I am reading this morning from
the book of Isaiah, chapter 53. The book of Isaiah, chapter 53. A very profound and solemn portion
of Scripture which is a prophecy of Christ crucified. A prophecy
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. Isaiah 53, I wish I had
time to read the whole chapter. It deserves to be read. I hope
you will read it on your own at some other time. But for the
sake of time, I just want to read verses 10 through 12, which
reads, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him
to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong. Because he 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. Let me tell you what I see here
in this prophecy of Christ on Calvary's tree. What we see at
Calvary, number one, we see the holiness of God Almighty. These verses keep telling us
that God Almighty is the one who put Christ to grief, who
made his soul an offering for sin, who bruised him. What we
first see at Calvary is the holiness of God, God's absolute purity
and his inflexible holiness, his hatred of sin, no matter
where he finds it, even upon his own son. We see at Calvary
the depravity of man. In the first several verses of
Isaiah 53, it says that He was despised and rejected of men
that hid their faces from him. The depravity of man. Man finally
experienced true holiness when Christ came to this earth. The
only holy man who ever lived, Jesus Christ. And sinful man,
corrupt man, hated him because he exposed their sin. And man took him and killed him. Man hates holiness. Man by nature
hates holiness. Yes, that's all of us. We see
the depravity of man. The one time which man had God
in his own hands to do with as he pleased and he killed him.
What will you do with Jesus? Well, what man, the natural man,
will do with Jesus, according to his depraved, sinful will,
is kill him. Man hates holiness. Man is depraved. That's what they did with Christ.
Another thing we see at Calvary is the justice of God Almighty. God said this about Himself first. He said, I am a just God. First, He is the holy and just
God. He must be. Sinful man must die. God will punish sins. All of them. The book of Hebrews
says every sin shall receive a just recompense of reward. Either in us, we will pay for
them, or our substitute, which was Christ, the substitute for
His people. His people. We see the justice
of God Almighty. killing a giving man what he
deserved, or at least giving the substitute what those he
died for deserved. We also see at Calvary the mercy
of God, sparing those whom Christ died for because he spared not
his own son. We see the mercy of God. Mercy
is not getting what we deserve. The wages of sin is death. But
the mercy of God is God not sparing His own Son in order to spare
others. We see the mercy of God. We see
the grace of God in Christ doing for His people what they could
not do for themselves. Grace is a gift. Grace is a bestowal
of favor, of salvation. Grace is the gift of salvation
which was earned by Christ but given to his people. We see the
love of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon his people. Greater love hath no
man than this. And he lay down his life for
his friends. And Christ said, I lay down my
life for my sheep. So we see the love of God in
Christ at Calvary. And we see salvation 100 percent
by Jesus Christ. Salvation by Christ. Christ on
Calvary's tree was both the High Priest and the Sacrifice. The
High Priest and the Lamb of God. Well, it says in verse 10 here
of Isaiah 53, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased
God to bruise his son. It wasn't pleasing to God the
Father in his son's torturous death. That was not pleasing
to him. but in the will and the purpose and the good pleasure
of God in making some his people, in saving a people, in saving
a portion, a remnant of mankind. It pleased the Lord. It was in
the good pleasure and will and purpose of God Almighty to bruise
or put his son to death. Peter spoke at Pentecost, he
said, you with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord
of glory, but you did, but man did what God determined before
to be done. Christ was even called the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. So he had purposed
the crucifixion of his son as a substitute of his people from
the foundation of the world. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It goes on to read, he, or that is God, put him to grief. Verses 4 and 5 here in Isaiah
53 says that he hath borne our griefs. It says that he was wounded
for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities. Who's the
our here? Well, we're going to see that
in a moment, but it's those who hath believed the report to whom
the arm of the Lord is revealed in verse 1. God put Christ to
grief, and Christ bore the griefs and the sorrows and the transgressions
and iniquities of his people. Verse 10 goes on to say, Thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Scripture says the soul
that sinneth must surely die. That means hell. That means to
be cut off from God Almighty who is life. to be separated
from God Almighty. When Christ hung on the tree,
he said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's
what hell is, to be forsaken of God, to be cut off from God
who is mercy, grace, love, compassion, goodness, light, life, everything. It's to be without God and without
hope. Well, Christ as a substitute
of his people, who was made sin for his people, that they might
be made the righteousness of God in him." Christ who was made
sin, who bore the iniquities and the sin of his people. God made his soul an offering
for sin. God put Christ through hell for
his people. And I read on. It says in verse
10, "...he shall see his seed." Now, this is talking about the
seed of Christ, the children of the promise, Romans 9 says. The children of promise are counted
for the seed. It says, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days. Christ died, but now he lives
forever. And the pleasure of the Lord,
verse 10, it says, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. The pleasure of the Lord, the
purpose, the covenant, The mind and will of God Almighty in making
a people, in saving a people through Christ, prospered in
the hands of Christ. Christ said in his prayer in
John 17 that he had finished the work, that he had revealed
the word, that he had done the works for those whom God had
given him. Christ did what he did for those
whom God gave him in a covenant before the world began. and he
prospered. He came to do a job, that is,
save his people. That's what the angels announced
when he was born on this earth. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. Not he shall try to save, not
he shall try to make salvation possible and leave it up to them. Not he shall make an attempt
not he shall make a down payment, no sir, and not for all men,
but he shall save his people from their sins." That was the
first announcement, and Christ, upon hanging on the tree, said,
It is finished. Salvation accomplished. Sins
put away. When he had by himself purged
our sins, the sins of God's people, he sat down. The job was finished
by the High Priest. He shall prosper. The pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. In the hands of Christ,
God's people were made righteous, acceptable, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight, adopted as children into the
family. He sends the Holy Spirit to convict
them of their sins, give them faith in Christ, and someday
present them before the Father, every one of them. And Christ
shall say in that final day, Behold I and the children whom
thou hast given me, all present and accounted for." That's what
verse 11 says. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied in bringing all the sons of God,
all the chosen of God to glory, all present and accounted for.
One time my daughter had a swimming party at a local YMCA for several
of her friends, and there were seven or eight young girls there. And I was given the responsibility
of watching over all of those children as they swam. Well,
needless to say, the whole time I was counting heads, counting
heads to make sure all of them were safe. Well, our Lord has
his people numbered. They are more than the number
of grains of sands of the seashore and the stars of the sky, but
God Almighty has them numbered. No man can number them, but God
does. And every one of them whom he
gave to Christ, every one whom he elected, every one whom he
chose and gave to Christ in that covenant before the world began,
Christ, when he travailed on Calvary's tree, the travail of
his soul as a woman giving birth. Through water and blood, Christ
shall see the travail of his soul, the death of his soul,
the payment of his blood, and shall be satisfied. What woman out there giving birth
to a child who gives birth to a stillborn child or a malformed
child can be satisfied. Neither can the Lord himself.
Every one of the children given to him shall be saved. Christ said, I give unto them
eternal life and they shall never perish. Now you can have this
Jesus people who made an attempt to save, who made salvation possible,
but some may go to hell anyway for whom he died. You can have
that. That Jesus can't save a flea. That's not the Jesus Christ of
Scripture. I read again, "...he shall see
of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. And by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many," not all,
many it said, "...he shall bear their iniquity." That's the Christ
of Scripture. And it goes on to say, "...and
God will divide him a portion with the grave, give him a name
which is above every name." because he'd bear the sin of many. Not all, but many. God's people. All the sins of all God's people
from time and eternity were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
he put them all away, and every one of them for whom Christ died
shall be saved. Mark it down. That's the Christ
of Scripture. I hope it's the one you believe.
Otherwise, you've got the wrong one. Well, until next Sunday,
may God be glorified and you hear His word. Amen.