Let me add my welcome to you
this morning. I'm glad you're here. Trust that
the Lord will bless this meeting together as we seek to serve
him. And I would ask that you not forget these men who stand
before you each Sunday to preach the gospel. It's an awesome responsibility
that none of us take lightly and we need your prayers. So
remember us and lift us up before the Lord. I've entitled this
message this morning, The Right to Bear Arms, and you'll notice
the play on words there, but you'll see why as the message
progresses. Taken from Isaiah chapter 53,
The Right to Bear Arms. A well-regulated militia being
necessary to the security of a free state and the right of
the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The second
amendment to the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution
gives all Americans the right to bear arms. The debate has
been long over whether this amendment should include everybody or just
the militia, because not everyone believes that the right to bear
arms is a good thing. Many in America, even some of
those in our highest offices in the land, believe that we
can love our enemy. into cooperation. The right to
bear arms and a willingness to defend our country must be preserved
or our freedom will be lost. A military second to none and
the will to deploy it is the best defense that we have. Well,
in the spiritual warfare of the church against those of the world,
the right to bear arms is also a subject of much debate. In
this conflict, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, 2 Corinthians
chapter 10 says. The true church is the bride
of Christ, bought with his blood and born with him who is together
as architect, foundation, builder, and head. He alone is responsible
to defend and to deliver his church, his people. The world
religion would argue that Christ has met his responsibility. Now
the rest is up to the center to do. But that's not true. The scriptures oppose such doctrine
and declared decisively in many scriptures that this is not the
case. One in particular is Galatians chapter five and verse two, where
Christ challenges this doctrine with this warning. He says, if
you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. You can scratch
out that word circumcised and put any other condition you want
to. Walk an aisle, accept Jesus into your heart, confess your
sins, repent, tithe, teach, preach, whatever. If you think anything
but the imputed righteousness of Christ can recommend you to
God, then Christ's person and his work will do you no good.
God will accept no contribution from the sinner for any part
of that sinner's salvation. Now we might not know for sure
what the intent was of the framers of the Constitution when they
amended this second amendment here. But those who are enlightened
to the truth of God know for sure whose responsibility it
is to the purchase and protection of God's church. It is God, Christ
himself alone. So look at Isaiah chapter 52
in verse 10. Isaiah chapter 52 in verse 10,
the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God. Though man's right to bear arms
might be challenged, it is a foolish to argue against God's right
to bear his arm. He is not only, he not only has
that right, the right arm is his. and we'll see that to be
the Lord Jesus Christ in just a moment. Americans have a constitutional
right to bear or possess arms. God alone has the wherewithal
to bear, expose his holy arm. The word bear here in the Hebrew
means to uncover, to loosen, to expose. It is used metaphorically
of a soldier preparing for battle by uncovering his arms that he
might have flexibility and freedom to move. We call it rolling up
our sleeves today. We bear our arm when we roll
up our sleeves to get something done. And the word arm in the
Hebrew means power. It comes from the root word,
which means to sow or to produce. So literally the verse reads,
the Lord has uncovered his power. In other words, he's rolled up
his arm and exposed his salvation for all the world to see. So
we see that the arm made bare is the power of God revealed.
In Romans chapter 1 in verse 16 and 17, it says that the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. Because therein, in that gospel,
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. It's the
arm of God exposed from faith to faith. The arm of God, as
I said before, is Jesus Christ. The Gospel has uncovered Christ,
Jesus, as the arm of God. Look at Psalm 77, verse 15. Thou
hast with thine own arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob
and Joseph. Who is the Redeemer? Christ Jesus,
our Lord, is the Redeemer. So he says, with thine own arm,
the Lord Jesus Christ, Thou hast redeemed thy people. God's arm,
made bare, exposes, reveals, uncovers everything that he is
in the engagement of every attribute of his redemptive character in
the salvation of his elect. And he has shined into our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, his holy arm. In Isaiah chapter 53, we'll see
how God made bare His holy arm. First of all, in the incarnation
of Christ, in verse 2, He says, He shall grow up before Him.
He's talking about the God-man, God the Son incarnate, growing
up before Him as a man. So we see His holy arm in the
incarnation of Christ, with His deity, He took on Him himself
true, sinless humanity. Secondly, we see it in the humiliation
of Christ. The scripture says in verse four
of Isaiah 53 that he was smitten of God and afflicted. This son
of God was smitten by God and afflicted. And then we'll see,
thirdly, how God may bear his holy arm in the exaltation of
Christ. He said, I will divide him a
portion with a great. Well, there's no way that we
can cover all this this morning. So I want us to look at one at
the first one this morning. God may bear his holy arm in
the incarnation of Christ in verses one through three of Isaiah 53. Let's read those
verses Isaiah 53 verses one through three. Who hath believed our
report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a
dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and 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. God may bear
his holy arm in the incarnation of Christ. Since the gospel is
the good news that God has purposed from eternity and performed in
time to make bare his holy arm, it is appropriate to begin, I
think, with the incarnation of Christ. Since it's on this rock,
this ground, of Christ's incarnation that Christianity stands. We've
heard about the seed of the woman from Genesis chapter 3. God's
prophets and his apostles have preached it through millennia.
But in the incarnation of Christ, that woman's seed, God made bare
his holy arm. So in these first three verses
that I just read, we have commentary on the incarnation of Christ.
And there are several truths that stand out here in these
verses that I think will give us a better appreciation of Christ.
First of all, the incarnate Christ fulfills the promise made by
God in verse one. Let's look at that. Read verse
1 again. Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The Son of God
incarnate fulfills the promise made by God. Webster defines
incarnation as the union of deity with humanity. Think about this. The eternal Son of God, the second
person of the blessed Trinity, took into union with his deity,
true, sinless humanity, body and soul. The scripture says
he was made flesh. This one-time act by this one-of-a-kind
person was necessary to the salvation of God's people and to the glory
of the Father. The writer of Hebrews said this
of Christ in Hebrews 10, verse 5, Sacrifice and offering thou
wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me. In other words,
sacrifice and offering would be the prescribed way for the
nation of Israel under the Mosaic economy. But Christ, as the mediator
of a new covenant, would usher in a new way, according to Hebrews
chapter 10 and verse 20, a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us through his veil, that is to say, his flesh.
The mosaic sacrificial system, with the shedding of the blood
of bulls and goats, which we know could never take away sins,
would be abolished by way of fulfillment, by the shed blood
of the anti-type, the Lord Jesus Christ, God himself incarnate.
Well, as God absolutely considered, he can't die. But this man who
is God did die. The scripture says in 1 Peter
3.18, he died the just for the unjust. This is attributed to
his humanity. In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse
17, the writer says, wherefore when all things it behooved him.
In other words, it was due him. It was incumbent upon him. It
was necessary for without the shedding of blood, there is no
remission of sin. It was incumbent upon him to
be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation. for the sins of the people. So,
as the faithful high priest of Israel, spiritual Israel, he
offered his sinless humanity upon the altar of his deity to
satisfy God's holy law and justice against those he represented,
thereby making reconciliation to God. Second Corinthians 5
verse 19 says this, to wit, or namely, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. not imputing their trespasses
unto them and hath committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. And what is that ministry? Second
Corinthians 5 21 for he, God, the father, hath made him God,
the son who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. This is that message,
that report that I read in Isaiah 52. This, this message of reconciliation,
is that report spoken of in Isaiah. This report is that promise made
by God to send his son into the world. Well, as we read this
verse, verse one, who hath believed our report and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed, several questions are raised. First of
all, who hath believed our report? Who is the hour? Our report. What is our report? To whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed? What has the arm of the Lord
revealed to us? These are some questions that
we need to answer. So let's let's look at these. First of all,
who are the hour? Who has believed our report?
Well, since God through the prophet Isaiah speaking here, I believe
he's talking about God, the father, God, the son and God, the Holy
Spirit. Not three gods, but one God, subsisting in three distinct
persons, each performing their unique responsibilities in their
offices, and all of them speaking the truth in unity. Their report
is a report of unity. It is the promise, and the promise
of one of these does not negate or oppose the promise of the
other. God the Father honors the Son.
Look at John chapter 8 in verse 54. Jesus said, if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It is my father that honors me.
God, the father said of Christ in Matthew chapter 17, this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. God, the
son honors the father. Read John chapter seven in verse
18. Here, Jesus says, he that speaketh
of himself, seeketh his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him. Had not God the Son become incarnate and spoke to us the
words of God the Father and God the Son and the Holy Spirit,
we could not know God. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit
in John 16, 13, when he has come, he will guide you into all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak. And he will show you things He
will show you things that whatsoever he shall hear and shall speak,
show you things to come. In other words, the three of
them speak in unison. Their report is the same. There
is no contradiction between the three persons of the Godhead. So the hour includes the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit and God's messengers who deliver
the same report that these three deliver. John the Apostle wrote
this in 2 John 9, whosoever transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ, hath not God. Whosoever he that abideth in
the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, this
report, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed.
For he that bid him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deed. So it's evident the hour includes
all those who preach, proclaim the true gospel, God's gospel.
Second question, who has believed our report? The answer is found
in Matthew chapter seven and verse 14. He said, enter in at
the straight gate. But wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in
that way. But straight is the gate and there is the way that
leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. So the answer,
how many? A few. A little flock is what
Jesus called them in Luke chapter 12 in verse 32. But still a multitude
which no man can number. Revelation 7 and 9. Who hath
believed our report? Those to whom the arm of the
Lord is revealed. No others will believe. If the
arm of the Lord hadn't been revealed to you, you don't know God. And
only those to whom the arm of the Lord shall be revealed will
believe. So what is our report? Who has
believed our report? Is it not God's promise concerning
the successful finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is
it not concerning that one God promised Moses in Deuteronomy
chapter 18 in verse 18? Listen to the promise. God speaking
to Moses. I will raise them up a prophet
from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my
words, my promise, my report in his mouth, and he shall speak
unto them all that I shall command him. This is the promise. Jesus
is that prophet. He is the subject of the promise.
He is the sum and the substance of our report. He said this in
John chapter 7 and verse 16, my doctrine is not mine, but
it's his that sent me. It is that report God put into
the mouth of Christ. John the Baptist said this of
Christ in John chapter 3 and verse 34, for he whom the Lord
has sent, talking about Christ, speaketh the words of God, for
God giveth not the spirit but by measure unto him. It is that
report Christ delivered to his prophets and his apostles. He
said this in John chapter 17 in verse 8, for I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received
them and have known surely that I came out from thee and they
have believed that thou didst send me. It is the report of
every redeemed, justified and regenerated sinner. Look at John
17 in verse 6. Jesus said, I have manifested
thy name, Father, unto the men which thou gavest me out of the
world. Thine they were. Thou gavest them to me, and they
have kept thy word. What is thy report? It's the
gospel. It's the word of God. It is the
true gospel, not the counterfeit. We have to be careful, because
there's a counterfeit gospel out there. And Paul writes to
the churches in Galatians, in chapter 1 and verse 6 and 7,
he says, I marvel that you Justified sinners have so soon been removed
away from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto
another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that
troubled you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Our report
is that body of doctrine which is written and witnessed concerning
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It concerns his
person, who he is, God-man, and his work, what he accomplished
for his people. What is our report? What is our
gospel? Simply stated, it is this God's
promise to deliver sinners for whom Christ died every center
for whom Christ died from sins, bondage and bring them into the
glorious liberty of the Children of God. Romans 8 21. That's God's
promise. Another question. To whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed? To whom is the promise given
to those who believe it? It is to those alone that Jesus
said in Luke chapter eight in verse 10, unto you it is given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but unto others, I speak
in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they
might not understand. So if Christ is the son and the
substance of our report, what does it say about him? What does
our gospel say about Christ? What does the holy arm of the
Lord made bare expose? reveal, uncover concerning the
incarnation of Christ. Simply this, that this God-man,
God the Son incarnate, is the fulfillment of the promise of
God. Who hath believed our report?
Moses wrote of that report. The scriptures Jesus said to
his hearers, Moses wrote of me. Isaiah wrote of that promise. He said, unto us a child is born,
but unto us son is given. Deity united with true sinless
humanity. Well, the question is, do you
know the promise? Do you believe the promise? The
scripture says that the promise is unto you and unto your children
and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call. Who will be saved? Those that
the Lord calls. Those that call upon the name
of the Lord, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. What is it to call upon the name
of the Lord? Believe the promise. Believe the report. The incarnate
Christ fulfills, first of all, the promise of God. Secondly,
the incarnate Christ fits the person who is of God and is God. Look at verse 2 of Isaiah chapter
53. For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no
form nor comings, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty
that we should desire. He shall grow up before him.
The he is Christ. The him is Israel. Jesus grew
up among his fellow Israelites. God absolutely considered cannot
grow up. I am the Lord, he said, I change
not. But this person who is God did change. From his conception
by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and his birth
in the fullness of the time, he grew and waxed strong in spirit,
according to Luke 2, 240, filled with wisdom, and the Lord was
with him. This is attributed to his humanity.
This man who is God is totally fit to the offices prescribed
to him. This man who was God In his office
as prophet, delivered the word of God, this report, and its
purity without compromise and without error. In his office as priest, he offered
upon the altar of his deity a perfect sacrifice for sins. He offered
his sin as humanity, a ransom for his people. And in his office
as king, he sits at the right hand of the father even now.
ensuring every sinner for whom he died receive every blessing
and every benefit he earned for them by his obedience unto death
and his righteousness imputed. In other words, that blood and
righteousness that he shed and established is for sin to double
cure. It satisfies law and justice
and it sanctifies God's people. He shall grow up He grew up before
Israel, a person with two natures, truly God in the essence of his
deity and true humanity, body and soul without sin. Well, since
God cannot increase or diminish, this change is attributed to
his humanity. Growing up is a natural human
trait. He says he grew up as a tender
plant, and this speaks of his humanity and the uncertainties
of physical life. You know, there's no creature
as helpless as a human baby. Almost all animals can almost
immediately take care of themselves, but a baby requires many years
of care before that person is able to go in on his own. And
like a tender plant, Jesus had to be cared for to survive. Think
about this, Jesus, the eternal son of God, he was conceived
in the womb of a peasant woman. by the Holy Ghost. He was born
in a stable. He was sought by Herod. He had
to flee to Egypt for his life. And this dependency can only
be attributed to his humanity. Fragile, limited, uncertain. Isn't that the way humanity is? It's ever-changing and stands
only one heartbeat away from eternity. Job said this in Job
chapter 14, man that is born of woman is of few days, and
full of trouble. Christ Jesus, the God-man, the
scripture says, was touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
yet without sin. He grew up as a tender plant.
But he also grew up as a root out of a dry ground. This speaks
of his deity, this God-man. God the Son incarnate grew up
out of a dry ground, barren, wasteland, lifeless. And if you
think about it, for 400 years, there was not a word from God
to the nation of Israel. Nothing but silence. Since the
prophet Malachi, no word from God was heard. This Christ, of
whom Peter said in John chapter 6 and verse 68, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. This God was silent. The land
of God was barren. It was dry. It was unfruitful.
Isn't that the way it was with you? I was in religion 50 years,
in a dry, barren, lifeless religion, going through the motions, acting
like I was alive, dead in trespasses and sin. But God had other plans for me
and for every other sinner who he saved by his grace. And God
has not cast away his people whom he foreknew, according to
Romans chapter 11. Look at what he says in Isaiah
chapter 11 in verse 1. This root out of a dry ground.
And there shall come forth a rod, or a root, out of the stem of
Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Jeremiah chapter
23 in verse 5 said basically the same thing. Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth. In order for a root to grow out
of a dry ground, it must grow deep to find moisture. This root,
this offspring of the lineage of Jesse had his roots in eternity. This God man. He is God the Son incarnate.
Again, one person with two distinct natures. Truly God in the essence
of his deity. Very God, a very God, second
person of the Trinity, creator, governor, sovereign Lord over
all, and yet true humanity, body and soul, without sin. Sinners are forbidden to worship
another man, but this man who is God demands our worship. Man
cannot give life, but this man who is God does give life. He is the only begotten Son of
God, one of a kind. not another like him. This seed
of woman promised so many thousands of years before sprang up out
of a dry ground. According to John chapter one
in verse 14, he is the eternal God and he was made flesh and
dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the
only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. He and
he alone, the incarnate son of God is fitting to this person
who is God. He is that seed of woman. So,
the incarnate Christ fulfills the promise of God, the incarnate
Christ fits the person who is God, and thirdly, the incarnate
Christ forbears with the people of God. Look at verse 3 of Isaiah
53. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hear as it
were our faces from him. He is despised and we esteemed
him not. What a loving and gracious father
we have who is long suffering to us. We're not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This
wonderful savior, son of the father, is unrecognized by his
own, even his elect by nature. We esteemed him not. In other
words, we counted him as nothing. We saw no value in his person
or his work. Why? Because of our self-righteousness,
our self-love, and religious pride, there is no beauty in
him that we should behold him. He hath no form nor comeliness,
the scripture says here. This person with two natures
is unattractive to even his own sheep by nature. Nothing in his
demeanor or his character causes sinners to desire him. Why? Because men by nature are judged
by outward appearance, and we're commanded not to do that, but
we always do. We say if we could just see a
sign or if we could experience something, we'd believe. No,
you wouldn't. Those that followed Christ in his earthly ministry
wouldn't believe him. They saw all the miracles he
did, and they wouldn't believe. Jesus told his hearers, though
one rise from the dead, you won't believe. Well, What causes sinners
to believe? Jesus said this in John chapter
6 and verse 63. The words I speak unto you, they
are spirit, they are life. So the old adage, I'd rather
see a sermon than hear one, is not true, is it? You can't know
God by seeing something. How do we know God? The gospel,
the scripture says, is the power of God unto salvation. Without
the gospel, there is no salvation. By nature, when we hear his word,
we despise him. We esteem him not. The scripture
says we hide our faces from him. And the scripture says that they
all forsook Jesus at his crucifixion and fled. We reject him. We reject his report. But wait,
though we esteem him not, he does not fail to esteem his elect.
Who hath believed our report? Those to whom the arm of the
Lord is revealed. Who are they? They to whom the
Lord is long suffering, not willing that any should perish. Such
a person was Isaiah. Such a person was Isaiah. What
did Isaiah say of himself? You remember? I'm a man of unclean
lip. Woe unto me. For I am a man of
unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips." What precipitated this change
in Isaiah? He says, who has believed our
report? He's taken up the report of God. What precipitated this
change? I believe it's the forbearance
of God. Look at Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. Paul writing,
do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance
and longsuffering? not knowing that the goodness
of God leads to repentance. Yes, we did. Every one of us.
Some are still doing it, but we all do by nature. We reject
the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet he forbears with us. He's not
willing that any of his election parents don't. Christ said, I
will not lose a one. So we all rejected God, but his
forbearance and long suffering leads centers to repentance. God extended his mercy to Isaiah
the only way he ever has. He made bare his holy arm. And
Isaiah, like all, experienced the power of God under salvation
when he heard God's report concerning the incarnate Son of God. And
then he was made willing in the day of God's power to believe.
God would have been just to leave me in my unbelief. It had been
just to leave you who believe in your unbelief. But he didn't
because he's a gracious God and he'll have all his. There'll
be no stillborn children in the family of God. Well, aren't you
glad he fulfilled the promise of God? This God, the son incarnate. Aren't you glad he is fitting
to the person of God? Aren't you glad he forbears with
the people of God even today? As his arm has been bared to
you, will you believe his report? Will you believe our report?
There is salvation in no other friend. For there is no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
The church has a savior. God, the son incarnate. He has
saved his people by the blood of his cross. He is saving them
by his mighty arm made bear. Those for whom Christ died shall
see his salvation, every one of them. Well, as Americans,
we have the right to bear arms. As God, he has the might to bear
his arm.