Just for just two verses tonight
of verse nine and ten And he made his grave with the
wicked And with the rich in his death Because he had done no
violence Neither was any deceit In his mouth The wording did you notice anything
unusual about the wording of verse nine and Why would the second clause after
the word because be the cause of the first clause? Why would he make his grave with
the wicked because he had done nothing wrong? If I said that I went to jail
because I committed a crime, that would make perfect sense,
wouldn't it? Or if I said so-and-so died,
was executed because he was a murderer, That would be perfectly logical.
But to say that Christ was executed and buried because he did nothing
wrong is contrary to our way of thinking. But it would be
the truth. It'd be the truth. This is what happened. He was
despised. humiliated, tortured, killed,
and buried because he was innocent. John 10.32, our Lord asked those
who were trying to kill him. He said, many good works have
I showed you from my father. For which of these works do you
stone me? And the Jews answered him, saying,
For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. But here's the thing
about that. What if he is God? He proposed that to them just
about that way. He said, if Cast out devils in my father's
name then the kingdom of God has come to you If I if I'm who
I say I am The Lord went on in the next verses to say that his
works proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is God And what was their reaction in
verse 37 he said that listen he said if I do not the works
of my father then believe me not But if I do Though you believe
not Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe
that the Father is in Me and I in Him. Therefore they sought
again to take Him. Therefore, because He was God,
because He did nothing but good everywhere He went, they sought
to kill Him. You see our text now? But he
escaped out of their hand. It wasn't his hour had not yet
come. Remember what the thief said again. We've been hearing
about that quite a bit. It seems like he comes up a lot
in our studies. But listen to this. One of the
malefactors which were hanged railed on Christ, saying, if
thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering
rebuked him, saying, dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we receive
the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. That's why they crucified him. If he had done nothing worthy
of death, then why was he being executed? Because he had done
nothing worthy of death. He had done nothing amiss. Now think about this, in our
traditional way of thinking, what might cause his suffering
and death, we read this in John 15, 25, but this cometh to pass
that the word might be fulfilled, this is Christ speaking, that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They
hated me without a cause. The cause for their hatred of
God's son was that there was no cause to hate God's son. The scriptures never cease to
amaze me. I think I know what God said
and then I see something like this and it just amazes me. This is true from God's point
of view and from man's. The Lord, God, the Father, received
perfect satisfaction for sin in the sacrifice of the Savior.
And it pleased God the Father to crush Him. Why? Because He
had done nothing amiss. Because He was the perfect sacrifice.
He was the only sacrifice. He was the spotless Lamb. The. Spotless lamb no other lamb could
take away sin, but John said there's one that does Without
blemish we must be redeemed with the blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot He died the just he suffered
for sins the just for the unjust only the just one Dying for the
unjust could bring us to God So it pleased the father to bruise
him. That's why he was buried with the wicked and everything
that that implies. Because he had done nothing amiss. Because there was no gall found
in his mouth. And from man's point of view,
it was his very innocence and sinlessness that infuriated us. Listen to John 15, 22. He said,
if I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. And clearly, he's not saying
they wouldn't have been sinners if I hadn't come. His coming
is not the cause of our sin, but in their own mind. They wouldn't
have realized. They wouldn't have owned their
sin. They would have been easy to hide. That's what we love
to do with sin. We hide it. We justify it. But
he said, now I come down here, When the light is shining now,
you can't hide the dirt, can you? You can't hide it. But now they have no cloak for
their sin. Why? Because Christ came. He
that hateth me, hateth my Father also. If I had not done among
them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. He's not repeating himself. He said, if I hadn't come and
spoken, they could have hid their sin. And now he's saying, if
I hadn't come down here and done what I've done, they could have
hid their sin. But now they have both seen and
hated both me and my father. Why did they hate him? Because
he wasn't like them. And here's the thing now, why
would that infuriate somebody? Why would somebody be so mad
at the holy spotless Lamb, the sinless Lamb of God? Why would
that make you mad? Well here's the thing, if you
want to see how crooked something is, you put something straight
down next to it. And that was Him. That's what happened when our
Lord came into this world. And He spoke And he did what he did, and he
showed himself to be God's son. If you want to see how stained
something is, lay down something next to it that is pure white. Without blemish. This is the condemnation that
light has come into the world. And men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. So we read in our
text, he made his grave with the wicked. He was buried with
wicked people buried all around him as though he was one of them.
But the cause of his death and burial was what he did and what
he said. Notice it in our verse again
now, we saw that In John 15, right there, if I hadn't come
and spoken, they would have been able to cover their sin. But
now you reveal what somebody is. You tell somebody like it
is from here, they'll hate you for it. Unless God has mercy
on them. And they hated him before they
hated us. If I hadn't come and spoken,
and if I hadn't come and done the works that I've done, And we
see that also in our text. Look back at Isaiah 53 again. In verse 9, look at the specific
wording of it. He made his grade with the wicked
and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence,
neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Everything he did
was perfect. It wasn't just good. We talked
about it was good in the sense that he's the only one that could
ever do anything really truly good. We call stuff that we do
good because it's relatively good. Everything he did was perfect. There was never any time that
he did anything that anything better could have been done at
that perfect time. And everything he said, there
was no deceit in his mouth. You see that deeds and the words
of our Savior, He was innocent and good and holy and perfect
in all that He said and in all that He did because that's who
He is. As we saw this morning, that
comes from the heart. That comes from the heart. he did no violence he was innocent
there was no guile found in his mouth all that he did and all
that he said was perfect and we hated him for it and murdered
him in the most horrible way we could come up with yet yet in another sense it wasn't
even us that killed him We have to understand, we have
to come to terms with the fact that we killed the Prince of
Life. That's what was preached in the book of Acts. You killed
the Prince of Life. But you also have to understand
the next verse. We are guilty of it. But this
was far more, infinitely more than just a tragedy of injustice
and murder. Did and it does reveal our sin,
but it reveals something glorious as well Yet you see why that
word yet is there because we Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him He have put him to grief I When it says it pleased the Lord,
we have to understand something about that because this is not
some twisted, sadistic pleasure derived from suffering and death
itself. God didn't kill his son because
he just felt like killing somebody. If this is seen only as a tragedy,
only as an act of infinite evil and sinful rebellion and hatred
of God, there couldn't be much pleasure had in that, from that
aspect of it. But it's more than that. It's
a sacrifice. It's an offering. It's obedience. It's glory. See the third phrase in this
verse, and it clarifies the first phrase. Look at it. Look at the
phrase. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. That's one. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin That's what pleases God
Satisfaction for sin There you go now now we understand God
crushing his son That's what the word bruise and I'm sure
you'll remember that because I heard that one time and I haven't
forgotten it If you look at that word of it,
we think of getting a bruise. I got bruises all over me right
now. That's not a big deal. He crushed him. When you bruise,
it's blood vessels of some kind of something in there getting
crushed, right? That's what happens. But this is not bruising in the
way we think of it. He crushed his son. But God crushing his son is his
soul being made an offering for the sins of his people. And God
is well satisfied with that offering. It's a sweet smelling savor.
That's what, that's the word pleased now. You see the difference?
He delights in his son's obedience unto death. Never think of his
death as an isolated act. It was the obedience of a lifetime
that was culminated in that single act. His obedience unto death,
even the death of the cross. Everything about Him, who He
was, and what He did, and what He thought, and what He said,
all. God said, this is my beloved
Son, in whom I'm well pleased. And that included what he did
on Calvary. That's the pleasure of the Lord
that we're talking about. He delights in his son's obedience
and in the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for sin that he made.
And I tell you what, I want to too, don't you? There's nothing Now think about
this, this is one of those statements that just, it's all encompassing,
it's all inclusive and it's a bold statement but it's just absolutely
true. There is nothing and no one else
that ever could please the Lord. Well wait a minute Chris, he
says that we are well pleased, yeah because of his son. We're
pleasing unto the Lord in Christ and in no other sins. And you
say, well, you know, okay, well, we're not really pleasing to
him. No, in Christ is really, that's what really is. What's
really true is what's true in Christ. And the way I see things
is not the way things are, the way God sees things. And you
know how he sees me? In Christ. In Christ. There is nothing and no one else
that ever could or did please the Lord. Ezekiel 33, 11, listen. Say unto them, as I live, saith
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Now
think about that. The wicked should die. The wicked
deserve, the wages of sin, wickedness, is what? Death. Well, a sinner
dies. Well, good enough for him. That's
what should happen. God's not pleased with that. You say, well, that's justice.
Isn't God pleased? No, it's not. No, justice is not satisfied
with your death, never will be. That's why if you die in the
true sense of the word, you never stop dying. Because God's never
pleased. It's never enough. I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked. But what does please the Lord? Well, the death of his son. We
see in our text, right? The death of his son does please
him. But you know what else does? I should have had you turn to
Ezekiel 33.11, but listen. I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but here's what he does have pleasure in, that
the wicked turn from his way and live. How does that happen? By the
preaching of the gospel. What gospel? The gospel of Christ
and him crucified. That the wicked turn from his
way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways. And he's not just saying there
do better. Because we know that by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in the sight of God. God can't take
pleasure in anything you do. What he's saying is turn from
your ways as a way of pleasing God. Isn't that what Paul said
in Philippians 3? I abandoned, I renounced everything
I ever was, everything I ever did. It's done. Why? That I might win Christ. That's
how you turn from your ways. You turn to him and what he did.
You see that? That's the only sense in which
that verse can be true, according to this book. Cause you're just
doing better, well I used to be a thief and now I don't steal
any. You think God's pleased with that? Try offering that
to God. Try standing before him in that
day and saying, look at my wonderful work, I turned over a new leaf.
You know what you're gonna hear, don't you? Depart from me, you
worker of iniquity. Turning from your ways is turning
to Christ as the way. It's renouncing, it's stopping
it. Stopping this madness of going about to establish your
own righteousness and submitting unto the righteousness of God
which is in Christ. Christ is the end of you keeping
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Why will you die, O house of
Israel? Be ye reconciled to God. On what
basis? For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Therefore be ye reconciled to
God. We beseech you, as ambassadors
of Christ, be ye reconciled. Why will you die? Why will you
die? The death of God's Son pleases
God. And you turning from yourself,
repenting and believing on Christ and delighting. Let me say it
this way. Christ crucified pleases God
and He's the only person or thing that does. And you know what
else pleases Him? You looking to Christ crucified.
That pleases Him too. And so He makes it happen. He
made the death of his son happen. He hath put him to grief. And
I tell you this, he's going to give you faith in his son too
if you're going to have any. And it's going to make him happy
to do it. Isn't that what that says in Ezekiel right there? Repentance is pleasing to God.
Faith and repentance. We're going to die because of
our sin, but that's not going to satisfy God for our sin. What will? It pleased the Lord
to bruise him. And faith and repentance please
him because it's a gift bestowed as a result of what Christ accomplished.
Not only does our faith in repentance turn to and look to Christ crucified,
the one who pleases God, but listen to this. It's a spoil
of victory won at Calvary. Those gifts of faith and repentance
are spoils of the victory that the Savior won when it pleased
His Father to bruise Him. Listen to Ephesians 4.7. Turn
over there with me. This is a fairly lengthy passage
and I want us to see this. Ephesians 4, 7. Ephesians 4, 7. But unto every
one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ, wherefore he saith, In other words, Paul is saying,
look, God has grace on us in Christ and by Christ. That's
why he said, wherefore he saith. That's why he said this, when
he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts
unto men. And he ascended up on high, what?
To appear in the presence of God for us with something to
offer. You see how his ascension now,
that's part of his death, that's his death. His burial, His resurrection,
His ascension, it's all the same message, the same person, the
same salvation, the same grace. He ascended up on high as our
high priest with a blood sacrifice for our sin, His own precious
blood. And when He did, He gave gifts
unto men. And this is, he's going to point that out here. Look
at the parenthetical statement in verse nine. Now that he ascended,
what is it? But that he also descended first.
Remember our message? But first this morning, but first
he must suffer. He ascended and sits on the throne
of glory. But first he had to come down
here and be humiliated. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He made himself
of no reputation first into the lower parts of the earth, born
of a virgin. He that descended is the same
also that ascended. And as we saw this morning, those
angels said, he's the same one that's going to descend again.
He's going to come back. Same one now. So don't forget
who he is when you think about that. He's the lamb of God slain
for sin. He's the high priest of his people
offering his precious blood. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets. We missed a little bit verse
10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far
above all heavens that he might fill all things. And here's some
gifts that he gave, some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists
and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints.
He gave gifts in order to give gifts. Because what's the perfecting
of the saints? Faith, love, peace, joy. How do you grow in His grace? by hearing the gospel from these
men he gave. He gave gifts in order to give
gifts, you see that? For the perfecting of the saints,
for the building up of the body of Christ, till his ultimate
purpose is fulfilled, till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. You know how else you could describe
that turning from yourself and turning to him like we read there
in Ezekiel Turning from our evil ways and
turning unto Christ That's the gift. That's a gift traceable
back to the cross And then it says this and we'll
just quote we're gonna close here because the The rest of verse 10 we've got
to look at for a while. But look at this next phrase.
He hath put him to grief. That's a very direct and clear
statement. It almost seems to be repetitive.
It pleases the Lord to crush him. But one of the key words
there is please. But listen to this. This is just
direct and clear. He hath put him to grief. And this goes all the way back
to verse four. Surely he hath borne our grief. Why did the Father put him to
grief? Because he bore our griefs. He bore our griefs. He had done
nothing to deserve grief. from God but he bore our griefs
and carried our sorrows and therefore the Father put him to grief. He bore our sins and so he also
must bear our griefs. Grief is a product of sin. As we saw when we looked at verse
4 the word grief there means sickness or weakness He was weak and humiliated and
sick and subject to death because he had taken our place under
the law and under the wrath of God. And as I said, I'm going
to stop in the middle of this verse because the next part of
this verse, look at the rest, let's just read the rest of it
and think about this now. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin This chapter, every word is vital. What was happening when he put
him to grief? Why did it please the Lord? What was it about killing
his son that pleased him? His soul was an offering for
sin. And he made it that way. He offered
himself unto God for our sin. Thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin. He shall see his seed He shall
see the result He shall prolong his days and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand Whatever it is that pleases God
Whatever it is that God did all of this, made a world, made a
universe, made a world and put some people on it. What did God
intend to get out of that? I'll tell you this, whatever
it was, He got it from His Son. That's where He got it from.
That's as plain as I can say that. The pleasure of the Lord,
whatever it was that God intended and wanted and desired and you
know He gets what He wants. Why did he do any of this? You
think him and his son and his spirit weren't self-sufficient
without any of us? What's the point of it all? What's
God going to get out of it? He's going to get it from his
son, whatever it is. Glory. I don't know much how to talk
about that. But he's going to get it. And he ain't getting
it from you. Or from me. He's going to get
it from his son. We'll talk about that next time. But I want us to go from here
tonight, rejoicing in what God rejoices in. It pleased the Lord
to crush his son. He hath put him to grief. And
that word, please, it means that he delights in it. It delighted
him to do this. And what is it that we delight
in? You ever think about that? The
perfect, almighty, omniscient, omnipotent being delights in
one thing. What about you? What makes you happy? It delighted the Father now.
Think about this. It delighted the Father to execute
His Son. And it delighted God's Son. to
do this for us. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross. That doesn't sound very joyful
to me. But you know what he rejoiced
in? Glorifying his father. And that's how he did it. Father,
the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
may also glorify thee. The hour has come. I tell you this, what else he
gloried in and rejoiced in, saving you and me. The joy that was
set before him, he endured the cross, counting the shame a small
thing. and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. It rejoiced him to do it and
he got it done and sat down. So in Christ crucified, the father
is well pleased. The son is rejoicing. And Paul
said of us, God forbid that we should glory save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. God delights in the eternal sacrifice
of his son and he delights in the declaration of Christ and
what he did. Listen to this in closing. Second
Corinthians 2.14, now thanks be unto God which always causeth
us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge
by us in every place. You might look at Paul's life
and say, boy, he was stoned at least once. He was beaten with
stripes with a cat of nine tails. They kicked him out of the synagogue.
He was shipwrecked. It seemed like he just didn't
even have any luck, much less any admiration of anybody or
acceptance with anybody. He was put in prison. He did
a lot of his preaching from house arrest and put in real prison. Didn't look like much of a triumph
really if you think about his life. This is how he characterizes
it. He makes manifest by us in every
place the sweet savor of the knowledge of Christ. That's a
win. It doesn't matter what people
think about it. It doesn't matter what I go through to do it. It doesn't matter the cost. It doesn't matter how it looks
to you or me. It's a win. And we are, when he makes manifest
the savor of Christ's knowledge by us every place we go, we are
unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in
them that perish. To the one we are the savor of
death unto death and to the other the savor of life unto life.
And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many which
corrupt the word of God. You can get a big following and
everybody will love you if you corrupt the word of God. It doesn't
much matter how you do it. You ever think about that? You
come up with something perverted, just something stupid, and say
this is what God said. And I guarantee you, you'll have
more people than this. Won't you? You think of all the
ways people have perverted the Word of God. And they all have
a bigger fault. We got one across the street
from where we live. I don't even know what they are. Jehovah's
Witnesses or Mormons or something. John Smith. How do you even come
up with that? I mean, have you ever heard anything
more ridiculous? Let's find out what John Smith
wrote in worship. It's a huge building. Cars. A sea of cars in the parking
lot. Paul said, I'm not like that. But I'll tell you this,
every time the gospel is preached, God is pleased. Do we please
men or do we please God? We are not as many which corrupt
the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, In the sight of
God, speak we in Christ. God is pleased with his son and
what he did and he's pleased when we tell about it, when we
hear about it, when we worship in the gospel of Christ. May we also be. God forbid that
anything else matter much but that. That's pretty.