The Life-look
(No. 2867)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1904.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
JANUARY 9, 1876.
"Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am
God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22.
I HAVE preached a good many times from this text. [The following
sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon this passage, have been previously
published–No. 60, Volume 2–Sovereignty and Salvation and No. 2805,
Volume 48–Life for a Look]. I hope to do so, if life is spared, many
more times. It was about 26 years ago–twenty-six years exactly last
Thursday–that I looked unto the Lord and found salvation through this
text. You have often heard me tell how I had been wandering about,
seeking rest and finding none, till a plain, unlettered lay preacher
among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit and gave out this
passage as his text–"Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of
the earth." He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him
to keep on repeating his text and there was nothing needed–by me, at
any rate–except his text! I remember how he said, "It is Christ that
speaks. 'I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out My soul unto
death. I am on the tree, dying for sinners– look unto Me! Look unto
Me!'
"That is all you have to do! A child can look! One who is almost an
idiot can look! However weak, or however poor a man may be, he can
look! And if he looks, the promise is that he shall live." Then,
stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery and he
said, "That young man there looks very miserable." I expect I did, for
that is how I felt. Then he said, "There is no hope for you, young man,
or any chance of getting rid of your sin but by looking to Jesus." And
he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, "Look! Look,
young man! Look now!" And I did look and when they sang a hallelujah
before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in
it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep and more was
falling, so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through
my heart, "Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow"–and it seemed as
if all Nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin
which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus Christ!
I have always felt inclined, when this time of the year comes round, to
preach from this text. I have sometimes thought–"They will suppose I
must go over the same ground again and give them the same sermon and
so, perhaps, I shall not have so attentive an audience." I cannot help
it if it is so, for I must preach from this text. As it was blessed to
me, I hope it will be blessed to somebody else. I wanted to preach from
it last Thursday night, on the exact anniversary of my spiritual
birthday, but I was led to take another text and I am glad I was, for,
when I entered my vestry tonight, I found on the table this note–"Mr.
Spurgeon, I want to tell you that your 'good news' [Sermon No. 2866,
Volume 50– "Good News"] last Thursday, was the means of reclaiming a
wanderer. How good of Jesus to take such an one as I am back and give
me the joy I had when first I knew Him!" The writer enclosed a
thanksgiving offering and blessed the name of the Lord. So, this text
has been reserved for tonight and who knows but that there has come
here somebody who was not here on Thursday night, and whom the Lord
intends to bless? I only hope it may be so! Indeed, I knowit will be
so!
Let us read the text again. "Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the
ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other." This message
is addressed, as you perceive, not to the Israelites, but to the
Gentiles–to the nations at the very ends of the earth. Alas, many of
these nations have long been looking to their idols. They do not feel
at rest. They know
that they lack something and very earnestly are devout heathens looking
to their false gods for what they need. They make great sacrifices and
spend vast sums of money upon their idol temples–but salvation does
not come and cannot come through these false gods. Jehovah bids them
look to Him, that they may be saved. Some among the nations are
throwing off the yoke of superstition, but, sad to say, they seem to be
falling into skepticism instead. The Hindu, when educated, turns from
his idols only to make an idol of his own judgment. Many men worship
their own wisdom. They hope, by searching, to find out the Almighty
unto perfection–and this theory and that they promulgate and say–
"This form of thought and the other will emancipate the human mind."
Ah, it is not so! "The world by wisdom," in the old Socratic and
philosophic days worked out that problem, and the result was that they
"knew not God," but, "professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools." And that is where man, with his great thought and wisdom,
always drifts to some absurdity or another. Only Jehovah can save
mankind! Philosophy is powerless in this matter.
The nations have been looking long, first to this thing and then to
that, to save them. Sometimes they have looked for some great conqueror
who will break the yoke of oppression and set the people free. But how
often have they been deceived and the idols of the democracy have
turned out to be the grossest tyrants that ever lived. Then there are
various international and other societies formed by which men are to
lift themselves up by confederation. They will look there, too, in
vain–though all men should join hand in hand, they cannot do it. If
they looked to God, there would be accomplished what all mankind would
not be able to perform! One man advises this policy. Another pleads for
that form of government. One has this idea and the other has another.
And, every now and then, there seems to be a craze for something or
other. Just now we are told that civilization will do away with war and
I know not what besides. All evil is to be extinguished by the growth
of commerce. But the Lord of Hosts has willed it that nothing shall
save the nations but Himself and this poor, bleeding earth needs to be
told, again and again, that, for her wounds–and she has many of
them–there is no healing liniment but that which flows from the hands,
feet and side of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! From the crown of her
head to the sole of her foot, she is full of "wounds, and bruises, and
putrefying sores," and for all these there is no cure but the blessed
balm that flowed from Jesus' heart on Calvary–no remedy but the one
Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. "Look unto Me," He says, "and be you saved,
all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other." O
Lord, turn the eyes of the nations to Yourself and to Your Son! When
this happens, then shall the day of the world's salvation have fully
come!
The general principle holds good in each particular case. As it is with
the nations at the ends of the earth, so must it be with me, so must it
be, dear Friends, with you. There is no salvation but by looking unto
God in Christ. Let us try to turn that thought over, not merely with
the view of thinking of it, but that we may carry it into effect–that
if there is salvation to be had, we may have it, and have it at once. O
God, grant that it may be so!
First, we shall ask, What does the word, "Look," mean in reference to
God? Secondly, for what part of salvation are we to look to God
Thirdly, what is our encouragement to look?'And, fourthly, when is the
best time to look?
I. First, Jehovah says, "Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends
of the earth." WHAT DOES THIS WORD, LOOK, MEAN? It means a great deal
more than I can tell you, but, among other things, it means this–
First, consider that there is a God and enthrone Him in your mind as a
real Person, the one living and true God. You have been trying to cure
yourself of your spiritual maladies. Now think of God as the great
Physician of your soul. Let your mind turn towards Him. You are like
that young man who left his father's house and whose circumstances
became so bad, through his own fault, that he was obliged to take up
very low and mean employment. And yet, with all that he did do, he did
not earn enough to fill his belly. The best thing that he could do was
to remember that he had a father–and the happiest day for him was when
he came back to his father and received a loving welcome from him.
You say that you are not happy, you are not at rest, your conscience is
disturbed and you have tried ever so many things in order to get peace.
Now, think about your God. Think about the loving Father who receives
His wandering prodigal children and as you think of Him, you will have
begun to look to Him. While you are thinking about Him, I wish you
would remember this concerning Him–that "God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Think
of that wonderful Truth that God came here in human flesh and blood
and, for us men and for our salvation died a cruel death upon the tree.
Turn that over and over, again, for it is there that your only hope of
salvation lies. Do think of that. Read often–
"The old, old story
Of Jesus and His love."
Think over all the details of it. Accustom yourself to look towards God
in Christ Jesus in your thoughts and contemplations. By the blessing of
the Holy Spirit, this will breed faith in you. Set your face that
way–look at God as He has revealed Himself in the Person of the great
Propitiation, Jesus Christ, His Son.
Looking to God means, however, more than that. When you have considered
Him and taken Him into your calculations, then address yourself to Him.
Speak to Him! Tell Him where you are and what you are. Tell Him what
you feel and what you do not feel, what you ought to feel and what you
wish to feel. Tell Him what you want which you have not yet got. If you
cannot pray, tell Him so. If you cannot repent and cannot believe, tell
Him so. Only speak to Him, for that speaking will be a turning to look
and I find that the Hebrew word used here is not so well expressed by
the word, "look," as by the phrase, "turning to look." If I want to
look at the clock above my head, I must turn to look at it. In that
fashion, I want you to turn towards God, to consider Him and then to
speak to Him. Tell Him that you are a wretch undone without His
Sovereign Grace. Tell Him whatever you know to be the truth–do not
mock Him with mere words that do not come from your heart, but let your
heart speak to Him. Address Him, for that is looking to Him.
Only, mind that you get to God. The mischief is, dear Friends, that we
often stop somewhere short of God when we are seeking salvation. A
Romanist, for instance, erects a crucifix and bows down before it. The
original intention of the crucifix, no doubt, was to help the person
who used it to remember the death of Christ–but frequently the thought
rests on the crucifix, instead of upon the Christ. If the Romanist says
that he does not worship the image, it is not true, because there is a
certain, "Our Lady of Lourdes," and another, "Notre Dame de la Garde,"
and other, "Our Ladies." Why is it that the Virgin Mary, in a certain
church, or a certain town, works great cures and gets more worship than
"Our Lady" in a certain other place? The fact is, it is the image that
is worshipped, and so is it with the crucifix–that gets the Romanists'
worship–not the Christ. They stop there.
But why do I talk about this to you Protestants? Why, because many of
you do the same in other respects! You say, "Now, if I am to be
converted, I ought to read the Bible." Yes, that is quite right. Read
the Bible, but, if you stop at the Bible, you will no more get to God
than if you stop at the crucifix! What you need is to get to God
through what you read and not merely o come to the Book. The Bible, or
the most gracious words, or the most appropriate collects, or the most
pious prayers cannot save you! You must pass through these things,
which ought to be helps, and not make them into barriers, for, if you
make them into barriers by stopping there, you never will be saved. You
have to get to God, dear Heart–to God in Jesus Christ–and I pray you,
do not stop till you feel, "I have spoken to God in Jesus Christ. I
have confessed to Him my sins. I have sought His forgiveness. I have
asked Him for mercy." You are sure to get it if you have done so.
But if you stop at this point–"I have prayed so often, I have read so
much," these very readings and praying will get to be idols and they
will keep you away from God! I used to, when seeking the Lord, often
read Doddridge's "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," and an
admirable book it is. I also red Baxter's '"Call to the Unconverted." I
would wake up as soon as the sun was up in the morning that I might
read these books! But I must confess that for many a day I stopped at
Doddridge's "Rise and Progress" and Baxter's "Call."" When I had read
so much and tried to feel what those good men said, there I stuck. Oh,
that I had gone to Christ before! Oh, that I had got away from
Doddridge's "Rise and Progress" and Baxter's "Call," and gone to Jesus
Christ Himself! I am not finding fault with those books–I commend
them, but I find fault with myself for making so bad a use of the
books. In like manner, I do not find fault with prayer or the reading
of the Scriptures–God forbid! But I do complain of putting prayer and
the reading of the Scriptures into the place of getting to God, for it
is looking to Him as He is revealed in Jesus Christ that will save the
soul and nothing short of that, be it what it may, will do so!
Therefore, looking to God means that we are to consider God and then to
address ourselves to Him.
In the next place, to look to Him means that we must know that if we
are ever to be saved salvation must come from God alone. Learn this O
Man, that you are helpless and hopeless apart from God–that you are
shut up and cannot come forth, bound with fetters of iron, and laid
like the dead in their graves, numbered among the slain like those that
go down into the pit–and no arm can help you but the arm of the
Omnipotent! Nothing can save you but the blood of Jesus Christ!
Then, next, to look to Him means expect that He will save you. Oh, what
a step that is for anyone to take! I would that, by God's Grace, you
might take it, saying, "Nobody but God can save me. Salvation comes
from Him, but He is gracious, He has given His dear Son to die for
sinners. I, a sinner–the most unworthy, perhaps, who ever lived–will,
nevertheless, dare to hope that I shall be saved. No, more–
"'He has promised to receive
All who on His Son believe'– "so I will now trust His Son and look to
Him to give me full and free salvation because I trust Him." Joseph
Hart's hymn puts it–
" Venture on Him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude! None but
Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good."
Some have objected to the verse because, they say, it is not a venture.
It is very easy to be too critical. It is a venture to the sinner' s
thoughts–it appears to him to be a venture–and you must not expect
him to talk as you wise men talk! Do not put into a sinner' s mouth
words that would be above his range of thought. I know it seemed a
wonderful venture to me. I thought, "Can it be true that this is all I
have to do? Have I to believe God's Grace in Christ and trust myself
only to that?" Why, if the minister had said, "You must go home and
take a whip and flog yourself–20 lashes will do"–I tell you I would
have laid them on as heavily as I could, for I would have felt, "I will
make sure work of it" and they would have been 20 of the sweetest cuts
that ever a man endured! If they made me smart, I would have blessed
God for them, so long as I received mercy through them. But there was
nothing in the Gospel about lashing myself–nothing even about lashing
my conscience–I was simply told to look to God as He revealed Himself
in Jesus Christ–and I did so and thus I was saved!
Possibly someone asks, "Does that faith make any difference to a man?"
It makes all the difference in the world! Suppose you have a bad
servant who is always doing wrong things and you find out that the
great reason why he so provokes you is that he does not believe in you
and has no respect for you? But, one day you convince him of your kind
feeling towards him and prove to him that all you wish is for his good
and that you have been seeking his good all the while you have had him.
Now that man is saved from his ugly temper by believing you to be good
and kind and, from the moment when this change takes place, there is
nothing too much for him to do for you! That is just the effect that
faith in God has upon a sinner's moral character. Before you believe in
God, you do not care much about Him. It is true that you may do a few
good works with the hope of thereby getting salvation–just as your
servant does as much or as little as he dares do for the sake of his
wages. But, oh, when once you believe in God and serve Him out of love,
then you become like those old-fashioned servants that our grandmothers
used to have–we cannot get them now. They used to serve their masters
and mistresses from motives of affection–those old body-servants that
the squires and dames used to have who would cleave to them, wages or
no wages, because they loved them so! What a grand thing it is to have
faith in the heart! It will save a man entirely from his old ways, his
old lusts and his old sins by making him love God and serve God out of
love, which is the mightiest transforming motive that was ever
implanted in the bosom of a lost soul! This is how God saves men–by
leading them to trust in Him in Jesus Christ.
II. Secondly, FOR WHAT PART OF SALVATION ARE WE TO LOOK TO GOD?
For every part of it, from beginning to end and, first, for the pardon
of sin you must look to God in Christ, for who can pardon an offense
except the person who was offended? If somebody over there has offended
a Brother, yonder, it would be no use for me to say to that person, "I
forgive you the offense." The other Brother might say, "The wrong was
not done to you, it was done to me! Only I, who have been offended, can
forgive the offense." So, if you need the pardon of your sin, it is
evident that it can only come from God. But you tell me that you feel
as if you were not fit to be forgiven? Very well then, if there is such
a fitness–I know there is none–but if there is any truth in what you
mean, that fitness must be given you by God and you must look to Him
for it–
"True belief and true repentance–
Every Grace that brings you nigh–
Without money,
Come to Jesus Christ and buy."
Possibly you say to me, "It is not merely that I need to have my sins
forgiven–I want to become a new man." You must look for that, also, to
God. I think that the best man to clean a watch is the watchmaker–and
the best person to renew the heart is the God who made the heart. He
who made you can alone remake you. There is no power under Heaven
except the power that created you, which can create you anew in Christ
Jesus! So you must look to God for that.
But you say, "Well, if I were made a new man, I fear that I would go
back to my old sins. Must I not trust to something to keep me ?" No, to
nothing but God, for all the bonds and all the devices that men make to
keep themselves from sin are of no more strength than a spider's web.
God must keep you alive as well as make you live. "For I am God," He
says, "and there is no other." Rest in the almighty power of God to
keep you from going back to sin after He has rescued you from it.
You know, also, that you must be perfect, or you can never enter
Heaven. How are you to become perfect? Well, you must look to God for
that, too, for He, the perfectly Holy One, can sanctify you
wholly–spirit, soul and body. May your faith embrace the whole of
salvation and see it to be all in God in Christ–and look to God in
Christ Jesus for it all!
III. Our third question is, WHAT IS OUR ENCOURAGEMENT TO LOOK TO GOD?
I tried to show you what it was to look–to consider God, to speak with
Him, to trust in Him as He is revealed in Christ Jesus and to rest
wholly in Him. You say, "What is my encouragement to do that and to
expect that thus I shall be saved? May I do it? I know that trusting in
Christ saves men, but mayI trust Him?"
Your encouragement to do this is, first of all, God's command—"Look
unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth." We, certainly,
almost beyond the inhabitants of any other country, might have been
called "the ends of the earth." There was a time when England was
reckoned to be the Ultima Thule–the far-off land. It was supposed that
there could be nothing beyond the British Islands. When the Prophet
spoke, these were the very ends of the earth, so, surely, God commands
you, my dear Hearer, to look unto Him, inasmuch as you belong to the
ends of the earth! If you tell me that you come from America, well, you
also come from the ends of the earth. Do you say that you come from
Australia? That is another of the ends of the earth. Some of you sail
round the world–well, sometime or other, you have been at the ends of
the earth and you know that when God sends His command to the ends of
the earth it always includes everything within its bounds. He certainly
commands the middle as well as the ends. Those who are farthest off
from Him are bid to look unto Him and, as He commands you to do it,
what better warrant can you desire than His command? The Gospel command
is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." You
never ought to say, "May I believe?" for God commands you to do so, and
threatens you with punishment if you do not, for He says, "He that
believes not shall be damned." The only warrant for a sinner's
believing is the command of the Gospel! Oh, that you might be
encouraged by that!
The next encouragement for you is God's promise–"Look unto Me, and be
you saved"–as much as to say, "As surely as you look, you are saved.
When you look, you are saved." Does it not mean that? If anyone said to
you, "Sit down and eat and be filled," you would not say, He only means
that I am to sit down at a bare table"–you would feel sure that he
meant that there should be something on the table of which you might
freely eat. So, Sinner, do but look to the Lord! Turn your eyes in
confidence to God in Christ Jesus, for there is no other God and no
other Savior–and when you have done this, you shall be saved at once!
Still further to encourage you, you have the fact of His Godhead– for
I am God." You need a God to save you. You have a great load of sin
resting upon you, but the Omnipotent can lift it off your shoulders.
Then, there are the bonds of iniquity–the old habits of 40 years,
perhaps of 50 years–but Christ can tear away the iron net, break the
chains and set the captive free in a moment, for He is God! Were the
Savior any less than Divine, I would not dare to encourage sinners to
believe in Him! But here is a Divine Savior infinitely strong and
infinitely gracious, so, you blackest, foulest, vilest sinner, why
should you not obey the command of my text and look unto Him, expecting
mercy and favor from Him?
Another encouragement to you comes from Gods character. He knew that
you sinners would be afraid that His justice would stand in your way
and that, though able to save you, He might not do it because you have
been such great sinners and He must punish you. So kindly read what He
says in the latter part of the 21st verse–"There is no God besides Me:
a just God and a Savior: there is none besides Me." God can justly save
you by His wondrous plan of Substitution. If you look unto Him, He will
not mar the integrity of His government or the severity of His justice
in order to save you,
for, by the blood of His dear Son, His Law has been so magnified and
made so honorable that He can be as just in pardoning as He would have
been just in punishing! This Doctrine of the Atoning Sacrifice of
Christ is the marvelous mystery of the Gospel, the greatest of all
revealed Truths of God and this ought to take away from the guilty
conscience everything that makes it fear to trust God! God's justice is
satisfied by Jesus' death–therefore, trust Him! I implore you, trust
Him! Did you know the joy that faith brings–could you but understand
the peace, the liberty, the transport, the bliss which simple
confidence in Christ will bring to you–you would not need my
pleadings, but you would say, Blessed Jesus, I rush into Your arms,
accepting You as my Savior and rejoicing in Your great salvation!"
IV. Our last question was to be, WHAT IS THE BEST TIME IN WHICH TO LOOK
TO THE LORD?
I answer–the best time is God's time. And when is God's time? What
does the Holy Spirit say is the best time? "Today, if you will hear His
voice, harden not your hearts." This is God's time–today. I do not
remember, nor do I think there is in the whole Bible, a single precept
addressed to the sinner requiring him to repent and believe tomorrow,
or next week. The Gospel promise runs, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you shall be saved." But it does not say, "Believe next
February." Or, "Believe next March," or, "next year." It is understood
that every Gospel precept or command is for this present moment. God
Himself, my Hearer–not I, poor, feeble man, but God Himself says to
you, Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man His
thoughts; and let Him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon
Him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." And He says this
to you at this very moment!
What is your answer? What reply shall I give to Him who sent me to you
with this message? Will you have Him to be the Savior, or will you not?
Say one or the other, whichever you will! If I may plead with you, I
urge you to say, "Yes." from your very heart. But I shall be almost
satisfied if you will say one or the other, for that will bring you to
the point. But if you say, no," it may be that, having taken up that
position, you may begin to think where you are and you will go home
saying, "I have refused to look to Christ. I have refused the great
salvation and deliberately said, 'I will not look for salvation in God
through Jesus Christ.'"
I wish, Sinner, that you would even do that rather than act as so many
do who say, Go your way for this time. When we have a more convenient
season, we will send for you." For that tends to quiet conscience,
although the convenient season never comes and Felix is most infelix.
There is nothing felicitous in what he says. Happy by name, he is most
unhappy in his fatal procrastination concerning this all-important
matter! I must have an answer to give to Him that sent me. Will you now
be saved or not? God sets the time–the time is now–so, say, Yes," or,
No."
Let me, however, remind you that the present is the only time you have.
The past is gone–the future may never come. Should it come, it will be
present when it does come. On this winged hour all eternity hangs.
Possibly you are thinking of what you will do when you get home–but
you do not know that you will get there. Do not many fall in the street
never to rise again? You are calculating upon what you will do
tomorrow. The image of death will be on your face when you are
asleep–are you quite sure that you will ever awake from that form of
death into real life again? May not that bed become your sepulcher? You
have planned what you intend to do on Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday–yet you know not what a day may bring forth! There is a
seat, just there, that may speak to some of you. There used to sit, in
that pew, one who was well known to you. He came home from business
feeling slightly unwell. The doctor was sent for, but our friend was
dead before he arrived. Why should not that which has happened to many
others who have attended here, happen also to you, or to me? Be you
also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man
comes."
If I knew how to preach to you so that I might win men to believe in
Jesus Christ, God knows that there is nothing that I would not say, or
leave unsaid, that might conduce to that end. I know that there is no
power in mere rhetoric or oratory, so I have chosen to speak to you
very plainly and simply, without any ornament of speech and almost
without an illustration–so that he who runs may read. It is not one
half as much my business, dear Hearer, that you should be saved as it
is yours! When I have faithfully delivered the word of salvation, I
wash my hands of you. If you refuse it, I cannot help it.
At your own door must your doom lie and at your own door alone. Yet
would I pluck you by the sleeve and say, Dear Friend, you do need to be
saved. Salvation must come from God and He bids you look to Him for it.
Trust His Son for it. God in Christ must be your hope. Will you trust
Him? Do you understand me? Simply relying upon the Atoning Sacrifice,
trusting in it, resting in it, believing God to be God and henceforth
yielding yourself up to be ruled by His goodness–believing Christ to
be able to save you and yielding yourself up to be saved by Him and
guided in the way of
holiness and peace–believing that the blood of Jesus can take away
your sin and trusting to it so to do–if so it be, it is done and you
are saved!"
The salvation has commenced which will never end, for, in the simple
act of faith, there lies a living seed which the devil himself cannot
crush–which, though it is small as the mustard seed, will begin to
swell, and germinate, and send forth its shoots till it shall be such a
tree that many a happy bird of the air shall come and sit and sing
among its branches! And your life, made happy and shaded by this
blessed faith in Jesus, shall then bring forth fruit unto God and the
end shall be everlasting life! God grant that it may be so, for His
dear Son's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH45.
The first paragraph concerns Cyrus and the great work for which God
raised him up.
Verses 1-4. Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right
hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I wiil loose the
loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates
shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places
straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder
the bars of iron: and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and
hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD,
which call you by your name, am the God of Israel For Jacob My servants
sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name: I have
surnamed you, though you have not known me. A remarkable prophecy,
issued long before the time of Cyrus, foretelling that he would conquer
Babylon and destroy it. And, though for many a day Cyrus knew nothing
about the Most High God, yet he was used, in the Lord's hands, for
wonderful purposes! Sometimes a man may have been used of God for great
ends without his own knowledge. When, however, he comes to the
discovery of that fact, as he may if he will but think it over, should
he not reverently bow before the Most High and worship Him who, though
unknown to him, had been his Helper and his Friend?
5, 6. I am the LORD, and there is no other. There is no God besides Me:
I girded you, though you have not known Me that they may know from the
rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides Me. I
am the LORD, and there is no other. Those who believe in idols think
that there may be many lords and many gods, but he who is a true
follower of Jehovah knows that there can be no other god besides Him.
He fills all space and there is no room for another. There is but one
Creator, one Preserver and one God who alone is to be worshipped.
7. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil
I the LORD do all these things. Cyrus was a believer in two gods–one,
the god of light and the other, the god of darkness. Hence this
declaration from God's servant, the Prophet, that there was no prince
of darkness who was a god, but that all things were made by the one
Most High God.
8-11. Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down
righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation,
and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashions it,
What are you making? Or your worksay, He has no hands? Woe unto him
that says unto his father, What didyou beget? Or to the woman, What
have you brought forth? Thus says the LORD, the Holy One ofIsrael,
andhis Maker, Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and
concerning the work of My hands you command me. Note the tone which God
uses. He speaks like a God and claims to be above the questioning of
His creatures. These verses remind us of what the Apostle Paul wrote–
No but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing
formed say to Him that formed it, Why have You made me thus? Has not
the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" God is the great Sovereign over
all and He claims a Sovereign's place. He does as He wills, but He
always wills to do that which is just and right.
12-17. I have made the earth and created man upon it: I, even My hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I
have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he
shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for price nor
reward, says the LORD of Hosts. Thus says the LORD, The labor of Egypt,
and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall
come over unto you, and they shall be yours: they shall come after you;
in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they
shall make sup-
plication unto you, saying, surely God is in you; and there is no
otheer, there is no God. Verily You are a God that hides Yourself, O
God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded,
all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of
idols. But Israel shall be saved by the LORD with an everlasting
salvation: you shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end.
If you are God's people, you have a God of whom you need never be
ashamed and One who will not leave you to be ashamed of your confidence
and hope. Those that trust to false gods will be ashamed. Those that
rest upon themselves will be confounded. But stay yourself upon God, O
Man, and you shall never be ashamed, world without end!
18, 19. For thus says the Lord that created the heavens; and Himself
that formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He created it
not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is
no other. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I
said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek you Me in vain; I the LORD speak
righteousness, I declare things that are right. Here is the Glory of
our God–that His every Word is true and that He has never said, in any
place, that which contradicts what He has spoken in public to His
people. You may safely rest upon the God who is always the same, who
never plays fast and loose with His promises, or speaks anything in
secret contrary to His pledged Word. He is as true as He is
Sovereign–therefore stay yourselves upon Him.
20, 21. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are
escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of
their engraved image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell and
bring them near, yes, let them take counsel together: who has declared
this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I the
LORD?He challenges all the idols to prove that they had uttered any
true prophecy–that they had spoken about Cyrus, or anybody else from
ancient times, so that the prophecy was literally fulfilled. There were
dark double-meaning oracles with which the false priests mocked their
votaries, but the true Words of God–His ancient prophecies–proved Him
to be the only real and true God.
21-23. And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior
there is none besides Me, look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends
of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by
Myself, the word is gone out ofMy mouth in righteousness, andshallnot
return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shallswear.
Glory be to God, it will be so in the latter days! It shall come to
pass that the Truth of God shall be universally triumphant and the one
God who made the heavens and the earth shall be worshipped both by
Heaven and by earth, without any discordant note.
24, 25. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and
strength even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against
Him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be
justified, and shall glory.