As it may please God to bless
us together this morning, I will speak to you from the prophecy
of Isaiah chapter 53 and we'll read verse six. The prophecy
of Isaiah 53 and reading verse six. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. This 53rd chapter of Isaiah is
a very wonderful account that Isaiah, by the Spirit of God,
was directed to write and how very wonderfully and very clearly
it directs us to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a very illustrative
picture of what he endured and his form as he lived on this
earth. Very opposite to what many people
envisage today. And yet we see in this account
something of the glory of the Saviour. And we should be very
thankful that the Lord in his great goodness and mercy has
provided such a very wonderful and such a glorious description
for us today. And we're able to meditate on
and realise this is the very Word of God. And so as we come
down to this sixth verse, we have this description indeed
of the Church of God, and it's all-inclusive, it says, all we
like sheep have gone astray. And that means what it says,
it doesn't mean to say there are some people who are excluded
from this description. but all come under the truth
of this word. We've all gone astray. We've all turned, everyone, to
our own way. And yet if we are amongst the
blessed family of God, then this final clause is also gloriously
true and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. It's very wonderful really that
this verse comes almost in the middle of a description of the
Saviour, speaking about him and then speaking about the Church
of God and then continuing to speak about the Saviour. and surely it should be a wonderful
blessing for us today if we are able to enter into the truth
of these words and to realise how relevant they are not only
relevant but how necessary they are and what a blessing if in
our lives we have the evidence that it describes us It's not
just some strange description, but it's a very pertinent one. And the Lord uses the illustration
of sheep. There could have been very many
other animals, but now we know what sheep are like. And we know
how foodish they are. And we know how very easily they
can wander away and they can't find their way back to the flock. That's why we should realise
that the Lord has used such an illustration for us today. But not only that of course,
also we have the wonderful picture of the Saviour himself. who is
also described as a sheep. Indeed the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. So it's surely good for us if
we're able to consider ourselves and to ponder this verse as to
how it applies to us. Remember the Scriptures are written
for our instruction. And they are there to describe
the condition of the Church of God, and to describe the condition
of you and me, if we are truly a believer. And therefore we
won't think, well, this verse has no relevance to me. Because it will have, and it
does have, a relevance to us. And if we can realize the truth
of it, as the prophet says, all we like sheep have gone astray,
wandered away. Well, God knows whether that's
true, whether we have wandered away, perhaps not in a physical
way, but perhaps in a spiritual way. Our minds have wandered
away from the things of God. we've been sidetracked to the
poor things of this world, those things which do not profit, those
things which are only for time and are not for eternity. And what a blessing, therefore,
if we have gone astray and we've been shown by the Spirit of God
that we have gone astray. And not only that, we wandered
away, we perhaps wandered into the world, perhaps wandered into
the things of the world, perhaps it may not be physically, but
it may be in our minds. We've been attractive to the
vanities of this world by our own nature and have therefore
gone astray. And again, the scripture goes
on to direct us more clearly that we've turned in everyone
to his own way. We haven't turned to the way
of God. We haven't been a follower of
our blessed and glorious Saviour. We haven't followed his pattern. We haven't followed his words. But we followed our own way. It's clear, isn't it? We have
turned everyone to his own way. And again, that's as clear As
a previous statement, all we like sheep have gone astray and
we've all turned everyone to his own way. Well again, what
a blessing. If the Holy Spirit has come to
us and shown us, that describes us individually. We don't have
to look around, we don't look about other people, but it's
good when the Holy Spirit applies his word to our souls. Just as it was in the case of
David. When Nathan came to him, David
thought his sin was well hidden. He thought probably nobody else
really understood what he'd done. But you see, the Lord knew, and
the Lord knows in our lives what we've done. And therefore, when
Nathan came and set before David that parable of what we refer
to as the parable of the new lamb, and then David was convicted
of what it referred to and was very angry. But Nathan then came
and spoke very clearly and said to him, Thou art the man. Now it's good therefore when
the Spirit of God comes and speaks to us in similar words and says,
Thou art the man or Thou art the woman or Thou art the child. It matters not really, but all
of us need to come into this position to realise that God
does speak directly to our souls. Because this is not something
which is just natural, just concerning the things of our natural life. This is directing us very clearly
to our spiritual life. And it's a wonderful blessing
when the Spirit of God shows to us our spiritual condition,
our spiritual standing before a holy God. And therefore to
fall in with that confession of David, when the Lord spoke
to him and said, thou art the man. And so let us not turn away
and think, well, these words don't apply to me today. Well,
if you and I are a true believer, they will apply to us. And we
will acknowledge the application. And it will be a blessed time
if we are able to trace out God's dealings with us. He brought
David into that situation. And my friends, He brings us
all into that situation where you and I stand guilty before
a holy God. And it's good when we realise
that God is holy, and God is righteous, and we are unholy
by nature, and we are unrighteous. And we need God to look upon
us, and we need God have mercy upon us so that we can be thankful
there is a scripture like this which is directed and perhaps
has been directed to us in our life so that we realize yes I
am the man I am the boy the girl or the woman yes I've gone astray
I've left the fold of God wandered away and it may not be as I said
physically but it may be in our mind we wandered away and we've
gone our own way we've gone our own way God knows isn't he what
that own way means it may be that in our heart we've said
I will not have this man the Lord Jesus Christ to reign over
me I will not be under his jurisdiction. He will not be my king. He will not be my lord. I'm going to live my life. I'm
going to do what I want to do. And perhaps we've followed that
pattern in our life and we've gone about pleasing ourselves. But what a mercy then if the
appointed time has come in our lives. The hymn writer has a
line, not to propose, but to call by grace. You see, God's word is true,
and God's word is powerful. He doesn't just come with a proposition,
because he calls. And that call is directed to
our very souls. so that we do confess that we
are a sinner, we do confess that we have wandered away from God,
that we do confess that we've gone our own way. What a mercy,
what a blessing. If God has come and hasn't left
us to wander off We have that wonderful picture in the New
Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks about the flock and
the sheep, and he speaks about that one that wandered off. And the Lord speaks about the
shepherd. And he, of course, is the heavenly
shepherd. And he hadn't lost sight of that
one sheep. My friends, he hasn't lost sight
of any of his sheep. And if you and I are his sheep,
he hasn't lost sight of us. He knows where we've gone. And
he comes after us. And he finds us. And we may be
in a very impossible situation. We may have got ourselves into
a scene where naturally it doesn't seem possible that we're able to return and come once again
to the flock but you see the Lord knows where we are and in
that parable the Lord went after that one there were a hundred
sheep and that one sheep who wandered off the Lord went and
found that sheep well what a blessing today if you and I in our lives
have the evidence that God hasn't forgotten us he hasn't turned
away from us but he's known where we've gone and he's come and he's found us you
know in that condition sometimes God's people are almost, or they
are perhaps, too weak almost to return. But in that very beautiful account,
the Lord Jesus picked up that lost sheep and carried it back
to the flock. Didn't deserve it, and we don't
deserve it. But what a mercy of the Lord
has found us Ruined. Lost. Not able to recover ourselves. But the Lord came. Came where
we were. No one else knew, perhaps, where
we got to. No one else, perhaps, knew where
you got to. You see, the outward appearance
doesn't always describe the inward appearance. You may look very
good and very prim and proper. Your heart may be far away and
yet you may be crying out for mercy. Crying out, the Lord will
remember you with that favour he bears to his people. Crying out, the Lord won't cast
you off. someone of no value what a mercy therefore if you
and I are the partakers of that wonderful love of the Savior
and therefore we can follow this gracious and wonderful truth
described in this verse and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all you see you and I will never be able to recover ourselves
you and I will never be able to take away our sins not one
of them we won't be able to free ourselves from them but what
a blessing It is that we have the glorious and wonderful Gospel
spoken here very, very simply and very, very wonderfully. The
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. That means the Lord
Jesus Christ had our sins, every sin, put upon him. He carries them. He has carried
them. They were there with Him at Calvary. What a wonderful, blessed Saviour
we have, and therefore, perhaps with some understanding of our
great need of a Saviour, we look to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
as we look to Him, we see this description of what the Saviour
really is. not as depicted by worldly men,
but depicted by the Saviour as a tender plant, as a root out
of the dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire
Him. Naturally, to the natural mind,
to our natural understanding, there is nothing in Christ that
you and I would find attractive. But if the Holy Spirit convicts
us of our sinful condition and directs
us to the need that we have, as the Spirit shows us that we
are a lost sinner, we've wandered away, we need the Saviour, And
this is the Saviour who we read of here, described so graphically,
so that we have a right understanding of who the Saviour really is
and how wonderful it is that such a Saviour should come to
us, that such a Saviour should come where we are, that such
a Saviour should place us on his shoulders bring us to the
flock of Christ and so this description tells us there's no beauty that
we should desire him he's despised and rejected of men perhaps we've
despised the Savior perhaps we've rejected the Saviour. Perhaps
in our minds we've said, I will not have this man to reign over
me. And then what a wonder if the
Holy Spirit shows us that we are the man or the woman or the
boy or the girl in this situation, that we have despised and we
have rejected the Saviour. Why should he have looked upon
us? And yet this is the man of sorrows. This is the man acquainted with
grief. And we hid as it were our faces
from him. We didn't want to acknowledge
the Lord as our God. We didn't want Him to control
our lives. We didn't want to take up our
cross and follow Him. No, despised and we esteemed
Him not. You see, all by nature. despise the Lord Jesus Christ
all by nature esteem him not that means he's
of no value we don't count him of any value until the day of
redemption until the day when the Holy Spirit comes and touches
our heart causes us to consider, consider our way, consider where
we're going, consider the end of our life unless the Lord indeed
has mercy and is kind and gracious to us. Comes to us indeed as
we've recently meditated on that first chapter in the Thessalonians. And as we come to that last verse,
that 10th verse, which reads, And to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come. All of us need deliverance from
the wrath to come. All of us. deserve to endure
the wrath to come. All of us, by nature, have despised
and esteemed not the Saviour. And therefore we are all condemned.
We're all guilty sinners. Well, here is this great and
glorious word then. Surely, you see the word of God
is true. You and I can rely upon it, and
that's why we can be thankful. There's a statement like this,
surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. It's good to ponder sometimes
what the Lord Jesus Christ endured on our behalf so that we might
be blessed and be favoured to enter in to the glory of heaven,
not because there's any good in ourselves. And to think then,
as the Word of God then gives us a greater description of what
the Saviour endured on our behalf if we are those who the Lord
have laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The justicement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. We little really
appreciate the cost of our salvation. We little really understand what
was required in order that our sins might be washed away, that
we might be relieved of that burden of our sin. And so we
have a little picture, perhaps we might say a big picture, of
the Saviour who's born our griefs. That means He understands all
about us. And it's a wonderful thing to
meditate on that. That Almighty God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the second person in the Trinity, He understands all
about us from the very moment we were born. Right until the
moment we pass out of time. He knows everything about us. Nothing is hidden. And to think
then that this glorious Saviour was indeed wounded. Well, we
have some idea what that was for our transgressions. Because
the Word of God very clearly shows to us that Without shedding
of blood, there is no forgiveness. There's no forgiveness. And yet our blood shed would
not atone for sin. And therefore, we needed the
spotless, righteous, perfect Son of God, none less, to die
on our behalf on that cross at Calvary, suffering all incarnate
God could bear, with strength enough and none to spare. Never
underestimate the cost of your and my salvation. Never underestimate. It's very easy to read about
the suffering of Christ at Calvary. The suffering of Christ in that
judgment hall in Gethsemane and indeed really through his life
and to not really enter in to the cost that was required in
order that your soul and my soul might be redeemed. Well, therefore,
this word is very true. He was wounded for our transgressions. we're blessed with a little realisation
of the cost of our salvation. It does bring our sins into a
good and right perspective. And it's a wonderful blessing
then if we have that desire to always turn away from sin. Not
outward sin, but inward sin. The sin which the scripture describes
so easily besets us. It comes into our minds because
we don't desire it and don't want it, but there it is. And
the Lord was wounded for such transgressions. And he was bruised
for our iniquities. Yes, the Saviour had to endure
so much in that judgment hall. He was smitten by the Saviours
who smote him. We're not told how much. We could
believe it was a lot. And we're not told how many stripes. We could believe they were a
lot. And the Lord endured it all without complaining in order
that you and I might be saved from all our sins. And so he was bruised for iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. You see, all of
us need to be healed. We all need to be made right
with Almighty God. We all need, without any exception,
to have all our sins, every sin, every wrong thought, every wrong
word, every wrong action taken away. We can't do it. The only way it's done is as
we have here. And the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all. We can use another word the Apostle
uses. Our sin was imputed to Christ. Our sin was placed upon Him. Not one sin, not two sins, but
every single sin that we've ever committed in thought and word
and deed was placed upon the Saviour. Well, if we look at
ourselves, we may realise what a load, what a mountain of my
sin the Saviour endured. And then think of the weight
of the sins of the whole church of God. You and I can't appreciate
what an enormous weight that was. And yet you see the Lord
Jesus came into this world willingly, willingly, that he might live
that perfect life and die that sin-atoning death in order to
pay that price. you to take away our sin and
so here we have described in Isaiah a beautiful statement
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all it's very
positive statements aren't they here all we like sheep have gone
astray everyone We have turned everyone to his own way, everyone. The Lord laid on him, on him,
no one else, on the Lord Jesus Christ, the iniquity of us all. Well, therefore, what do you
and I think of Christ this morning? Is he our all sufficient saviour? Is he the one who we love and
adore because of his great and wonderful love to us. What a great blessing it is,
you know. The Apostle Peter, in his first
epistle towards the end of that second chapter, gives us a little
description. And this is what we're told. from verse 19. For this is thankworthy
if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if, when
ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But
if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto Were ye called? Every true believer is called
like this because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example that ye should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither
was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes ye were healed, for ye were as sheep going astray, but
are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Oh, my friends, what a mercy
if you and I have returned. We've come back to the saviour. That means we've been brought
back to pray unto him. for mercy, to pray unto him that
he will reveal himself to us as he does not unto the world,
that we may have the wonderful blessing that our sins are indeed
forever washed away. You may remember, I hope you
do, that last Sunday morning we preached from a verse in Psalm
119. Well, we didn't read the whole
Psalm, as you well know. It's a long Psalm. But the very
last verse in that 119th Psalm, the 160th verse tells us this. Sorry, the 176th verse tells
us this. I've gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments. The psalmist needed God to seek
him. All of us need the Lord to seek
us. Wherever we are, we need to be
constantly brought back to the Saviour. We need constantly to
know the Lord Jesus died for us. We need constantly to know
that we are described in this verse. And it's not just a random
statement. It's a very direct statement.
And what a blessing it is when a direct statement speaks to
our heart. And as we've said, we're able
to come and appreciate that condemnation. Thou art the man. I'm the person
standing here. I've gone astray. I've turned
to my own way. But what a blessing then to enter
in to the last part and be able to rejoice in this great truth. And the Lord had laid on him
the iniquity of us all and laid on him our iniquity, my iniquity. The Apostle Paul described something
of this. He knew what it was to be a sinner. He realized his condition. He
cried out, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. You see, he knew his Saviour,
and every born-again sinner knows the Saviour. I thank God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then, with a mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. There is therefore now, today, no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. What a blessing then to be made
free. And if the Son therefore shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. And therefore if we are
partakers of this sixth verse, how wonderfully true that is,
we are free in Christ eternally. All we like sheep, have gone
astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord, nonetheless, God
himself, hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Amen.