We are committed, we're committed to expository preaching here at Christ Fellowship Bible Church. And what that means is the word of God is open in front of us and the word is read. And I explain the meaning of the text and then Lord willing, give the application as well so that with God's help and by his grace, we can apply that to our lives to be conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 45 is where we are in this wonderful, wonderful chapter. I've titled the sermon, The Absolute Sovereignty of God Over Rulers, Over Israel, and Over All Nations. The Bible teaches that God is absolutely sovereign. When I say that word absolutely, it means that God reigns without any restrictions. For God to be absolutely sovereign means that God has no limitations at all. Ponder that for a sec. No limitations at all. God reigns absolutely. It means that He has no qualifications in how He reigns. I think of what we read earlier in Isaiah chapter 14, a number of months ago, verse 27. The Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate God's plans? What a great God. He's never frustrated. Never ever. God is the creator of heaven and earth, and as the sovereign one, he has absolute right and full authority to do whatever he desires. Listen to how David put it in Psalm 135, verse 6. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does. Hear that again. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does in the heavens, in the earth, in the seas and in all deeps. I think of the sovereignty of God, maybe in the realm of the lordship of God. It highlights the lordship of God, because when we say that God is the king, we say that he's the Lord. He's the king. He's the sovereign ruler over all creation, like The psalmist puts it in Psalm 103, verse 19, God has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. His sovereignty rules over all. Sovereignty defined simply is the exercise of God's might and his right in ruling all things. It is the exercise of God's might and his right in ruling over all things according to his pleasure and according to his will. I love that occasion when Peter was preaching in the house of Cornelius. And Peter was preaching and he said in Acts 10 36, Jesus is Lord of all Lord of all the sovereign one with absolute might, with absolute right in ruling all things according to his own pleasure. God's sovereignty means that he is absolute in authority and it means that God is unrestricted in His supremacy. And this is your God. This is my God. This is the God who has revealed Himself in the Word of God. From the opening verse of the Bible, Genesis 1-1, until the end of the book of Revelation, God shows Himself and proclaims Himself to be the only sovereign ruler of all creation. And what that means is that God is absolute in His authority. He is Lord over all creation. It means that He is the designer of all human history, and it means that He is infinite in all kingly majesty. A.W. Pink, in his book on the sovereignty of God, said it so well. I love this quote. He said, God is infinitely elevated above the highest creature. And because of that, he is the most high, the Lord of heaven and earth. God is subject. to no one. He is influenced by no one. God is absolutely independent. God does as he pleases. God does only as he pleases and God does always as he pleases. No one can thwart the plan of God and nobody can hinder God in his plans. What a great quote. I love the way one theologian said it. This has got to be God's favorite doctrine. If you were God, it would be your favorite doctrine as well. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, whenever you want to bring yourself great glory. And that's how our God lives. Listen to Isaiah 45 verse three. I will give you the treasures of darkness, God says, and hidden wealth of secret places. Why? So that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. Listen to verse five on the sovereignty of God. I am the Lord and there is no other. Besides me, there is no God. Verse 6, so that men may know that from the rising to the setting of the sun, there is no one besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. Verse 7 shows the sovereignty of God. I am the one who forms light and creates darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. Verse 9, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. And then we read in verse 12, it is I who made the earth, I created man upon it, I stretched out the heavens with my hands, and I ordained all their hosts. Look at verse 18 of our chapter. Here is our sovereign God. Verse 18, thus says the Lord who created the heavens. He is God who formed the earth and He made it. He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited. Look at the end of verse 21. Who has long since declared these things? Is it not? I, the Lord, and there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a savior. There is none except me. And then at the end of verse 23, so that to me, every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance. What a chapter. That there is one God, no one else. There is only one God. There is none other. And he is the Lord. He is God. And he has created all things. I affirm, and I trust you do as well with Jonathan Edwards, when he said absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God. And we're going to look at that this afternoon in this great chapter of Isaiah chapter 45. And just to remind us, sort of kind of to bring all of us on the same page, last week in Isaiah chapter 44, we saw the supremacy of God, how God extols His supremacy over all idols. Any so-called God, any fabricated, manufactured God, any created God that anybody could ever have, other than the true and living God, the Lord says that's all worthless and vain and empty. I alone am the true and living God. and supreme God. We saw his supremacy last week. Tonight in chapter 45, we are going to see the sovereignty of God over rulers and over Israel and over all nations of the earth. And we're going to see that continued next week in chapter 46 as well. Now, you look in your Bible in Isaiah 45, it's a long chapter. It's a very long chapter, 25 long, big verses. And here's what is going on in the chapter. In verses 1 to 8, God says through the prophet Isaiah, I'm going to raise up a leader. He tells us the name in verse 1, 150 years before he would ever be born. His name would be Cyrus. He would be the leader of the Medes and the Persians. God raises up a pagan, unbelieving ruler to do God's will. And then in verses 9 to 13, with a little bit of grumbling on the part of the people of Israel, God says, wait a minute, I have all sovereign prerogative to do whatever I want to do. Because I am the potter, and you are the clay. And then in verses 14 to 17, God makes many promises to his people Israel. Yes, you will go into exile, but you will be restored. You will be restored. And God is a God who saves his people. And then in verses 18 to 21, God tells his people, I can decree the future. I can not only decree the future, but I can ordain exactly and precisely what's going to happen. And then the end of the chapter in verses 22 to 25, God says, all the peoples of the earth. Every person, tribe, tongue, nation, every tongue, every, every individual, God summons them to turn to him and be saved. So let's look at this great chapter together. Isaiah chapter 45 is you're taking notes and maybe jotting this down. It's a long chapter and there are a lot of details there and a lot of theology here. I want to spotlight the absolute sovereignty of God with you in three ways. And it's really the title of my sermon is the outline for this afternoon. I want you to see number one, that God is absolutely sovereign over Cyrus. He's a leader, but we're going to see that God is absolutely sovereign over Cyrus. And then second, I will show you that God is absolutely sovereign over Israel. And then third, I want to show you that God is absolutely sovereign over the nations. incredible chapter, remarkable chapter, deep theology from our true and living and sovereign God. Let's begin with heading number one. I want to show you the absolute sovereignty of God over Cyrus. Look at verse one. Follow with me as I read our text. Thus says the Lord to Cyrus is anointed whom I have taken by the right hand to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and I will make the rough places smooth. I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars, I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob, my servant, and Israel, my chosen one, I have also called you by your name. I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known me. I am the Lord and there is no other besides me. There is no God. I will gird you, though you've not known me so that men may know that from the rising to the setting of the sun, there is no one besides me. I am the Lord. There is no other. The one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these trip down no heavens from above and let the clouds pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit and righteousness spring up with it. I, the Lord have created it. What we need to be reminded of in these opening verses, church congregation, is that God is the one who raises up leaders. Not just Cyrus of old, but leaders in our day as well. God is the one who raises up leaders to do his will. God raises up leaders in God's perfect time and God raises up leaders for his own glory. I think of Pharaoh. We read in Romans 9, 17, how God says that he raised up Pharaoh to do his will. I read in Jeremiah a number of times where God, through the prophet Jeremiah, get this, he calls Nebuchadnezzar my servant. A pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar, doing God's will, God says he's my servant. Whatever the leader may be, whatever current president, whatever monarch, whatever ruler, anywhere across the world, God is in sovereign control over all human leaders. Let me remind you of Proverbs 21 verse 1. The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord, and he turns it wherever he wants. God is the one who rules the hearts of human kings. Daniel chapter 2. Daniel said in verse 21 and Daniel chapter 2, God removes kings and God is the one who establishes kings, even Cyrus, a pagan unbeliever who did not know God at all. And in verses 1 to 8, we see God's absolute sovereignty over Cyrus. And if there's one key phrase that Isaiah constantly brings out, it's this phrase, I'm Lord. And what you and I need to hear in 2021, living where we are in the context of our society, we need to hear God say afresh to us, I'm Lord, I'm in control. I've got this. God is not frustrated by his plans. He is not frustrated by the rebellions of the peoples. Look at the plan of God in verse one of our chapter. Thus says the Lord. to Cyrus, his Messiah in verse one. What is that about? Well, Isaiah already named him in the last verse of chapter 44. Just look at the previous verse. God already said through Isaiah, it is I who says of Cyrus, he will be my shepherd and he's going to be raised up and perform my desire. He will declare of Jerusalem that she will be built. and to the temple that your foundation will be laid." God says, I'm going to raise up a leader and his name is Cyrus. And Isaiah writes that 150 years before Cyrus was even born. Notice at the end of verse 3 of our chapter, look at what God says. talking to Cyrus, really, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name, Cyrus. You're going to be raised up by me to accomplish my will and to do my work my way. And look what we read in verse four. For the sake of Jacob, my servant in Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name. Well, what's God going to do with this pagan leader, Cyrus? Well, there's a lot of phrases that tell us what Cyrus is going to do. Let's look at some of them in verse two. Actually, middle of verse one, you are going to subdue nations. You are, at the end of verse one, going to loose the loins of kings. End of verse 1, you're going to open doors that will not be shut. Verse 2, you are going to make the rough places smooth. Verse 2, you are going to shatter the doors of bronze. Verse 3, you are going to receive treasures and riches of darkness. And you need to know that it is I, the Lord, who calls you in verse 3. God is raising up this leader. who is going to take control of the known world at that time, take control of Babylon, take control of nations and cities and kings and empires. And that's exactly what happened. Notice the preeminence of God, the plan of God in verses one to four. I'm going to raise up Cyrus, but now verse five, look at the preeminence of God. You think, wait a minute, God, that just seems so impossible that you would do that. Verse five, look in your Bible. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. And there is no other besides me. There is no God. Do you see the uniqueness of God? There is no other. Do you see the sovereignty of God here? Besides me, there is no God. What an exclusive God. What a unique God. We read about this God in verse six, that he does what he does so that people will know who he is. Why does God perform the way that he does? Why does God do the things that he does? Why does God raise up leaders the way that he does? Verse six, so that all people will know that there is no God besides ours. I am the Lord. There is none other. Notice how preeminent and sovereign he is in verse seven. God forms light and God creates darkness and his activity at the end of verse seven. He causes well-being and wholeness and he creates calamity. and disaster. I am the Lord, he says, and I do all of these things. What's the response? Worship God. Praise this God. Trust in this God. Rely upon this God. Maybe this week you've had moments of fear. Maybe this week you have had moments of anger. Maybe this week you've seen some injustice. And you're angry and you're upset and you read the headlines and you think, what is going on? You need to hear this afresh in verses one to eight. I am the Lord. There is none other. There's no other planner. There's no other Lord. There's no other God. There's no other ruler. Christian, this is your God. Our God reigns over all rulers. He is preeminent over all presidents. He is the sovereign king over earthly kings. That's who our God is. And in verses one to eight, through the prophet Isaiah, God says, I'm going to raise up Cyrus. He's going to do my will. Not only is God absolutely sovereign, number one, over Cyrus, but now in your outline, let's continue. God is absolutely sovereign over Israel. In verses 9 to 19, God is going to constantly bring out a theme. You know what the theme is? I'm creator. You have every reason to trust me because I'm creator. I have created all things. So if you're of Israel of old and you hear the prophet saying all this and you read what God has said, you might say, wait, wait, God is going to raise up a pagan, unbelieving king? God is going to do that to deliver his people and bring us back out of exile to the promised land? You can't do that, God. You can't do that with a pagan king, with an unbelieving king. You can't do that. You can almost hear them sort of thinking that way. Look at what God says in verse nine. Woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. An earthenware vessel among the vessels of the earth. Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? or the thing that you're making say he has no hands. Woe to him who says to a father, what are you begetting? Or to a woman, to what are you giving birth? Thus says the Lord, the holy one of Israel and his maker. Ask me about the things to come concerning my sons and you shall commit to me the work of my hands. It is I who made the earth and I created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with my hands and I ordained all their hosts. I have aroused him in righteousness and I will make all his ways smooth. He will build my city and will let my exiles go free without any payment or reward, says the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord, the products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush and the Sabians, men of stature will come over to you and they will be yours and they will walk behind you and they will come over in chains and they will bow down to you and they will make supplication to you. Surely God is with you and there is none else, no other God. Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, Savior. They will be put to shame and even humiliated. All of them who manufacture of idols will go away together in humiliation. Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You will not be put to shame or humiliated to all eternity. For thus says the Lord who created the heavens. He is God who formed the earth and made it. He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret in some dark land. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, seek me in a waste place. I, the Lord speak righteousness. declaring things that are upright. God, God, you can't raise up the pagan unbelieving ruler. And Israel is confused at the ways of God. And Isaiah says in verse nine, look at it with me in your Bible. Let's ponder this together. Woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. You can't do that, God. The Hebrew word for quarrel, it means to dispute God's right to do such things. It's almost like you can hear them saying, oh, who told you, God, that you could do this? How do you know if a person is quarreling with his maker, he's dissatisfied with what God has brought in his life? How do you know if a person is quarreling with his maker, he's discontent where God has him? How do you know if a person is quarreling with his maker, he's disgruntled? and unhappy about where God has him. And Isaiah says, God, you can't do this. They're confused about what God is doing and they're confused about the ways of God. And Isaiah writes in verse nine, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. And then God is going to give four questions or four statements that all express the sheer folly of something that is made arguing with the maker. Is clay, verse nine, going to say to the potter, what are you doing? You go to Israel and you go from city to city and site to site and little hill where ancient ruins were and You can, you can be there all day long and tour and see all the great things that are there. And you find all these potsherds on the ground, these little pieces of broken pottery. It was so common in the ancient world. Everything was, was, it was pottery and they were often broken and crushed and buried, and then they would make new pottery. And this was an image that everybody would have understood is a little potsherd on the ground going to say to its maker. What are you doing? The Lord saved me in California, and I remember going to a particular evening with a ministry called Potter's Field Ministries. It was a husband and a wife team, and the husband, right in front of us, he would make pottery. He would bring a big piece of clay, and he would spin on the wheel, and he would make a beautiful piece of clay, of pottery, by the end of the evening. And as he was making this, he would explain what he was doing and he would explain how he would form it and shape it and chisel it and how he would put color to it and how he would reform it and reshape it and make it smooth and get rid of the rough edges. And I remember being so affected by that as a new believer. And he said, how could that thing argue with me? But that's exactly the point of verse nine. God says, I'm sovereign. I've got a plan. Who are you to argue with me? In Romans chapter nine, dealing with the sovereign election of God, the apostle Paul makes the exact same case. Romans 9 verse 20, on the contrary, who are you, O man, to argue or answer back to God? The thing molded is not going to say to the molder, why did you make me like this? Will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another vessel for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and God did so to make known the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy. Jeremiah 18 is a long chapter about this same point. You're in my hand. I've made you, I've formed you. Who are you to argue with me? I'm the potter, you're the clay, God says to his people. What's the whole point of all of this? Who are you to question God or to accuse God or to point the finger at God and say, I disapprove of what you are doing? Have you been there? When was the last time? you quarreled with God by the leaders that he raises up. When was the last time you quarreled with God because of the trials that he lovingly brings into your life? When was the last time you quarreled with God because of the afflictions that he doesn't take away, but he keeps pressing them harder. Have you quarreled with God because of the future that seems so uncertain? Have you quarreled with God by the families that are so scarred by division? Have you quarreled with God over a great opportunity that you think is perfect for you? And then God takes it away and you think it's lost. Have you quarreled with God over the global mockery of truth? I'm not denying those things, but what I'm suggesting is how easy it is for us to quarrel with God. When God says, I'm sovereign, I'm Lord, I'm the king, I'm the ruler, and I'm discontent. And I'm frustrated at what God is doing. And God, through Isaiah, he gives sharp and piercing and heart penetrating words. What's the lesson for us? In times when we quarrel with God, In that moment, it is a refusal to let God be God. Because I want, as a creature, I want to make the Creator carry out my plan. And thus I quarrel with God because it doesn't go according to my plan. You say, yeah, but Jeff, I'm confused. I'm wondering what God is doing. But isn't that the way God often works? The incarnation was a shock. The virgin birth was a shock. The cross of the son of God was a shock. The only way to heaven by simple faith apart from works is a shock. And here's what God would say to you and to me this afternoon. He would touch you on the shoulder and he would say, my plan is better than you could ever think. My plan is better than you could ever imagine. Let's make it personal. Jeff, my plan is better than your plan. Put your name there where God would address you and say, my plan is good and wise and perfect and better than yours, better than your plan. Okay, Lord, I get it. I'm convicted. I've quarreled with you, O Lord. Verses 9 and 10. Woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. And I love how God now continues beginning in verse 10. Now don't miss what God is going to do. He says, woe to you who quarrel with the maker. God says, let me tell you how and why you should trust me. Number one, let me show you my person. Let me show you my plans and let me show you my power. Trust me, my plan is better than yours. Don't quarrel with me. Don't argue. Don't be dissatisfied. Don't be discontent. Let me show you my person. Let me show you my plans and let me show you my power. So verse 11, here's what God says. I'm the Lord. I'm the holy one of Israel. I am the maker. Verse 12. I made the earth. I created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with my hands. I ordained all their hosts. Do you think God is saying, look, look, look, look, you can trust me. I created the heavens. All the hosts of heaven, all the angelic armies. I have stretched out the skies by my own power. I have created man upon it. So here's the lesson for us, church family. When you don't understand the what, what is God doing? You've got to rely on the who. When you don't know what God is doing, you have to lean on who God is. Like in our day. When you don't know what God is doing, we must lean on who God is. What does God say? What is this plan of God? What is the plan? Verse 13. Well, I have aroused him back to Cyrus in righteousness and I will make all of his ways smooth. He's going to build my city. He will let my exiles go free without any payment or reward. What's that saying? That Cyrus is going to allow the exiled Jews to return back to their homeland after the 70 year captivity and Ezra chapter one is the proof. that that actually came to pass. Verse 14, God speaks to Israel. The nations are going to come to you, Israel. They're going to be yours. They're going to bow down to you, Israel. They're going to say at the end of verse 14, surely God is with you and there is none else. There's no other God. But The nations would say in verse 15, truly you're a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, Savior. On the one hand, isn't that true of God that his ways are unexplainable? Isn't that true? Isn't it true that God's ways are deep? They are wise. They are incomprehensible. They are too complex for my puny mind to get my understanding around what God is doing. But on the other hand, God is not a God who hides himself. He's a God who reveals himself. It just takes a little bit of effort and diligence and prayer and resolve to search the word. Dig. Find out God's plan. Find out what God is doing. What does he say in verse 16? They, the nations, are going to be put to shame. They're going to be humiliated. All of them and all the manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation. Footnote on this. I'm going to come back to it in a little bit. Our world is really clever at manufacturing idols. Our little hearts are really good at manufacturing little idols, but listen to what God says at the end of verse 16, that this is not, this is not sort of an opinion. This is God's declaration. They will go away in humiliation. Christian that should ignite our hearts for evangelism. All who make idols, and there's all kinds of idols, money, power, relationships, job, family, whatever the idol can be other than God. They live for this. They devote their life to this. They're going to go away in humiliation. But notice God's plan. Let me remind you of my plan. Verse 17, Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You, my people will not be put to shame or humiliated to all eternity. What a contrast. Do you see it there? And then the power of God. How do you know you can trust God? Look at verse 18. And if we had the time, I would love to go through the Hebrew words here. They are used for God that cannot be used for anything else. It speaks of divine power, divine authority, Genesis 1 type power. Verse 18, thus says the Lord, I created. That's only a divine act. Only God can do this kind of creating. Genesis 1. He is God. He formed the earth. He made it, he established it and did not create it a waste place, but he formed it to be inhabited. How do you know that you can trust God? Let me show you my person. Let me show you my plans and let me show you my power. It'd be like the Lord saying, you know what? On this Sunday afternoon, you need to be reminded to trust. God's saying, trust in me. It's like the announcement to Mary and to Joseph. Joseph, Mary has a child conceived of the Holy Spirit. It's a little odd. I've never heard of that before. The virgin born Messiah, the son of God, he will come in human flesh. and he will come to be savior of the world? And then he's born. In the middle of the night, God says, get up quickly, take the child and your wife and flee to Egypt because the king wants to kill the son of God. That's so confusing. I don't get what you're doing, God. I mean, that must have been a confusing journey all the way down to Egypt. What is God up to? The king wants to kill my child. Don't be afraid. I know what I am doing. Don't be afraid. I will provide for you. I will protect you. Isaiah 45 shows us. The absolute sovereignty of God, number one over Cyrus and all leaders. Number two, the absolute sovereignty of God over Israel as the work of God's hands. Now in your notes, number three, I want to show you in this chapter is going to show us in verses 20 to 25, God's absolute sovereignty over the nations. Beginning of the book, the book of Genesis, Genesis 12, three in you, Abraham, all the nations are going to be blessed. The glory of the Abrahamic covenant all the way to revelation 21, that many nations in the new heavens and the new earth are going to walk by the light of Christ from beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible. God has a great plan for the nations. Revelation seven. Salvation comes to every nation, tribe and people and language. In Romans chapter one, salvation is extolled by grace through faith to all who believe to the Jew first and also to the Gentile, to the nations. Luke 24, you were to go and proclaim that salvation not only is available and forgiveness of sins through repentance, but in Jerusalem, but you were to do it to the ends of the earth, Jesus said. The psalmist in Psalm 67 verse four, let the nations be glad and let them sing for joy. Jesus said in Mark 11, my house, the temple shall be a house of prayer for all nations. I want you to see beginning in verse 20, the wideness of God's mercy. I want you to see in these verses that God has an open invitation to all peoples, all nations, all tribes, all tongues. Look at verse 20 of our text. Gather yourselves and come, God says. Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations. Not just Cyrus, not just Israel, but now all nations. Draw near to me. You who have no knowledge, you carry about the wooden idol and you pray to a God who cannot save, declare and set forth your case. Indeed, let them consult together who has announced this from of old and who has long since declared it. Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a savior. There is none except me. Do you hear what God is saying in verse 20? You can even see it again in your Bible, draw near all nations. I want you to see the wideness of God's mercy. I want you to see that God has a large front door. It's a huge front door and it's open. It's wide open. There's only one door, but it's a wide door. And he says, come draw near, gather all nations. God is not done. Look at verse 22, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other. I don't know of a, of a more wide armed invitation than that in all the Bible. I don't know of a more open invitation in all of the Bible than this from the Lord himself to all nations. The door to the kingdom of God is wide open. It's not shut. There's no lock on the front door right now. It's wide open for all peoples and all nations to come. Look at verse 22. Let's dwell on this for a moment. I want you to notice the summons, the summons. God issues a command to the nations. Turn to me. You can go up to a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, a child. And you could quote this or the words of Paul and Acts chapter 17, that God is commanding all people everywhere to repent. Because God has fixed today when he will judge the world in righteousness. God isn't just asking people. God is giving an ultimatum. He's giving a summons. He's giving a declaration. I want you to come. I want you to turn to me. Notice how simple it is. Not just the summons, but notice the simplicity in verse 22. It's the idea of look. Look to me and be saved. God doesn't say go make a pilgrimage to a far country and go to a far nation. God doesn't say you have to be baptized and do a bunch of good deeds and do a bunch of really religious rites and then you'll be accepted. God says, look to me. It's simple. Notice the Savior. Verse 22, turn to me. No human being. Don't turn to the Pope. Don't turn to your money. Don't turn to the world. Certainly don't turn to yourself. Turn to Me. I'm the Savior. He clarifies in verse 22. I am God. There is no other. What a Savior He is. And notice the security. We've got to look at this as well. The security. Turn to Me and Be saved. One word in Hebrew, be saved. It's an imperative form that is talking about the sure outcome of the act. Turn to me and be saved beyond the shadow of a doubt. Turn to me and you will have guaranteed salvation. That's the idea of the original Hebrew. Turn to me, turn to me, the Lord says, and you will have the sure outcome of the certain salvation and guaranteed deliverance promise to you. The scope, all you ends of the earth. The atheists in China, the Muslim in Iran, the violent persecutors in Nigeria, the very devout Roman Catholics in South America. Whatever continent, whatever country, whatever culture, whatever background, whatever nation, whatever people group God is saying, turn to me all you ends of the earth. The door is open. The kingdom is available. Turn to me and you will be saved. Maybe, you know, this, the story is told of a young man. He was a teenager. walking through the snowy streets of London in the 1800s. You know him as Charles Haddon Spurgeon. And he couldn't make it to church on a Sunday afternoon because the blizzard was too fierce. So he turned down a little alley and he wound up in a little Methodist chapel. He sat down in the back and he said there were only just about a dozen or so people that had gathered on that morning. The preacher didn't even show up. So a deacon took the pulpit and he took one text for a sermon, Isaiah 45, 22, turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth. And then in the sermon, get this, he pointed at Spurgeon and said, young man, you look miserable. I don't do that, but he did, that preacher did. And he pointed at Spurgeon and said, you look miserable. You need to obey this. And God saved him right then. Charles Spurgeon converted through the reading of this text. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. Verse 23, what does God say? I have sworn by myself, the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness. It will not turn back. What's the word? That to me, to me, every knee will bow. And every tongue will swear allegiance, or you might know the Philippians 2 language, every tongue will confess. Why would God say this? Because it was a common gesture in the ancient Near Eastern world that when you entered the presence of royalty, it was a symbol of respect and honor and reverence to bow down before a king. And so in bowing down before a king, you were affirming, you were submitting to the king's authority and the king's majesty. And the text says that in that way, every knee will bow. And every tongue. will swear allegiance, meaning every tongue will confess my absolute authority. You know this verse, but did you know that it came from here? And it's used twice in the New Testament. You probably know one of them off the top of your head. Turn with me to Romans chapter 14. Now in Romans chapter 14, the apostle Paul has just given this glorious, glorious presentation of the beautiful gospel that God does for his people through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in a response of how you are to live the Christian life, we read in chapter 14 and verse 10, but you Christian, why do you judge your brother? Well, you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? We will all stand before the judgment seat of God. This is not a judgment for salvation. This is for believers, a judgment according to works. according to deeds, a judgment for rewards. Don't you know, Christian? He calls them brethren, that you are gonna stand before the judgment of God. For it is written, verse 11, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall give praise to God. What's Paul doing quoting Isaiah here? He says, Christian, Christian, Let me remind you in your Christian walk that you one day will stand before your savior, Jesus Christ, and you'll give an account for your life. And it's to remind you that you are not to live for your own pleasures, but you are to live for God, that you are to make decisions for God first, for other second, and then for self last. Who are you to judge your brother? Who are you to regard your brother with contempt? Why are you ridiculing your brother? Don't judge other believers unfairly. Don't be a stumbling block to other believers. But Christian, you need to strive for peace, strive for unity, strive for edification. Why? Because you're going to bow the knee before the Savior and give an account for your life. That's the motivation here. Christian eyes off of yourself and put them on to God and put them on to others because you're going to bow before the savior. A second way that Paul uses this is also in Philippians chapter two. In Philippians chapter two, we read. in verse 8, that Jesus being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, Philippians 2, 8, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee, here it is, will bow of those in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the Father. What's the point here? Christian, be humble. Because one day all are going to bow before King Jesus. and all are going to confess that Jesus is Lord. He's the ultimate one who humbled himself, and he lived a perfect life, and he died on the cross for sinners, and God highly exalted him, and one day every person who's ever lived will bow the knee before Jesus, and they will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every person. Do it now. before you die and then do it on judgment day there. It'll be too late, but confess him as Lord. And back to Isaiah chapter 45, Isaiah is writing and God is speaking through the prophet. And God is saying that to me, every knee will bow. I am Lord over the nations. Turn to me and be saved. So here's the call to all of us in this room, even to examine our own hearts, boys and girls, members, visitors, regular attenders. This is God's call to you and to all nations. Hear this. God does not reject the filthy sinner. He invites the filthy sinner to come. God is not the one pushing you away. He's summoning you to come. God is not the one slamming the door in your face. He's thrown the door wide open and he welcomes you and he invites you. Don't delay. You delay now and it'll soon be too late. Back to Isaiah, we gotta end with a couple of verses. So all the nations, verse 24, they will bow the knee, they will swear allegiance, verse 24, and they will say of me, only in the Lord our righteousness. You could legitimately translate this justification. Only in the Lord is justification. Paul didn't make that up. This is Old Testament here. There is righteousness, justification only found in God and strength. There's only one name given under heaven. among men by which we must be saved. How can you be righteous and perfect before a holy and pure and unstained God who sees everything? How can you be acceptable to get into heaven? There is none righteous. The Bible says. There's not a righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins, the psalmist says. How can I be righteous? How can I be made right in the eyes of God? Second Corinthians 521 gives the answer. God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The only way that you can be righteous before the all-seeing God who knows everything about you is to come to the one who alone is righteous, Jesus Christ, and say, I can't do it on my own. I cling to Jesus. Also in Philippians 3 verse 9, that I might be found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own derived from my own law keeping, but a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. How can you be righteous? The answer is found in verse 24 of Isaiah, only in the Lord, only in the Lord. The question for all of you boys and girls and all of us here in this room is, are you righteous in the eyes of God? Well, I've done this. I have always gone to church. I'm a, I'm a good person. No, no, no. In that kind of an answer, the response shows that there is a confidence and a trusting in yourself. How can I be righteous before God? I'm not. I'm a sinner. It's only because of Christ. It's only because of what He did. So, in verse 24, can you make it your confession? Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength. Oh, I love that word, strength. Not only does He give you righteousness, but He gives you strength. You and I need that. And then verse 25, God just gives this sweeping, glorious promise that in the Lord, all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory. Why? Because salvation comes by faith. Faith in the Messiah. Yes, to Abraham. Yes, to the people of Israel in the future who will come to faith in their Messiah. and for you and me as well. What a chapter. What a sovereign God. So Christian, let me circle back to where we began. Our God is absolutely sovereign over leaders, over Israel, over nations, over circumstances, over economics and politics and anything and everything this world could ever bring across your path and my path. God is sovereign. You want to know how the sovereignty of God and this truth of God's absolute sovereignty has been used of him to transform parts of the world. It was in the year 1992. We'll close with this. In the country of Nigeria, There was a man who had turned to Christ. He had bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus, confessed him as Lord. God transformed him. God saved him. God changed him. God gave him a heart to preach. He became a pastor. After he had been pastoring for some time, Muslim extremists approached him and his village brutally. brutally killed hundreds of Christians. They caught the pastor. They didn't kill him, but they severely wounded him while he was being wounded. The pastor shouted in a triumphant voice, he is Lord, he is Lord. He is risen from the dead and he is Lord. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. If you know that chorus, Andrew, can you put that on the PowerPoint? Let's sing that together. He is Lord, He is Lord. He is risen from the dead and He is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The pastor knew this truth. He believed it. He suffered for it. He proclaimed it. The question for all of us is to you. Let's pray. Lord God, you are sovereign. You are king. You are the mighty one, the creator. You are salvation. And your open arms and the free invitation to all nations is so clearly revealed. Turn to me and be saved. All you ends of the earth. Build and strengthen and grow and establish your church for your glory alone. Amen.