Well, I begin this morning by
giving you two magnificent words to consider, substitution and
satisfaction. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
53 as I was reading through Isaiah chapter 53 this week. I chose
this as my text because every word is full of meaning of God's
riches and the glory and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
just full of Christ and Him crucified. So, I don't have a new message
for you today. Aren't you glad? There's but
one gospel. Just one. And that's the gospel
we endeavor to preach. If you remember, Isaiah chapter
53 is the portion of Scripture that the Ethiopian eunuch was
reading in his chariot. It's the passage in which Philip
showed him Christ. And that's my desire this morning,
to once again show you Christ. To show you your desperate need
of Him. There's nothing else to preach. Christ and Him crucified, that's
our message. Look at verse 11 with me. This
will be the main verse that we consider. We'll consider many
other verses in the chapter, but verse 11 tells us so much
about our Lord, and it tells us a great deal about ourselves.
Verse 11, He, God, shall see the travail of His, Christ's
soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, through his
knowledge or the knowledge of him, shall my righteous servant
justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. So we see that
this text speaks of two persons. First, it speaks of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, every text does. And secondly, it speaks of many.
So we take these two persons in the order that they're given.
Christ comes first, for the Scriptures are clear that it's in Him that
He, in all things, has the preeminence. And in this verse, the Lord Jesus
is said to possess three glorious and wonderful characteristics.
Notice first that God calls him my righteous servant. He's God's
righteous servant. Secondly, God tells us that Christ
is his people's sin bearer. Now that'll mean something to
you if you see you're a sinner. And thirdly, God tells us that
Christ is our justifier. Now this is the glorious gospel
news to those who see their need. The many spoken of here who believe
and trust in Christ. So first, Christ is God's righteous
servant. The Lord served His Father and
He did His will. Perfectly, I might add. Not only
physically, but spiritually. He is God's righteous servant. Well, what's the significance
of that? Well, we have to be justly saved. And only God's
righteous servant can justly save us. How are we justly saved? Verse 10 tells us that God, in
the substitution of His Son, saw the travail of His soul.
What brought about this travail? Sin. Not His sin, but our sin. He made His soul an offering
for sin, our sin. He suffered horribly in body,
no doubt, the things that they did to our Lord. so physically
was he mistreated that the Scripture says that his visage or his appearance
didn't even appear as a man. But friends, his soul went with
him. And what an amazing thing, the labor of Christ's soul. That word travail means ordeal. It means drudgery. It means struggle. It's defined as a painful and
laborious effort. Our Lord had tribulation and
trouble of soul. The word travail is used to describe
the pain of a mother in labor. Jeremiah said, Lord, are not
your sorrows as a woman in travail? And you ladies who've had children
know a little about that. Not only was he the servant of
servants, but he was God's righteous servant. He perfectly fulfilled
the law and satisfied the justice of God in much travail. You see, here's the issue. We've
offended God. Someone says, you've offended
me. Not as we've offended God. Christ is the believer's substitute. But first and foremost, and hear
me on this, He was God's substitute for sin. God can by no means
clear one who's guilty. So Christ didn't merely die for
us, though He did, and that's the glorious glory of the gospel. But He died for God. Now what
do I mean by that? He had to be perfectly righteous
to keep the law in our place. God provided Himself a land for
burnt offering. That's what Abraham told Isaac.
And God, the Lord Jesus Himself, was that burnt offering. He provides
for Himself the burnt offering. He provides Himself as the burnt
offering. We were disobedient servants. People said, well, what about
us? Disobedient. And Christ came to fulfill our
obedience to the law for us. He is God's righteous servant. How do I know? That's what God
said right here in our text. And our Lord Himself said, for
verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all of it be
fulfilled. Christ rendered full payment
unto God for sin, our sin. And God accepted it in every
jot and tittle. Now, most of us are somewhat
unfamiliar with a jot and tittles because we don't understand Hebrew.
Jot and tittles have to do with letters and pen strokes in the
Hebrew language. A jot, which is the 10th letter
in the Hebrew alphabet, is also the smallest in pen stroke. If you've ever seen Hebrew writing,
you know, just little, Just a little mark, a lot of them, it's a whole
word. And it's related to our modern word called iota. You
know, we use that word, not one iota. Well, it just simply means
a very small amount. And then a tittle is even smaller
than a jot. It's a letter extension, a very
small added pen stroke that differentiates one Hebrew word from another.
So what's the significance of that? When our Lord said, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled, our Lord was stating
emphatically that God's word is true and it's gotta be kept
to the smallest detail. God has spoken. His words have
been written down accurately. And what God has said in His
law will surely come to pass because its fulfillment is inevitable. Even the smallest letter of the
law must be fulfilled. Even the smallest pen stroke
of the prophets must and will be accomplished. The psalmist
wrote, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. every jot
and tittle of it. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, is what? Guilty of
all." People say ridiculous things like, well, I've kept nine out
of the ten. Well, you haven't kept any of them. But if you
offend one of them, you're guilty of all of them. And in order for you to be and
be saved, all the law must be kept. And that's why he's God's
righteous servant. He kept it. Every jot and tittle. Every small alphabet is significant. In the law, every I has to be
dotted and every T has to be crossed. Only one who is perfectly
righteous could accomplish that. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
God's righteous servant. You see, there is no other. There
is no other. Now I want to be clear on this. There was or is no one but Christ
who could fulfill the law of God's holy and righteous law. There was no sin in His life. None. No sin in Himself. We're full of sin. He had none. The prince of this world searched
Him and found none. And our Lord was without the
slightest offense, word, thought, or deed. Holy, undefiled, and
separate from sinners. The most amazing thing is that
our Lord voluntarily became obedient to God for His elect. He died the just for the unjust.
He was God's righteous servant, and He's our righteous substitute,
making Him the only righteous Savior. And friends, God is satisfied
with Him. Isn't that good news? We could not put our sin away.
Someone had to put it away for us. There's only one that can. So we're shut up to the mercy
and grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is more
wonderful than the fact that God became a man and then as
a man, he bore the sin and iniquity of his people. Some may ask, where's the doctrine
of substitution found in the scriptures? Where's it not found? You take it out of the Bible,
what's left? It's the theme and the message of the Bible. God
stood in the sinner's place. And in Isaiah 53, it's seen over
and over again. Look at verse 4. Surely He, Christ,
hath borne our griefs. That's substitution. Surely He,
Christ, hath carried our sorrows. That's substitution. Verse five,
he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. What is that? A substitution. He was stricken, smitten of God
and afflicted. The chastisement, the correction
for our peace was on him. And by his stripes, we were healed. What is that? Substitution. And God is satisfied with him.
Aren't those two glorious words? Verse 6, the Lord laid on Him
the iniquity of us all. Doesn't all here mean all in
the world? No. It means all of us. All of us who believe. Verse
9, He, Christ, made His grave with the wicked. Let me let you
in on something if you don't already know it. We're the wicked.
He made His grave with us. Verse 10, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. Why? For us. Substitution. His soul was made an offering
for sin. Not his sin, but ours. Substitution. The pleasure of the Lord will
prosper in his hand, and I might add nowhere else. It won't prosper
in your hand. God was angry with us every day. But God prospers us who believe
spiritually in Christ. Again, verse 11, by the travail
of His Christ soul, He, God, shall be satisfied. God is satisfied
with Christ. Well, you've already said that.
I'm gonna say it a bunch more times. And He's satisfied with
Christ, and here's the great news. He's satisfied with us
in Him. Isn't that something? He shall justify many. He shall
bear their iniquities. The whole world? No. Those in
the world He died for. Verse 12, He poured out His soul
unto death. The death that you and I deserve. The wages of our sin is death. Death for the body and death
for the soul. And He was numbered with the
transgressors. That's me and you. He bore the
sin of many, those who believe. He made intercession for the
transgressors, you and me. That's who He did these things
for, and it's called substitution, and God is satisfied with His
sacrifice for sin. But this whole blessed book's
about substitution and how God is satisfied. When did Christ
bear all our sin? before the foundation of the
world. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
When he stood before Pilate and Herod, he bore our sins at the
judgment seat of them. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. And the scripture says, yet he
opened not his mouth. Pilate said, don't you know who
I am? I have the power. Whoa, stop
right there, Mr. Pilate. Thou couldest have no
power at all against me, the Lord said, except it were given
thee from above. The Lord was silent because he
stood guilty in our place. And he was the very one who gave
Pilate this authority that Pilate claimed to have. In this, our Lord was numbered
with the transgressors. When did our Lord bear all the
sins of His people? Well, certainly on the cross
of Calvary. When and where His soul was made
an offering for sin. That's why He's there. No man
took His life from Him. He laid it down. He went to the
cross willingly and on purpose. Why? To be our substitute and
to satisfy God. He, His own self, bore our sins
where? In His own body on the tree. He was His people's sin bearer
up to the time He said, it's finished. And friends, He bore
sin no longer. Because it's finished, Tom. It's finished. Now you think
about that. The way in which God is pleased
to save us from our sin is by laying our sins on His beloved
Son. making him to suffer for those
sins that were not his own. It's called substitution. And God is satisfied. Why would
God choose such a way? To satisfy his own justice. If you and I were in hell forever,
divine justice would have never been satisfied. there would still
remain an eternity of debt due to God and His holy justice by
us. If God had annihilated all the
sinners that ever lived with one stroke of justice, He would
not have honored the justice as He did when He took sin and
laid it on His beloved Son. What glory God gets in that.
What glory our Lord gets in that. But rejoice, God's satisfied
because His Son bore the divine wrath which was due to that sin. That being our sin. And only
God's Son could satisfy divine justice. Can't you see why He's
God's righteous servant? He suffered what we should have
suffered. And now God's law stands in all
its honor and integrity. The penalty's been executed.
The price has been paid, the wages have been paid. The sword
has awaked against the shepherd. That sword that should have executed
you and me. How can a sinner not delight
in Christ being their substitute? Mr. Spurgeon once said, if I
had been told that an angel had done his best to save me, I'd
still feel unsafe. And if I had been told that all
the holy men throughout all time, all in the world had strived
to save me, I'd still feel insecure. But when the very Christ of God
himself bore my iniquities, what shall I fear? What should we
fear? God himself died in our room
instead. And God satisfied with the sacrifice
of Himself. The omnipotent Savior, the Almighty
Deliverer, can surely put away sins. Our Lord Jesus said, Lo,
I come in the volume of the book as it's written to me. I delight
to do Thy will, O God. Yea, Thy law is in my heart. And of course it was. He wrote
it. It was His law. And then he adds this, sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
for me. And that's exactly what came
to pass. Everything God purposes comes
to pass. Perish the thought that God simply
made salvation possible and that he needs some help from you.
No works of ours make salvation effectual. Christ from the foundation of
the world made it so. Before you and I were ever born,
before we ever done any good or evil. No works of ours, it
just muddies the waters, friends. It just leavens the whole lump. Men and women need to study the
Bible. Why, this is the cord of Christ's scarlet blood that
binds this book together, declaring that He is the only way that
God could justly save His people from sin. The law's gotta be
satisfied. God's justice has to be appeased. He's the only way. All that God
required of me, I'm gonna say it again, Shelley. All that God
required of me, He provided for me. that substitution and that satisfaction. God cannot save the part from
his holy justice being satisfied. Our sin was such enmity that God must punish it. That's
why God bruised him. And it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It was the only way that God could put away our sin and
satisfy His own law and justice. Man's claim of a free will, a
choice, a decision, it's enmity. Do you hear me? The word means
hostility. It's being hostile toward God,
against the God who provided for us what we never could provide
for ourselves. And it's an attempt to rob God
of His glory, that glory that He will not give to another. Listen, God is not going to share
His glory with you in anything, especially the glory of His salvation. Not going to do it. Statements
like, well, I may not be perfect, but I'm not all that bad. I'm
telling you, things like that will forever ring in the ears
of those in hell for eternity. It's not about being bad. It's
not about being good. It's about being perfect, holy,
and righteous. And one day, men and women are
going to stand before God claiming all the good things that we've
done. Well, haven't we done many good, wonderful works? Well,
I was a preacher. I laid hands on the sick and
they recovered. I cast out devils. I never knew you. You were never
mine. Those who trust in their works
need not change their minds, they've got to change their God.
The God of the Bible, the God that I am attempting to declare
to you this morning, through this passage of Scripture, is
the true God, and there's none beside Him. None, none. He's so holy, righteous, perfect,
and pure, the heavens are not pure in His sight, Job 25.5.
God is so holy that he charged his holy angels with folly, Job
4, 18. So then what hope do you and
I have of appeasing God? Christ in you is the hope of
glory, the hope of salvation. The blood-washed church, now
hear me, is pure. There'll never be any folly charged
to her. Her righteousness is the righteousness
of her creator. His purity is the holiness, her
purity, I mean the church's, is the holiness of God himself.
And now, the true church of God can rest in the work of Christ,
for they have no sin to fret over. It's all been laid on Christ
and put away by Him. I've heard it said all my life
that if something seems to be too good to be true, then it's
probably not true. Well, that holds true most of
the time. But the gospel is too good not
to be true. That's what makes it good news,
because salvation is of the Lord. If we search our hearts and ask
God, we'll see that. We'll see that there's not anything
that we could do that would appease God. It's got to be perfect to
be accepted. We've never done anything good.
There's none that do us good. So we've certainly never done
anything perfect. But now there's nothing that
makes me dread. An angry God. There's no righteous
anger against me or toward anyone who is sinless. And that's what
we are in Christ. God's righteous servant. No matter
how it seems to you, it's true. And the third characteristic
of our Lord Jesus, He's God's righteous servant. He's the sin
bearer. The third is that He is the justifier. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
So the question of the hour, the question of every hour is,
do you know Christ? What do you think of Christ?
It's not because you found him. It's not because you chose him.
He said, you've not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained
you unto good works. It's not because you decided
to make Him Lord. He is the Lord. He's always been
Lord. He's the Lord of lords. He's
the King of kings. The sinner's choice and decision
are mentioned. The sinner's work and worth is
non-existent. Christ is Himself the cause of
justification. He is both just and the justifier. We have to be as just as God
is. We can't be, so He justifies us. He's the justifier. We are saved by works. I said
this in the first hour. Somebody asked me that one time.
Well, you don't believe in works? And I said, oh no, I believe
in works, but it's not our work. It's the perfect work of righteousness
that Christ has wrought for us. And it distinguishes who God
saves. You know, I'm so thankful. You've
heard this before. And it's not original with me. Not much is. Except sin. But I'm thankful for that little
letter, the letter M. Not any, but many. He shall most certainly and assuredly
justify many. Not all, but many. Not any, but
many. It's Christ's delight to take
a sinner, lift him from the dunghill, from the mire of clay, and lift
him up and sit him among princes. Why? Because He poured out His
soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He
bare the sin of many. He alone makes me just. For whom He did foreknow, He
did also predestinate to be what? Conformed to the image of His
Son. All who God foreknew can be assured
that they will be conformed to the image of God's Son. In other
words, if God knew you from the foundation of the world, if God
called you and chooses you, you're gonna be conformed to the image
of God's Son. You're gonna be just like Him.
Isn't that what the scriptures say? When we see Him, we'll be
just like Him? That's because of substitution and satisfaction. Verse one asks, who hath believed
our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed, that
being Christ? Well, this answers it, those
that he foreknew, those that he predestinated, those that
he calls by the gospel, those are the ones that he justifies.
Now that's what God says, that's what the scriptures say. What
shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him
up for us all, many, how shall he not with him also freely give
us all things? My mom and dad didn't have much.
I was their only child. But everything they had was mine.
And friends, everything God has is yours. And though there are
many, we all get the same thing. We get it all. Who is He that condemned? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, also making intercession
for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of God? Nothing or no one. All these
questions can be answered with the same answer. Because of Christ. He shall justify many. This is
God's glory. This is Christ's delight. This
is the fullness of God's satisfaction. In Christ, God is satisfied. And He's not only satisfied with
Him, but He's satisfied with me. God is satisfied with Him and
us who are in Him. What glorious words, substitution
and satisfaction. That's what this book declares.
This book's God's Word. This is from the very mouth of
God Himself. God is satisfied with Christ,
and you know what? So am I. I'm satisfied that He
alone can save me. I'm happy about that. I'm satisfied
that His righteousness is now mine. I'm satisfied with Him
and I have no desire to look anywhere else, to anyone else.
I'm convinced and I rest in that blessed hope. His people's salvation
was the joy that was set before Him. He endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. And I've asked you this question enough times, you know
the answer. Why did he sit down? Because his work's finished.
It's finished. Now, I've given you three characteristics
of Christ in the text and allowed me to spend just a few minutes
longer on what this verse tells us about ourselves. Three things
also. First, there are these many needed
justification. A man or woman's brought before
a court of justice. They are justified and reckoned
just or innocent if they're proved not to be guilty. But you and
I before the court of God's holy justice are all guilty. God doesn't need any proof. He
knows what we are. Justification cannot come to
us that way. Our justification can only come
one way. We're back to that again. Isn't
it amazing how simple the gospel is? One gospel, one Lord, one
Spirit, one Christ, one way to be saved. What is that way? God says, I
laid that sinner's sin upon Christ. I punished Christ for that sinner,
and that sinner, and that sinner, and that sinner. Many of them. He's not guilty. Mercy said,
let that sinner go free, because he's not a sinner, he's a saint.
and I made him so as his substitute, and my Father is satisfied." They're not what they once were
by nature. They're what their substitute
made them to be. That's what a substitute is.
That's what a substitute does. So when God's justice calls for
me, a sin or undone, I don't have to answer. I have an advocate
with the Father that answers for me. Why? Because Christ answered
on my behalf before I was ever born, and He died for me as the
Lamb slain before the world ever began, before time ever was. You ask someone when they were
saved? Well, the best answer we can give is, I was saved,
I am saved, and I'm continuing to be saved. No legal charge that can be brought
against One who trusts in Christ because Christ has stood in their
place. What's it called? Substitution. What is God? He's satisfied. Christ was punished in my stead
and I've been discharged of my crimes as if He was me and as
if I was Him. What's that? I'm crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me. You see, it's not my faith that
saves me, it's His. It's not my work that saves me,
but His. It's not my righteousness that
pardons me, it's His. The Lord laid on Him our iniquities. We were so guilty that we were
born condemned. He that believeth not is what?
Condemned already. And if we had remained as we
were, we would have been nothing but the children of wrath, even
as others. But the gospel, the good news
is this, Christ came to justify the ungodly. But God commended
his love toward us. There's that word again, many.
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for the ungodly, Romans
5, 6. The Redeemer died for those who
have been made to see that they had no righteousness of their
own. There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that
doeth good. Christ came to bring a righteousness
to those that don't have any. How about that? Isn't that wonderful? He came to give them His righteousness
and take upon Him their sin. 2 Corinthians 5, 21. Oh, the wonders of divine grace.
If you want justification, you can have it. You can have it. Those who desire
it are the very ones He came to justify. Isn't that right? Secondly, this verse speaks of
the sinners that are instructed and made to know. It says, by
the knowledge of Him shall my righteous servant justify many.
You know, when the soul learns of Christ, knows Him, believes
Him, trusts Him, then that soul's justified. Nothing else for us
to do. No feelings involved in the matter.
I've heard many, even some of you, say, I don't feel saved. It doesn't matter what you feel.
I'm not trying to be cute. It doesn't matter what you feel.
All the fitness that God requires is that you feel your need of
Him. That's it. Are you a needy sinner? The heart understands by the
hearing of the Word, the Word preached, and through the hearing
of Christ, this wicked heart comes to believe on Him. And
when the heart knows Christ and believes in Christ, that sinner
is justified. It's by His knowledge. They're
all taught of God. Every one of you has been taught
of God. Only God can teach you. By that knowledge, He justifies
many. It's not the knowledge that Moses
brought. It's the knowledge that Christ
brought. Whosoever believes on Him is what? Not condemned. Salvation comes by knowing and
believing, not by doing. Where in the Bible does it say
that salvation comes by something we do? Not by works of righteousness
that we have done. That's pretty plain. By the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. God gave his law to show us what
we were. Not to keep in order to be saved,
but to see that we need Him in order to be saved. Grace and
peace come by Jesus Christ. And our justification comes to
us through knowing Him, by being made to know that through Him
we're justified. I'm justified. I don't say that
with my chest stuck out. With my chin up, I said humbly
with my head bowed, I'm justified. Christ justified me. He gave
His life for me that I might be justified. He reconciled me
to a thrice holy God whom I could not appease. And God is satisfied. What a wonderstall. And thirdly,
I'm going to leave you on a good note. He shall justify them. Not all, but many. What a wondrous
thought. He shall justify them. He shall, not he might. He will,
he shall. And you say, well, Brother David,
I see that my sin is real. What I want you to see is that
the justification that you need is real. That thief that hung on the cross
next to the Lord Jesus. There were two of them. The Lord
saved one of them and passed by the other. And you know that
one that believed on Christ. He hung on the cross as a just
man. What put him on the cross? Sin
and crimes and maybe even murder. Who knows? But he's a just man. He's a just man as he hung there
as long as there's still breath in the lungs. It's not too late.
Did that thief profess Christ? Yes, he most certainly did. He
called him Lord. He knew he had a heavenly kingdom.
He said, the day when you enter your kingdom, I will be with
you. And the Lord said, you shall
be because you're a just man, because I'm your substitute and
my God is satisfied with you. Was he baptized? No. But he would
have been if he could have been. He's just, not because of anything
that he's done. He was just because he believed
in the dying Savior. And you and me, Poor sinners
that we are, never having done a good work in our lives, deserving
of hell throughout all eternity, the ballest of the bow, the chief
of sinners. If we trust our soul to Christ,
we too are justified. And we're justified forever. His love, mercy, and grace are
everlasting. None can charge us with the sin
because it's God that justifies. None can condemn us. It's Christ
that died and is risen again. Our salvation is 100% dependent
on what Christ has done. None can separate us from His
love, that love that's in Christ Jesus, that everlasting love. That's God's good news. That's
God's Gospel, for no man could have invented it. We can't come
up with this. God has laid the weight of my
guilt on my substitute, and He bore it, He made an end of it,
and God is what? Satisfied! Before God, you stand justified. Not by works of righteousness
you've done, but according to His mercy He saved you. Is this
your hope? Yep. It's all my hope. Then you know and believe that
you're not justified by the works of the law, right? Yeah, no,
I'm not justified by the works of the law. I can't do what the
law requires. And how are you justified? By
the faith of Jesus Christ. Not my faith in Him. It's fickle. It's up and down. It's strong
today and gone tomorrow. the faith of Christ, His faithfulness
to me, not mine to Him. Isn't that something to rejoice
in? Because God caused us to believe
in Jesus Christ. And what do we always say? May
God be pleased to make it so. for His glory, our good, and
for Christ's sake. I sure appreciate your attention.
I hope that has helped you. You sure was me.