Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2793
“Surely, shall one say, in the LORD I have righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the LORD all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.” Isaiah 45:24,26.
IF YOU carefully read the chapter from which our text is taken, you must notice the high style which God here adopts. He speaks like a king—no, more—He speaks like a God, as He is entitled to do, for He is God. David says, in the 29th Psalm, “The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” We can hear that powerful, majestic voice in this Chapter! The Lord here speaks about men coming to Him, confessing to Him and obeying Him without inserting any “if as to their own will in the matter, or raising any question as to whether He can accomplish what He promises. Listen attentively to these words in the verse before our text, for they are very strong and forcible—“I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” The Lord lays unusual emphasis upon the irrevocable oath which He has sworn and says that He will never recall the word which has gone out of His mouth. He speaks with that same power which said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” In a word, He speaks Divinely and, therefore, He can fulfill what He has declared.
“But,” someone says, “men are free agents.” Who denied it? “But men will not bow their knee before Him unless they are willing to do so.” Who said they would? Yet, He who has the power to control the freedom of the human will— He who rules, not only over inanimate objects and over creatures whose wills are gladly subordinated to His, but even over souls that are naturally rebellious—still has a way of turning them according to His own mind! He speaks in the majesty of His Sovereignty and swears that every knee shall bow before Him—and that all shall acknowledge Him to be the only supreme Lord and Governor!
It is true that there are two ways in which men shall be made to bow the knee before God. Some of them will bow unwillingly when they shall feel the weight of His iron rod. Others shall bow joyfully before Him when they shall feel the power of His Grace. I am going to read my text in that sweet and merciful manner, and I think the context justifies us in so reading it. I want you to see how God’s power over mankind is exerted in a way of Grace, although it is also true that His power is put forth in a way of Judgment towards those who reject His mercy. I read, with delight, the expressions of my text as the decrees, determinations, promises and declarations of the God of Grace, who affirms that men shall say, “In the Lord have we righteousness and strength. Even to Him shall men come and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the Lord all the seed of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” There is no doubt about this great Truth of God—Christ did not die in vain—the Gospel has not been sent into the world for nothing! There shall be a people “saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.” There shall be a multitude that no man can number who shall bow before the Savior. There shall be an adequate reward for the travail of His soul which shall satisfy even the infinite heart of the great Son of God Himself!
I. There are five Divine declarations in the text. The first is this, that THERE SHALL BE A PEOPLE WHO SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUTH CONCERNING GOD. Our version says, “Surely, shall one say, in the Lord I have righteousness and strength,” but there are other readings which appear to be more accurate. “Men shall say, In the Lord
is righteousness and strength,” would be quite as correct a rendering, or even more so. It means that there shall be a people who shall confess that in God there is righteousness and strength.
First, they shall see these to be His attributes. Everybody ought to be able to plainly see the evidences of God’s strength. Many shudder in terror before the thunder of His power, yet they will not, or they cannot, see God’s righteousness. They begin accusing Him, from one point or another, of being unjust in His dealings with the sons of men. So it always has been and so it will be as long as the ungodly are on the earth. But there shall still be a people who shall be able, because their eyes have been touched with Heaven’s eye salve, to see that God’s strength is always associated with righteousness. They shall perceive what human nature full often refuses to perceive—that God is as good as He is great and as just as He is strong! Even the terrible things, they shall see to be “terrible things in righteousness.” They shall cease to question anything done by the Most High and they shall submit unreservedly to His Sovereign sway. This is one of the miracles of God’s Grace, but it is a miracle that shall never cease so long as God sits upon the Throne ruling over