Let us turn to God's Word and
I want to turn again to the portion of Scripture we were considering
last Lord's Day evening at the end of Isaiah chapter 52. Turning again then to that same
portion of Holy Scripture, Isaiah 52 and reading verses 13 through
15. Isaiah 52 verses 13 through 15
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted
and extolled, and be very high, as many were astonished at thee.
His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more
than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations,
the kings shall shut their mouths at him. for that which had not
been told them shall they see and that which they had not heard
shall they consider and the words really form a prologue to the
53rd chapter don't think we can really read the 53rd chapter
without taking account of these three verses. In many ways it
would have probably been more helpful had the chapter break
been made here at verse 13. And last week as we started to
look at this short portion of Scripture, I thought to say something
with regards to the Servant of the Lord that is being spoken
of. God's Word, God speaks directly
through His Servant, Isaiah the prophet, and says, Behold My
Servant. Not the first time, of course,
that we read of this one who is truly the Servant of the Lord. He's spoken of also, isn't he,
back in the 42nd chapter, those remarkable words that are taken
up in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 12 at verse 14 following. The words of Isaiah 42, Behold
my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. The bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. Those words I say are taken up
quite specifically and directly to the Lord Jesus there in Matthew
12 at verse 14 and the following verses. God's servant is the
one who is also God's elect is the first elect and all the election
of Christ as we're told in Ephesians chapter 1 are chosen in the Lord
Jesus Christ that one who is the only begotten Son of God
in Him and through Him they are the adopted sons of God, through
that great salvation that He has accomplished for sinners. Well, we were looking last Lord's
Day evening at these words, particularly the 13th verse, and I sought
to say something with regards to the work of the Lord Jesus,
how it's spoken of here, He shall deal prudently, it says, I like
that expression, his prudence as it were how wisely he conducted
that work that was committed to him and brought it of course
to an end and a successful end all the work that the father
had committed to his hand he accomplished it being found in
fashion as a man we're told how he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death even the death of the cross always obedient
even as he comes to die there upon the cross he's a public
person all that work is for those that the father had committed
to him in the eternal covenant it was in that covenant that
he who is God's co-equal co-eternal son becomes a servant of God
and so when he comes he does not come to do his own will but
the will of the one who has sent him he says, and to finish his
work. And so he finishes that work.
And he does it in obedience to the Father, and he does it because
of the great love wherewith he loved all those children that
the Father had given to him in that covenant of grace. And of
course we see it, don't we, in that 53rd chapter. Verse 4, Surely
he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did
esteem him. stricken, smitten of God and
afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was
upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. He's so very much a public person,
he's doing all this work, not for himself, but doing it for
others, in order that their salvation. And how He is so prudent, he
brings the work to its successful conclusion. As we're told later
in that 53rd chapter, the end of verse 10. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand, for he does all the Father's good pleasure.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. for He shall bear their iniquities."
All that great work then is accomplished. He has finished the transgression. He's made an end of sin. He's
made reconciliation for iniquity. He has brought in everlasting
righteousness, the work of the Lord Jesus. And so He is to be
exalted. He shall be exalted, extolled,
praised. and be very high. These are some
of the things we said then with regards to this person. Behold
my servant, the one who serves God so fully and so faithfully. But what of the person? We thought
to say little with regards to his person. And the psalmist
says concerning the servant of the Lord, the suffering servant
of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, thou art fairer than
the children of men. Fairer than the children of men.
He is altogether lovely, we read in the Song of Solomon. He's
holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled.
He's separate from sinners. He's made higher than the heavens. and yet that work that he undertakes
and all that that cost him. And so I want us this morning
to turn and consider the content of that 14th verse that follows. What do we read here in Isaiah
52, 14? As many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more
than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. or this
one who is altogether loveless to try to say something with
regards to the disfiguring of Christ how he was so marred how he was treated
with awful contempt in all his sufferings well let us come and
consider what is being said in this particular verse. And I
deal this morning with some three points, three headings. First
of all, to say something with regards to the extent of this
disfiguring, we might call it, that's being spoken of here in
this 14th verse. And we see that there's an emphasis
really, because there's repetition. And we know that none of the
words in God's Word are idle words. If God repeats himself,
surely we should take account. And we do have repetition, we
have parallel statements in this 14th verse. His visage was so
marred more than any man, it says, and his form more than
the sons of men. And in both of these statements of
course there is a comparison being made we read more than any man and
then more than the sons of men he's being compared with others
but the interesting thing is that the words that are used
are really stronger than just comparison because what we have
as more than literally in the Hebrew, is away from. Away from. So much away from any man. And so likewise with his form. Away from any man. There's a
sense in which there cannot be any comparison at all. The statement really is a complete
negation with regards to what is happening to this particular
person. It cannot be likened to any man.
There's no comparison that can ever be made. In a sense, in
his suffering, he's taken away from all humanity. And doesn't
the Lord Himself say as much in the language of Psalm 22?
And there at verse 6, I am a worm, he says, and no man. How this
man, you see, is so despoiled in all his sufferings. I am a
worm and no man, he says, the reproach of men and despise of
the people. He's treated with utter contempt. And yet, who is this person? Well, we read something concerning
this person in that well-known second chapter of the Epistle
to the Philippians, that great statement that the Apostle Paul
makes there in that chapter concerning the person of the Lord Jesus,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Oh what
humility, what sufferings are being spoken of there. He is
one who doesn't think equality with God is something to be grasped
after because he is equal to God. He is God. He is the eternal son of the
eternal father. But we have that expression there
at the beginning of that seventh verse in Philippians 2, and he
made himself of no reputation. That's the expression. Now, that
passage is highly disputed amongst men, because those words, made
himself of no reputation, in fact are the translation of a
single word. And the verb that's used there
literally means to be nothing. It's a word to empty. To empty. And it's interesting when one
looks at the modern versions, and we might say so many times
they're perversions, aren't they? But the new international version,
for example, translated that he made himself nothing. The Revised Standard Version
renders it with just two words, he emptied himself. Emptied himself. Now, the problem with these sort
of renderings are that the suggestion is there that in the Lord Jesus
Christ, as we see him in his sufferings, He empties himself
of his deity. He's in the form of God. He thinks
it not robbery to be equal with God. But he emptied himself. He made himself nothing. His
deity is gone altogether. Well, that could never be. That
would be an impossibility. It's even suggested in some ways
in the line of the hymn by Charles Wesley, emptied himself of all
but love. You might say well that's a little
bit of poetic liberty to use such an expression. Emptied himself
of all but love. It's a nice thought. All that
we have in the Lord Jesus is love, but that's a denial really
of his deity. He doesn't empty himself of everything.
He cannot empty himself of his deity. That just could never
happen. In the mystery of the incarnation,
the coming of the Lord Jesus, what do we see? Well, we see
the second person in the Godhead, that is the eternal Son of God,
taking to himself the human nature. the language of the angel Gabriel
to the Virgin Mary. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore
also that holy thing that shall be born of thee, that human nature,
that human body, that human soul, that holy thing that shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. He is the son
of God and what is happening is not he's not taking a person
to himself, he's taking a nature, a human nature. But in his person
he is always the son of God and never anything less than the
son of God. This is why we say that the way
in which the the modern versions handle those disputed words in
Philippians 2 are wrong and misleading. It's a controversial passage,
yes, but one has to be careful in the way in which it is translated. Actually, the expression that
we have in the Authorized Version at the beginning of that seventh
verse, made himself of no reputation, is the language that was used
by William Tyndale in his translation of the Greek New Testament into
English. And of course much of our authorized
version is rooted really in Tyndale's version. And Tyndale was right. Tyndale was right to render it
in that fashion. Because what we have to do, we
have to take account of the whole context there. in that second
chapter and whilst there's great doctrine in the statement that
Paul is making with regards to the person of the Lord Jesus
in those words from verse 6 following we have to
look at the context, we have to look at what he said previously
and it's such a practical chapter really, he's speaking about lowliness
of mind is speaking about humility if there be therefore any consolation
in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit
if any bowels and mercies fulfill you my joy that ye be like minded
having the same love being of one accord of one mind let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind
Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and so forth. What is the Apostle
saying there in the context? is speaking of the humility of
the Lord Jesus Christ. What did Christ do? He took no
account of himself. That's what he's saying. Christ
didn't take account of himself at all. He discounted himself. He's a public person. All that
he does is for others. And having loved his own, which
were in the world, He loves them to the end, and all the bitterness
of the cross. And what is the outcome with
regards to those who witnessed the scene? As many were astonished
at it. His visage was so marked more
than any man in his form, more than the sons of men. And he
repeats it really, in the language that follows in verse 2 of chapter
53. He has no form nor comeliness. When we shall see Him there is
no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. All the depths, you see, the
depths of His sufferings. And in all those sufferings,
what do we witness? We really witness something of
the awfulness. You might rather say the ugliness
of what sin is. And so turning in the second
place, having said something with regards to the disfiguring
of Christ, think about the reason. The reason why it had to be so. In the Covenants, he is God's
servant he is God's servant and he must therefore serve the
will of God and undertake that work that he had covenanted from all eternity This is the
eternal covenant of redemption. This is the eternal covenant
of grace. And the Lord Jesus, of course, here, as I said, and
we must remember this all the time, is a public person. What
he's doing is not for himself. It's for others. Now, remember,
Adam is also a public person. And we're told, aren't we, in
Romans chapter 5 and verse 14 that Adam is the
figure of him that was to come. Romans 5.14 Adam then is a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the first man and the Lord
Jesus Christ is the last man. And the great Puritan Thomas
Goodwin makes a statement somewhere in his writings that in God's
sight there are two men. There's the first Adam and there's
the last Adam. And all men are in one or other
of those two men. By nature of course we're all
in the first Adam because we're all descended from the first
Adam. But where are we by the grace of God? Ought to be those
who know that we're in that last Adam. Think of those two men. You know the language of Paul
there in 1 Corinthians 15. In verse 45 he says, The first
man is of the earth, earthen. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. The first man, the second man.
Again at verse 45 he says, The first man Adam was made a living
soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. All these two men you see. You remember how God makes the
first man? He is of the earth, earthy. God
takes of the dust of the earth and forms his body and breathes
into his nostrils a breath of life. He becomes a living soul.
This is the first man, the head of all the human race. And what
does the preacher say in the book of Ecclesiastes? This only
have I found, God made man upright. And they have sought out many
inventions. Adam there in the Garden of Eden of course is put
to trial as it were. He can partake of all the trees
in the garden except of one, the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. God says he must not eat of that tree and the
day that they eat thereof they shall surely die. Read it there, the history is
there in Genesis 3 and he takes the forbidden fruit well Eve
takes the fruit first tempted by Satan through the serpent
and she gives to Adam and with eyes wide open he partakes of
what God had forbidden and the four we're all in Adam we all
sinned in Adam and from Adam we we've received a sinful nation
who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean we read in the
book of Job not one how sin has come coursing down all the generations
of men and remember how the Apostle Paul speaks of these things in
Romans chapter 3 and he's quoting he's quoting from the book of
Psalms isn't he there quoting from Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 which
are very similar almost identical to one another
those two Psalms and then here is Paul and he is quoting from
those Psalms in the New Testament Romans 3.10 as it is written
there is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth
there is none that seeketh after God they are all gone out of
the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that
doeth good no not one their throat is an open sepulcher. With their
tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes." And this is the description of
everyone And we have it three times in God's Word. Three times. And I said at the beginning,
there's no idle wording in the Scriptures. And surely if God
repeats, and repeats again, He's not only underlining, He's underscoring
the thing. This is the state of man. Dead in trespasses and sins.
alienated from God, enemies in our minds, by wicked works. And what does God do? When the
fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. Or we read of another man, you
see. The second man, the last Adam. the Lord from heaven, a quickening
spirit, or the Lord Jesus Christ, and what does He do? He comes
and He identifies with men. And what sort of men does He
identify with? Well, with those who are in that
state of sin. He comes just where they
are. You know when Ezekiel is to minister
to those who are there in captivity in Babylon, languishing in captivity,
has to go just where they are. As we read there in Ezekiel 3.15,
he says, I sat where they sat and remained there astonished
among them. I sat where they sat. And that's
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. He has come just where
his people are. For as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he is likewise taken part of the same. He's
become a real man. He's found in fashion as a man. That's what it says there in
Philippians chapter 2. He's taken to himself a real
human nature. It's a sinless human nature.
Oh, that's the wonder, isn't it, of the incarnation, that
holy thing. conceived by the Holy Ghost in
the womb of a Virgin. There's no taint of Adam sin
there. We know that Mary is the Virgin
but she's a sinner in the Magnificat. We find her rejoicing in God
her Saviour. But let us not despise the Virgin
Mary because of the follies of the Church of Rome. who would
make her another mediator with Christ. She is the blessed woman. Because that holy thing, that
human nature is conceived in her womb. He partakes of his
human nature from his mother. But the Holy Ghost so overshadows
that sinner that what is brought forth in the birth of that son
He's holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners and
made higher than the heavens. Oh, but what has God done, you
see? When the Son comes, He identifies then with the sinner, doesn't
He? He receives sinners. We read of God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemning
sin in the flesh. He's the sinner's shorter. Before the Lord of God he stands
in his low place. He answers for the sinner with
regards to all the demands of God's holy law. But he doesn't
just answer with regards to the matter of obedience to the commandment.
He'll answer all the penalties of that law. He'll die as a sinner's
substitute. God hath made Him to be sin for
us, says Paul, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. How He bore for His people all
that awful ugliness of sin as He was punished. This just man,
this holy, and righteous man how he suffers for those who
deserved to be the sufferers so great is his love as many
were astoned at his visage was so marred more than any man in
his form more than the sons of men all of God's wrath against
the sin of his people was poured upon his holy soul when he made
that great sacrifice, that offering for the sins of his people. The reason then, the reason for
this terrible disfigurement is because he's a public person,
he's the last Adam, he's the head of the body, the church,
that church which is redeemed with his precious blood. Well,
finally this morning, let's consider this matter, the consideration
of these things. The whole passage, of course,
it's marked here in our authorized version as a little paragraph.
You'll see the paragraph mark at the beginning of verse 13.
So, these three verses are a little unit. And it all begins with
the word behold, as we said last Lord's Day evening. Behold, God
says. Behold my servant. And the force of that opening
word, you know, it has the idea of
fixing the vision, setting the eye upon a certain thing, gazing
as it were, riveting the attention. We have to consider this matter.
We have to think about this person who is spoken of here as the
servant of God. And what is the outcome? Well,
it says, as many were astonished actually. Astonished. Now that's an archaic word. I suppose really now we would
tend to use the word astonished as many were astonished but looking
at the word as we have it here it's interesting because you
can see something of the etymology of this word what it literally
means is to be turned to stone Here is a site, you see, you're
so astounded. What can you do? You just can't
fathom this. It's not unlike the word petrified,
which I suppose really means the same, converted to stone
from the Greek word petra, which means a stone. To be petrified
is to be turned to stone. and it's the same here with the
word astonishing stunned thunderstruck stupefied at the vision and it doesn't mean that the
vision has had this effect that the person is touched with sympathy doesn't have that idea really
but more it has the idea of aversion and rejection this is something
I don't want to be looking at this is something I don't want
to say we know that that's what it really
means because of what follows in the 53rd chapter the end of verse 2 remember When
we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire.
He is despised and rejected of men. He's a man of sorrows. We don't want to look, we don't
want to behold his dreadful sight. And yet if we would know salvation,
it's the only way we can ever find salvation. remember what
Paul says to the Hebrews there at the beginning
of the twelfth chapter of that epistle concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ consider him consider him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself or consider him don't be those who are astonished
and reject the sight. Rather, to behold this, see,
to fix our eyes, to think upon these things, to meditate upon
these things. That's what we should be doing.
Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself. And what do we see there? Well,
we see something of the glory of his death, really. the glory of His death. Remember
how the Lord Himself speaks of it in the course of His ministry
there in the 12th chapter of John's Gospel. He says, Now is
my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify
Thy Name. And there comes a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified and I will glorify it again." Oh, the Lord Jesus, you see,
is glorified then. Even in His crucifixion. If I
be lifted up, He says. This is what He goes on to say
in that same twelfth chapter. If I be lifted up, I will draw
all men unto Me. This spake He, signifying what
death He should die. there in verses 32 and 33 of
that same twelfth chapter the father glorifies him and how
is he glorified? why he draws sinners he draws
sinners to himself he is to see of the travail of
his soul as it says here in chapter 53 and he shall be satisfied
And you know, when Paul is preaching, what is it that he preaches? He preaches this person all the
time. I determined, he says to those
Corinthians, I determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That was his determination, you
see. What is his message? The person, Jesus Christ. the work, Jesus Christ crucified. The apex of his work is obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross. Again, he says to
those same Corinthians, doesn't he? Of all the apostles really,
we preach Christ crucified. Well, they preach Christ crucified,
they preach Christ risen again from the dead, that was his vindication.
When Paul, remember, is wanting to define what the gospel is,
in the opening words of that epistle to the Romans, he separated
onto the gospel of God, he says in the opening verse. What is
his gospel? Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared
to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead here is the gospel you see
it concerns God's son Jesus Christ our Lord and he speaks of his
human nature he is of the seed of David he is the son of David
but he is also the son of God and he is seen to be the son
of God he is vindicated as God's eternal son in the resurrection
from the dead or they preach this Christ you see, they set
him continually before the people. And now Paul Time and again would
preach Christ crucified. Again writing to the Galatians
he says, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth, crucified among you. He so preached Christ it was
as if They were witnessing this awful, dreadful sight. He was being crucified in their
very midst through the preaching of the Apostle. And friends, that might be the
case here, that we might ever be brought to consider Him, or consider Him. who endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself and not only
the contradiction of sinners oh what did he bear he bore the
wrath of God upon his very soul but how how can it be of any benefit
to us you see with the preaching there
must also be the application surely And so he goes on to speak
of the application really in verse 15, so shall he sprinkle
many nations and so forth. The sprinkling, that's the application
of these things. Going to those Hebrews, Paul
speaks of having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Having our hearts sprinkled,
our conscience which will accuse us We're the transgressors, we're
the sinners. This is the sinless one that
we're considering. We need our hearts to be sprinkled.
We read in the opening words of Peter's first epistle of the
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. That's the sprinkling, it's the
application of what Christ has done. Or what are we to do? We're to look to Him. We're to
look to Him, looking onto Jesus. The author and finisher of our
faith. All we want is what we hear to be mixed with faith. We need faith. We need to be
those who are trusting in this man and trusting in that work
that he accomplished which was so astonishing. Behold, my servant
shall do prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. As many as were astonished at
this His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form
more than the sons of men, so shall He sprinkle many nations. Or that we might know the sprinkling,
having our hearts sprinkled from that evil conscience, no more
feeling the accusations of the broken Lord of God, but rejoicing
in that great salvation that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the Lord will We'll go on this evening and consider that
final 15th verse. The Lord be pleased to bless
His word to us today. We're going to sing our concluding
praise in the hymn 946, the tune is Contemplation 117. And with our nature marred by
sin, nor can it ever find a way to make the conscience clean
or heal the wounded mind, in vain we seek for peace with God
by methods of our own. Jesus says, nothing but thy blood
can bring us near the throne. The Hymn 946, the Tune 117.