And in strength victorious, Lord,
victorious, Lord, victorious, Lord, stand from sinking. Well, that last song sums up
my message. If you will turn back with me
to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53. What a glorious passage of scripture
this is. I've titled this message Substitution
and Satisfaction. I'm excited to tell you about
this. I need a substitute more than
anything. I'm not sufficient. I need a substitute. The only
way I can possibly be saved is by substitution. It's the only
way it's going to happen. The reason for that is I cannot
satisfy I can't satisfy. I can't meet God's demands. I can't do it. What God requires,
I can't provide. No matter how hard I might try,
I can't provide. God is holy. Holy, holy, holy. And he requires absolute perfection. Well, I'm not perfect, but I'm
all right. Well, that ain't good enough. That's not good enough. I am a sinner. I can't satisfy
God, but there's one who can. There's one who has. I want to talk to you this morning
about Christ, our substitute, and the eternal satisfaction
he has already made. I pray God will help me. We'll start here in verse 1,
Isaiah 53. The prophet writes, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Jesus Christ is the arm of the
Lord. Who hath believed? Nobody. None of us. None of us have believed
on Him And none of us can believe on him until he has been revealed
to us. Perhaps it can be read who has
believed our report to whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed. That's who is going to believe
on him. Life eternal is knowing Christ and the only way he can
be known is by divine revelation. He told that Samaritan woman.
She said, you don't know what you worship. She said, I know
one Messiah. He said, I am the Messiah. He must make himself known. It's
the only way we're going to know him. Look back at the previous
page, Isaiah 52 in verse 9. Break forth into joy. Sing together. Ye waste places of Jerusalem.
For the Lord hath comforted his people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem,
the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God. Amazing. You know, if God ever
reveals himself to us, we're going to break forth into joy. Where it says you waste places
of Jerusalem. Could there be a better name
for what we are? Waste places. But praise God,
he's been pleased to reveal himself. To make bare his holy arm in
the eyes of all the nations. He has a people scattered among
all the nations. And all his people are going
to look unto him and be saved. All the ends of the earth. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. Oh, that makes me rejoice. I've
been redeemed. He hath redeemed it. It's finished. It's done. He is our salvation. We shall see the salvation of
our God. That's Christ. That's Christ. My prayer is that He might be
pleased to reveal Himself to us today. Back to chapter 53. Verse 2,
here Isaiah is prophesying of our Lord's coming. How shall
he come? Verse 2 says, for he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant. Christ came in humility. That's not something this flesh
knows anything about. Everything about Christ, everything
about who he is, the way he came, is the exact opposite of us.
He didn't come the way we would come. One thing that I've been
thinking about with this is how shall he come? Nowadays, when
one of those princes or kings or whatever, when they have a
child, I mean, you'd think the world just stopped for them.
They call it a royal birth. It's all over the news and everybody
praises the child. There's only ever been one royal
birth and it wasn't like we might have thought. You know, there was no room for
him in the end. He purposed it that way. This
world had no room for him. He said, I'm not of the world.
I'm from my father. I come down from above. That's
how he came. He came without notice. He didn't
come to make a big show and get everybody all excited. Oh, no,
no, no, no. He came in humility. For he shall
grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root. out of a
dry ground. I don't know about you, but I've
not seen a root come out of dry ground. Our Lord's birth was
a miracle. It was a miracle of God Almighty. He was born of a virgin. That's
only going to happen one time. It's never going to happen again.
He was born of a virgin. He came the root of David. Our
Lord is called the root of David. He came through the lineage of
David. And yet he was born totally without man's help. Born of a
virgin. He was conceived of the Holy
Ghost. God does not need our help. Ever. He never has. He never will.
He is God. He is God. Christ came into this
world seeking nothing of His own. We read in 1 Corinthians
13, Charity seeketh not her own, its own, Christ never saw his
own. He came into this world seeking
his sheep. Everything about him is totally selfless. He never
saw anything for himself. He had no, the son of man had
no place to lay his head. Even though the birds, they had
their nest. Verse two again, the middle of
the verse says, he hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall
see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. Our Lord
came into this world seeking no Beauty. He didn't need beauty. I remember Paul brought a message
about how he made himself. Well, I think something he said
was, I'd have made myself a little more beautiful if I could have.
Not our Lord. He came here seeking. He had
no desire to appeal to the flesh. The lust of our flesh just about
eat us up, don't they? Christ came. The hope from
the time he was born, his face was already set like a flame.
He came here for one reason. He came to do his father's will. He came to glorify his father
on the earth and finish the work which he gave him to do. He came
to save his people from their sins. He came to be the sacrifice for
sin. He came as a lamb. You just consider
his birth. There's a song, I don't know
how it goes, but it says something about, it's not how you'd expect
a king to be born, but how else could a lamb be born? Exactly
the way he was born. He came as a lamb. Abraham told
Isaac, he said, God will provide himself a lamb. That lamb is
Christ. Isaiah is talking about that
same lamb. Christ came as a perfect lamb
without blemish and without spot. He is the Passover Lamb. He came as the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. God told Moses concerning the
Passover. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Here's our Lamb. Behold the Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God. He is
despised and rejected of men. We all despised Him. We all despised Him. Look back at Isaiah chapter 42,
a few pages. Isaiah 42 verse 1. Real quick, I just want us to
see what we thought of Him and what the Father thinks of him.
Isaiah 42 verse 1. Here's what God the Father said.
He said, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom
my soul delighteth. You know what we said about him?
Away with this man. Crucify him. Crucify him. Look
at verse 4 here in Isaiah 42. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged. He shall not fail. The stone
which the builders rejected, the same has become the head
of the corner. Praise God, he shall not fail. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious. I pray that God would cause Christ
to be precious to us. Hail, thou once despised Lord
Jesus. Oh, may he be precious to us. He's precious to the Father.
Oh, he's precious to the Father. Back in verse 3 in Isaiah 53. He is 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
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted." I want us to see that the Lord
Jesus Christ was the man of sorrows. No man ever sorrowed like him.
The reason is he took my sins. and my sorrows. He made them
his very own. He bore the burden of Calvary
and suffered and died alone. In 1 Peter chapter 2, we're told
that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. I just
can't begin to fathom just what that means, but it means what
it says. In Gethsemane's garden, our Lord
sweat as it were, great drops of blood as his soul was exceeding
sorrowful unto death. He told his disciples, he said,
you sit right here. He says, sleep on now, take your
rest, I've got this. Just sleep. Turn with me to Lamentations
chapter one. Lamentations chapter 1 verse
12. Now this is absolutely talking
about our Lord. Lamentations 1 verse 12. Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? Behold. I want us to picture
our Lord on the cross when we read this. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? Behold. And see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow. You see, the sorrow that Christ
endured was not because of what man was doing to him. Now, it
would certainly be great sorrow to be on a cross, nailed, our
hands on our feet, and a spear piercing us. That would be sorrow.
But I want us to see God's hand in this. Let's
read the verse through. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by, Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto
my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted
me in the day of his fierce anger." God did this. The Lord afflicted him. I pray that it can't be said
of us, oh, it was nothing to us. I pray that the sufferings of
Christ, the accomplishments of Christ, are everything to us. And if he didn't carry my sins
and my sorrows, I'm still carrying them. If God did not afflict
him in the day of his fierce anger, God will afflict me. His
wrath must be appeased. Do you need a substitute? Back to chapter 53, Isaiah 53, verse 5. But he was wounded, tormented
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. He was wounded for me. There on the cross he was wounded
for me. Gone my transgressions and now I am free. All because
the Lord Jesus was wounded for me. You see, he knew no sin. How could he be wounded? How
could he be bruised? How could he be crucified and
forsaken by God? How could a righteous man die?
That wouldn't be right. Death is the wages of sin. Death
is for those who sin. He never sinned. Not once. He died. The just for the unjust. We're unjust. He's just. He died the just for the unjust.
This is the mystery of the gospel. What a mystery. The only way
Christ could die is if he were guilty. Otherwise, God would
be unjust. And the only way Christ could
ever be guilty is by substitution. I'm guilty. I've sinned against
the Holy God. But in substitution, Christ my
Savior traded places with me. And he paid the price. I want to show you three verses
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I pray that in these three verses
we will see clearly that Christ substituted himself in our place. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. For he, God, hath made him to
be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made to the
righteousness of God in him. Christ was not a sinner. Christ
never sinned one time, not once. But God says he made him to be
sin for us. That's substitution. That substitution,
I can tell you this, that's the only way someone like me could
ever be made the righteousness of God. Galatians chapter three, turn
with me there. Galatians chapter three. Verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree. Christ is the blessed man. There's only one blessed man,
and that's the Son of God. And yet we read in His Word that
He was made a curse. And he was not made a curse in
vain. He was made a curse for us. Why? To redeem us from the
curse. Now we're blessed. Now we're blessed. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 7. Hebrews 7 verse 26, For such a high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. He became
us. If those three verses don't show
us substitution, then I don't know what will. And that's my
only hope. Turn back to our text. Christ has made us complete in
him. That means there's nothing left
to be done. I'm already complete. Complete in him. Isaiah 53, verse 5. 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. We are healed.
We have peace with God. Christ is our peace. Verse six. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. You know, there's just one part
we play in salvation. We've gone astray. That means
we didn't play any part in our salvation. That happened after
we went astray. We went astray. And this is my
confession. I was content going my own way. Were you? I was content going my own way,
not knowing I was lost. And you know what? People don't
know they're lost because they're lost. It's the grace of God that
reveals to us you're lost. I know this has been said many
times, but, you know, the preachers talk about not trying to get
people saved. I'm trying to get them lost. Here's why. Here's what Christ
said. The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which
was lost. I said it earlier, it's not always
a bad thing to be sick. It's not always a bad thing to
be lost. If God ever reveals to a sinner
they're lost. Oh, what good news. I can't help
but consider that thief on the cross whom the Lord saved. He
spent his whole life, literally until his dying moments, lost. His whole life. He was just seconds away from
meeting God in judgment. And you know, we are too. With judgment awaiting, something
miraculous happened for him. He met his Savior face to face. How? The Lord revealed himself
to him. He was mocking him just like
the other thief. And then all of a sudden, here's
this great change taking place. The arm of the Lord Perhaps the
arm of the Lord reached out and touched him. And he said, this man has done
nothing amiss. That's what that thief cried.
Holy, harmless, undefiled. He cried to the Lord. What is your hope? Here's my
hope right here at the end of verse six. The Lord hath laid
on him. The iniquity of us all. My Senator
Martin says the Lord hath made the iniquity of us all to meet
on him. You know why that thief was remembered,
he said, Lord, remember me, he cried, he prayed, he begged,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Christ
remembered him. He said today, you're coming. He remembered him because Christ
died as his substitute. Now, they both died, but that
thief didn't die in his sin. He was being put to death because
of his sin, literally. He'd broken the law of the land,
but he didn't die in his sin. That man standing right beside
him and in the middle of the two transgressors He died for
his sin. Amazing grace. Amazing grace. The Lord laid on him the iniquity
of that thief and the iniquity of all his people. I don't know all the words of
this, but I know part of a song we sing says, Buried he carried
my sins far away. They're gone. They're all taken
away. Look here in Isaiah 53 at 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 shears is done, so he openeth
not his mouth. Christ died willingly. He did this willingly. That's
hot. Christ died willingly. I heard Brother Clay say, the
greatest glory ever displayed was in Christ opening not his
mouth. He was arrested and he remained
silent. He had nothing to say. He was
guilty. As our substitute, he was guilty. He had to go. It was appointed. Christ came
to save sinners, and this is the only way sinners are ever
going to be saved by a substitute. Satisfaction has got to be made
if I'm going to be saved. Verse 8, he was taken from prison
and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation I love
that. I didn't know what to say about
that part, but we just sing it. Who can number his generation?
It's like the sand of the sea. The stars of the sky can't be
numbered. 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. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death. Because he had done no
violence. Neither was any deceit in his
mouth. He lived the perfect life. He died the perfect death. And all of this happened according
to the purpose of Almighty God. Verse 10 says, Yet it pleased
the Lord. Our God is in the heavens, he
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased, and it pleased the Lord
to bruise him, his only begotten son, in whom he is well pleased. What a wonderful verse. Come with me to Acts chapter
2. If you listened to Paul's radio
message this morning, you already heard this. But we'll just hear
it again. Acts 2 verse 22. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, As ye yourselves also know
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
The cross was no accident. The cross was no accident. It
was God's doing. You recall Joseph. And his brothers,
what they did to him, they sold him as a slave. And then Joseph prospered in
Egypt. Ruler over all the land. And
then they just happened to come back to him. There just happened
to be a great famine where they had to fall down at his feet. I tell you, that was no accident
either. Oh no. Joseph told them, he said,
you meant it for evil. And we sure did. I hope we can
all put ourselves at the cross and know exactly what we would
have been doing. Knowing not what we're doing. You meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. God meant it. God purposed this
and he meant it for good. And Joseph also said, to bring
to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. That's the same thing we're reading
here in Acts chapter 2. Look at verse 24. Whom God hath raised
up. Who raised Joseph up? He said,
you didn't send me hither, but God. God sent me hither. Whom
God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it
was not possible. I love that. that he should be
holding of it. Why was it not possible for Christ
to stay in the grave? We're about to get to the good
part. Look back at our text. Why was it not possible? You
know, everybody, come Easter here, everybody's going to be
rejoicing, you know. This is all my reason for rejoicing
right here. Why he was risen. Look at verse
10, Isaiah 53, 10. 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. Why could he not stay in the
grave? Because he's satisfied. Satisfied with what? All that
God demanded. He fulfilled the law. He kept
it perfectly. And by faith, we established
the law in him. He lived our life. He died our death. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. Why? Because he lives. And Christ
lives in me. And the life that we now live,
we live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave
himself for us. He shall be satisfied. His death was no accident. It
was according to God's purpose And his death, you remember,
you remember Mary went to the tomb afterwards and she was so
sad. She said, they've taken away my Lord. Oh, no, Mary. Nobody took your Lord away. He's
risen. He's risen. And soon you're going to be risen
with him. His death was an accomplishment. He satisfied Holy God on our
behalf. There's nothing left for us to
do. Nothing for us to do. By his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. That's good news. And I've got
to say this. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11. In the first message, we saw
that God will have mercy and not sacrifice. Well, here we
see that religion offers a lot of sacrifices, but none of those
sacrifices can ever take away sin. There's one sacrifice. Hebrews 10, verse 11 says, And
every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever
than that are sanctified. That's good news. That's good
news for sinners. And look at verse 17. And their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. He put it away. He took them all away, nailing
them to his cross. As far as the east is from the
west, they are gone. blotted out. Back at our text. 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. Christ bore our iniquities. Christ was delivered for our
offenses, not his own. He was delivered for our offenses,
and he was raised again for our justification. He justified many. He justified that publican, didn't
he? Christ is our wisdom. He is our
righteousness. He is our sanctification. He
is our redemption. He is our substitute. What a
substitute. What a substitute. Verse 12.
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 bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. I'm so glad. He was numbered
with the transgressors. Only way that could happen is
as our substitute. And I rejoice to know that He made intercession
for them. And I also rejoice to know that
He ever lives to intercede for His people. Do you need this
substitute? I sure do. I pray that God would
be pleased to reveal Him to us. Amen. All right, let's all stand and
turn to number 127. 127. And we'll sing the first,
second, third, last thing them all. It don't get no better than that. Man of sorrows, what a day for
the Son of God to reign. Ruling sinners to rethink. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He, Full of atonement can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! Lifted up was He to die, It is finished with His Christ
Now in heaven exalted by Hallelujah What a Savior! When He comes, our Gloria King
All His ransoms home to bring Then anew this song we'll sing,
Hallelujah, what a Savior! you.