Isaiah chapter 53. My text will be found in verse
12, and not all of verse 12, but
rather just a portion of verse 12. We'll read it all together.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the small with the strong, because he hath poured out his
soul unto death. And here it is. And he was numbered
with the transgressors. Christ numbered with the transgressors. What does this mean? What does
this mean? He was numbered with the transgressors. Now, in this chapter, from the
beginning of this chapter until the end, the whole subject of
Isaiah is the arm of the Lord. He said, who hath believed our
report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. The arm
is the strength And he's talking about the strength of God's salvation. To whom is God's salvation revealed? And that arm is Jesus Christ. No other man in history has ever
fulfilled any of these prophecies written here but Him. He is it. He's the only one. This whole
chapter is about Him. It says he grew up before Him. That's talking about God. He
is the only eternally begotten Son of God. He alone was the Son of God,
made flesh, and grew up as a tender plant. My wife likes to get these potted
plants, and oh, they're so pretty when we get them. They're pretty.
They're beautiful. I won't go into that, but they're
pretty, and they're tender, and you try to take care of it, and
you want to nurture it, and you want it to grow, and you want
it to live and thrive. This is how God viewed His Son.
He was a tender plant. He became a man under the servitude
of God, and God saw His Son, and He was well-pleased in Him. But not only did he grow up as
a tender plant, listen, he grew up as a root out of dry ground. Now who likes a root out of dry
ground? A stick, a weed. You see, he was a tender plant
to God, but to man he was nothing more than a weed to be pulled. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid, as it were, our faces from Him. There's no form or beauty
that we should desire Him. God saw him as a tender plant,
but man saw him as a weed. Even so now do lost men see him
that way. This morning, if you're lost,
you see him as a weed. You don't see him as a tender
plant. You don't see him as a beautiful bow. You don't see him as a blooming
flower, something to be cherished, something to be loved and adored
and worshipped. You see him as a weed. Preacher,
why can't you preach something new? Why can't you preach something
new? We've heard all this. Why can't you preach something
about me? You know, I want to hear how to live. I want you
to tell me what to do. I want you to tell me something
about myself so I can be a better person. Why you got to always
preach Christ? Please preach something other
than that tired old message of Jesus Christ him crucified. You
gotta have something else. No, I don't have anything else.
See ya. You'll have to go somewhere else
for that. I preach Christ. I must testify
of His perfect person, of His perfect offering, and His perfect
salvation for His elect people. That's what I preach all the
time, every time. Paul, he said this, woe is me
if I preach not the gospel. The gospel. There is no two gospels. There are no three gospels. There
is only the gospel. And the gospel is a person, Jesus
Christ, and his work, him crucified. That is the gospel. And I preach this because there
is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved.
Don't you know there's no other way to be saved? If I preach
about you, that's not going to save you. That'll make you feel
good for a minute until you go back out and mess it up again.
And then you've got to come back and hear how wonderful you are
again and pep you up. No, I'm not going to do that.
God doesn't do that. I'm not going to do that. We preach this message because
by the foolishness of preaching, God is pleased to save His elect
people through faith in Christ. Because this is the only gospel
message that comforts, assures, and motivates God's people. This
is it. Christ. Christ and Him crucified. And this is the only message
that we're rooted in, settled in, and hope for eternal glory. And behold, the greatest sin
then of man is to despise and reject Christ. That is the greatest,
vilest thing you could possibly do, is to see Him as nothing
more than a weed, a root, not a dry ground. Yet even now as
I preach to you, some of you will despise Him. Oh no, preacher,
I like Jesus. It's you. You're the problem. Well, my Lord said this, if they
will receive me, they will receive you. Because he sent me, you should
receive my message. Who hath believed our report,
God? This is my report. And it's surely the report God
gave me. It is a report of His Son. And
those who receive me, receive Him. And I tell you, if you don't
receive His messengers, you don't receive Him. We are ambassadors
for Jesus Christ. As though God did beseech you. By who? Us. Be ye reconciled
to God. Be you reconciled to God. So
we preach His message. We preach His gospel. And you
should believe it because it's He sent us. And because it's
His message. Now, I want to go to my text. I'll come back to this in a minute.
But this gospel we preach, I want you to see that it is found in
our text. Go to your text and see this
in verse 12. He was numbered with the transgressors. In our text, it is summed up. The gospel of reconciliation
is summed up by this. He was numbered with the transgressors. Now, the obvious fulfillment
of this passage was that Jesus hung on the cross between two
thieves. Now, that's obvious. Matter of fact, you can go to
Mark chapter 15 and read that. He was hung with two malefactors,
two thieves. Therefore, the writer of Mark,
he says that this was fulfilled. He was numbered with the transgressors. So you can see that, right? There he was. He was a righteous
son of God, yet he was accounted as a transgressor, just like
the other two. Everybody saw him as a transgressor. The only righteous man that ever
lived was hung on a tree as a common thief. Even though the potentate of
Rome said this, he said, I find no fault in this man. I find
no fault worthy of him to be crucified. Yet he was still crucified. Why? because he was to be numbered
with the transgressors. So we can see how this was fulfilled,
in fact, by his being in the middle of those two thieves.
But I tell you, there's something greater here than that. There
is something deeper here that the Spirit of God intended for
us. It's not just a plain fact that
he was put between two thieves. There's a greater fulfillment
A vital reason the Holy Spirit included this description. And
listen why. Look at your text again. He was
numbered with the transgressors. And here is the part that makes
it more. And He bare the sin of many. If you go back to verse 6 of
the same chapter, you can see this. He said, The Lord hath
laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Now, the Son of God, being
God manifest in the flesh, was by nature sinless. This is vitally important for
you to understand. That the Son of God by no means
would sin or could sin. He was God. in flesh. He could not sin. Impossible. Impossible. He was God's servant. And I like this because Isaiah
describes this. It is Isaiah, I think it's chapter
42. Chapter 42, I'm just going to
read it for you. It says, Who is blind as My servant,
or deaf as My messenger that I sent? Who is blind as He that
is perfect, and blind as the servant, seeing many things,
but thou observest not, opening the ears, but heareth not? What does this mean, the servant
of God? Well, we know that's Christ. He's the servant of God. What does this mean that He was
blind, that He was blind? It means that he was incapable
of sin. Just as a blind man is incapable
of sight, so Christ was blind and deaf to sin. You and I are
not, are we? Man, we are exposed to it. It
comes in and you can't stop it. You put an image in front of
us and immediately thoughts enter in and lust and passion are just
leap out of us because we are exposed to it. He Himself was
not. He was righteous in every way. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness. That's what the Scripture says.
The Lord is well pleased for His servant's righteousness.
So then, let me ask you, how then did He who did no sin and
knew no sin, how could He be numbered with the transgressors. How is that just? This, surely, friend, is an act
of divine justice and righteous imputation righteous imputation. He hath laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. He was numbered with the transgressors,
and He bare the sin of many. This is clearly seen. Go over
to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians. This is made clear to us as to
what the prophet meant. 2 Corinthians 5. And verse 21, For He, God, hath made Him, Christ,
sin for us, who knew no sin. Behold now the righteous man,
Jesus, who is numbered with the transgressors. See Him there
on the tree in agony and grief. Behold His crying, behold His
pain and suffering, who is the righteous Son of God. See the
blood as it flows from His hands, His side, His head, His feet. Behold, His visage is marred
more than any man that ever lived. And hear his cry. What was his
cry? My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Will not heaven interfere? Will
not God deliver this sinless man Will God leave His only Son to
die as a common thief and criminal? He says, Behold, I thirst. Surely
if the Son of God thirsted that God would rain down from heaven
and cool His burning tongue, surely He would. No, He doesn't. How can God permit this? Aren't
you outraged when an innocent man goes to jail? Aren't you
outraged? Well, you would be if it was
you. If you went to jail and you were innocent, you would
be outraged. And yet here is the Son of God
who did no sin, knew no sin, and yet He suffered under the
wrath of God. How could God do that to His
own Son? How is it? Is it right? Was it just? Listen,
I want to be clear on this. Everything God does is right.
I don't care what you or I think about it. Everything God does
is right. If God kills you, if God kills
your children, if God does whatever He pleases with you, I tell you
this, He is right to do it. Everything. Everything He is
right. He does nothing wrong. The Scripture
says, He is a rock and His work is perfect. For all His ways
are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity. Just and
right is He. How then is this just and right
that Christ should die? even because God made Christ
sin for us. That's how. That's how. God in justice laid on Christ
the iniquity, the sin, and the transgression of His people and
laid it on His shoulders so that in a way it became His. Thus Christ became sin, was made
sin, not by any act of His own, but by a divine transaction. By this divine transaction, the
smile and delight of God's face was veiled, the sun was darkened,
and the terrors of God's vengeance flooded His soul He shall see of the travail of
his soul. Travail has to do with like a
woman in labor, in great immense pain and suffering. His soul
was suffering. This was a spiritual thing. It
was not just a physical crucifixion. Those thieves endured just as
much a crucifixion as Christ did. But this suffering was infinitely
greater in that He was made a transgressor by the imputation of God. And he says, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? And the answer is plain. Because
I must punish the transgressor. Because God in justice must punish
sin. And he was numbered with the
transgressors, and the curse of sin is death. Yet behold,
the one who was unmade sin He was not made such against His
will. Do you know that? He was willing. He was willing to be made sin. He was willing to endure the
cross, despising the shame. He said this to those Jews. He
said, no man taketh my life. I lay it down for the sheep. I lay it down. He willingly suffered
this death of a transgressor. He dies without protest saying,
I am a worm and no man. O God, thou knowest my foolishness
and my sin are not hid from thee. For thy sake I have borne reproach,
shame covered my face. Therefore he was delivered unto
death and made his grave, made his grave with the wicked. And yet there was no deceit in
his mouth. Do you want to see how God hates
sin? Do you want to see how much God
hates your sin? Then you should look at his son as he was made sin. There is the greatest display
of God's vengeance ever put to man. is that he killed his only
son without mercy. See the great grace of Christ
to stoop so low, not just to dwell among men, not just to
suffer as a common man, but to stoop down so low as to bear
the full weight of our sins, our guilt before God. Have you considered it? Have you considered this, that
God cannot punish the innocent? God cannot punish the innocent.
Go to Proverbs 17. God cannot punish the innocent. Listen to what the scripture
says, 17 verse 15, Proverbs. He that justifieth the wicked,
and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination
to the Lord. You take a guilty man and you
let him go, that's an abomination. You take a righteous man and
you punish him, that's an abomination. How then shall the righteous
Jesus Christ suffer under the vengeance of God? Only because
God had taken all of the guilt and shame and sin of His people
and put it on His Holy Son. And it became His. God had transferred our sin to Him. Why? So that He might transfer
His righteousness to us. This is an act of mercy. And
second of all, this is, He was numbered for the transgressors,
and He bared the sin of many. Where did the sin go? You thought
about that? Where'd it go? Where did it go? Jesus is the Lamb that taketh
away. That word beareth away the sin
of the world. You remember in the atonement,
there were two goats. One was to be killed, but the
other was called the scapegoat. It was on this goat that the
high priests were to confess all of the sins of the people.
And then he was to take this goat, a strong man, was to take
this goat out into the desert, into the wilderness. And that
goat was never to be seen again. Because of the death of the Son
of God, our sins are now as gone as the scapegoat. They're gone. Gone. They're gone into the wilderness
of God's forgetfulness. Isn't this what he promised?
He said, I will remember your sins no more. I will. We'll remember your sins
and iniquities no more. Believers see that God dealt
with our sins in Christ in strict justice. He said, Awake, O sword,
and smite the shepherd, the man that is my fellow. And Jesus,
when He was crucified, when He finished the work, when God was
satisfied, what did He say? He said, It is finished! It is finished! Redemption accomplished! Justice satisfied! In our text it says that he shall
see of the travail of his soul and be what? Satisfied. Satisfied. Therefore all who were in Christ
when he died, all of the sins of God's elect were forever paid
for. So perfect was his offering that
the everlasting God cannot see them or find them by searching. Believer, can you find your sin? Do you see it? Do you know it? What you think you've found,
God can never find. They're gone. They're gone. All my sin, even before I was
ever born, God was not willing to punish me. Instead, he was willing to punish
his own son in my place. And because He has taken them
away, they are no more to be found. In that day and in that
time, the sins of Judas shall be sought for, and there shall
be none. None. In God's sight, believer,
your sins are forever gone. By the death of His Holy Son,
He put them away forever. He is satisfied with his one
offering, and he will not remember them anymore. Herein is the joy
of the gospel to the believer's heart, that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. We have sinned, we have
been unrighteous, we have been unjust, and we have been unholy. But even while we were these
things, God died in our stead. Christ died in our stead. And by grace, by grace, we have
heard of His death. You've heard of His death? If
you've never heard it before, you just did. I just told you,
He who was numbered with the transgressors, why? He bared
the sins of His people and God is satisfied with His offering.
He's done it. He put away the sins of His people,
and by grace we saw that His people, who are His people? Well,
they're sinners. They're sinners. He said, I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Sinners. And by grace, He calls sinners. He saves sinners. And sinners understand that Christ
had in one day removed iniquity forever. In one day. By one sacrifice. By one offering. He hath removed our sins as far
as the east is from the west. So far hath He removed our sins
from us. So when we When we were sinners, Christ
died. And so where are the sins of all those that are Christ
died for? They are gone. God said they are blotted out
as a thick cloud, and God by searching cannot find them. And
so thirdly, for whom was Christ made a transgressor? That's an
important question, isn't it? Who did Christ die for? The false gospel of this generation
believes that Christ died for all men, which is a lie. It is a lie and
not the truth. And all who believe such a lie
are deceived and know nothing of the death of Christ, nor do
they know anything of God's justice. And by this false gospel they
trample underfoot the Son of God and count His blood as a
common thing. Now then, consider this. If Christ
died for everyone and God punished Him, how then could God come back
and punish them? How could God be just to punish
Christ and everyone? If He died for everyone, surely
God cannot come back and demand twice payment. That's unjust. I know that. If you ever got
a ticket and you paid it, and they come back to you, see how
you feel. You tell them they are unjust.
And they might be, but they're still probably going to get it
from you, so just pay it. It doesn't matter. But this is God.
God cannot do that. God cannot be unjust. Therefore,
God is clear. In our text, read it, read it,
he was numbered with the transgressors and he bared the sin of who?
Who? Many. Many. Not all. Many, yes, but not all. He bared
the sins of many. This many is the same as found
in verse 6 of our text. We all, like sheep, have gone
astray. Now that could mean everyone,
because everyone in Adam's race has gone astray. But this is
not for whom Christ died. His sheep went astray. We all,
like sheep, have went astray and turned everyone to his own
way. But the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of who? Us, the sheep that have gone
astray, his people. I tell you that all the Father
gave to Christ shall come to Christ because they are his people. Because He has redeemed them,
and He will not lose one of them. Who are they? They are His chosen
people. They are His elect people. Jesus
said, Of all that the Father giveth Me. Well, how many is
that? As many as the Father gave Him.
I can't tell you how many. I know it's many. Not all, but
it's many. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all He had given me, I should lose nothing. Who
are these sheep? Well, I'll tell you this, they
are sinners. They are sinners. If you look
at your text again, He said, He bared the sin of many and
made intercession. Who are the many? The transgressors. He made intercession for who?
The transgressors. They're sinners! Can you, by the revelation of
God, set your name there? Can you say, surely Christ bore
my sin? You can if you're a transgressor. You may claim his salvation and
blood and righteousness only if you are a complete sinner. You see, only a complete sinner
needs a complete Savior. If you're a partial sinner and
you need a partial Savior, I got nothing for you. If you are an
absolute sinner, behold, the absolute Savior. Why will you tarry? Why will
you wait? If you can come, why don't you
come? Only a sinner, vile, guilty,
and black have need of mercy, redemption, and cleansing. You should come now. and you should come empty. That's how sinners come. They come with nothing and plead for everything. They come as beggars. They come
seeking mercy. came to Napoleon Bonaparte at
one time, her son was guilty of treason, not once but twice
he was guilty. And she pleaded with him, have
mercy on my son, have mercy on my son. And she turned and she
said, madam, your son is guilty not once but twice and deserves
death. And she said, that's why I plead
for mercy and not justice. If he deserved it, it wouldn't
be mercy. I want mercy. And I tell you, you should come
and bow down to Christ and you should plead until he give it
to you. You should bow down and plead
with Job. I will trust him though he slay
me. What else are you going to do? And I tell you, if you've ever
found his mercy, if you've ever found him merciful,
this death means everything to you. This
fact that he became a transgressor by the imputation of God means
everything. It is all my hope. I put my very eternal soul on
his death. And you who do, Listen to this. He made intercession for you. You know why God will never come
back to me and convict me of my sins? Because I have someone
who stood between me and God. I have one to plead my cause,
always, every single day throughout eternity his hands are still
scarred pleading my case. O thou afflicted and tossed with
tempest and not comforted. Is that you believer? Are you
not often tossed and turned? This is our soul's plight, even
because we still have sin. Yet even in the midst of this,
behold, he was numbered with the transgressors. He bear the
sins of many, and even now he ever liveth to make intercession
for you." For who? For those who believe on him. They are his sheep. They are
the many for whom he died. And he will never, never demand
payment of your hand, even because Christ has already
paid the debt. Therefore, you're free. Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus has bled, and there is remission. Cursed by the law,
bruised by the fall, Christ hath redeemed me once for all, forever. That's what it means that Christ
was numbered with the transgressors. Praise God for his mercy. Let's
stand. We'll be dismissed and pray.