Let us turn to God's Word. We
turn to the New Testament and the Gospel according to St. John. In the 12th chapter of John and I'll read verses 37 through to 41. John 12, reading
from verse 37. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the
saying of Esaias 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 that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and
hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts, and be converted and I should
heal them. These things said Esaias when
he saw his glory and spake of healing. And the subject I really
want to take up is that of faith, saving faith, justifying faith,
praying faith, faith as the greatest of all the miracles. Faith as
the greatest of all the miracles. It is interesting here because
we see how in verse 40 the words spoken there or recorded there
are of course taken from Isaiah chapter 6 that vision that was granted
to the prophet when the king Uzziah died is in the temple
and he sees God's throne and he sees God himself seated there
in majesty and sovereignty and the angels, the seraphim round
about the throne of God and here we see that John in the gospel
identifies that vision with the Lord Jesus Christ. As he says
in verse 41, These things said Esaias when he saw His glory
and spake of Him. Well, who is the one that is
being spoken of in this whole paragraph? Well, it's the Lord
Jesus. Though He had done so many miracles,
we're told they didn't believe on Him and yet The miracles were
the evidence of His deity, and then John makes it quite plain
that He is there in Isaiah chapter 6. He is truly the Eternal Son
of God. He is very God, of very God. But the words that I really want
to concentrate on as I take up this theme of faith as the greatest
of the miracles. The words I really want to send
to your thoughts on are from Isaiah, but not from chapter
6, but rather from that 53rd chapter, the familiar words of
chapter 53 that we read. So our text is verses 37 and
38. Though he had done so many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him that the saying of
Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, you have
believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been
revealed? And faith is a great miracle
because in human terms it is clearly something quite impossible. The verse from Isaiah 53.1 is
referred to again by Paul in Romans chapter 10. where he's
speaking of the ministry of the Gospel, the preaching of the
Gospel. Romans 10.16, they have not all obeyed, because Isaiah
says, Lord, who hath believed our reports? For anyone to believe
that report is a miracle. And the hymn writer, Walter Shirley
says, I'm a miracle of grace that must be true of everyone
who has come to that faith that is saving and justifying and
certainly in the context here we might say that we're being
reminded of the miracles of the Lord Jesus and the most notable
miracle is recorded of course in the previous chapter because
in chapter 11 we are told of how the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus
again from the dead and then we come into chapter 12 and we're
told in the opening verse then Jesus six days before the Passover
came to Bethany where Lazarus which had been dead where Lazarus was who had been
dead whom he raised from the dead. And then again at verse
9 we are told, Much people of the Jews therefore knew that
he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that
they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. All this great miracle that the
Lord had performed. He had simply spoken the word,
remember? He says, as it says there in
verse 43 of the previous chapter, "...he cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about
with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go." What a remarkable thing is this that the Lord Jesus
is doing. Previously, we have those words,
those wonderful words that he speaks to Martha. In verse 25, he says unto her,
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Or to believe, that truth is
a miracle of grace. and remember the significance
of all these miracles that the Lord is performing as we've said
many many times the word that's continually used in John's gospel
is literally the Greek word for a sign the miracles are signs
and the sign points to the Lord Jesus and authenticates his ministry
and God is owning, he's preaching because he has power to do these
great and remarkable works as Nicodemus is brought to acknowledge
there in the third chapter. Rabbi we know that thou art a
teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest except God be with him. God was with him. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana of Galilee we're told in chapter 2 where he changes
the water at the wedding feast and it's the best wine that they're
drinking now, it was water, but now what has the Lord done? Another
great miracle, this beginning of miracles, did Jesus in Cana
of Galilee and manifested forth His glory and His disciples believed
in Him. And yet, I say again, the greatest
miracle is that of those disciples believing or anyone believing.
And so in a sense we recognize that miracles have not ceased,
There is still the preaching of the Gospel, and where there
is that preaching of the Gospel, there will be those miracles
of grace where sinners are brought to faith. Well, coming to these
words in verses 37 and 38, Though we have done so many miracles
before them, yet they believe not on Him, that the saying of
Isaiah's prophet might be fulfilled which he spake, Lord, who hath
believed our report, And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been
revealed? And really taking up two words
that we have there in verse 38. Who hath believed our reports? I want to speak of the report
that is being spoken of. And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? I want to speak of that revelation. Which is the miracle really.
First of all to say something with regards to this report. Now the particular verse of course
that is being referred to in Isaiah 53 is the opening verse
of that great chapter where it simply states it, who have
believed our report and to whom have the arm of the Lord been
revealed. But you may observe in your Bibles
that the word that we have there which is report in the text is
also rendered differently in the margin where we have the
idea of the doctrine or the hearing. The word then obviously is a
Hebrew word that's very full and pregnant in its meaning and
there's no single equivalent that can be used in our English
language. And so, whilst it's a report,
there's also that idea of doctrine. It's a doctrinal report. But
there's also some reference to the hearing of this report. What does this report concern
then? Well, it concerns a person. As we see in the following verses
of Isaiah 53, this person who is a servant, and a righteous
servant, and a suffering servant, concerns actually the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the work that the Lord Jesus
Christ came to accomplish. We are immediately referred to
this person in that 53rd chapter, he shall grow up before him,
as a tender plant and a root out of a dry ground." Now, in
Isaiah, previous to that, we read of one back in chapter 11,
and there in the opening verse, a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a branch out of his roots. And it's the same one who is
being spoken of at the beginning of chapter 53. This one who is
out of the Roots of Jesse. Jesse the father of David of
course. This one is the same who is referred
to there in that second verse. The plant out of the dry ground.
It's a reference to the great mystery of the incarnation. That
God became man. That's the great mystery of godliness.
God manifest in the flesh. God contracted to a span incomprehensibly
made man in the words of Charles Wesley. Oh, it's this man. And with regards to his physical
form, he's like a root out of a dry ground. He has no form
or comeliness. There's nothing particularly
striking about him, that seems to suggest. He's a real man because,
as we read through the chapter, we see that he doesn't just have
a feeble, frail body, like other men, but he also has a soul. Verse 11, "...he shall see of
the travail of his soul," it says. Previously, "...when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin." This one is certainly
a man and he is that one who has come to serve the Lord God
and yet as we've already said from what follows in the passage
before us tonight we also see something of his deity because
John identifies him there in verse 41 with the one that the
prophet Isaiah saw in the temple seated upon the throne of God
he then is one who is God and man and how he works how God
speaks of him in that 53rd chapter of Isaiah by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many well that's his great work
the work of justification by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many At the end of the previous 52nd chapter
we read of him. Behold, my servant shall do prudently,
it says. How he is careful and diligent
in doing all the work that the Father has given him to do. He is that one who is obedient to
his Father's will. This is how he accomplishes a
righteousness wherewith he will justify his people. He has obeyed all the commandments
of God in his life. He has then manifested an obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross. He has made the great sin atoning
sacrifice. bearing the punishment that was
due to those who were the transgressors of God's holy law? Isn't that
the theme that is so clear throughout that 53rd chapter, time of the
game? Verse 4, 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 to his own way and the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all and he goes on he bare
the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors all this
is the work that he has done this is that one who is truly
the Lord's servant who has done all his goodwill and pleasure. So what do we learn with regards
to this report? Who has believed our report?
The report concerns the doctrine of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ that he is a man and yet this man is never anything less
than God and does the great work that he has come to perform.
ultimately making that great sin atoning sacrifice. But it's not just a report that concerns
a person. There's a sense in which this
report is to be identified with the gospel. because that's what
the gospel is. It's the gospel of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. It's all that we read when we
come to the New Testament, the four opening books of the New
Testament, the fourfold gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
We have a fourfold account of the birth, and the life, and
the ministry, and the death, and the resurrection of this
person, Jesus of Nazareth. And what is this? This is the
gospel. And what is the gospel? It is
God's great promise. That's what the gospel is. I've
said several times, in a remarkable way, the apostle Paul identifies
the gospel, doesn't he, in the opening words of his epistle
to the Romans. He's speaking of himself as the
Lord's servant, as the apostle of Christ, who has been separated
to the ministry of the Gospel. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God which
he had promised, which he had promised afore by
his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. And what of this Gospel? Well,
it's concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. which was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh. He's come out of the stem of
Jesse but he's also declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. The gospel is God's promise and
there is a sense in which the words that we have in the New
Testament for gospel and for promise are synonyms This is
how the Gospel is really defined. It's God's great promise that
has now been accomplished in the fullness of the time. And
when we come to the Acts we see how the apostles are preaching
this promise. In the preaching of Peter, and
that record that we have in the second chapter of Acts of course,
sermon he preaches there on the day of Pentecost. And as he comes
to the close of that message, what does he say? Verse 39, the
promise, the promise is unto you and to your children and
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. That's what he's proclaiming,
that great promise of the Gospel. And then again, We have recorded
in the 13th chapter another sermon, this time Paul's preaching with
Antioch in Pisidia. And again here he speaks of the
promise. Verse 32, We declare unto you
glad tidings, O that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he
hath raised up Jesus again. as it is also written in the
2nd Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Or the Gospel then? It's God's
great promise, and the promise altogether centers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. All the promises of God in Him
are yea, and in Him are men, we're told, to the glory of God
by us. And wasn't there the promise
that God had given to his son in terms of the covenant as we
see at the end of that 53rd chapter. Here is God's promise to his
servants, "...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. All his
work, his priestly work, sacrificing, interceding, none of it in vain.
The Father has given his promise. And so Christ is to see the travail
of all his sufferings. Here then is what the report
is. It's God's promise and He concerns the person of His only
begotten Son whom He sends in the fullness of the time to accomplish
all that great work of redemption and salvation. But what of the
revelation? What do we read here in the text?
Though he that is the Lord Jesus hath done so many miracles before
them, yet they believe 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? Well here we have parallel statements really. who have believed our reports,
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed." They're
parallel statements. They complement one another.
They're related to each other. And what are we reminded of here?
Well, the impossibility of anyone ever coming to believe this report. Who has Christ come to save?
He's come to save sinners, and these sinners are dead. They
are dead in trespasses and in sins. The natural man. Receivers are not the sins of
the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him.
Neither can he know them. Because they are spiritually
discerned. He is not a spiritual man. He
is a natural man. He is dead in his sins. He has
a mind. But what is the natural mind?
The cardinal mind is enmity against God. He is not subject to the
law of God. Neither indeed can be. Now this is those to whom this
message is to be proclaimed. They are to hear this. Remember
we have those alternative readings back in Isaiah 53. The report
in the margin is also said to be the doctrine or the hearing.
There's something there to hear. But how can they receive what
they're hearing? Now those whose understanding
is darkened, they are alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that's in them, because of the blindness and
the hardness of their hearts. And yet, the message is to be
proclaimed, now to hear it. Oh remember, how at the time of the Protestant
Reformation the preaching of the Word of God was wonderfully
restored. And he was one of the English
martyrs, wasn't he? Bishop Latimer who said concerning
preaching, it's the only office that God has given to save us
by. The preaching, he was a great
preacher, was Bishop Latimer. And he sealed his ministry in
his death, his bloody death, his martyr's death. And so, turning
to the second part really, we've considered the report, but now
the revelation. And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? I want to mention three things
with regards to faith and this report. First of all, faith and
preaching. faith and preaching we know how
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe by the foolishness of preaching what is the foolishness
of preaching? well I would say the reference
is both to the content of the message but also to the manner
in which the message is being communicated so it's the act
of preaching as well as what's being preached men consider it
to be foolish and men dismiss preaching they don't want long
sermons in the mind do they? many so-called churches have
to cater for that they'd sooner have some entertainment they'd
sooner do a lot of singing and so on and so forth but what gets Neglected more and more is the
ministry, the preaching, the proclamation, the expounding
of the Word of God. And yet, it pleases God by the
foolishness of preaching to save, and to save who them that believe.
Them that believe. Now, we've already made some
reference to those words in Romans 10, Because, remember in verse
16, Paul quotes this same passage from Isaiah 53.1. But look at
the context. He's speaking very much of preaching
there in Romans 10. Verse 14, And then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? And they shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And they shall
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except
they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel, nor they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Esaias
said, Lord, you hath believed our report. Faith is impossible to men. It
requires a miracle of grace. So then faith cometh by hearing.
He says, and hearing by the word of God. Faith and preaching,
the word preach doesn't profit them because they believe not.
Oh, there must be faith. So, there must be something more
than faith in association with preaching. There must be faith
and power. There must be faith and power.
As I said, what we have here, at the end of this 38th verse,
is these parallel statements from Isaiah 53. "...Lord, who
hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord
been revealed." In order for anyone to believe the report,
God has got to reveal His arm. That's what it's saying. That's
the relationship here. They can only believe this report
when God makes bare His arm. when God reveals something of
his strength it must be faith you see that comes by the operation
of God as we read there in Colossians 2.12 faith of the operation of
God it's the gospel and it's the
power of God in the gospel doesn't Paul ask those foolish
Galatians Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith." Oh, it's the hearing of faith.
It's nothing to do with works. Nothing to do with men obeying
God's law and making themselves Christians. It's all the work
of God. "'This is the work of God,' says
the Lord Jesus, "'that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.'" It's a great miracle. Now, surely
the greatest of all the miracles that we read of in the Gospels,
of all the miracles we read of in the New Testament, or read
of in all the Scripture, the greatest of the miracles is the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, there were others
who were resurrected, that they also died, but he was resurrected
and now lives in the power of an endless life. What a resurrection
is that of the Lord Jesus, the greatest of miracles. And it's
that particular miracle that's identified with coming to saving
faith. There in Ephesians 1.19 Ephesians 1.19, "...the exceeding
greatness of his power to us would who believe." "...the exceeding greatness of
his power to us would who believe." And he goes on, "...it's according
to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead." All faith is the greatest. of
miracles. And so miracles haven't ceased. If we really are believers, if
you're a believer and I'm a believer, we're miracles of Christ. How
did the Gospel come to those Thessalonians? Not in word only, but in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Paul says concerning his own
experience how he pleased God to reveal his Son in Mary. Oh,
it's a revelation. That's what faith is, it's a
revelation. To whom hath the arm of the Lord
been revealed? God has revealed His arm. He's
put forth His hand and He's accomplished something. And where has He done
that work? In the soul of the sinner. The
Kingdom of God is within you. Why, it's a new birth, isn't
it? The sinner is born again, born from above. A new creation, a new creature
in Christ Jesus. So there must be this mighty
work of God revealing the Lord Jesus Christ. There's faith,
and there's preaching, there's faith, and there's that power,
and then finally, isn't there faith and prayer and that's what
we're really about tonight we come together for a prayer meeting
we have a ministry of the word of God but we gather to pray
and tonight specifically to pray now to whom is the word that we have
back in Isaiah 53 addressed? Well, it's addressed to God,
it's a prayer, isn't it? Lord, who hath believed our reports.
The one being spoken to is none other than the Lord God Himself.
We have it here, in the text, verse 38, the end of verse 38. We have it there in Romans 10,
16, Lord, who hath believed our reports. It's a prayer. That's how Isaiah 53 opens. The very first verse is a prayer.
It's the preacher's prayer, really. It's the one who's proclaiming
the report. Lord, you have believed our report.
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And then what
follows is, from verse 2, I suppose, through to verse 10, almost to
the end, is is the believer speaking of that suffering servant of
the Lord. Isaiah speaking of Christ who
has come to make the great sinner atoning sacrifice and then right
at the end God speaks. God speaks directly in many ways
in answer to the prayer. What does God say? Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide
the spoiled with the strong. All this while he was served
the will of God and accomplished all the work that God gave him
to do, God has given that promise. He will divide him a portion
with the great, and he's going to divide the spoil, the spoil
of his sufferings. He's not suffering in vain. And
we think of another prophetic statement in the Old Testament
taken up in the New Testament, Psalm 68. Verse 18, Thou hast
descended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast
received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that
the Lord God may dwell amongst them. And how those words are
taken up by Paul in Ephesians 4.8 and applied directly to Christ. He has received gifts for men.
What sort of men? The rebellious. He divides the spoiled with strong
sinners, great sinners. He overcomes all their sins. He overcomes all their opposition.
Well, what do we do then? We pray. We have to cry to Him. We have to call upon Him, that
He would own and bless the ministry of His own Word, that He would
bless it in our own souls, that He would make it profitable to
us, and that He would make it profitable to others, that sinners
might be brought to that true faith, that saving faith, that
justifying faith. Lord, who hath believed our reports,
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord be revealed. Oh, the Lord
be pleased then to help us to pray and to plead with Him, that
He will yet, even in our day and generation, own and bless
the proclamation of this report, the doctrine of the person and
work of Christ, the great promise that has been accomplished in
the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Well, God bless to us His word
and help us now as we come to Him in prayer. But before we
pray, we're going to sing our second praise. We turn to the hymn 398. The
tune is St Bernard 219. Dear shepherd of thy people, hear
thy presence now display, as thou hast given a place for prayer
So give us hearts to pray. May we in faith receive thy word,
in faith present our prayers, and in the presence of our Lord,
on bosom all our cares. And may the gospels, joyful sound
enforced by mighty grace, awaken many sinners round to come and
fill the place. The hymn 398, tune 219.