Watchman Radio Hour

David Sholty: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour, coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Sholty, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading today, let us turn to Isaiah, chapter 45, and we'll begin reading in verse 22. Let us hear the word of God. "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, and by me every tongue will swear. And 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."

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the Bible that you have given to us. We thank you that it's your infallible word that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. Now, oh Father, as we come to study your word, we pray that you will send forth your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

As warning judgments are poured out on this land, we need to look to the one true God. It's this one true God that our forefathers looked to when they came to this land. Today we as a nation are trying to separate ourselves from the God of our forefathers. Yet any nation that separates itself from the true God will find itself in great trouble, especially a nation that once acknowledged him.

We wonder why are we having troubles, why so many natural calamities, why economic problems, why troubles among the youth. We can find the answer by looking to the one true God. It's to him that we must give an account as a nation. We are in rebellion against the God of our forefathers and we don't even realize it. God sends his discipline upon us in many ways, and we refuse to recognize it as such. What lies ahead for a nation like this? If we do not repent of our national sins, troubles will come more and more.

Today we need to acknowledge the true God and turn back to him. We need to acknowledge the true God and turn back to him as individuals and as a nation. Our text is Isaiah 45:22, which says, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other." There's only one true salvation. This text points out that there is only one true God and only one true salvation. If we neglect that true God and that true salvation, then we are doomed. Our forefathers recognized both and established a great nation on this land. Today we're in great danger of forsaking the true God and the true salvation. And if we do, then our nation is doomed. We're doomed as a nation and we're doomed as individuals. However, it's not too late. We need a national spiritual revival.

Now let us see in the first place that there is only one God. Our text says again, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other." There are not many gods. Exodus 20 and verse 3 says, "You shall have no other gods before me." The first commandment of the moral law is that we should have only one God, and the reason for this is that there is only one true God, as our text says. There is no other. It is this one true God that we should acknowledge.

John Calvin writes, "For I am God. When he exhorts all the ends of the earth, he at the same time shows that all men have hitherto wandered and have not looked to the true God. For where infidelity exists, there cannot be a distinct looking towards God so as to distinguish him from empty masks. In a word, he declares that the ruin of all has been occasioned by their being driven about by their wicked inventions and thus revolting from the true God, from the knowledge of whom certain and eternal salvation flows. The Lord therefore stretches out his hand in order to rescue all and point out the method of obtaining salvation. This makes it evident that it was not at random that the doctrine of the gospel was preached to all nations, but by the decree of God by whom it had been long ago ordained. Yet as I remarked a little before, he accuses the Gentiles of stupidity in allowing their senses to be turned and whirled about in all directions wherever their fancy led them. And though by nature they could not approach to God, and though they even sucked in with their milk the superstitions by which they were blinded, yet God might have justly reproached them with wicked contempt of his grace, for ignorance always implies hypocrisy when men choose rather to be deceived by empty flatteries than to go straight to God."

The whole world has only one God, and it's to that one God that we must look. And then let us see that that one true God is Jesus Christ. We can't just say there is one true God. We must go further to name that one true God. And the Bible makes it clear who the one true God is. He is Jesus Christ. That's his name. In John 1:1, it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus Christ is the Word. He is God. In John 1:14, it says, "The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

This verse tells us that God came to Earth and lived for a while among us. And John saw him, and the other apostles and many others saw him, and they knew who he was. This God came in the person of Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus, the Son of God, he is the true God. To acknowledge this true God is to acknowledge the Christian God. Our nation began by acknowledging not just a god, but the Christian God who is the one true God. Because of that, our nation has prospered. The scriptures promise that any nation that acknowledges the true God will be blessed.

In Psalm 2, beginning in verse 10, it says, "Therefore, you kings, be wise. Be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." The promise given in Psalm 2 applies to any nation that kisses the Son or acknowledges and serves the true God who is the Christian God. Our forefathers knew this, and they did acknowledge him. Today in our nation, we have been blessed because of it.

John Gill writes, "For I am God and there is none else. And so mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost all that come to him, and to God by him, be they where they will, since he is truly God. There is virtue enough in his blood to pardon sin and cleanse from it, and in his righteousness to justify from all sin, and in his sacrifice to expiate it. Therefore sensible sinners may safely look to him and venture their souls on him."

There's no doubt that our forefathers acknowledged the true God. Some say that Thomas Jefferson was a deist and an enemy of Christianity who did not acknowledge the Christian God. But this is not at all true. All we have to do is to look at the original documents. Whether Thomas Jefferson was a true Christian or not, we cannot say. But we can say that he acknowledged the Christian God. In his second inaugural address issued on March the 4th, 1805, Jefferson wrote these words: "I shall need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experienced. I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessities and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence and our riper years with his wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications, that he will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their counsels and prosper their measures, that whatever they do shall result in your good and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations."

Jefferson referred to our forefathers who came to this land in the very early days as being led by God to come here. It was the Christian God that led them. And by so saying, Jefferson acknowledges that same God. On that same day, on March the 4th, 1805, Jefferson wrote a national prayer for peace in which he said, "Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage, we humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with thy spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to thy law, we may show forth our praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail. All of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

To our forefathers such as Jefferson and many others, the one true God was the Christian God. There can be no doubt about this. Now let's see in the second place that only in this one God is salvation. Again our text says, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other." It's only in the Christian religion that there is salvation. In Acts 4:12, it says salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Salvation is only in Jesus Christ.

John Calvin writes, "And ye shall be saved. Thus we have a striking proof of the calling of the Gentiles because the Lord, after having broken down the partition wall which separated the Jews from the Gentiles, invites all without exception to come to him. Besides, we are here reminded also what is the true method of obtaining salvation, that we when we look to God and turn to him with our whole heart. Now we must look to him with the eye of faith so as to embrace the salvation which is exhibited to all through Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him may not perish."

John Gill writes, "And be ye saved, or ye shall be saved. Christ is set up in the gospel and the ministration of it to be looked at that men may be saved by him. And it is the will of God not only that men should look to him, but that whosoever sees him and believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The ministries of the gospel are appointed to show men the way of salvation by Christ and to assure them that he that believes in him shall be saved. And saints in all ages have looked unto him and have been saved by him. And therefore this may be taken for a sure and certain thing that such that look to Christ, as the Israelites did to the brazen serpent who was the type of him, shall be saved."

The only savior in the world is Jesus Christ, and we must believe this because this is clearly what the Bible teaches. There is no other savior under the whole heaven. There is no one else who can save. There is only one God and there is only one savior. We must insist on that because it's the clear message of the Bible. All other religions are false. We cannot put Christianity on the same level as all other religions. If we do, we deny the only true God. All religions do not teach about the one true God and the one true savior. There's only one religion that teaches this and that is Christianity.

Some try to make John Adams out to be a deist and an enemy of Christianity, but this is not true. And a careful study of the original documents will show that John Adams acknowledged the Christian God. John Adams wrote, "I have examined all religions and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world." Our forefathers acknowledged the Christian God, who is the only true God. Today we cannot as a nation acknowledge any other god and be true to our forefathers. Those who try to separate the nation from the true God are wrong. There is nothing wrong with being a nation that acknowledges the Christian God alone as the true God. Our forefathers did. That doesn't mean that we do not allow freedom to all men to worship as they wish, but we as a nation must acknowledge the one true God and not separate ourselves from him if we expect to prosper and be blessed.

And then let us see in the third place that the whole world must look to this one God for salvation. Again our text says, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other." The invitation is to the whole world. In Psalm 67:4-7, it says, "May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, oh God. May all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us and all the ends of the earth will fear him."

The invitation of the gospel is to the whole world. Jesus Christ came to save the world and calls all to look to him. In John 12:32, Jesus says, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." E.J. Young writes, "It might seem then that for the heathen there remain nothing but destruction. Such is not the case, for an invitation of mercy is extended to them. They are not to continue in their former ways, but are to turn from them. The verb suggests a turning away from something and a turning to something, a true conversion. Although the verb is plural and although the subject is found in the expression 'ends of the earth', the reference is to men individually. If the ends of the earth turn unto God, it is only because the individual men who make up the ends of the earth have themselves turned. There is a stress upon individual conversion. The invitation to turn, like the invitation of Christ, is couched in the imperative, and thus the responsibility of the individual is set forth. It is God who commands and man the creature has the responsibility of obeying. The phrase 'the ends of the earth', the farthest ends of the earth, includes all who dwell upon the earth. The two imperatives belong together, the first, as has often been pointed out, is hortatory, and the second promising. The thought is: Turn to me and you will surely be saved."

Lastly, the reason for these things is found in the fact that the Lord is the true God. Matthew Henry writes, "It seems to refer further to the conversion of the Gentiles that live in the ends of the earth, the most distant nations. When the standard of the gospel is set up, to it shall the Gentiles seek. When Christ is lifted up from the earth as the brazen serpent upon the pole, he shall draw the eyes of all men to him. And they shall all be invited to look unto him, as the stung Israelites did to the brazen serpent. And so strong is the eye of faith that by divine grace it will reach the savior and fetch in salvation by him, even from the ends of the earth, for he is God, and there is none else."

Colin Daly writes, "The first imperative is hortatory, the second promising. Jehovah desires both the conversion of all men to himself and through this their salvation. And this is gracious will which extends to all mankind will not rest until its object has been fully accomplished."

And John Calvin says this: "Look unto me. Hitherto he addressed the Jews alone, as if to them alone salvation belonged. But now he extends his discourse farther. He invites the whole world to the hope of salvation, and at the same time brings a charge of ingratitude against all the nations who, being devoted to their errors, purposely avoided, as it were, the light of life. For what could be more base than to reject deliberately their own salvation? He therefore commands all to look to him and to the precept adds a promise which gives it greater weight and confirms it more than if he had made use of a bare command."

The gospel invites people from all over the world to come and be saved. Its invitation goes out to all the ends of the earth. No people on earth are exempted from this invitation. All are invited to come. Christianity is a world religion. In John 3:16, it says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Christianity is not just the religion of America or of Europe. It's the religion that's to cover the entire world. Jesus came and died for the sins of the world, for people from all over the world.

Edward J. Young writes, "Men have rebelled against God and can only find salvation when having turned from the vain idols of abomination, they turn to the God who has made them. Furthermore, inasmuch as all men have rebelled, the invitation is open to all men to turn. In the gospel alone is true universalism to be found. All men are sinners and Jesus came to save sinners. Therefore all men are invited to come to Christ for salvation."

There's not a person on earth who is not invited by the gospel to come to Jesus Christ for salvation. It's a universal appeal to all people. To the millions in China and India, the call of the gospel goes out: "Come unto me, for I am God, and there is none else. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other."