Let's take our Bibles this morning
and turn to the Old Testament, the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah and the 53rd chapter. Isaiah chapter 53, and out of that chapter this
morning, we would like to put our time after reading to verses
10 and 11. In the short space of two verses,
we have what some people call seven shalls in regard to the
Lord Jesus. He shall do this. He shall. He shall. He shall. Seven times
in the space of those two verses. Other people would take verse
10 and use it for a title by itself. I have no idea where
I found this, I just stumbled across it in some of my papers,
if you can call it that. The who? This is out of verse
10. The Lord. The Lord God Jehovah. The when? When Christ shall make
his soul an offering for sin. And then the what? And there
are seven of those, and that takes up the remainder of verse
10 and all of verse 11. But let's first of all read it
as a whole. And remember that this prophecy
through Isaiah was made over 700 years before the birth of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Before he came into this world
and took humanity into his Godhead. This statement on the sufferings
and death of our Lord Jesus Christ is given in such explicit detail,
and it is verse after verse after verse. And for this to be exactly what
took place when Christ went to Calvary, ought to tell us something
about the prophecies concerning Christ in our Bible. This man
by the name of Isaiah is just like any other man until God
gives him a message. And what a message it is indeed. Now may we pray. Lord, we do thank you that we
can gather here this morning in the lovely, beautiful, wonderful
name of Jesus Christ, our precious Lord and only Savior. Lord, as we gather in this place
this morning, the parking lot for this building
is Not even half full, maybe not even a third. But I know this, with great blessing from on high, and some glorious acts of men
in time have preserved this place for this gospel to be preached.
Let other churches do whatever they wish. Let them get people
to attend no matter how much they lie to them or abuse them
or whatever else is taking place. Thank you for this place. Thank
you for this congregation and this people. And we beg this
morning that you would see fit to feed our souls on that one
bread, that bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, that
we might see him as a result of this prophecy in ways we never
have before and to depths we never have before. We simply
beg for your mercy to be upon us. We are human beings like
all other sons and daughters of Adam, but your grace has saved us and
given us a genuine interest in the precious gospel of Christ.
We thank you in his dear name. Amen. If I may, I'd like to back up
into chapter 52 just for three verses, starting at verse 13,
then 14 and 15, and then to 53. Behold, my servant, this is the
Lord God's Jehovah speaking of his Lord Jesus Christ, behold,
my servant shall deal prudently He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. As many were astonished at you, if we had been there at Calvary
the day that our Lord Jesus was crucified, we would have been
astonished beyond words. that such cruelties could be
accomplished by people against the only perfect man ever to
live in this world. As many were astonished at you,
his visage, his outward appearance, was so marred more than any man. and his form more than the sons
of men. Here is the promise of the gospel.
So shall he, the Lord Jesus, sprinkle many nations. The kings
shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told
them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall
they consider. Oh, may God see fit in his great
mercy and grace in Christ to take that 15th verse and apply
it to this group here this morning. Now to chapter 53. The prophet begins with an odd beginning,
some would say, and I used to say. Two questions. And the first question is answered
with the second question. Let me show you. Who has believed
our report, our gospel? Who has believed our Christ? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Now, what is it about the arm
of the Lord? It is that arm of God by which
he speaks, and it's gone. And no man can believe this gospel
addressed in the first question unless God manifests his saving
arm for each of us individually and personally. Salvation doesn't
come on a wholesale basis. Billy Graham can get Twenty million
saved if He wants to. They're just as lost. They're
more lost now than they were before. Giving them a false hope. And I don't care who hears me
say it. And I don't care on the internet who hears me say it.
Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For He, Christ, shall grow up
before Him, before God, as a tender plant, an infant, newborn. He shall grow up before Him as
a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground of all the
places in Palestine that you could have guessed where the
Messiah was to be born. It would not have been Bethlehem.
I'm sorry, yes, Bethlehem. I started saying Nazareth. Yeah,
that'd be a big mistake, wouldn't it? A root out of a dry ground. He has no form, nor comeliness,
no outward appearance or beauty. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. The one that the artists
depict looks like Wild Bill Hickok, but not the Lord Jesus born in
Bethlehem. Verse 3, he is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid,
as it were, our faces from him. I did and you did. And if God hasn't, with a miracle
of grace, converted you, you still are. Despised and rejected of men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it
were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed. We valued him as less than nothing. Our opinion of him is that he's
not anything. He's an imposter. Now we come to what our Lord
did on that tree, verse 4. without question, he has borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. We blamed if we had been there
that day to see that awful sight. We would have blamed it on God instead of ourselves. But there is a sense, a glorious
one indeed, that God did this. The death of Christ, the crucifixion
of Christ, the awful treatment of Christ had nothing to do with
God forsaking him. but God sending him for this
very purpose. What an awful picture we have. Let me do verse 5. I don't remember
if I did already. 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." Now, no person,
no human being can make that statement that these words are
my words and these words are your words until that miracle
of grace comes to our souls and shows us the glory and honor
and the suffering and bloodshedding of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
6. All we like sheep have gone astray. That statement can be made of
every member of Adam's race from the beginning of time to the
end of time. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned
everyone to his own way. And the Lord, the Lord God Jehovah,
has laid on him, the Lord Jesus, the iniquity of us all. Preacher,
I thought you preached that Christ didn't die for everybody, and
that's exactly right. You have to consult the Bible
in other places to know who this all is. It's all of God's chosen. It's all of his elect. It's all
of the bride of Christ. It is every member of Christ's
body, the church, for whom the Savior died. To pay for sins
for people whose sins are never forgiven is a waste of suffering. And it isn't true. He gave his life for his people. Now, that ain't no small number,
by the way. The Bible puts it that it's more
than any man can calculate. And use such terms as the sands
on the seashore, each grain of sand representing a believer.
Goodness me, you wouldn't have to have but a hundred yards of
beach and you'd have I can't tell you how many counts already
up. Verse 7, 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 dumb, so he opens not his mouth. Why would the Lord Jesus
go willingly to the cross? Because the triune God, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit entered into that glorious agreement
of grace, and they sent this only begotten Son into the world. They sent him here to suffer
and bleed and die. And thus he did, and he did so
willingly. He opens 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 whom? My people. My people. The people that God the Father
gave to God the Son. My people. When did they become his people?
We were his people before this world was ever created, before
Adam was ever made. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken, and he made his grave with the wicked, And
with the rich in his death, namely the two dying thieves and Joseph
of Arimathea, evidently a quite wealthy man who gave his own
tomb that was hewn out of solid rock as the place for the burial
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death.
Because he, the Lord Jesus, had done no violence, neither was
any deceit in his mouth. One of his names is, you must
remember, the Truth. The Truth. No room for deceit
in him. He is the Holy One, the perfect
man. Verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord, all
capitals, the Lord God Jehovah. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He, the Lord, has put him, Christ,
to grief. Now here's what the death of
Christ is all about. When you shall make his soul
an offering for sin. An offering for sin. One of the most amazing things
to me that is a testimony beyond our
comprehension in regard to the gospel. The Lord Jesus is made for his
people, for his church, for his bride, an offering for sin. Yet in almost
every church in this county this morning, they're passing these
offering plates, taking up a collection. And they put you on a guilt trip
if you don't give and all this kind of stuff. But do you know
the most amazing thing in all the world is where God is and
where Christ is and where the gospel is? You don't have to
browbeat people. You don't have to make them feel
bad about themselves because they're not given enough money.
If God is in this work, in this place, he'll bless it. And if
he ain't, I don't care if it burns to the ground. It's nothing
without Christ. Nothing. I don't care who built
it. I don't care how much money it
cost. It's a worthless piece of trash without Christ in his
gospel. Made his soul an offering for
sin. He, the Lord Jesus, getting into
some of those shalls now, but I've got to read them. He shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied, shall be satisfied by his knowledge Shall my righteous
servant justify many?" Don't think that he went to the cross
blindly. He went to redeem a specific
people whom he knew already and had from the time the covenant
was established, the covenant of grace and old eternity. By his knowledge, Shall my righteous
servant justify many? It does not say all. Now don't ask me how I could
believe that junk about Christ dying for everybody and crying
his heart out in glory because we won't let him save us and
all such tommyrot is that. I not only was born into that
religion, I believed it. I taught it and I preached it.
I wish I never had. Thank God for my deliverance,
and for yours. My righteous servant shall justify
many. How is he going to do this? shall bear their iniquities." You mean we don't have to pay
some penalty for sin? It's already paid. For you and
I to try is an insult to God. You mean the death of the Son
of God ain't enough? And we're going to put our miserable
dollar bills in the quotation? And make what we do a part of
our acceptance? Ain't no way. If you aren't accepted
in Christ, you ain't never going to be accepted, I promise you.
And neither shall I. He shall bear their iniquities.
Alright, verse 12, final verse. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong, because he has 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. Now, don't you
know if Christ prayed for me, it's all over but to shout? I
mean, he cannot be denied. Our Lord doesn't pray like we
pray. We say, Lord, if you could see fit, Be according to your
will if you do this, that and the other. No. The Lord Jesus prays like He
did in John 17, 24. Father, I will. We don't ever pray like that.
Father, I will. That those that You have given
Me be with Me where I am that they may behold my glory." He's
praying for believers to go to heaven, to be with him. And he prays as God's equal, not
like we have to pray. All right, now let's work on
this These seven he shalls. I don't know if all of them have
the he in front of it. I didn't take time to look at that. And
you'll find these in verses 10 and 11. So we'll narrow the scope
just a bit. Come down to these wonderful,
wonderful words. I believe I'd give every cent
I own to be able to go to other churches, no matter what their
persuasion, and simply read this chapter, I don't think I'd make it all
the way through. I've been put out of enough.
And at my age, I don't think I want to go through it again.
But who knows? Who knows? Number one, seven shalls. Verse 10, the first
one is, he shall see his seed, his offspring, his people. Now, here's the rule this morning. I've got me some scriptures printed
out again, and we're going to have to use it because it's going
to save us some time. But there were some places, if
you've still got Isaiah 53, there are some places pretty close
to you, right here in the book of Isaiah. I'm not sure if all
of them are here, but a good many of them are. Let's go back
to chapter 44 in Isaiah. Talking about Christ's seed. His seed. Look at verse 3 in
Isaiah 44. For I'll pour water upon him
that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground, I'll pour my
Spirit upon your seed." This is Jehovah promising the Lord
Jesus, to pour my Spirit upon your seed,
and my blessing upon your offspring. Now, that's talking about Christ's
people. His church, His bride. Alright,
in Isaiah 59, going the other direction from chapter 43. Verse
21. Isaiah 59, 21. Now that's a long verse, isn't it?
It's not a short one. As for me, this is my covenant with them,
says the Lord, my spirit that is upon you, and my words which
I put in your mouth, Speaking of our Lord Jesus, "...shall
not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your
seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed, says the Lord
from henceforth and forever." So all the bases are covered
for time and eternity. And nothing can go haywire. Therefore,
we conclude, Whatever events transpire in this world today,
anywhere on this globe or anywhere in this universe, this is God's
unfolding will before our eyes. The good and the bad and the
ugly. It cannot take place without
the express permission of God Almighty. Now, if our God is one of them
little tiny gods that can't do anything unless we let Him, then
I'm not talking to you. I'm telling you this is the God
of the Bible. It's who He is. There's another
statement, I'll just read it straight off this page to you,
from Psalm 22 and verse 30. It says, speaking of Christ,
a seed shall serve Him It shall be accounted to the Lord for
a generation. Therefore, in every generation
of time, Christ has had a people. There's a statement also in Psalms
which gives nearly the same report that we've read already concerning
this seed. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. That's a promise from God to
our Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, the second shall is
in verse 10 as well. So if you don't want to turn,
if you want to stay at Isaiah 53, it won't matter to me one
bit in this world. Alright, the second one says, if I can find it, Where is he shall prolong his
days? I know good and well. Yeah, there it is. It was there
the whole time, Doug. He shall prolong his days. The eternal life And the earthly
life of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be shortened. It is what
it is. It's what it's ever been appointed
to be. It cannot be anything else. No matter where the Lord Jesus
is when he was on this earth, he could not be touched without
God doing it. And if God does it, our Lord
Jesus is pleased. And so must we be. Let me read you a statement in
regard to this prolonging of his days. This is Paul writing in 1 Corinthians
15. And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yes, and
we're found false witnesses of God because we've testified of
God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. Christ is not raised if the dead
do not rise. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain and you're still in your sins. Then they
also which are fallen asleep in Christ are not alive, but
are perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But, but,
now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits
of them that slept. He's the guarantee that all of
his people will be raised to be with him. Hallelujah. Alright, the third one is still
in verse 10. I'm looking in verse 11. My goodness. The very last phrase
in verse 10. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. And let me read you out of Isaiah
55. In my Bible, it's right across
the page, pretty nearly. Isaiah 55 and verses 11 through
13. Isaiah 55, verses 11-13. So shall my word be that goes
forth 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 sent it. For you shall go out with joy
and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands." I don't think I've ever seen that, but
I believe it sure does take place when God does it. Instead of
the thorn shall come up the fir tree, instead of the briar shall
come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Wow! What a statement indeed! Now
we move from verse 10 in Isaiah 53 to verse 11. And here is the first one in
the 11th verse. He shall see the prevail of his
soul. Now, this prevail is not just
any word. It is the word speaking of a
woman in labor for the birth of a child. And so the Lord Jesus
is likened to this. That his suffering, his labors
within himself, Not his body, though when our Lord died on
the cross, there was a great deal of bodily pain, but it ain't
nothing compared to the spiritual. And if you just look at this
in the light of his soul, see it there in verse 11, he shall
see of the travail of his soul. That's where his people must
be born, is from the sufferings of Christ. in his soul. What a glorious, glorious statement
indeed. Jeremiah put it this way, Ask
you now and see whether a man does travail with child. Why do I see every man with his
hands on his loin as a woman in travail? and all faces are
turned into paleness. Alas, for that day is great,
so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's
trouble, but he shall be saved out of it." Our Lord is promised
to see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Then we learn
in the next place that he indeed will be satisfied. The first part of that phrase
in the opening of verse 11 is, he shall see of the travail of
his soul, and then it says, leaving out the he, it simply says, shall
be satisfied. Our Lord Jesus is eternally secure
in that everything that he desires is exactly what occurs. Every
person he died for, he saves at some point in time, in some
generation, as long as the human race is on this globe. And it
cannot be reversed or stopped. We can't make it work faster
or slower. It is what it is. And you and
I do not have any control whatsoever about that. He shall be satisfied. Satisfied. Let me read you another
statement. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him,
and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." Aren't you
glad? Last time I checked, we're all
Gentiles. If the only people to be saved
were the Jews, we'd be left out in the cold. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed. shall he not break, and the smoking
flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail, this is speaking
of Christ, all of these statements, I'm just reading it. He shall
not fail, nor be discouraged. till he has set judgment in the
earth, and the isles or the coast shall wait for his law." That's
out of Isaiah 42. Now we come to the sixth shall
in verse 11, this time, where we read, "...by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many, many, many, many, many by his knowledge. Now, when Christ's people are born
into the human race and necessarily live a certain
period of time without knowing anything about it, And without
being able to look at the child and tell, well, now this is a
godly child, no, God saves sinners. The gospel is for sinners. Christ
died for sinners. Therefore, members of the human
race are much like all the other members of the human race until
the appointed hour when God has determined to reach down from
glory and save that soul. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many." Let me read you another statement. This
one is well out of Isaiah. I won't give you the reference
because you'll be turning while I'm trying to read. I'd rather
you just listen. Then you can look it up later.
Look unto me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth. For
I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. That unto
me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear, surely
shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.
Even to Him shall men come, and all that are incensed against
Him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall the seed of
Israel be justified and shall glory." Now, there are several
places in there that tell you that this is not universalism
by any means. But if you want to read it for
yourself, it's in Isaiah 45, verses 22 to 25. Now we come to number seven,
back to Isaiah 53. Here's the last shout in these
seven. Now, there's still plenty more
in this chapter. Verse 11, you just about have to read the
whole statement. If it's all right, I'll go back
and read that eleventh verse. 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. He shall divide
the spoil with the strong, because he has poured out his soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressors
and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. So this statement then, in this
11th verse, he shall bear their iniquities. Let's see, I need
to read you some statements. This is working out pretty good.
Y'all owe me some time over the past 30 years or so. I just need a little bit. Alright? Back to Isaiah 53. Beginning at verse 4. Isaiah
53, verse 4. He, the Lord Jesus, has 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've turned every one to his own way. And
the Lord has laid on him, the Lord God Jehovah has laid on
Christ, the iniquity of us all. Jumping down to verse 8. 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. Oh my.