Well, let us turn to God's Word,
and I want this evening, for a while before we turn to God
again in prayer, to direct you to words that we're, I'm sure,
familiar with in that great 53rd chapter in the book of the prophet
Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 53, and verse
1, who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed." It is with these
words that the Prophet opens the chapter in which he
will say so much concerning him who is the suffering servant
of the Lord. But I want to concentrate especially
upon these opening words, these two questions that form the first
verse, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? And we have the key to the understanding
of what is being asked here in that portion of Scripture that
we read. You will have observed that the words are actually quoted
by the apostle there in Romans chapter 10, and the context there,
in that 10th chapter of Romans, is one in which Paul is speaking
of the ministry of the words, the preaching of the gospel,
the proclamation, as it were, of that report. The 16th verse
of chapter 10, contains the quotation. But look
at the context. Clearly, Paul is speaking of
preaching, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have
not believed? How shall they believe in Him
of whom they have not heard? How 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 out tidings
of good things! But they have not all obeyed
the gospel, for Isaiah's That is the Greek form of the Hebrew
name, Isaiah. Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? And we always, of course, recognize
that when we come to God's Word, we are to read, as it were, from
the New Testament back into the Old Testament. It is the New
Testament that gives us the proper interpretation of all those things
that are written here in the Old Testament Scriptures. Remember
that saying attributed to Augustine of Hippo concerning the Word
of God, how the New Testament is in the Old Concealed, and
the Old Testament is in the New. revealed. And so, from what we
read there in that 10th chapter of Romans, we conclude that what
Paul is really speaking about here is the ministry of the Word,
the preaching of the Gospel, who has believed our report. And in the context, we see that
the report concerns a certain individual. who was referred
to at the end of the previous chapter as God's servant. Behold,
my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high, as many were astonished at thee. His visage
was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons
of men. This is the one who is spoken
of, the one who is to be declared in the giving of this report. This is the doctrine then. Interestingly,
the margin tells us that the word report could equally as
well have been translated as doctrine, or hearing, who has
believed our doctrine. or this doctrine of which the
Prophet is speaking. It's that same doctrine that
we find in the song of Moses back in Deuteronomy chapter 32. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, says Moses. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and the showers
upon the grass, because I will proclaim the name of the Lord. It's the proclamation of the
Lord, then, that we're to understand in terms of this preaching. And there, in his song, Moses
likens it to the refreshings that come with the showers and
with the rain. And even here in Isaiah, just
a few chapters further on in chapter 55, do we not see him
also speaking with a similar figure? There at verse 10, as
the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the
eater, so shall my word be, that goeth out of my mouth, it shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it. All this is the report in this
doctrine, this doctrine that drops down from heaven, the heavens
pouring forth the righteousness which is to be evidenced in the
life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the
context does help us here to understand what is being declared
in our text, but not only are we to think in terms of the proclamation
and the preaching. But see how there at verse 15
in chapter 52 he speaks of sprinkling. So shall he sprinkle many nations. The kings shall shut their mouths
at him. Or there's something needed more
than just the outward preaching. There must be the application.
Who have believed our report? None will believe it except there
is that application, that application which is spoken of in terms of
the sprinkling. It was by the sprinkling of the
blood that Moses sanctified all the vessels in the tabernacle
and the tabernacle itself. And we read of the Lord Jesus,
of course, the mediator of the new covenant and of the blood
of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Well, we need that application,
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our bodies washed
in pure water, not just to hear outwardly the report, the doctrine,
But our hearing is such that there is that blessed application
to us, that gracious application of the word. But let us come
to look more carefully at just what is being said here in the
words of our text. Who hath believed our reports?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And two things. that stand before us here and
I want us to consider these two things to look more carefully
at what the report is and then secondly to consider what the
revealing will entail and then by way of conclusion I want to
say that there is a sense in which our text is to be understood
in the form of a prayer There's a request here being made to
God. First of all then, to look at
the opening clause of the text. Who hath believed our reports,
our doctrine, our hearing, who has given us a hearing, is what
he is saying. Now, what is the content of this
message? We've already intimated something
of that. by making reference to the particular
context. We know that the divisions that
we have in our Bibles, chapters, verses, is quite artificial,
not part of the originally inspired text of Holy Scripture, but very
useful to us, helps us to find our way around, but there's not
a break really between the chapters here, and As I've said, the report
refers us back to that person who is spoken of in verse 13
of the previous chapter. Behold my servant, God says. Behold my servant. How many times does God direct
us to his servant? Remember how previously we read
of the same servant of the Lord. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." God says, I will put my spirit
upon him. And he is spoken of here in the
previous chapter, but he's also referred to again in this 53rd
chapter, where we see him as that one who is the Lord's righteous
servant. In verse 11, "...by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities." The servant of the Lord. And who is that one? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, who comes from heaven not to do His own will, He says,
but to do the will of Him who has sent Him and to finish His
work. In the covenant of grace, He
condescends to become the servant of God. He, who in that doctrine
of the Godhead, is of course equal to the Father. He is the
eternal Son of the eternal Father. He is equal to the Father, equal
to the Holy Spirit, and yet how willingly He becomes God's servant. And this is the one who is being
reported here, who has believed our report. It's the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ, it's the person of Christ, it's also the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That one that was promised back
in Genesis chapter 3 would come, even the seed of the woman, Remember
the words that the Lord God speaks to the serpent after the fall
of Adam and Eve, the seed of the woman will bruise his head,
that is the serpent's head and the serpent will bruise his heel
and he comes in the fullness of the time made of a woman,
made under the law. He has no human father. He has a human mother, conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Oh, this
is that One who is God, and the great mystery now of godliness.
He is God, manifest in the flesh, the seed of the woman, the seed
of Abraham. and also that one who is the
seed of David. If we go back here to chapter
11, we read of him. There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. Oh, this is that man whose name
is the Branch. And Jesse, of course, the father
of David. But here is one even greater
than King David. and yet a branch growing out
of the roots of David's father. It reminds us of the person then
of the Lord Jesus Christ and how when we come to the New Testament
and we consider the ministry of the Apostles, particularly
thinking of Paul, his determination, he says, to know nothing among
you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There we have what
the report contains, Jesus Christ and him crucified. It's the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is also the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But it's not just Paul. Oh, we see it repeatedly there
in the New Testament Scriptures. We see it, for example, in the
Acts of the Apostles. Remember the ministry of Philip
that is spoken of at the end of the 8th chapter there. Here
is Philip and he is caught up by the Spirit and he comes into
the desert and he comes into contact with this man from the
court of Candace, this Ethiopian eunuch, and the man is in his
chariot, and he's reading. He's reading in the book of the
prophet Isaiah. And Philip hears him reading
the prophet, and he says, Understandest thou what thou readest? And the
Ethiopian says, How can I except some man guide me? And he desired,
Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. The place of
the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to
the slaughter, and as a lamb done before his shearer, so opened
he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment
was taken away, and you shall declare his generation, for his
life is taken away from the earth." He's reading there in Isaiah
53, verses 7 and 8. And then the eunuch speaks to
Philip, I pray thee, ask, Whom speaketh the prophet this, of
himself or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth,
and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."
There is the authority, you see, from the New Testament that we
can clearly identify who it is that is being spoken of in this
chapter. It is the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And here we see him as a real
man. It's interesting what we have at the end of the chapter
in those final verses. Three times we have mention of
his human soul. Verse 10, When thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin, Verse 11, "...he shall see of
the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." Verse 12, "...because
he hath poured out his soul unto death." Oh, he is truly a man. in possession of a real physical
body and a reasonable soul. And as you know, there are those
who deny the reality of that human soul of Christ, but clearly
here, this is the person that is being spoken of in this report. But who has believed it? Who
has believed our report? Oh, what of this person? Well,
we're told, There, in the previous chapter, many were astonished
at thee. His visage was so marred more
than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. He hath
no form nor comeliness, it says here in verse 2. 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. Or this is that man who came
to be made seen, who came to make that great offering, that
sacrifice for the sins of his people. And really that is the
content that we find in this chapter. It says so much of the
sufferings of the Lord Jesus. 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." What do we see
here? So clearly substitutionary atonement. He doesn't suffer for his own
sins. but he suffers and bleeds and
dies for the sins of others even those that the father had given
to him in that eternal covenant this is the work all the report
you see concerns his person but it also concerns that great work
that he came to do being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Oh, that
was the extent of the obedience of the servant, the suffering
servant of the Lord. He's not only obedient throughout
His life, doing the will of Him who has sent Him, obeying all
His commandments, magnifying the Holy Lord of God by that
righteous life, but then that holy, righteous, and just man
also honors the Lord in terms of all its penalties. He bears
the punishment that was due to the sins of his people." This
is the report. Who has believed our report? But thinking of this report,
it's not only to be thought of in terms of this person and the
work of Christ, But can we not also understand it in terms of
God's promise? There's promise here. And we
see the promise when we come to the end of the chapter. Here is the promise that is given
to the servant. Verse 11, "...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 spoiled with
the strong." These are promises. Oh, when the Father entered into
this covenant with the Son, this covenant of redemption, this
covenant of grace, The Son agreed that He would
come and do all the will of the Father. But the Father also promised
that He would not come in vain, that He would accomplish that
great salvation. And that's what He has done.
He has finished the transgression. He has made an end of sins. He
has made reconciliation for iniquity. He has brought in everlasting
righteousness. All the report you see, it's
His promise. We're told, are we not, quite clearly there in
the opening chapter of 2 Corinthians, that all the promises of God
in him are yea, and in him are men. To the glory of God, by
us, says Paul. All the promise. No ifs and buts
and maybes and possibilities and probabilities. But all these
shalls and wills 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."
There is that certainty, that sureness about the promise the
Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished glorious work, even the salvation
of a multitude of sinners. That's the truth, is it not?
That's the gospel. And remember, when the apostle
opens his epistle to the Romans, he begins there by giving a definition
of what the gospel is. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. He's going to speak of the gospel.
As you know, Romans is a gospel book. It's full of gospel. And what does Paul say concerning
this gospel that God had separated him unto, which he had promised
to for by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures? The gospel is
the promise of God. concerning His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according
to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead."
Here we have it again. It's the person of Jesus Christ. He is the promised Messiah. He
is made of the seed of David, as we said, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed
of David, a branch growing out of Jesse's root. But that's according
to the flesh, that's his human nature. But then also, he is
declared, or as the margin indicates, it's a strong Greek word, it
literally means determined, He is marked out to be the Son of
God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. He is man of the seed of David,
but He is also the eternal Son of God. And now He is acknowledged
by the Father to be that Son even in the resurrection from
the dead. Well, this is the Gospel. And
so when we when we read of the ministry of the apostles, and
we have that record in the Acts, we see that the content of their
preaching was this promise, this promise of the gospel that had
come now to its fruition with the appearance of Jesus Christ
and all that he had done. We have the record of Peter's
sermon there on the day of Pentecost, as you know, in the second chapter
of the Acts. And what does he say? The promise. Speaking to those who have gathered,
Jews and proselytes, it's the day of Pentecost, the great feast
of weeks. that the Jews and those converts
to Judaism had come to Jerusalem for is a great concourse of people
and he says the promise is to you and to your children and
to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. It's a promise that he is proclaiming
but we don't only have the record of the sermon that was preached
by by Peter, we also have a record of one of Paul's sermons. There in Acts 13, we read of
Paul preaching at Antioch in Pisidia. And again, the message
is the same. Look at what he says, 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 second psalm thou art my son this day have I begotten
thee the same truth that the Apostle Paul is declaring there
at the beginning of Romans he's declared to be the Son of God
with power by that resurrection from the dead but it's the promise
that he is declaring, we declare unto you glad tidings how that
the promise made to the fathers hath been fulfilled. This gospel
then, it doesn't just center in the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus, it is truly God's great promise that is to be proclaimed
to the ends of the earth. But, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed." What do we see here? We see statements that are really
parallel statements. None can believe the report unless
the Lord reveals His arm. And when the Lord reveals His
arm, He will reveal that truth to sinners. What we see here
in the second part of the verse, really, is the impossibility
of faith. I haven't said anything of faith,
and yet it's there in the opening clause, who hath believed. This
report is to be believed, but it is impossible It is impossible
for anyone to believe concerning this person, for anyone to believe
this great promise that God has given in the Gospel. And you
know why it's impossible. If you know anything of the grace
of God in your own soul, you know how impossible it was that
you could ever believe. except you knew that gracious
work of the Spirit of God, what is spoken of there in Colossians
2.12 as faith of the operation of God. God must do that gracious
work. Why? Because of man's condition
by nature. We are those who are dead in
trespasses and in sins. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The natural man, man as he is
born into this world, all men, and it matters not who their
parents are. Gracious parents do not give
birth to gracious children. We're all born dead in trespasses
and in sins. And how awful is that condition?
When Paul writes to the Ephesians, and it was a church principally
made up of Gentile believers, but he reminds those Gentiles
what they were by nature, having the understanding darkened, alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance that was in them,
because of the blindness of their hearts. That's their condition. That's all our conditions, really,
by nature. The carnal mind, it's enmity
against God. It is not subject to the Lord
of God, neither indeed can be. What is the carnal mind? It's
the mind of the flesh. It's simply our natural mind.
It's what we are. It's what we are. or the impossibility
then of faith. And yet, God, in His inscrutable
wisdom, has appointed that this message is to be brought to men
and women by preaching. As I said, from the way in which
this text is taken up by Paul there in Romans 10, He is clearly
speaking of the importance of preaching. Here is a message
that is to be proclaimed. And there in that 10th chapter
of Romans we see just how close God comes to sinners in preaching. It's God's ordinance. It's God's
ordinance. How Paul asks those questions He says, Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? It's preaching, and then he goes
on, of course, as we've said, in verse 16, to actually quote
the words of our text this evening. But look at what he says previously.
How close God comes to us in preaching. Verse 6, the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above. or who shall descend into the
deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. But what
saith it? The word is neither, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach. How God comes! And how God comes
so very close to sinners in the preaching of the word. We've said before it was Bishop
Latimer, that martyred bishop at the time of the Reformation,
who was a great preacher himself, and the Reformation here in England
was a great preaching movement, of course. And Latimer said concerning
preaching, this is the only office God hath ordained to save us
by. Let us maintain this, all the
preaching. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, to save them that believe. What does the Lord do? He comes. It's His own ordinance. He comes in the preaching. Going to those Ephesians, Paul
says, you have not so learned Christ? If so be you have heard
Him and been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus. You have
not so learned Christ? If you've heard Him, when did
they hear the Lord Jesus? He never went to Ephesus. He
never went into Asia Minor. His ministry was very much confined
to Palestine. His ministry is to the lost sheep
of the House of Israel. He doesn't go off into Gentile
countries preaching. And yet, Paul says, they heard
Christ. They were taught by Christ. We
know, for he has said himself, my sheep know my voice. They follow me. I give unto them
eternal life. How do they know His voice? They
hear that voice when the Lord is pleased to come and speak
in the preaching. But how the Lord must work so
mightily and so effectually in order for them to believe the
report. All the arm of the Lord has to
be revealed. It's a mighty work of God. to
bring faith into the heart of a sinner. This is the work of
God, says the Lord Jesus. This is the work of God that
ye believe in him whom he hath sent. As I said, it's faith of
the operation of God. And it is a mighty work. We've
referred on previous occasions to the language there in Ephesians
chapter 1. concerning the power of God that
comes into the soul of the sinner. Paul speaks of the exceeding
greatness of his power to us who do believe, if you believe
to not. It's not just the power of God
or the great power of God, it's the exceeding greatness of his
power to us who do believe. And it's according, Paul says,
to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead. What was there in the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus from the dead must come into the soul of that
sinner dead in trespasses and sins. Thy dead men shall live
Together with my dead body shall they arise, says the Lord." Here
in Isaiah we find that very scripture. And there we see it in the ministry
of the apostles when Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he tells
them, our gospel came not unto you in word only but in power
and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. It's the work
of God. We've emphasized then the necessity
of the Lord making bear his arm in order that there might be
a revealing in the soul of the sinner. The Lord reveals his
arm and what is the consequence? Well, Paul says to the Galatians,
when he pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me. It's an inward
revelation. You know that real religion is
a revelation. It's not just something that
we learn intellectually. It's the life of God coming into
the soul of the sinner. It's all of God. It's all of
grace. But does that mean that we're
just passive? Oh, we need to beware here, surely. You know, there is such a thing
as a judicial hardening that can come upon the sinner. when he becomes gospel-hardened,
as it were. That reference in Romans 10-16,
where we find our text being quoted, is not the only occasion
in the New Testament. This text is also quoted by the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the course of His ministry. We find it in the 12th chapter
of John. In John chapter 12, verse 37, we read how He had
done so many miracles before them Yet they believed not on
him, that the saying of Isaias 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 Isaias said again, He hath 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. quoting then from Isaiah 6. But he'd done miracles, you see,
and they believe not on him. How hard they were, and how the
Lord fulfills these dreadful words in them. They cannot believe. They're left to themselves. They're
left to their hardness of heart. They're so indifferent to the
grace of God revealed in the Gospel. And that's why I want
to conclude by saying that what we have really in this text is
prayer. It's a request. Now, here we
have it before us in this chapter simply as who hath believed our
report. and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed. But you may have observed in
both those passages we've just referred to in the New Testament,
both in Romans 10 and again in John 12, the word Lord stands
before the quotation. It says, Lord who hath believed
our report. Lord who hath believed our report. Here we see the importance of
prayer, where to ask the Lord, where to make a request of the
Lord, that He would indeed make bare His arm and stretch forth
His hand and come and save us. Here we see the importance of
prayer in relation to the preaching of the Word of God. And remember,
Paul makes that point very tellingly when he speaks of the believer's
spiritual conflict and that armor that God has provided for the
believer, that spiritual armor that we read of in the end of
Ephesians chapter 6. But having spoken of those various
parts of the armor, what does the Apostle say? Praying always,
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, and for me."
Oh, you see, we're to pray. We're to pray in connection with
the armor. Each piece put on with prayer, says the hymn. But
Paul also adds this, and for me, that utterance may be given
unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that
therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." Oh, how important,
friends, is preaching. But how important
is praying. And we see these two things brought
together here. This opening verse, on the authority
of those quotations in the New Testament, we can understand
to be addressed as a prayer to God. Lord, who hath believed
our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And
that prayer is not uttered in vain. There's an answer. Or the
answer is this, that Christ does not shed his precious blood in
vain. The answer is that declaration of the great promise that we
have at the end of the chapter. We can go from the first verse,
the prayer, to those final two verses. 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 ye 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
bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Oh the Lord, grant then that we might pray over these things,
and pray that we might be those who do truly believe this great
report, trust in this person, Even the God-man, Jesus Christ,
believe all those exceeding great and precious promises, as we
know what it is for the Lord to come and to make bare His
arm and to reveal Christ in us the hope of glory. May the Lord
bless His Word to us. Now let us, before we pray, Sing the hymn number 1080, the
tune is Remington 395. To Jesus our victorious Lord,
the praises of our lives belong, forever be his name adored, sweet
theme of every thankful song. The hymn 1080.