The Only Alternatives

Isaiah chapter 45. We're going to begin reading at verse 1 and read the entire chapter.! Isaiah 45, 1.

This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of, to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut.

I will go before you and will level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel, my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Apart from me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, men may know there is none besides me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.

You heavens above, rain down righteousness. Let the cloud shower it down. Let the earth open wide. Let salvation spring up. Let righteousness grow with it.

I, the Lord, have created it. Woe to him who quarrels with his maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, What are you making?

Does your work say, He has no hands? Woe to him who says to his father, What have you begotten? Or to his mother, What have you brought to birth?

This is what the Lord says, The Holy One of Israel and its maker, Concerning things to come. Do you question me about my children, Or give me orders about the work of my hands?

It is I who made the earth, And created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens. I marshaled their starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness.

I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city, And set my exiles free. But not for a price or reward, Says the Lord Almighty.

This is what the Lord says, The products of Egypt, And the merchandise of Cush, And those tall Sabaeans, They will come over to you. They will be yours. They will trudge behind you, Coming over to you in chains.

They will bow down before you, And plead with you, Saying, Surely God is with you, And there is no other. There is no other God. Truly you are a God who hides himself.

O God and Savior of Israel. All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced. They will go off into disgrace together. But Israel will be saved by the Lord.

With an everlasting salvation, You will never be put to shame or disgraced. To ages everlasting. For this is what the Lord says, He who created the heavens.

He is God. He who fashioned and made the earth. He founded it. He did not create it to be empty, But formed it to be inhabited. He says, I am the Lord, And there is no other.

I have not spoken in secret, From somewhere in a land of darkness. I have not said to Jacob's descendants, Seek me in vain. I, the Lord, speak the truth.

I declare what is right. Gather together and come. Assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, Who pray to gods that cannot save.

Declare what is to be. Present it. Let those take counsel together, Who foretold this long ago, Who declared it from the distant past. Was it not I, the Lord?

And there is no God apart from me, A righteous God, And a Savior. There is none but me. Turn to me, And be saved, All you ends of the earth.

For I am God, And there is no other. By myself I have sworn, My mouth has uttered in all integrity, A word that will not be revoked.

Before me every knee will bow, By me every tongue will swear, They will say of me, In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.

All who have raged against him Will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel Will be found righteous, And will exalt.

Turn to me, And be saved, All you ends of the earth. For I am God, And there is no other. Amen. I want to put you on notice this morning That that verse Has been used to conquer and to save sinners.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon grew up in a Christian home in England And he knew much of the Bible And he was, as everyone else would think, A good little boy.

But inside, The Lord was showing to little Charles Just how evil his heart was. He saw that he could never measure up To God's standard of holiness In all of his thoughts, In his words, In all of his actions, Just as a young boy.

Sin and guilt became an awful burden That he could not remove. He felt like Pilgrim Carrying that burden on his back. He felt he must do something Or feel something to be saved.

And looking back later, Spurgeon said, That simplest of all matters, Believing in Christ crucified, Accepting his finished salvation, Being nothing, And letting him be everything, Doing nothing, And trusting to what he has done, I could not get hold of it, He says.

Convinced of his sins, And not knowing the remedy, He was one miserable 15-year-old. And he was walking to church One wintry Sunday morning, When a snowstorm Kept him from getting to the church He was setting out for, And he turned into a different church.

He tells it in his own words. I turned down a side street And came to a little primitive Methodist church. In that chapel, There must have been A dozen or 15 people.

I had heard of the primitive Methodists, How they sang so loudly That they made people's heads ache. But that did not matter to me. I wanted to know How I might be saved.

The minister did not come that morning. He was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, A shoemaker or tailor Or something of that sort, Went up into the pulpit to preach.

Now it is well that preachers Be instructed. But this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text For the simple reason That he had little else to say.

The text was Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me, And be ye saved, All ye ends of the earth. He did not even pronounce The words rightly.

But that did not matter. There was, I thought, A glimmer of hope for me In that text. The preacher began thus. This is a very simple text indeed.

It says, Look. Now look and don't Take a great deal of pain. It ain't lifting your foot Or your finger. It's just look. Well, a man needn't go to college To learn to look.

Look. You may be the biggest fool And yet you can look. A man needn't be worth A thousand a year to look. Anyone can look. Even a child can look.

But then the text says, Look unto me. I, many of you, Are looking to yourselves. But it's no use looking there. You'll never find Any comfort in yourselves.

Some of you say, We must wait For the spirits a-working. You have no business With that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, Look unto me.

Then the good man Followed up his text In this way. Look unto me. I am a sweat And great drops of blood. Look unto me. I'm hanging on the cross.

Look unto me. I'm dead and buried. Look unto me. I rise again. Look unto me. I ascend to heaven. Look unto me. I'm sitting at the Father's right hand. Oh, poor sinner.

Look unto me. Look unto me. When he had managed To spin out About ten minutes or so, He was at the end Of his tether.

Then he looked at me Under the gallery And I dare say With so few present He knew me To be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes On me As if he knew All my heart He said, Young man, You look miserable.

Well, I did. But I had not been accustomed To have remarks made From the pulpit On my personal appearance Before. However, It was a good blow Struck right home.

He continued, And you will always Be miserable. Miserable in life. Miserable in death. If you don't obey My text.

But if you obey now This moment You will be saved. And then lifting up His hands He shouted As only a primitive Methodist could do. Young man, Look to Jesus Christ.

Look, Look, Look. You have nothing to do But look and live. I saw it once The way of salvation.

I know not What else he said. I did not much Make much notice of it. I was so possessed With that one thought. I had been Waiting to do Fifty things.

But when I heard That word Look. What a charming Word it seemed to me. Oh, I looked until I could almost Have looked my eyes away. There and then The cloud was gone.

The darkness Had rolled away. And now I can say Ere since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing Wounds supply Redeeming love Has been my theme And shall be Till I die.

I thought I could have Sprung from the seat In which I sat And have called out With the wildest Of those Methodist brethren I am forgiven. I am forgiven A monument of grace A sinner saved by blood.

Simply by looking to Jesus I had been delivered From despair. How little did Isaiah realize When he wrote those words That twenty-five hundred Years later A fifteen-year-old boy Would obey his text And be saved forever.

And I say If him Why not you Young person Child Oldest person with us Look To me And be saved.

His invitation Still stands. Those are the words Of the Lord himself. Well we're going to return To those words shortly But let's remember What we've seen here In chapter 45 Two weeks ago We saw This chapter Set before us Three things.

First of all We saw God's Complete sovereignty That God is the one Who is going to Raise up The Babylonians To come And to take them Down into captivity And then he's going To raise up This Persian Idolatrous king Named Cyrus To go down And to conquer Babylon And set them free That they might Return to their homeland And build the temple And rebuild Jerusalem.

He foretold it A hundred and forty years Before it happened So that all might know That he alone is God. I'm the one Who forms the light. I create the darkness.

I bring prosperity. I create disaster. I the Lord Do all these things. I speak And it happens In my world. I am completely In control.

That's what Sovereign means. We saw that. And secondly We saw man's Arrogant complaint. Israel didn't like The way God Was doing things. They were critical Of God's plan.

That they had to go down Into Babylonian captivity. And then That they would be That he would raise up A Persian king To be their savior. They were like a pot Complaining to the potter.

Like a child Whining to its parents. And God said Woe to him. Woe to him Who quarrels With his maker. And then we saw God's hidden surprises.

That this very plan That they were Complaining about Was far better Than they could even imagine. Because not only He would he go down By way of Cyrus And deliver them Out of Babylon And they would come Back into their homeland.

But then He would deliver The Gentiles From their sins And cause Gentile nations Sinners from Gentile nations To come And to Be grafted Into Israel.

Jews and Gentiles In Jesus' fold. And verse 14 Pictured that for us. When Gentiles From all the nations Would be converted To Israel's God And they would declare There is no other God Than Israel's God The Lord Yahweh Isn't that something?

What nations Have ever changed Their God? And here are people From the nations Saying Our gods are nothings Only Israel's God Is real God's hidden surprises He moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform Surprising ways Hidden ways Far above our understanding So that we must say Truly you are a God Who hides himself O God and Savior of Israel So instead of trying To figure out his plans We need to trust His wisdom Power And love Now we didn't get to point four And that's where we come This morning Because in the remainder Of chapter 45 God speaks With his world About the only alternatives The only alternatives He's saying Consider your options Then There's only two There's me And there's idols There's me The one true God And there's all The pretend gods

The God substitutes The things that people Put in the place Of me That's the only Alternatives there are And he's saying to us As he said in the beginning Of this prophecy Chapter 1 Come now Let us reason together Says the Lord Let's sit down And have a good talk You and I About the alternatives Before you Let's think things Through together People In Christianity Your mind Matters Let us reason together God says God doesn't require us To check our brains At the door When we come in To worship As if Christianity Is an unreasonable thing Rather God meets us At the door And says You better have Your thinking caps on Because you're going To need them You need to think Hard and long About the truth And about facts You see God made us A thinking creature And Christianity

Calls that mind Into practice And with that mind We are to love God With all Of our mind And with that mind We are to think His thoughts After him It was The idolaters That he charged Back in chapter 44 And verse 19 With this accusation No one stops To think Sadly That's true Of many churches There's not much Thinking Being done In the church Anymore But that was What he said Of these Idolatrous Israelites No one stops To think That's always The hallmark Of idolatry Not of Christianity No one's thinking No one's reasoning No one's discerning The real From the unreal The true From the false No one has The understanding To put two And two together And to get four To say Half of this tree I use for fuel And the other half

I made a detestable God And now Bow down To this block Of wood And say to it You are my God No one's thinking But God says to us Let's reason together Let's talk about this Now he does call on us To humbly bow Our minds before him To realize the limits Of our minds That his ways Are far beyond Finding out We're not to lean Therefore upon Our own understanding We're not to trust In our own thoughts His words Are not unreasonable But they may in fact Be beyond the reach Of our minds So we come To this God With our minds Ready to be taught What to think Teach us Your ways And so God Comes to Israel And to us In this passage

And he's calling us To think To carefully consider Our options There's only two There's me And the idols And the two are compared Throughout the rest Of this chapter Like a lady Buying a dress May pick them both up And hold them Beside each other And to see Which one is The better bargain So you Consider well The options Because How you choose Well the outcome Is eternal Eternal And we find In this Text That a great Recruiting campaign Is going on For your never dying Soul You're being recruited Both idols And the living God Are recruiting you They're saying Seek me Seek me Both are calling you To seek them To turn to them To trust them To live for them To serve them Which will you choose

Choose well Well the fact is We've already chosen We've chosen the idols We all enter into this world With our backs Toward God And our faces Toward our idols Whatever they may be We have all Gone astray We have all Turned away From God And turned to Our own idols Yes we've already Chosen Israel too Had turned away From the living God To their idols And that's why God was taking them Down to Babylon They were going Into the woodshed To learn To forsake Their idols And so God Comes to us Idolaters And he's reasoning With us Stop and think For a moment He says to us Who is telling The truth And who can Really save That's what you Need to think About Who's telling The truth And who can Really save These idols That you're Living for What have they Ever done For you Stop and think About what Have they ever Done for you

They promise What they Cannot give In other words They're lying To you They say Seek me And if you Seek me I will Save you I'll save you From a wasted Life I'll save you From boredom And unhappiness I'll save you From your fears And your shame I'll save you From all that Threatens you Seek me And I will Give you Peace and Security Purpose and Fulfillment Happiness and Help They claim to Do what only God can do They are idols God substitutes Their lies And they speak Lies But notice At the end Of verse 20 They are gods That cannot Save These idols Of word What are they They are gods That cannot Save For all That they Promise They cannot Save Now gods

That cannot Save That's not A minor Malfunction That's not Just a Little Slip To be A god That cannot Save After all Saving is What gods Are for That's what They do A god That cannot Save Is like A knife That cannot Cut Like a Teacher That cannot Teach A baker That cannot Bake Save Worthless Completely Think about It Think about It That's what You will find Your idols To be Absolutely Worthless They cannot Save you From the Assyrians From the Babylonians From the Persians They certainly Will not Save you From the Power of Sin And the Wrath Of god They are Saviors That cannot Save So if You seek Them

You will Seek Them In vain You'll Seek Them For Nothing A big Zero Is what You'll Get For Seeking Them They cannot Deliver They cannot Save And even When you Think your Idols Are Delivering Even Even Even When you Think they Are Really Working For You It is Really The Lord The living God Who's Just being Good to You Because he's Even good To his Enemies He's even Good to Men who Have chosen Idols Idols Instead of Him And he Gives you Life and Breath and Everything Else And food And families And makes Your hearts Glad Gives you Happy days And you Bow down to Your idol And think That it's Doing you Good and It's working No No Your idol Can do Nothing It cannot Save God Is being Good to You The living God So if You seek The idol

You will Seek In vain So who's Telling the Truth Who can Really Save On the one Hand you Have your Lying idols That cannot Save And now On the other Hand We're being Told to Compare Here am I God says The only Real God Who speaks Truth And alone Can save Do you See that In verse 19b I have Not Said To Jacob's Descendants Seek Me In Vain That's What Your Idols Are Saying To You Now They Don't Say That That's That's All They Can Do If You Seek Your Idols You'll Seek Them In Vain And God Is Saying I'm Not Like That I Don't Say To People Seek Me For Nothing!

No You Never Come Up Empty With Me He's Saying And If You Seek Me You Will Never Be Put To Shame For Having Done So For Notice What He Says For I The Lord Speak The Truth I Declare What Is Right And If You Seek Me I'm Telling You I Who Speak The Truth I'm Telling You'll Find Full Salvation In This Life And The Life To Come You Say But How Can We Know That For Sure Don't All Religions And Don't All Gods Claim To Have The Truth On Their Side Well The Lord Says I've Proven That I Speak Nothing But The Truth By Bringing To Pass My Predictive Prophecies Verses 20 And 21 He Says Come On Gather Together Y'all Get Together And Declare What Is To Be Tell Me With Your Idols Consult Your Idols And Tell Me What's Going To Happen 140 Years From Now Declare It Present

It Take Counsel Together And And Who Foretold This Long Ago Who Declared This From The Distant Past About You Going Into Babylon And About A King Named Cyrus Setting You Free To Rebuild The Temple Who Said That 140 Years Before It Happened Was It Not I I The Lord And There Is No God Apart From Me A Righteous God And A Savior There's None But Me You See I Tell The Truth And You Can See That By All These Prophecies That I Have Spoken Years In Advance In Such Specificity As To Name The Name Of The Persian King Cyrus So That You Might Know That I Am A God Who Speaks The Truth Who Tells What Is Right I Wonder If We Really Appreciate That I Wonder If We Really Appreciate That We Have A God Who Speaks Nothing But The Truth To Us And Here We Are Born Into

This World At The Outset We Are On The Threshold Of A Journey Through Life Even As We Sang In Our Worship But Before Us Are Thousands Of Different Paths And They All Claim To Be The Right Path And They All Have A Sign On Them Saying This Is The Way To Heaven This Is The Way To Prosperity This Is The Way To The Good Life And All But One Are Lies There's Only One Way That Leads To The Good Life To Eternal Life And All The Rest Go Straight To Hell And Along The Path Are Idols Calling To Seek Me And I Will Satisfy You Seek Me And I Will Save You And Voices Are Everywhere Calling For My Devotion My Affection My Service My Time My Money My Life And

They're All Saying Seek Me And They're All Lies But They're Told Ever So Convincingly That There Is A Way That Seems! Right To A Man Even Though It Leads To Destruction It Seems!

And We Go After It Only To Find It's One Of Those Lies That Lead To Hell And Then We Hear Of A God Who Speaks The Truth There's Only One Voice Telling Us The Truth It's The Lord Yahweh The Covenant God Of Israel Verse 19 He Says!

There's But One Voice Of Truth In A Whole World Of Lies And He Speaks In A Book And That Book Is The Bible Oh Give Me That Book And Let It Ever Be A Lamp To My Feet And A Light To My Path Truth That Leads Me Straight Home To God This God Of Truth Tells Me The Idols Are All Lies They Look Like Something That They Save They Cannot Produce They Cannot Deliver I Alone Am God And Savior So Think About Your Options!

Think What You Got Between Your Idols That Cannot Save And The True God Who Alone Can Save And Then Consider The Two Destinies Consider The Two Ends At The End Of Each Path This Is The Neglected Consideration It Always Has Been!

Are Always Interested In The Here And Now The Present 80 Years Or 120 Years Or However Many Years You Live People Have Always Been Preoccupied With The Here And Now And God Says Let's Stop And Think About This For A Minute Because After Your Little 80 Years Are Up There Is An Eternity An Eternity You Will Never Cease To Be You Will Be Somewhere And There's Only Two Ends There's Heaven And There's Hell Think About The Two Destinies Of Those Who Follow The Idols And Those Who Follow God So God Says To Says To Us Come On Think About This One You're Having Such A Great Time Now You Say That But But What Will You Do In The End The End When You've Come To Take Your Last Breath When You've Sucked Out Every

Fleeting Pleasure From This Life When Your Time Is Up Game Is Over What Will You Do! Will You Have A Savior In The Day Of Your Death In The Day Of Your Judgment So There's These Two Ends Those Who Worship Idols Are Told That They Will Be Put To Everlasting Shame And Disgrace While Worshippers Of The Lord Will Be Saved By Him With Everlasting Salvation Notice First The Worshippers Of Idols In Verse 16 All The Makers Of Idols Will Be Put To Shame And Disgraced They Will Go Off Into Disgrace Together So That's The End Of Idolaters Shame Embarrassment Forever!

What's Your Most Embarrassing Moment? We Sometimes Talk About That Don't We? And We Can Because It Was A Moment And We Get Over It There Are Political Figures Who Are Brought To Shame And Disgrace By Some Moral Fall By Some Exposed Evil And Oh They're Shamed Aren't They They're Exposed To Public Shame That Is Nothing Compared To This Ultimate Disgrace And Shame Awaiting All Who Follow Their God Substitutes And There's The Shame Of The Business Man Who Puts All Of His Eggs In The Wrong Basket And Comes Out Empty In The End But That Too Is Nothing Compared To This Shame That Isaiah Speaks Of The Shame He Speaks Of Is Coming To The End Of Your Life And Realizing That You Lived For The Wrong World For All The Wrong Things For

The Wrong Person And Now You Have Eternity To Pay Esau Traded His Future Inheritance For A Pot Of Stew And All Who Follow Their Idols Do Know Better Oh The Mere Trifles That People Trade Heaven For It's Going To Be A Public Shame It's Not Just You Who Come To This Realization Oh I've Lived For The Wrong Things It's Everyone In That Day Of Judgment!

It Will Be A Day Of Uncovering Before The Whole Universe As They're Gathered Together Before The Judge And All Will See What You Live For And All Will See What You Traded God In Heaven For And They Will Say Are You Kidding Me He Traded Heaven For That Oh What Shame What Disgrace Will Come In The Day Of Judgment!

To Those Who Follow It Is Public Shame It Is Everlasting Shame And They Will Be Known As The One Who Traded Eternal Life For A Girlfriend Or Boyfriend They Will Be Known As The Woman Who Traded Eternal Life For The Pleasures Of Sin That Are Just For A Short Season He's The Man Who Traded Heaven For Financial Prosperity For Popularity For The Easy Life For Being His Own God What Will It Profit A Man If He Gain The Whole World And Lose His Own!

Soul Shame You see It's Not An Embarrassing Moment That We Get Over But It's Everlasting Shame It Is Shame That Lasts Forever That's That's What Goes With Following Your Idols Now Let's Look At What Goes With Those Who Follow The Lord And Serve Him Verse 17 But Israel Will Be Saved There's The Word Of Contrast You've Seen What Happens To Idol!

In Their! But Look At The End Of Those Who Trust In The Lord But Israel Will Be Saved By The Lord With An Everlasting Salvation You Will Never Be Put To Shame Or Disgrace To Ages Everlasting Time Out This Israel That He Is Speaking Of Is Not Merely The Physical Descendants Of Abraham Or Of Isaac Or Of Jacob Romans 9 6 Says

Set T Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation and you will never be put to shame or disgraced to ages everlasting.

There'll never come a time in your future. Eternity future when you'll say, you know, what was I thinking? What a fool I was to put all my eggs in the one basket of Jesus Christ.

What was I thinking that day when I gave myself over lock, stock and barrel to Jesus Christ for time and for eternity? And I said, Lord, here I am.

You take me all that I am, all that I want to be, all that I ever will be. I'm yours. Oh, why did I do that? I sure regret it now. I'm sure ashamed.

I'm embarrassed to think that I did that. Did you see that will never happen to you? To everlasting ages. It is going to happen to you if you keep holding on to your idols.

Do you see the contrast? Everlasting shame. Everlasting salvation free from shame. There's your options.

There's your options. Me, the only God and Savior and your idols that cannot say, think about it. Think about it. But I want you to notice something. God is not just in a cavalier way saying, well, there's your options.

And whatever you do, I don't give a rip about which you choose. That's not the God of the Bible. Having told us, consider your options.

He now urges. He commands us. He invites us to turn to him and to be saved. Verse 22.

Turn to me. He pleads with idolatrous people. Turn to me and be saved. Verse 22. All you ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other.

This is the universal call of the gospel. And it goes out to people from all the ends of the earth. Every nation. I dare say it's come to our nation. It's come to our town.

It's come to most of your hearts here. All of your ears here. You have been invited to turn to the Lord and be saved. Whoever you are, whatever you've done, you've all turned away from the Lord and gone your own way after your idols.

And here's the invitation. Now turn. Turn back to me. Look to me. And a look to him is a look away from your idols and self and your own plane of God.

And it's coming back and looking to him in faith to save you. Look to me. Abandon your idols that cannot save you and turn to me who am willing and able to save you.

Did you see the language? Turn to me and be saved. Be saved. That's a passive. That means he's the one who does the saving. It's not turn to me and save yourself.

No, it's you turn to me. And you will be saved. Because I'm the savior. I'm the only God and save you. And I will save you. We simply turn to him in order to have him save us.

And notice the promise of this verse that encourages us to come to him. Now, we idolaters need this promise. We have chosen our idols as being better than him.

And now you're telling me to turn to him? I rather would run from him. I'm afraid of what he might do to me.

But there's a promise. And God knows how we're afraid of him. And so he says, here's my promise. You turn to me and I will save you. That's it.

No. Well, then I can go to him. Then I can come to him. Because he doesn't say, turn to me and I will damn you. He says, turn to me and I will save you.

Wonderful promise of grace. This is the one who speaks the truth and cannot lie. Would you turn to him and be saved by him? He says, I am God and there is no other.

That's why you shouldn't have any other gods besides me. I'm the only one there is. So don't make something, a God out of something that isn't. And as you consider your options, you must know this.

I'm the only real God and Savior. And he closes with a warning about lingering in your idolatry. In verses 23 and 24, he tells us that he's the God who speaks and things happen in his world.

Cyrus rises up, Babylon goes down, Israel goes home. Things happen when he speaks. And this God has not only spoken, he's sworn. He's spoken an oath calling on his own name.

And he has sworn that before him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. That righteousness and strength are found in him alone, not in their idols, not in themselves.

So even if you continue to rage against him, continue to insist on having life your way and not his way.

Being your own God, following your own idols. A day of judgment is coming when you will be forced to bow your knee and confess with your lips that he alone is God.

Worthy of praise. That's going to happen. You better sue for mercy now. Before that day comes and it's forever too late.

700 years after Isaiah. Isaiah. This eternal God. Who speaks these words. Became a man.

And he appeared on this earth. And he lived among us. And one day he said. I am the way. I am the truth.

And I am the life. And no one comes to the father. But by me. I'm the only God and savior that there is. And after living a perfect life, he died in the place of all who put their trust in him.

He suffered from God all the punishment that all their sins deserved. And he died and he was buried and and rose again.

And after his resurrection, his apostles ran with this message. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

There's only one God and savior. And his name is Jesus Christ. And so Paul says in Philippians 2 that it is at the name of Jesus that this passage will be fulfilled.

At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. He's God. He alone is God. To the glory of God, the father.

You see, if it's salvation you need, then I'm the only one that can help you. That's what God's saying. Stop and think. What are your options? What? Well, if it's there's just two options.

But but if it's salvation you want, you really don't have two options. Do you? I'm the only God and savior there is. It's me or nothing. There's really no other alternative.

There's no other land to take away sin. There's no other righteousness to make you right with God, because he says in verse 24 that if you rage against him, a time is coming when you'll be forced to confess and forced about.

Well, well, verse 25. Well, all those in the Lord, all the descendants of Israel, not physical, those who have the faith of their father, Abraham, all of them will be found righteous and will exalt.

So while they're rejoicing to be counted righteous in the Lord. You will be found ashamed in your own filthy rags.

There is no other savior. There's no other land. There's no other righteousness. There's no other mediator between God and man. No other way to heaven. No other redeemer.

None. But Jesus can do helpless sinners. Good. C.S. Lewis wrote some children's stories in which Christ is represented by a lion.

Aslan. And in one scene, a girl named Jill breaks into an opening in the forest and she's thirsty and she sees a stream not far away. But instead of running to it and slaking her thirst, she freezes in fear because a lion is resting in the sun right beside the stream.

Are you not thirsty? Said the lion. I'm dying of thirst. Answered Jill. Well, then drink. Said the lion.

May I? Could I? Would you mind going away while I do? Asked Jill. The lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.

And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

Will you promise not to do anything to me if I do come? Said Jill. I make no promises. Said the lion. Jill was so thirsty now that without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

Do you eat girls? She asked. I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms.

Said the lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it. I daren't come and drink, said Jill.

And you will die of thirst, said the lion. Oh dear, said Jill, coming another step nearer. I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.

There is no other stream, said the lion. There is no other God and savior. You come to me and drink.

You come to me and I will save you. Our God is even better than Aslan. He does make promises. He says you turn to me and I will save you. I'll save you everlastingly.

Let's pray. Lord, we bow in your presence and confess that there is no other God but you.

We wouldn't know that of ourselves. We make gods out of everything, it seems like. But you've been kind to come and speak to us the truth and to expose the worthless idols that we've lived for, for what they are.

Just lying, worthless things. And you've come and showed us the value of yourself. How that you are the living God, the only God, the true savior.

And what do we owe you for that? We owe you our lives. You not only showed us that, but you drew us to yourself. You brought us to turn away from our idols and to turn to you.

And when we did, we thank you that there's not a one here who has ever turned away. Whoever comes to me, you said, I will in no wise cast out.

And we came and you received us with open arms. And you treated us idolaters as if we'd never worshipped anyone but you, the living God. And that for Jesus' sake, who bore our idolatry and all of our shame and all our embarrassment, that we might be saved.

And that forever. Thank you. Take our lives again. We offer them up afresh. Give us to think hard about life as it really is.

about the end that is soon to come. And to find refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.