All right, brethren, let's turn
in our Bibles to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. And why did the Lord
Jesus go to the cross? Why did he go to the cross? Was
he there as a victim or was he there by the purpose of God? What did he do on that cross? What did he accomplish? Did he
justify his people or did he just make our justification possible. When he was on that cross, did
he redeem somebody in particular, or did he just make redemption
possible? This is God's word. We're gonna
hear what God says. We're gonna declare it clearly.
And he declared this 700 years before the Lord came and accomplished
this. Now we saw from this chapter,
wicked men put him on that cross. But our text this morning begins
with the word yet. Look here at verse 10. Yet it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. Our subject is how Christ pleased
the Lord. How Christ pleased the Lord.
The Lord Jesus was on the cross according to the purpose of God.
He went there. on purpose to fulfill God's purpose. And that's exactly what he did.
God declared of his son, he shall not fail till he has set judgment
in the earth. And the Lord Jesus settled judgment
on the cross for a particular people. That's what he did. If
you ever hear a preacher say that Christ only made salvation
possible, I say this Without any shadow of a doubt, if you
hear a preacher say Christ made salvation possible, you are hearing
a false preacher and he's speaking lies. This book clearly declares
what Christ accomplished on the cross. Every false preacher denies
that Christ laid down his life for a particular people. They say he only made salvation
possible, and what that does is that's putting the work in
the sinner's hand. That's works salvation, and that's
a lie. It's damning if you believe that. Now listen, first of all, the
cross is God's purpose. The cross was purposed by God. Wicked hands put him there, but
it was only by Christ letting them do it. but he was fulfilling
the purpose of God. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. Acts
2.23 says, he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. And men by wicked hands crucified
and slew him, but it was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. God ordained it. Scripture says,
Acts 4.27, of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel, were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Now let's
go see what God's eternal purpose is. Over in Ephesians 1, we see
God's eternal purpose. This is where it's declared so
clearly and concisely, right here in Ephesians 1, beginning
in verse 3. And we're gonna read down to
verse 12. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. He's talking
here, you see in the beginning, he's talking to saints, the faithful
in Christ Jesus, who God has called and given faith. He said,
God blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. Here's God's purpose. Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ is the one that would work this, To himself,
God did this, predestinators to be his children, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, nothing in us to make him choose us, wherein, by doing
this work, he hath made us, he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. That means when Christ went to
the cross, he went to the cross for these people God chose and
gave to him. That's who he redeemed. And it
says, verse eight, wherein, since we were dead in sins, he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of time, when time comes to the end, that he will gather
together in one all things in Christ. He's talking about his
people. All his people he'll gather in Christ, those that
are in heaven and those on earth, even in him, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance. being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will that we should be to the praise of God's glory
who first trusted in Christ. While you're there, look at Ephesians
3. God chose a people, purpose for Christ to redeem them, purpose
for Christ to call us, purpose to gather us together in Christ
in the end and give us an eternal inheritance, all in and by what
Christ accomplished. Here's what God calls it in Ephesians
3.11. He calls it the eternal purpose
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness
and access to God, to holy God, with confidence by the faith
of him. That means the faith of Christ,
by the faithfulness of Christ. and what he did for his people.
I'll show you one more place if you can go to 2 Timothy 1.9. I'm just trying to show you this.
He went to the cross on purpose. He went to fulfill God's purpose. In 2 Timothy 1.9, if I can find
it, he says, who hath saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. So, God the Father foreordained
that Christ would go to the cross. He ordained this before creation
for a particular people. Peter said in 1 Peter 119, we're
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
and without spot who verily was ordained before the foundation
of the world but manifest in these last times for you. Who
by him you believe, by him you believe in God that raised him
from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might
be in God. So in eternity, when we talk about eternity, I'm saying
before God made anything, before he made the world, before he
made anything. By God giving Christ this people
and manifesting his purpose to his son, Christ became the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. He agreed to go to
the cross before God ever created anything. Before there was a
sinner, God had provided a savior. Before the sheep went astray,
God provided a shepherd. Before we fell in the first Adam,
God had already ordained the last Adam. In fact, when he made
Adam and set him up as a federal head, he did it to picture Christ
the last Adam. That's why our Savior laid down
his life and he did it willingly. He went to the cross willingly
because it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Because it pleased
the Lord, now not just that the Lord got some kind of satisfaction
seeing his son suffer, but it pleased the Lord to give him
all preeminence. It pleased the Lord that his
son come and perform the greatest act of love that has ever been
performed in history or ever will be. And so that he would
raise his son and give him all preeminence because it pleased
the Father that all the fullness of what we need to be saved would
be in his son and provided by his son. That pleased God. It pleased the Lord that Christ
be the firstborn among many brethren. The father would have a house
full of children and his elder son, his firstborn son would
be chief over all of the children and we would all give him glory
for saving us. That was God's purpose. And he
said in Isaiah 50 in verse five, he said, the Lord hath opened
mine ear. The Lord told me this. in eternity. The Lord had opened
my ear and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave
my back to the smiters, to them that plucked off the hair of
my beard. I gave my back to them. Therefore does my father love
me because I laid down my life that I might take it again. It
seems appropriate, I didn't plan this, but it seems appropriate
that we came to this passage on Father's Day because we're
talking about how the son came forth to please the father. Everything
he did was to please his father. And it was all the father's will
so that he would glorify his son. That was the purpose. Now
catch this next phrase, Isaiah 53, verse 10. It says there, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grieve. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. Now let's just take this first
phrase, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.
Now, that word soul is important. When we fell in Adam, we became
guilty before the law. We transgressed the whole law
of God. And because we were born of Adam,
we have a nature that is totally corrupt. So there we are, because
of what Adam did, we're unrighteous before the law, and were unholy
in our nature, unrighteous and unholy. Now, that means none
of us could fulfill the law because to fulfill the law in righteousness,
you have to have a holy heart. And we could not do that because
our heart's not holy by nature. But God prepared a body for his
son so that he could bear all the sins of his people in his
body. and so that he could make his
soul an offering for sin, being holy within, so that he would
be both the righteousness, having fulfilled the law, and the holiness
of his people, because he did it all from a holy heart. Now,
when they asked the Lord, what's the greatest commandment in the
law, the Lord summed it up this way. Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as
thyself. You see, it involves a soul work,
a heart work. Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. So on that cross,
God's declaring his righteousness. He's declaring that he's just
and he's the justifier. So in order for holy God, he's
showing his righteousness now. So for holy God, who's righteous,
who only does what's right, only judges what is right and does
what's right, for him to make his son a curse, to pour out
all the penalty on him for his people. Christ is holy, he's
righteous, he knew no sin, he's spotless. So he's fit to do this
work, but for God to justly make him a curse and pour out this
punishment on him in place of his people. God first made his
son bear the sin of his people. And that was necessary. Back up there in verse six, it
says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. He took the iniquity of all this
people and laid it on Christ. Peter said, who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead
to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.
He's quoting from Isaiah 53. Now, be sure to get this. This
is so important. Christ not only came to justify
his people, make us righteous, he came to sanctify his people
and make us holy. All right, to be our sanctification,
to be our holiness, to be our righteousness and to be our holiness.
That's why Christ came. So as he's making his people
righteous, he has to be holy. He has to be both. He had to
both bear our sin in his body and then bear the curse that
we deserve. But as he's bearing that curse,
as he bearing our sin and then bearing the curse and the wrath
and the justice poured out on him, he had to bear the darkness
of that justice with a perfectly holy heart toward God in perfect
faith to God. He had to do that perfectly.
In other words, when he was on that cross, that he's fulfilling
the positive side of the law as he's fulfilling the negative
side. The negative side is he's bearing our sin, and therefore
God's pouring out hell on him, the curse on him, that we would
have had to bear. That's the negative side of the
law. But as he's bearing that, he's fulfilling the positive
side of the law. He's loving God the Father with
all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving his people
as himself. That's where you see the fulfillment
of the law. You look to the cross. That's
the righteousness the law demands. That's the holiness the law demands. Laying down your life for God
and for your brethren in a perfect holy heart, being cut off for
his people. fulfilling the negative side,
being cut off, and at the same time fulfilling the positive
side, he was cut off because he loved God and his people with
a perfect holy heart. He gave his soul in offering
for sin. That's why Christ alone is the
righteousness and the holiness of his people, he alone. I don't
think I have to turn to Hebrews 10 to show you again, but it
says, He said, Lord, you prepared a body for me, and I came to
do your will. Your law's in my heart. I came
to love you and my people as myself. And the scripture says,
by him fulfilling the will of God, by his will, we are sanctified
by his one offering. And he goes on to say what that
means. By his one offering, he perfected forever them that are
sanctified. He did that. Us fathers like
to brag on our children. When our children do something
that we've taught them and something that's pleasing, we like to brag
on our children. Well, God the father brags on
his son and he's gonna have every knee bow to his son and every
knee confess that his son is the Lord of lords and king of
kings and everything God says about him. He raised him up,
he was so satisfied. Look at verse 10. He shall see
his seed. Verse 11 says, Isaiah 53, 10
says, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed. Look down at verse 11. He shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. What
does that mean? Read on. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. That's what satisfied God. By his knowledge, by the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. Now, pay attention to this, by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. God saw
his seed, he saw his son on that cross, and he saw him by his
knowledge justifying his people by bearing our iniquities. Verse
seven said, he opened not his mouth. While he suffered, he
opened not his mouth. He never said a word in rebellion
against God, He never tried to justify himself when all these
accusations were hurled at him because to save us, he couldn't
speak. He couldn't save him. He could
have spoken, vindicated himself, but he could not do that if he's
gonna save us. Now, by his knowledge, he did
that. Proverbs 17, 27 says this. It says, he that hath knowledge
spareth his words. He that hath knowledge. A man
of understanding is of an excellent spirit. He's calm and he doesn't
speak. Even when he's accused, even
when he's on the cross, even when he's bearing justice from
God, he's silent and he doesn't say a word in rebellion. That's
the knowledge. Christ is wisdom. It's by his
knowledge. He makes him, first thing he's
gonna do to us is make him wisdom to us so that we shut up. and
start looking to him and listening to him. Christ Jesus was on that
cross and he opened not his mouth because by his knowledge, he
knew he was fulfilling God's eternal purpose for God and for
his people. He knew, by his knowledge, he
knew he was bearing the sin of God's elect, of Christ's own
brethren, the children of God's house. And by his knowledge,
he opened not his mouth, because he knew God's holy. He knew God
will not clear the guilty, and he's standing there as the one
guilty one before God, bearing the sin of his people. And he
wouldn't open his mouth, because he knew God would not clear the
guilty. He would not even spare his own son, but deliver him
up for all his people. He opened not his mouth because
by his knowledge he knew that for God to be just in the justifier,
he must bear the curse until God was satisfied and justice
was satisfied and God had justified his people. God the Father looked
upon his son. He looked upon his son, his seed,
and he saw the perfect fulfillment of the holy law of God. That's what he saw when he looked
upon his seed. He saw the perfect love that it takes to honor God
and to save his brethren. He saw the perfect fulfillment
of the law in perfect righteousness, in perfect holiness. And God
was satisfied. God was satisfied. He magnified
the law and made it honorable. He declared God's righteousness,
that God's just and the justifier, and he saved his people, he justified
his people, he redeemed his people, and God was satisfied with his
son. So, God the Father gave his son
the glory that he promised to give him before the world was
made. When they entered this covenant in eternity, Christ
not only agreed that he would go forth and finish this purpose,
this whole purpose of God, but God the Father promised to give
him the glory of being glorified and seated there by him. And
it says here in Isaiah 53 10, he says, he shall see his seed.
He saw him there satisfying everything. And it says, and he shall prolong
his days. Verse 12 says, God said, therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great. God the Father gave
his son the glory that he promised him from eternity. I'm just gonna
give this to you, but Ephesians 1.20 said he raised him from
the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places.
Christ sat down as the victorious redeemer the God-man glorified,
God gave him all preeminence. We're gonna see that one day.
We're gonna come into his presence one day, everybody is, whether
we that believe him are gonna see him, and if you don't believe
him, you're gonna still see him. And I tell you, men talk about
how they act like that it's gonna be a forced thing that men bow
the knee to him. No, when you see him, men are
gonna bow the knee to him. they're gonna bow their knee.
Even if they didn't believe him, they're gonna bow, because God's
given him glory, and we're gonna see that glory. God the Father
gave his son all power over all. Ephesians 121 also says that
he raised him up far above all principality, all power, all
might, all dominion, every name that is named, not only in this
world, but in the world to come. Christ has all power as a man. He's God and he's man. There's
a God man there that has all power, looks like a man like
us. He's there with all power over everything. So when you
hear of all the stuff going on in the world, Trump ain't doing
nothing but what our king lets him do. Putin ain't doing nothing
but what our king lets him do. Everybody, you and me, are only
doing what our king determines we're going to do. And he's only
letting, if it's bad, it's only coming to pass because it's glorifying
him. And he's going to work it together to save his people and
glorify his name. And the rest of it, he won't
let it happen. That's who's ruling everything.
Christ the king. and he made him head over all
things to the church. Ephesians 1.22 says, and he put
all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all
things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him
that filleth all in all. Christ is, he's everything to
his church. You who he's called, we're his
body. He's filling all in all. He's
our prophet, our priest, our king, our wisdom, our righteousness,
our holiness, our redemption. He's salvation. He's everything
we need to be accepted of God. Everything. He's everything we
need to get through today and tomorrow. He's providing it all. So when God the Father raised
His Son, justified and glorified, All his people were raised, justified
and glorified. Go with me to Romans 8, 28. This
was all done when he raised Christ and gave him this glory. You
and I are going to experience it all in time, but it's all
done when he raised his son, Romans 8, 28. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose. You see that? Purpose. When God said, let there be light,
or let there be the heaven and the earth, and he created this
world, and then everything in it, everything has been going
along according to God's purpose, everything. Now watch, here it
is. Here's his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, these
elect he chose and trusted to Christ. He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. He chose him to be the firstborn
of the house. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. All of that was
accomplished in Christ for his people when he arose from the
grave and sat down at God's right hand. Now, there's a few things
that remain to be done. It's for Christ to call each
one he redeemed. Now, go back to Isaiah 53.10. Now, he said, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
Christ Jesus. He shall prolong his days. He
did, he raised him up. Now, and the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hand. We just saw how the pleasure
of the Lord prospered in all these things Christ accomplished.
But there's some other things too. It says, I'll divide him
a portion with the great. He raised him up there, gave
him all that glory. And then it says, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong. That's his people. He's going
to divide his spoil, everything that he earned by his righteousness
and holiness, he's going to divide that with his people. That's
who the strong are. We're not strong in ourselves,
we're strong in him. and he's gonna divide everything
with us. Now, what is, he said there, the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in Christ's hand. There's no maybes in this now.
He's not saying he did all this to make things possible. He's
telling us nothing but what is so and has happened and shall
happen. No maybes. So what is God's good
pleasure? Well, first of all, it's for
Christ to be everything to his elect. It pleased the Father
that in him should all fullness dwell. So when he makes Christ
to you to be wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
we find our all in Christ. He's all fullness. He's everything
we need. Well, we were born in sin and
God hates the sinner. He doesn't just hate the sin,
he hates the sinner. The scripture says that. It says
he's angry with the wicked every day. He said plainly he hates
the wicked. So why didn't God destroy us?
Because we were the wicked. Because He's long-suffering to
us for Christ's sake. Because here's why. The Lord
will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, for Christ's
sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people. That's God's good pleasure. Prospering
in Christ's hand. He wouldn't destroy us because
of Christ. And we just saw Christ laid down
his life because it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He fulfilled
God's purpose there. So then, now here we are, we're
dead in sin. All this has already taken place.
He's already justified his people. How are we gonna be made to know
it? We're dead in sin. Well, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And the pleasure of
the Lord's gonna prosper in Christ's hand. You know what Christ does?
He sends the gospel to his child. And Christ is our prophet and
our king, works everything in providence to bring you where
you can hear this gospel. Then he speaks affectionately
into the heart and the Holy Spirit enters in and gives a brand new
heart. And he makes Christ everything to you. When it pleased God,
who separated me from a mother's womb and called me by his grace
to reveal his son in me, Did anything stop Christ from revealing
himself to Paul? Nope. Paul didn't know him. He
was on the road to Damascus cursing God and trying to kill his people,
and Christ arrested him. That's what he's gonna do, because
the pleasure of the Lord's gonna prosper in his hand. Well, then
when he calls you, what does he do with you? He sets you in
his church, right where he'd have you to be. In the very congregation,
amongst the very brethren, we saw the other day how he gives
each one a measure of grace so that the whole body is complete,
there's no schism, just like the human body, so that we're
each providing what the other needs. Why does he do that? Because scripture says, now hath
he set the members, everyone in the body, as it hath pleased
God. The pleasure of the Lord's gonna
prosper in Christ's hand. He's the one working that. It
pleased God to set us where he set us, and he does that. Well,
what about good works? The world's preaching good works
as if it's all up to you now. You're gonna have to get out
and work hard and do some good works. The good pleasure of God's
gonna prosper in Christ's hand. That's what the scripture said.
Well, Philippians 2.13 said, it's God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Whatever the Lord
is pleased, whatever good work He's pleased for His people to
do, Christ is gonna work it in His people. The pleasure of the
Lord's gonna prosper in Christ's hand. Go with me to Luke chapter 12.
I showed you that in the end, everybody wants to be talking
about the end times and all this stuff, you know. I'll tell you
something about prophecy. When men start preaching on prophecy
in the end time, most of the time when I hear that kind of
preaching, after it's all preached and they get finished, here's
what you end up saying. Maybe. Maybe so. Because nobody can really say
for certain what any of that prophecy means. But here's something
I know. We saw in Ephesians 1, It please
God, who works everything after the counsel of his own will,
that in the end of all time, he's gonna gather together in
one all things in Christ. He's gonna gather all his people
in Christ according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in
himself. That's it, and Christ is gonna
accomplish that. And then he's gonna, is he gonna
lose any? He not gonna lose one. He's gonna
present us to the Father perfect, complete, and I can assure you
that because this is what our Savior tells us right here. We're
looking at the good pleasure of God being prosperous in Christ's
hand. This is what Christ promised
the Father he would do for the Father. Here it is, Luke 12,
32. He says to you and me, fear not, little flock, for it is
your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And our text says the pleasure
of the Lord is going to prosper in Christ's hand. There's what
pleases God. It's his good pleasure to give
you the kingdom. He's going to give it to you
because Christ's not going to lose one. Here's what I'm saying
to you. The pleasure of the Lord, the
purpose of God and what pleases God has prospered in Christ and
shall prosper by Christ's hand. Nothing that pleases God will
go unfulfilled, and Christ will do it all. Then the only way
you please God, God is satisfied in His Son, and when He speaks
this gospel in our hearts, He makes you satisfied with His
Son. And you know what you do? You
believe Him. That's how you please the Father.
You trust the Son who has pleased the Father in perfection. And
He gives you the faith to do it. And He said, and love these
brethren, because Christ laid down his life for them. He's
the elder brother, and Christ said, what you do to them, you've
done it to me. And he said, love them. And so we love one another.
And we know they're righteous in Christ, they're holy in Christ.
So when they fall, we just help them get up and help them look
back to Christ, because that's what pleases him. And here's
something else. You trust Christ, you follow
Christ, you stay on Christ, and you'll be saved by Christ and
love your brethren. But he left us something else.
He's everything in salvation. We're not trying to provide anything.
He's provided it all for us. So we just trust him. That's
what he said, just trust me and follow me. But here's something
else he did for us. By him coming forth and pleasing
the Father, and we see how he did it, He's shown us how to
please our earthly parents by the same way he pleased his father.
He did what his father told him to do. He did what his father
gave him to do. That's what he did. So, as children
of our earthly parents, love them just like he loved the father,
and love the children in their house just like Christ loved
the children in his father's house. provide everything you can provide
for him. That's what Christ did for his father and for all his
brethren. That's salvation. He's salvation. Let's go to him. Father, thank you for this word.
Lord, thank you for trusting all this divine purpose into
your son's hand. We give you the glory and praise
you for such a wise counsel to trust it all to your son. Lord,
we thank you for revealing Christ to us. Thank you for making him
righteousness and holiness and redemption and wisdom and everything
to us. We pray, Lord, that you would
keep us trusting him and keep us looking to him only. Make
us believe fully. Make us love more deeply. Lord,
make us to be helpers of one another, to keep each other looking
to Christ, and let us be faithful to you and to your people. We
ask it for Christ's glory and honor, and we ask it in his name. Amen.