Isaiah 45:21-22 Tell you, and bring them near; yes, let them take counsel together: who has declared this from ancient time?… I. THE GRACIOUS INVITATION. Notice — 1. The benevolent Being by whom the invitation is given. 2. To whom it is addressed. Not to the Jews only, but also to the Gentiles: to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. 3. What is implied in the invitation. (1) The state of those to whom it is addressed. (2) That there is no obstacle whatever in the way of salvation. 4. What the invitation calls upon us to do in order to secure our salvation. "Look unto Me." In our natural state we are all looking from Him; and even when we are convinced of our lost condition, how prone we are to look to anything rather than to Him for salvation — our repentance, our obedience, our duties, our morality, our usefulness! What. then, is meant by looking to Him? It signifies the same thing with believing in Him. II. THE POWERFUL REASONS BY WHICH THAT INVITATION IS ENFORCED. 1. He is God. 2. A just God. 3. A gracious God, for He is a Saviour. 4. The only God, and consequently the only Saviour. (D. Rees.) Parallel Verses KJV: Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. |
    |