May it please the Lord to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 53 and reading the
first verse. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter
53 and reading the first verse. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? It would seem from such a statement
as this that there were very few in Isaiah's day who were
believing the report, who were believing the good news of the
gospel. and very few were favoured to
whom the arm of the Lord was indeed revealed. And so we've moved on some 2,800
years, I suppose, since this was written, and we find the
same question arises today. Who hath believed our report? And yet it's been declared right
from the very beginning, right from the days in Genesis, it
was declared. And yet you see men and women,
boys and girls have turned a deaf ear. And yet we read in the First,
two verses of Isaiah 65. These words, I am sought of them
that asked not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me, behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands
all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way
that was not good after their own thoughts. It's a very simple
and very vivid picture, really, of mankind from the very beginning. From the time when Adam and Eve
fell, and sinned in that Garden of Eden. And sin came into all
the world. The hymn writer explains it very
clearly. O thou hideous, monstrous sin,
what a curse hast thou brought in. Prior to that time of sin,
there was that perfect environment in which Adam and Eve lived.
We don't know how long Or how short. But we do know they were
there in that Garden of Eden. And they sinned. And everything
was turned around. And so we partake of that sin
today. We're all affected by it. It's
not something which has just passed us by. And we can understand. I hope we can anyway. what I've just quoted, O thou
hideous monster, sin, what a curse hast thou brought in. And yet,
right from those early days, the Gospel was preached, the
Gospel was declared, and of course we know that the first five books
of the Bible were written by Moses, and they would have been
available for the people in Isaiah's day life, of course, also Psalms
and probably the Proverbs and Song of Solomon, but the people
did not listen and did not believe the report. And it was a good
report. Well, we can think of the vast
multitudes who have not have not believed the great and glorious
report, the great and glorious truths contained in the Word
of God, but really it comes down to us as individuals. Because you and I stand before
God and all of us here have heard the Word of God, have read the
Word of God, who've heard the Word of God preached, young and
old, we've all heard it and the great question surely must be
as to whether we are amongst those who have believed the truth
of God or that we've turned away from it and ignored it and as
it were put it on the back burner and think well I think about
that when I'm a little bit older But of course none of us know
how long we've got on this earth. We don't know whether we will
see the light of another day. And therefore such a position
is important for us. Who hath believed our report? Well it would be a great blessing
if you and I can confirm that we have believed. And you are
the only person who knows whether that is true or not. You and I stand before a God,
a great God, a holy God, who's given us his word, who's given
us this great and glorious report. Have we believed? Have we turned away from it? How we cast doubt upon it when
the Lord knows precisely what is in our heart. I don't know
what's in your heart. The person next to you doesn't
know what's in your heart. But God knows what's in your
heart. And God knows whether you have
believed the great truths of the gospel. And if you have,
the reason is in the next clause. And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? That really means that God has
come and shown himself to us. It's a great and wonderful blessing
if that is so. And he's shown himself to us
as a righteous judge. Don't forget that God is the
judge. He is a righteous judge. He judges very fairly and he
judges very honorably. And we should all be judged.
What a mercy it is then if the Lord has revealed to us the great
truths of the gospel. It's very easy for us to put
such positions behind us and to just say in answer to such
a question, well, I don't really know. And we're not really concerned. Well, it's a blessing if the
Holy Spirit has caused us to consider. You might say, consider
what? Well, consider our latter end. Consider the day of our death. To consider whether we have indeed
believed the gospel, believed the greatest report believe the
Word of God, or whether we've turned away from it, and in effect
cast it aside, and are not really being concerned, being more concerned
about our natural lives than we have about our spiritual life. Well, the question is very personal,
isn't it? Who hath believed our report? And therefore tonight, if I was
to ask you, have you believed the Word of God? Have you believed
the report of all the great truths that are in the Word of God? Or have you sat on the fence? And felt, well, I don't need
to commit myself to such a question like that. I just, I think about
it. and what you're really saying
is you don't want to really consider it because you don't want it
to inflict your heart and mind and stop you being involved in
many things of this vain world but the question doesn't go away you won't be able to dismiss
it you may try to But you see, if the Lord has a favour to our
souls, and we do pray that He will have a favour to our souls,
and if indeed He does, then to be concerned that He reveals
Himself to us as our great and glorious Saviour. Now if that
is so, I can tell you something which
will be an evidence of the proof of the life of God in your soul. We've read together this chapter
in Isaiah 53. No doubt a chapter that we've
all read before, but to believe that this refers to none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not named as such, but it
does refer to him. And what a blessing it is, therefore,
if today you and I believe such a great and important truth,
and to recognize that God in his love to our souls has blessed
us with such an account which describes in some detail what
the Lord Jesus Christ faced and what he endured and what he went
through in order to save our souls, in order to redeem our
souls, in order to take away all our sin. That's what the
Lord Jesus Christ endured. And so perhaps you may have read
it and thought, well, I don't understand it. And I'm not interested
in understanding it. It'd be a great blessing if God gives you a spiritual
desire to understand such a wonderful chapter as this. It is a glorious
prophecy and it's one of the amazing proofs that the Word
of God is true because it describes in detail what the Lord Jesus
Christ had to suffer and what he endured. And what a confirmation
it is to someone who desires to have their confidence in what
God has said is declared so very clearly in this chapter. So, if you're asking the question
tonight, well, am I amongst those who believe the report? Those who believe, perhaps, the
words in this chapter? It's good to read it carefully. and to read it prayerfully and
to see the Holy Spirit will shine into your heart and into my heart
as we read it and to be thankful. There is such a record, such
a wonderful statement to encourage us. And it's a glorious account really
and it's amazing to think that God inspired Isaiah some 700
years before the Lord Jesus came into this earth to write in detail
what he would be like and what he would do and as we read this we're told 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. So don't have in your imagination
somebody very attractive naturally because in the previous chapter
that we read together this evening it does give a little description
in the 14th verse of that 52nd chapter this is what it says
as many were astonished at thee his visage that's the savior
remember another prophecy his visage was so marred more than
any man and his form more than the sons of men. You may think,
well, that's very strange and that's very unusual. Why should
that be so? Well, just think that Lord Jesus
Christ came to redeem his people. And in order to redeem his people,
he carried their sins. what a burden that was no doubt
he was burdened with it naturally and also spiritually a burden
it was yes and so we have this statement here he has no form
nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that
we should desire him no natural beauty and then he goes on he
is despised and rejected of men. Well, have you and I rejected
the Saviour? Have we said, I will not have
this man to rule over me. I'm not going to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm not going to be a disciple
of Jesus. You see, all God's children are
disciples. not perhaps in the same way that
the 12 were or the 11 were, but we all, if we are true follower,
are a disciple of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Well, do
we reject such statements? Are we amongst those who this
describes, despised and rejected of men? And this glorious Saviour,
we're told, was 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." Really the question is, what do we think
of Christ today? What do we think of Christ? Surely
he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. You think
of that. He hath borne our griefs. He knows what we're grieved with. We're not alone. We have a Savior
who knows about us. Do we believe that? Who hath
believed our report? Do we believe that we have a
glorious Saviour? One understands our position. He knows the path that you and
I are walking today, yesterday and tomorrow, what it will be
like. But let us remember this great
truth. The Lord tells us in the 107th
Psalm, He, that's the Lord, led them forth by the right way. The Lord God doesn't make any
mistakes. Do we believe that? The gracious
report given to us. We might think, well, I have
a very difficult path. Let us always compare our path
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that always puts things
in a right perspective. And here we're told, Surely he
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. That just gives
us a little insight into the glorious report of our Saviour. And I hope it puts things in
a very real and personal and good perspective for each one
of us as we journey on through life. Yes, what a blessing it
is then. Because here we have a God who
understands us inside out. Yes, he understands us very carefully. And that's wonderful, isn't it?
So we don't come into an unknown path, an unknown way. The Lord
knows all about us. And so he says these gracious
words. He was wounded for our transgressions. Sometimes we sin, don't we? We
don't think much about it. We just carry on in a sinful
way. What a blessing it is, though,
when the Holy Spirit directs us to realise that the Lord God
Almighty was wounded for our sins. If there'd been no sin,
there'd have been no wounds to the Saviour. If there'd been
no sin in the world, there'd be no need for a Saviour. But
there is sin in the world, and there is need of a Saviour. And
you and I need a Saviour. A Saviour to cleanse us from
all our sins. And then the Prophet goes on
to tell us, all we like sheep have gone astray. That means
we followed a wrong way. You know sheep, they all follow
each other. You see one sheep wander off
and the others tend to follow. And that's true really with the
whole human race. We tend to follow. we tend to
follow the wrong way we don't tend to follow the right way
and so the Lord says all we all we none of us are excused all
we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his
own way well God knows whether you turn to your own way or whether
you are following the Lord or whether you're not following
the Lord I suppose we could say If you and I are not following
the Lord, we've turned to our own way. We have turned everyone to his
own way and yet the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. That means all our sins. laid upon the Saviour. Come back
to what I said earlier. What a burden. What a tremendous
weight. Try and imagine it. Sometimes,
sometimes, probably not very often, we get a little realisation
of our sin. The many sins which we've committed. The sins which we still commit. And it may be a burden to us. It may be a heavy burden to us.
I think then the Lord Jesus took that burden. And to all of our
burdens, what a great and glorious Saviour we have, because the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. You know, it's really
an impossible position for us to really understand what a weight
the Lord Jesus carried in order that you and I might be freed
from the evil of sin. And then we're told he was oppressed. Sometimes you might think, well,
I'm oppressed. We have a great and glorious
savior. He was oppressed. That's why he understands you
and me today. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened Not his mouth. That means he never complained.
He never complained. It's a good lesson, isn't it,
for us? Sometimes we complain. We wish
the path wasn't so hard. It wasn't so difficult. Remember
what the blessed Lord had to endure in order that you and
I might be freed from the bondage and the burden of sin. Oh yes,
he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before a shearer's dumb, so he opened not his mouth. And as we have the account in
the New Testament of the Lord Jesus in that judgment hall,
and being accused so wrongly, we see how wonderfully he reacted. grace wonderfully bestowed upon
the Saviour. And today, as you and I journey
on in this world, we should remember, He giveth more grace. He gives His people today grace
to endure unto the end. He doesn't leave us, and He's
with us right down to the end of our journey. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living, 33 years of age. Perfect age really, the
middle of our life when we're probably the strongest and fittest.
And the Lord Jesus Christ was cut off cut off out of the land
of the living. And the reason for that, again
it comes back, to our sins. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no
violence Neither was any deceit in his mouth, yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, and
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. The Lord gave himself
as that great and wonderful sacrifice, an offering for sin. Just think
of that. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Has the Lord shown you, and has he shown me, these
great and wonderful truths? Because, you see, it puts things,
as I've said before, in a good and right perspective. He shall, an offering for sin,
he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. Well, what agony that was, wasn't
it? What travail it was. And yet we see that great and
wonderful plan of salvation being worked out. Do we believe it? Who hath believed our report? It's good for us sometimes to
meditate upon these great and precious truths which they are
and to come to some little understanding of what a great and glorious
Saviour we have and how unworthy we are of any notice. We deserve to be passed by. But
it all came where we were. Think of that man in that parable
we refer to as the Good Samaritan. Well, there were those who passed
by on the other side. But Jesus came where he was. And today, We can be thankful that Jesus
comes. He comes to us where we are.
Where we are. What a wonderful blessing it
is. That man was wounded. That man was in a bad state.
But his wounds were bound up. What a great blessing when the
Saviour comes and binds up our wounds and pours in oil and wine. That's the truth of the gospel.
And that will heal. And that will do us good. He
shall see the trouble of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Again, you see, this chapter
so very clearly speaks about the Saviour taking our transgressions,
bearing our sins, Carrying them what a great glorious God we
have and to realize That this Savior is very God the one who
created The universe, that one who has made you and me, had
to think that we have such a wonderful Saviour. In the last verse in
this chapter, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because
he hath poured out his sorrow and death. and he was numbered
with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors. It's a wonderful phrase, isn't
it, to conclude this chapter with, the thing that he makes. He made intercession for the
transgressors, and we are transgressors, we are sinners, and I think that
he is the one that intercedes for us. We don't deserve it,
do we? We've offended God. We've disobeyed God. We've turned
our back upon God. And yet this kind and gracious
Saviour has borne our sins and made intercession for us. Well, these are great and important
and wonderful truths, aren't they? Perhaps remember that the
Apostle Paul made a mention of these things when he wrote to
the Romans. And in the 10th chapter we read,
as we come towards the end of it, this is what the Apostle
says, But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith,
Lord, who hath believed our report? So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Well, what a blessing for us
tonight. If it's where we are here, we hear the word of God. And when I say that, I mean this. The Lord has made bare his arm. His arm reveals to us, that saving
arm has delivered us from the wrath to come. And we can truly
thank and bless our God. What a great and glorious saviour
then we have. So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Well, what a mercy if tonight
God gives you and me faith to believe the great and glorious
truths of the gospel. So in answer to this question,
who hath believed our report? By the grace of God and nothing
else, by the grace of God, we can say, Lord, I do believe. Lord, I have believed. And Lord,
I pray for grace that I will believe. These are wonderful
favors. These are eternal blessings. And you and I are here tonight
to hear the gospel. We're not here to just waste
our time. We're not here just to spend
our time and satisfy our conscience. May we be here tonight to hear
the glorious truths of the gospel. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish
nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold. We've
already read that tonight in the 65th of Isaiah. Esaias is
very bold and says, I was found of them that sought me not. Well, have we found the Lord? Has he come to us? To use the
scripture expression, he's quickened us. made us spiritually alive. He's done it. He's made His arm
bare on our behalf. He's come and revealed Himself
to us, unworthy sinners, of our great and glorious Saviour, as
that One who gave His life upon Calvary's cross, shed His most
valuable, precious blood, that you and I might be eternally
saved. I was found of them that sought
me not. Look back in your life. Look
back to see whether there was that time the Lord sought you. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God, he to save my soul from danger,
interposed his precious blood. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not for me. But to Israel he saith, All day
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people." Well I hope tonight you and I don't fall
into that category. That we're disobedient and gainsaying
people. But that we may be able to say
with true humbleness that we were made willing in the day
of his power. The power of God as it came and rested upon us
and made us willing. Willing indeed to do his will. Willing indeed to take up our
cross and to follow Him. Well, what a great and glorious
Saviour we have, and so thankful we should be for the wonderful
mercy and the wonderful blessing that the Lord has indeed given
to us. We should be very, very thankful
for His love and for His mercy. we can read in the Gospel of
John some very wonderful truths in the Gospel of John but we
read in the 12th chapter again similar words really that we've
already commented upon but he says but though he had done so
many miracles before them yet they believed not on him yes
you might think well surely With miracles, people are going to
believe, and no doubt. Well, we told you, although he
had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on
him, that the saying of Isaiah, the prophet might be fulfilled,
which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom
hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could
not believe, because the desire said again, He has blinded their
eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with
their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I should heal them. See, there is a very solemn separation
in the word of God. And what a blessing if you and
I have that real God-given desire to have the evidence in our souls,
our eternal souls that we are amongst those who do believe
and that our eyes which were at one time blind have now been
spiritually opened. So we rejoice in what Christ
has done. We rejoice in the glorious gospel
There was a time when it meant nothing to me. The Word of God
tells us in Lamentations, is it nothing to you all year that
passed by? And there would have been a time
when we had to say, yes, it meant nothing to me. But what a blessing
it is if today the glorious Gospel has touched our hearts. and we
receive faith to believe, so that we do rejoice in Christ
our Saviour and have no confidence in our flesh. So, in answer to
this question, who hath believed our report? We can humbly say,
by the grace of God. By the grace of God, remember,
that's the unmerited favour of God. I have believed, and by
the grace of God I do believe, and by the grace of God I will
believe. Who hath believed, I report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. Amen.