Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn 161. The tune is Saint Marie,
835. The Lord in the day of his anger
did lay our sins on the Lamb, and he bore them away. He died
to atone for our sins, not his own. The Father has punished
for us. his dear son. Hymn 161. Tune Saint Marie 835. ? Who in the day of His anger did
play ? ? And sings of the Lamb and people there met Him ? ? We dine to pleasure your passions,
O Israel ? ? The Father has punished, for us He's bestowed ? ? In joy we have proven ? ? Inside
of each other ? ? Tis the wonder of love ? ? The wonder of love
? ? And ransom a prisoner ? ? How
short he is! ? ? Come see if there ever ?
? Once more a life is! ? He came from up above, close
past the river. He was there and stopped us,
because he was blind. ? And then time eternal ? ? They
still shall adore ? ? That ocean of comfort ? ? And water for
sure ? Offered Him to die, and on this
we reply, That Jesus has loved us, they cannot tell why. ? Of this we can tell ? ? He loved
us so well ? ? As to lay down His life ? ? Redeem
us from death ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. 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 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 had as it
were our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed
him not. 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. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned everyone his own
way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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
her shearers is done, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from
prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living. 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. When
thou shalt make his soul 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 shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. 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
soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he
bared the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant to us a spirit of real
prayer. Most merciful and eternal God,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, we bow before thy glorious majesty. We desire, O Lord, a spirit of
true worship. We come as poor sinners before
thee. As we've read together in thy
word, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone
to his own way. Gracious God, how true this is. We come in confession of our
sins, of our wanderings, of our backslidings. We pray to be washed
in the precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all
sin. How we need that precious blood,
that precious blood of Jesus, the son of God, that has satisfied
all the demands of divine justice, that made a new and living way
into the holy place. Gracious God, we pray that thou
wouldst direct our hearts into the love of God and the patient
waiting for Christ Jesus. We pray that the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the sacred
fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon us here
in this service this afternoon. We pray that thou wouldst be
with us as we meet around thy word, and be with us as we meet
around thy table, that we may truly remember thee, remember
thy sufferings and thy sorrows, thy grief and thy shame, when
thou wast here upon earth. But may we also remember those
wonderful things that we have read. 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. We pray, most
gracious Lord, that thou wouldst guide us and direct us in that
right way, that thou wouldst shine into our hearts that thou
wouldst graciously fill us with thy Holy Spirit, that we may
be instructed in the way of righteousness, that the eyes of our understanding
may be enlightened, that we may behold wondrous things in thy
word. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for then the power of the Holy Ghost, it may be with us here
this afternoon as it was the apostle could say when he wrote
his word to the Thessalonians, for our gospel came unto you,
not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much
assurance. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
teach us thy ways, lead us in thy paths, and graciously guide
us unto Jesus Christ, that we may behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world, that we may behold him as our
prophet, as our priest, and as our king. We do humbly pray thee
that we may truly worship thee. Grant us that gracious determination
that the apostle speaks of, for I determine to know nothing among
men save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Lord, we pray that
that may be so in the pulpit, and it may be so in the pew,
that desiring to know one thing is needful, and that may we be
like the dear apostle, that I may know him in the power of his
resurrection, in the fellowship of his son, Grant that we may
know the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, we do pray thy blessing
upon us then as a church and as a congregation, that thou
would work mightily, powerfully and effectually among us to the
great glory of thy holy name. We do pray for the little ones
and the children that they may be blessed of thee, that the
fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom may be given
unto them. We pray, O Lord, for the young
friends that they too may know thy blessing and know the inward
teaching of thy spirit and know what they are as poor sinners
before a holy God and be brought to realise that Jesus is the
way to God, Jesus is the way to bliss. Oh, do hear us, Lord,
we pray, on their behalf, and richly bless them, guide them
in all the paths of providence, graciously lead them and direct
them in all matters, help them to commit their way unto the
Lord and trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass. We
pray, most gracious Lord, that thou in thy precious mercy would
remember parents and give wisdom and grace to bring up their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And remember, Lord,
we pray, all in the midst of the journey of life and undertake
for them and graciously bless them. We do humbly pray. Lord, we pray that thou would
Remember those of us that are in the evening time of life's
journey. And Lord, we must soon pass from time into eternity. We pray to be prepared. And now
my God, prepare my soul for that great day and wash me in thy
precious blood. Take all my sins away. We pray
that thou in thy precious mercy would remember all those that
are in any trouble or trial or perplexity, in sorrow, sadness
or bereavement, and undertake for them. And we pray, most gracious
Lord, that Thou would remember those that are yet dead in trespasses
and in sins, that know not Thy truth, O that Thou would open
the word, and open their eyes, and open their ears, Remember
this village. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets. Grant that
many, many precious souls may yet be gathered in. We do humbly
beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst grant that we may see the pulling down of
the strongholds of Satan and the setting up of the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners. Lord, let thy work
appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. We do thank thee for thy holy
day. We thank thee for our little
house of prayer. We thank thee for every mercy
of thy kind providence. But above all, we thank thee
for Jesus Christ, for the glory of his holy name, for the fullness
of that grace that is in him. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, for the holy life he lived as a man here upon earth and
fulfilling thy holy law on the behalf of thy people. We thank
thee that in him is the bringing in of everlasting righteousness
for his people, We thank the most gracious Lord for Calvary,
where the lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine
justice was satisfied. We thank the most gracious Lord
that he died to rise again and he has swallowed up death in
victory and brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. Oh Lord God of hosts, Do hear
us, we pray Thee, and do graciously be with us and guide us and direct
us in every future step. We thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, that Thou art a God that hears and answers prayer. We thank Thee for the throne
of grace. We thank Thee that through our Lord Jesus Christ,
we know the love of our heavenly Father and through him we receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. O gracious God, be with us now
as we turn to thy holy word. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask, with the forgiveness
of all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us continue by singing together
hymn number 149. The tune is Hull, 714. But Jesus is the same. Hymn 149, tune hull 714. And Jesus is his name, and the
King of kings. ? And I trot and trot and trot
? ? And each of his verses I will sing again ? ? Great and small ? ? And brought
in power and grace in all ? ? Though he was young and frail ? ? And
weary and sad ? ? He is coming ? ? Every ever moment new ? ? The
roads that we're on sometimes long ? ? And when they change
we change in song ? ? The home of the brave ? ? How great Thee, how great Thine
we bow ? ? To everlasting joy Thou dost give to us ? ? Heard from the ancient tomb ?
? We have come ? ? To lift us from the ground ? ? There on the mountain top ? ? And now he bends his eyes upon
us ? ? To pay the bolts of heaven and earth ? ? He's most rewarding and most
true ? ? And Christ, in vision, shall be friend ? ? Fifty meters
from thee ? ? Yet wonder and still wonder,
Lord ? ? Exult in joy with wonder, Lord ? ? And anew you see ? ? Adore and adore thee ? ? Ever
on earth ? ? Ever sing thy praise ? ? As you have ? ? Here is your
Father's name ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53, and we will
read verse 6 for our text. Isaiah chapter 53, verse 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. What a point of truth we have
here. Sheep naturally run astray. If they're not hemmed in with
a hedge, they run astray. If they're not guided by a shepherd,
they run astray. And even when they are guided
by a shepherd, the shepherd often has to seek them out. And what
an illustration that is of the Lord's people. What an illustration it is of
mankind in general. All we like sheep have gone astray. As the psalmist says in Psalm
51, he speaks there, against thee and
thee only have we sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
We go astray. And he says in that same psalm,
we are born in sin. We are shaped in iniquity. That
is our state and conditioned by nature. When Adam fell into
sin, I always like the way the hymn
writer puts it, when Adam by transgression fell, he ruined
all his future race. The seeds of evil once brought
in increased and filled the world with sin. We sin because we're
sinners. That is our condition by nature. We're born in sin. Adam sinned and Eve sinned and
therefore the whole of their posterity is born in sin. Man is fallen. You are fallen, I am fallen.
We have a fallen nature. And really that's at the very
heart of what the first part of our text is. All we like sheep
have gone astray. Gone astray from God. Gone astray
from the word of God. Gone astray from the truth of
God. Gone astray from the law of God.
We stray into forbidden paths, into ways that displease God. All we, and it's a very comprehensive
word, isn't it? All, all have gone astray. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. everyone to his own way. You know the Lord Jesus Christ
in his teachings he speaks of it indeed King David speaks of
it in that longest of all the chapters in the Bible Psalm 119
and David confesses in the last verse
of that Psalm verse 176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. And isn't that true of us each? We go astray like a lost sheep. The Apostle Peter in his epistle
He speaks about going astray like sheep. Going astray from
the way of God, from the truth of God. I believe it's in the first epistle
of Peter that he speaks of it in the second chapter. It speaks of the sufferings of
our Lord Jesus Christ. and it says in verse 21, 1 Peter
2 verse 21, for even here unto where ye called, 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 bare 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. the shepherd of the sheep is
our Lord Jesus Christ and you are now returned. What a great
mercy indeed if we are returned unto the shepherd and bishop
of our souls, even the Lord Jesus Christ. You know in the epistle
of John and in the 10th chapter the Lord Jesus speaks there of
himself as being the good shepherd. And he gives us some instruction
here, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by
the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door, is the shepherd of the sheep to him the porter openeth
and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep
by name and leadeth them out and when he put his forth his
own sheep he goes before them what a wonderful mercy isn't
it that the lord goes before his sheep he goes before them
and the sheep follow him for they know his voice My dear beloved
friends, do you know the voice of the Good Shepherd? Do you
know the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ? For they know His voice. What
a mercy if we know the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from Him. For they
know not the voice strangers. You see the Lord Jesus here says
in in verse 7 then said Jesus unto them again verily verily
I say unto you I am the door of the sheep I am the door verse 9 he says
I am the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and
shall go in and out of and find pasture. What a clear direction
we have here. In verse 14, the Lord Jesus says,
I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Christ laid down his life for
the sheep. God so loved the world, he gave
his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should be saved. Jesus, we sing that lovely hymn,
don't we? Jesus is the way to God. Jesus is the way to bliss. Jesus
is the way, the truth, and the life. You don't, you will never
find life anywhere else except in Jesus Christ. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. But by me. All we like sheep
gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. You know in this chapter the
Lord Jesus Christ is very beautifully revealed when he suffered and
bled and died for the sins of his people and It speaks of him
in verse two, and he shall grant before him as a tender plant,
this is Christ, 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. You often see pictures of
the Lord Jesus Christ and they put a halo around his head or
an aura around his person. Of course, what that scripture
means There is no form nor comeliness that we should desire him. He
didn't look any different to any other man. He looked exactly
the same as any other man. There's no form nor comeliness
that we should desire him. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. And then we read, of the
path of the Lord Jesus. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. This is the glorious
person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God manifest
in the flesh. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son
of God. We read in the beginning of John's
Gospel and the Word and that term refers to the divine nature
of the Son of God, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Full of grace and
truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ is full
of grace. Grace literally means the free,
unmerited favor of the Eternal God. That's what grace is. And we constantly read in the
New Testament of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the
apostle says to the Ephesians, by grace are ye saved, that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And so the glorious person
spoken of in this chapter is our suffering saviour. He is
despised and rejected of men. when Philip was sent to the Ethiopian
eunuch in the desert in Gaza and he came to his chariot and
he was reading here in Isaiah 53 and Philip said to him understandest
thou what thou readest and he said of whom speaketh the man
of himself or of some other man and we read and Philip beginning
at the same scripture preached unto him Jesus. Read in these
scriptures that we have before us. The 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. But then he tells us very clearly,
very beautifully Why the Lord Jesus Christ was suffering this,
surely He had 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. All we like sheep have gone astray. What is revealed here in this
chapter is the way of salvation, is the way to God. We read in
the first epistle of Timothy, there is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life
of ransom for all to be testified in due time. He was wounded for
our transgressions. What a wonderful thing when Christ
is seen by faith as suffering in your room, in your place,
and in your stead. This is the very heart and center
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he was wounded for our transgressions. The word of God clearly states
he did no sin he did no sin neither was guile
found in his mouth we're told in the first epistle of john
that sin is any transgression of the law of god it's when we
break the holy law of god of the ten commandments that we
sin against god but when we look at this man the man christ jesus
he did no sin He was holy. He was holy in his
life. His thoughts, his actions, his
words, they were holy words. I often point out to you that
word in Psalm 37 and verse 37, mark the perfect man as Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only perfect man has ever lived upon this earth. All we, like
sheep, have gone astray, but this man, the glorious holy God-man,
he did no sin. He lived a holy, pure, perfect,
spotless life. And he was wounded for our transgressions. When he was crucified on Calvary's
tree, 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. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord, and you'll notice
the Lord is in capital letters. And that means it was translated
from the name Jehovah. Jehovah had laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And I've often pointed out to
you that the word iniquity, it actually refers to the original
sin that is in our nature. We all have sinned. We all have
iniquity in our hearts. We've fallen. the sons and daughters
of Adam were born instead. But here we see the Lord Jesus
Christ as our substitute. We see him in our room, in our
place, and in our stead. And this is what is presented
to our view here in Holy Scripture. And the Lord, that's his heavenly
Father, our heavenly Father, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He became our sin bearer, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He bear our sins upon the tree.
He took our sins. Christ did. The Father took the sin of the
church. It's what is known as the doctrine
of imputation. It literally means that our heavenly
father lifted the sin off his church and he laid it on his
son. And the act of lifting the sin
off the church and laying it on Christ is called imputation. He imputed our sin to his holy
son, Jesus Christ. He laid upon him the iniquity
of us all. And the Lord Jesus Christ willingly
took our sins. The apostle says in one place
in the epistles, he took our sins and he nailed them to his
cross. That's what Jesus did. He took
our sins and he nailed them to his cross. He has laid upon him. But it was a divine act of our
heavenly father, literally to take our sins and to impute them
to his son, Jesus Christ. Of course, the other way of imputation,
it goes both ways. That perfect obedience of Christ
in scripture is called the righteousness of Christ. And our Heavenly Father
takes the righteousness, he takes our sin away and he takes the
righteousness of Jesus and he lays it on the church. It's called
a robe. are clothed in that glorious
everlasting robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That spotless
robe. We read in the book of the Revelation
concerning that in the seventh chapter of the book of the Revelation. How beautifully do we read of
the church in glory and we read of the blood and righteousness
of Christ. in the Revelation chapter 7. And one of the elders, in verse
13, one of the elders answered saying unto me, what are these
which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? Those white
robes are the righteousness of Christ. And whence came they? And I said unto him, sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, these are
they, which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Wash their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
that's what we call a connective word, therefore they are before
the throne of grace. Why? Because of the blood and
the righteousness of Jesus Christ, therefore are they before the
throne of God. My beloved friends, if you and
I ever reach heaven, the only reason will be the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ. There'll be no other reason.
Says in Titus, doesn't it? Not by works of righteousness
that I have done, but according to his abundant mercy, that mercy
that flows through Jesus Christ our Lord, that mercy that is
in that precious sin-atoning blood, the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Therefore are they before
the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple,
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun lighten, then nor any heat, for the lamb which is in
the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them
unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. Now the only cause of that wonderful
mercy that reaches a poor sinner's heart is the precious blood of
Jesus Christ, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ and he became,
this this pure, this holy, this spotless Saviour became or was
made sin. He was made sin for us. He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. You know, we read in the second
epistle to the Corinthians and chapter 5 where The apostle so
beautifully speaks, he says, this is speaking of Christ, for
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. He hath made him
to be sin for us. It's exactly what we have in
our text. He laid upon him the iniquity of us all. You know,
God couldn't just wink at sin. God is a holy God. And he said
in his word, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. That's part of
the curse of the law. But he sent his son, Jesus Christ,
to live a holy life on our behalf. all we that have gone astray.
He sent him to live a holy life on our behalf and to fulfill
God's holy law on our behalf and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to clothe us in that glorious robe of his righteousness. We read in Jeremiah chapter 23,
it's written in capital letters, the Lord our righteousness, Lord
our righteousness. Jehovah's Sidkenu is our righteousness. It's the church that is speaking. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He goes on and he speaks of the
sufferings of Christ. 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 is done, he openeth
not his mouth. That's Christ when he goes to
the cross of Calvary. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off. out of the land of the living.
Christ, when he was crucified, was cut off out of the land of
the living. Then he tells us why. For the
transgression of my people was he stricken. He made his grave
with the wicked, with the rich and his dead, because he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Then those I always think they're
amazing words, the beginning of verse 10, yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. 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. That's resurrection.
He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. That's our
Lord Jesus Christ. And he says in verse 12, therefore,
when I divide him a portion with the grain, he shall divide the
spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto
death. And he was numbered with the
transgressors and he bear the sin of many and made intercession
for transgressors. Christ makes intercession. You know when our Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified and when he voluntarily entered into death
itself, he said, Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.
It was a voluntary act of the Son of God to do that. And he
commended his holy human soul into the hands of his heavenly
father. And as the scriptures say, the
body without the spirit is dead, being alone. And so when the
soul of Christ was given up to his father, he entered into death
itself. It says in John's gospel, the
Lord Jesus said, I have power to lay my life down. I have power
to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. He died down his life for his
friends. And on the third day, having
entered into death itself, on the third day he rose again.
He rose from the dead. It's one of the fundamental foundation
truths of our most holy faith. The doctrine of the resurrection
is all based and the foundation of it is in the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. He died for our sins
and he rose again for our justification. And the fact that he rose again
is the evidence that sin has been put away. That the transgressions
that he was wounded for have been paid. The redemption price
has been paid. He rose to declare that sin had
been put away. To be justified is to be declared
to be without sin. That's the meaning of justification.
The apostle says in the Romans, therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone his own
way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. May the Lord add his blessings.