it mean to savingly look to Christ? Now to shorten the
title of this message, I'm just going to call it, The Light Look. You can remember it easier that
way, and if you write for the tape, you can ask for the message
on the life loop. But here's what we're talking
about. What does it mean to savingly look to Christ? Now you know,
and I know, that natural men, the people of this world, that's
who we're talking about, for many weary centuries have been
looking for salvation Everywhere but to Christ. Now we know that's
true. I'm not being a fanatic. I'm not being a prejudice. I'm not being a bigot. You know
that I'm not. I'm not being a radical at all.
To say that men and women, boys and girls, have looked to other
things and other gods rather than Christ, rather than to Christ
for salvation. Now that's so. I've seen it with
my own eyes. Millions of people in this world
are looking to idols of stone and idols of wood and brass for
salvation, for hope. I've seen it myself. I went to
Japan and I visited in Kamakura, Japan where the huge statue of
Buddha stands it's been there for centuries and centuries and
centuries it's fallen I think three times once a tidal wave
brought it down and once an earthquake brought it down and once the
Allied bombers in World War II brought it down but they always
put it back up and people kneel before that statue of Buddha
and they pray and they give their gifts and then I've been to Mexico
and other countries France and Spain and I've seen people kneeling
before statues, I've seen them kneeling before statues of iron
and statues of cement and marble and kissing these statues and
kneeling before pictures worshipping these things like they were God,
seeking salvation in these things And then not only do people bow
before idols of gold and brass and stone, but they also bow
before idols taken from the scriptures. Now this is so regrettable and
so unfortunate that men leave the living God of creation and
the God of scripture and worship the creature rather than the
creator. And they've taken the apostles. St. Jude, and St. Matthew, and
St. Peter, and make gods out of them,
saviors like St. Christopher, and even the Virgin
Mary, there are people who pray to her, and who seek salvation
from her hand, and intercession on her part, and this is making
a god out of the creature, rather than the creator. Making gods
of the apostles, and then make gods of holy days, and ceremonies,
and ordinances, and rituals. These things are means, but they're
not saviors, they're not sacraments. The Lord's table is not a sacrament,
meaning by that that it's a way of salvation or means of salvation. Christ is the savior. God said,
look to me. Not to my servants, not to my
disciples, not to my mother. Look to me. That's what he's
saying in this scripture. And then millions of people look
to the law. The law was never given to save,
it was given to shut our mouths, it was given to reveal sin, it
was given to shut us up to faith in Christ. But men looked to
their works, like the rich young ruler said to our Lord Jesus
Christ, well, I've kept all these commandments for my youth up.
And then the Pharisee stood praying in the temple and he said, God,
I thank you, I'm not like other men, I've kept the law, I've
done all these things, fasted and tithed and prayed, and I'm
just not like other men. And in the 10th chapter of Romans
the Apostle Paul describes these law worshippers and morality
worshippers and works worshippers, he said they're going about to
establish their own righteousness and will not submit to the righteousness
of God which is Jesus Christ the Lord. And then millions of
people, now listen to me, you may be one of these You may say,
well, you haven't hit me yet. Well, stick around, you know.
I'm coming to some things here that are true. Millions of people
look to a religious experience and they look to a decision which
they made years ago. Somebody said, an old experience,
it stays old. I heard someone else say, if
you have to go back five minutes to prove you're saved, you've
missed Christ. Because salvation is in a living, indwelling, present
Redeemer, not in an experience, not in a decision, not in some
feeling that you had years ago. People trace their salvation
to a time rather than to a person. They trace their salvation to
a place rather than a person, to a committal on their part. Rather than a committal to them
by God on His part, Isaiah 28 verse 15 describes them, The Lord said, this is what you
say. You say that we have made a covenant with death. We made
an agreement with hell. We made a decision. We made a
commitment. We made a covenant. We made an
agreement. And when the overflowing scourge
of God's wrath shall pass through, it won't come unto us because
we have this agreement, this covenant, and this commitment. and we have a refuge, but he
says a refuge of lies under falsehood have you hid yourself so millions
of people have as their idol an experience and they tell it
over and over again and unfortunately every time they tell it, it gets
a little bit better it gets a little bit more exaggerated and they
keep on until they really find the hope in that experience,
that time, that place, that experience, that decision and they have to
go back a long ways, you know, to prove they're saved and then
millions look to philosophy that is their own thoughts I thought,
that's what Naaman said when he went down from Syria to the
prophet in Israel to be healed of his leprosy and he stood outside
the tent of this godly man and the prophet of God sent his servant
out to see Naaman and told him to go dip in the river Jordan
seven times and well he said, I thought, this is what I thought
I thought that your master would come out and call on his God
and say some magic words and I'd be healed but it's not like
you thought it was It's not like you thought it was. Your thoughts,
God said, are not my thoughts. Your ways are not my ways. There's
a way that seemeth right unto you, but the end is destruction.
And when a man repents, Isaiah said, he turns from his own thoughts
to God's thoughts. Now, my friends, the Word of
God plainly declares, now listen to me, the Word of God plainly
declares that salvation, salvation is of the Lord. It's the gift
of God. It originated with God in his
divine purpose and plan. The scripture says it's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. This is the
record God has given to us. It came from God. Salvation comes
from God. It doesn't come from the law.
It doesn't come from the ordinances. It doesn't come from your gods.
It doesn't come from the apostles. It's the gift of God. God gave
it, God decreed it, God purposed it, God planned it, God executed
it, God applied it, God sustains it, and God will perfect it.
He's the author and finisher of our faith. Salvations of the
Lord from Alpha to Omega, from beginning to end, to God, David
said, the longest salvation. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. The wages of sin is death. We
earn that, but The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Now let's go back to our text.
This is what we're talking about. Listen to the text in Isaiah
45 verse 21. Our God says they have no knowledge.
These people who set up gods of their imagination and pray
to gods that cannot save, they have no knowledge. They're ignorant
people who set up gods in images and pray to gods that cannot
save, that have no power to hear. There's no, listen, there's no
God beside me. A just God and a Savior, there's
none beside me. He says this three times. Look
unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved. I'm God,
and there's none else, there's none beside me. You see how clear
that is? They have no knowledge that set
up images. and gods that cannot save, and
pray to gods that cannot save. I am the only Savior, the only
just God and Savior, there's no God beside me, there's none
beside me, there's none else, so you look to me. To God belongeth
salvation, and listen to me, this salvation is in His Son. Now I'm progressively moving
along in this message to lay a foundation, to God belongeth
salvation. And this salvation which God
has purposed and which God has given to us is in his son. Thank God, blessed be the name
of the Lord, he has determined to save some of the sons of Adam,
but only for the person and work of his beloved son. John wrote
in John 3.16, for God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. Salvation begins with God, but
it's in His Son. Everything God has for the sinner
is in His Son. Listen to Galatians 4, 4 and
5. 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. And Paul said in 1 Timothy 1,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
the chief. And then in 2 Corinthians 5.19,
Paul said God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.
So it all begins with the Father. It's his gift. It's the gift
of God. And it's given to us in, and
through, and by, and because of his Son. His person and His
glorious redemptive work. Now that's just so. Christ said
that. He said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.
No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I don't know anything
else to say to this generation. I don't know anything else to
say to the sons of men. Only what our Lord Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the
Father but by me. Now maybe they won't hear. Christ
said, I come in my Father's name and you won't hear me, you won't
receive me. Let another come in his own name, promoting his
own cause, exalting himself, seeking followers for himself,
and him you will receive. You will not come to me that
you might have life. He said, you're busy searching
the scriptures, for in them you think you have life, but they
are they which testify of me, and you will not come to me that
you might have life. Like I say, I don't know what
else to say, but for the glory of God, I'm going to say it one
more time. One more time. For the glory of God, and for
the good of those who have ears to hear, and eyes to see, and
somewhat of an understanding of man's sin and God's holiness
and Christ's redemptive work, I'm going to point it out one
more time. Now, let me have your attention.
As our Lord said, verily, verily, surely, surely, amen, amen, I
say unto you, as the apostles often said, behold, behold, John
said, behold, look, listen, hear with attention, behold, the Lamb
of God. Now, here's my three questions.
The first one, what does it mean? To look to God. He said, I'm
God and there's none else. You look to me. You look to me
and be saved. What does it mean to look to
God? That's where salvation is. You needn't look anywhere else.
Because that's where it is. He's the fountain of life and
the source of mercy. Here's what it means to look.
First of all, it means to admit His reality. Admit His reality. Now Hebrews 11.6 says, He that
cometh to God must. must believe that he is. He must. He must believe that
he is. And that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. Jesus Christ is not a myth. Jesus
Christ is not just a doctrine. Jesus Christ is not a religious
symbol. Jesus Christ the Lord is not
an idea. He's the Lord from heaven. A living, reigning Lord, a person,
it says in John 1.14, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. That's the first thing, to look to Christ is to admit
in heart and mind His reality, who He is. He's the God-man.
He's the Son of God from heaven. Alright, secondly. What is it
to look to Christ? It's to acknowledge. And I don't
mean in a Paul Parrott way, saying a little creed or a catechism.
I mean to acknowledge in your soul and in your heart, to acknowledge
that only from Him and only through Him can salvation come. The scripture
says it pleased God that in Christ should all fullness, all fullness
of the Godhead, all fullness of grace, all fullness of holiness,
all fullness should dwell. It's in Christ. God put it there.
By one man's disobedience we were made sinners. By one man's
obedience we were made righteous. Without the shedding of blood
there's no remission. Everything's in Christ. It's
to acknowledge that only from Christ can salvation come. Now,
here's the difficulty. The scripture said, if the righteous
scarcely be saved, or be saved with difficulty, where shall
the ungodly and the sinner appear? Where shall the fellow playing
church appear? What does it mean, if the righteous with difficulty
be saved? Well, there's difficulty in this
matter of salvation. There's a God to reconcile. There's
a holy God to reconcile. There's a holy God to deal with. There's the law of God to honor.
There's the justice of God to satisfy. There's an infinite
atonement to be made. Now, who's going to do all that?
Only Christ. Only Christ. Only Christ can
reconcile the Father to sinners. The Father who is filled with
wrath because of iniquity. It says God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. Who's going to honor the law?
The only one who ever kept it. Who's going to satisfy God's
justice? The one in whom justice plunged
the knife of anger and wrath and judgment. That's Christ.
And exacted from him on that cross in body and soul all that
justice required of every believer. There's an atonement to be made.
Where are you going to find yours? It says in Christ we have the
atonement, by whom we've received the atonement. That's so. And we look to Him, first of
all, admitting His reality, then secondly, acknowledging that
only from Him, only from Christ, can salvation come. And then
thirdly, what is it to look to Christ? It's to address myself
to Him. To address myself to Him. Now
listen to the scripture. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." I know we are the called of God,
but there's a calling for us to do also. Yes, sir. Listen
to Romans 10. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. If you read the scripture,
you'll find God sovereign in salvation, and God has an elect.
He has a sheep which he gave to Christ. No question in my
mind about that. But our God has ordained the
means by which those people will be brought to salvation. Repentance
and faith. And that means the preaching
of the word of God. And they will hear the word,
and they will believe the word, and they will receive the word,
and they will call on Christ. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Read through the scriptures.
And you'll note the experience of those who found mercy. They
came to Christ. They called upon Christ. And
they were blessed of Christ. Blind Bartimaeus. Suppose he'd
have never called. Suppose he'd have never sued
for mercy. Our Lord would have gone right on by, wouldn't he?
Well, he certainly would have. He called out, Jesus, our son
of David, have mercy upon me. The Lord stood still. Suppose
Zacchaeus had never climbed up the tree. Suppose Noah had never
built the ark. Just go on, suppose the thief
on the cross had gone on cursing and swearing and never looked
to Christ and never called for mercy. I'm saying to look to
Christ is to admit his reality. To look to Christ is to acknowledge
that all that I am and have and ever shall be is by his grace
and through his precious work. And it's to call on him, listen
to Paul in 2 Timothy 1, he said, I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. And then fourthly, what is it
to look to Christ? It's to keep looking. It's to
keep looking, just in plain everyday English, it's to continue to
look to Christ. It's not just one glance and
then look away. It's not just to look to Him
and then turn back to my own things. It's to keep on looking
to Him. To whom coming, to whom coming,
to whom coming as unto a living stone. In Colossians 1.22 it
says we've been reconciled by the death of Christ if we continue
in the faith. If we continue in the faith.
And I'll tell you this, the people of the Old Testament who believed
God, they believed God till the day of their deaths. For it says
these all died in faith. But somehow, we've fixed our
generation up with a way to heaven so that when they're juniors
in church, junior department or seniors or something like
that or young people, they can make a profession. and then go
their merry way and forget God and forget the Bible and forget
worship and forget prayer and forget everything else and then
when they die they made a decision back when they were 14 or 13
or 12 and everything got fixed up you know but this thing of
salvation is to look to Christ and is to continue to look to
Christ in saving faith and genuine repentance now secondly for what
part of salvation are we to look to Christ? Well, for every part
of it, from beginning to end, 1 Corinthians 1.30 answers that. It says, Of God are you in Christ,
that is, it's His gift and His work and by His grace that you're
in Christ. Who of God is made unto us wisdom,
all I need, righteousness, all I need, sanctification, all I
need, and redemption. Old John Flavel summed it up
in five points. He said everything that God has
for a sinner is in Christ, vested in Christ, put in Christ. It's
received from Christ. He says this, everything God
has for the sinner is in Christ. Those blessings and benefits
are mined by a union with Christ. That union with Christ is effected
by faith. And that faith comes by hearing
the word of God. And that hearing of the word
of God is made effectual by the work of the Spirit of God Almighty. So, for what part of salvation
am I to look to Christ? All of it. All of it. You'll
find it all by looking to Him. We look to Christ for forgiveness.
The scripture says, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins. We look to Christ for righteousness.
By the disobedience of one, we were made sinners. By the obedience
of one, righteous. Perfectly righteous in Christ.
Perfectly holy. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Who is He that condemns? We look
to Christ for cleansing. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. We look to Christ for strength.
My grace is sufficient, my grace, not mine and yours, my grace
is sufficient. We look to Christ to keep us.
He is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before his throne with exceeding glory. Now the third question,
what are our encouragements to look to Christ? Maybe, maybe
I'm addressing someone this morning who will say this to me, alright
preacher, All that you've said is well and good. I agree. You've read it in the Bible and
I know that it's true. What you've said is true. But
I'm a guilty sinner. I'm a fallen creature and I know
it. I'm a man of flesh, woman of flesh. I'm undeserving and
ill-deserving. I feel like the songwriter of
old who wrote Depth of Mercy. Can there be mercy still reserved
for me? Can my God, His wrath forbear
and me, the chief of sinners spare? That's my question. Or,
and can it be that I should gain, I, an interest in the Savior's
blood? Died he for me who him to death
pursued? Well, let me tell you this. Here
are some encouragements. I can give you some encouragements.
First of all, I exhort you to look to Christ on the authority
of his own word. Not my word, his word. Listen
to him. He said in our text, I'm God. I'm a just God and a Savior,
you look to me. Now that's his word, that's his
commandment. Listen to Isaiah 118. Come let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow.
Though they be red like crimson, I'll make them as wool. That's
his own word, on the authority of his own word. Listen to this,
Matthew 11, 28. Come unto me, all you that labor
in a heavy laden, I'll give you rest. John 7, 37. He said, if
any man thirsts, let him come to me. Out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. So, I exhort you to come to Christ
or look to Christ on the authority of his word. Secondly, on the
authority of his promise or the promise of the Father to him.
He said, all that my Father giveth me will come to me. And him that
cometh, I'll in no wise, under any condition, at any time cast
him out. I'll never, no never, no never,
no never forsake." That's his promise. If you believe the promises
of men, would you believe the promises of Christ? Thirdly,
I invite you to look to Christ on the authority of his mission
to this world. Why'd he come? Let him tell you.
The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost. Jesus Christ
is coming to the world to save sinners. That's what he said.
The angel said, call his name Jesus. He'll save his people
from their sins. That's why he came. That's a
pretty good reason to look to him, isn't it? That's why he
came to this earth. That's why he was lifted up on a cross.
He didn't die as a reformer or a martyr. He died as a savior,
a substitute, a sin offering. Fourthly, I exhort you to look
to Christ on the authority of his character. He said, I'm a
just God. You say, that's what scares me.
And a Savior. And a Savior. He delights to
show mercy. The Lord is gracious and plenteous
in mercy. God is true. God is wrath. God is justice. God is holy.
God is love. God is love. And then, fourthly,
I invite you to look to Christ on the testimony of all who have
come to Him. Go through the Word of God. And
listen to those who came to Christ. And listen to them tell you,
in their own words, He is my shepherd. I know my Redeemer
living. We know we've passed from death
unto life. I know whom I have believed. These are men from
the depths of sin, from the seashores, everywhere, in all walks of life,
like you and me, who come to Christ and found in Him all they
need. When's the best time to look
to Christ? Right now. Behold, now is the accepted time,
today is the day of salvation. Your need is now, the call is
now, God exhorts you now, look, and be you safe. Now this message,
the life look, and one that I'm going to bring next Sunday, on
the gospel invitation as opposed to the altar call. I'm going
to preach on that next Sunday. If you want these two messages
on one tape, send a donation of two dollars and we'll send
it to you by return mail. Until next Sunday, May God bless
you, everyone.