Thank you for that. That was
my special request. My special request. And the words are just wonderful
to that. Such a blessing. Open your Bibles
first of all to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. Well, it's
only fitting that I make some remarks about our Lord's
death. And my subject is death by divine
determination. In the Old Testament, stroke
by stroke. The spirit of God, like a master
artist, sets forth a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He used various men who lived
in different ages to set forth our blessed Redeemer. And as we take the writings of
all of these men, we see the masterful wisdom of the Spirit
of God in setting forth our great Redeemer. In the Old Testament we find
that the Lord Jesus will be a prophet greater than Moses. He'll be a priest after the order
of Melchizedek. He will be a king who will reign
in righteousness. He'll be a lamb who'll be killed
and a lion who would reign. He would be a descendant of Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob and Judah. He would be born into the tribe
of Judah when the scepter was just about to depart out of that
tribe. He would be of the family of
Jesse and of the house of David. In fact, he would be said to
be the son of David. Isaiah says his name should be
called Immanuel, which being interpreted in Matthew chapter
one means God with us. He would be the son of God. Moses begins In the book of Genesis
chapter 3, he begins the portrait of our Savior. As he says, he's
the seed of the woman. And our Lord Jesus was born to
a virgin mother in a little, little bitty town called Bethlehem. The scripture says he would enter
into this world while the temple was still standing in Jerusalem. He would be taken into Egypt
for safety after his birth, and yet at his birth, multitudes
of little babies would die. He would begin his public ministry
in Galilee. He would have a very special
man to be his forerunner, a man who would be a preacher
in the wilderness, and he would announce his coming. This one of whom the Holy Spirit
had meant to write would perform many wonderful supernatural miracles,
all of them authenticating his identity as Messiah. He would make the blind to see,
The deaf to hear, lame to walk, the dead to live. He would speak in great parables. The scripture says, Zechariah
says he would enter in Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey. David said it'd be the stone
rejected by the builders, rejected by the leaders of Jewish religion. It'd be sold by a dear friend
for 30 pieces of silver. Scripture says that money would
be used to buy a field called the potter's field. He would be forsaken by his disciples. He would be accused by false
witnesses. And when he stood before those
who did accuse him, he would be silent. David said in the Psalms he would
be hated for no reason, no cause, no cause why they should hate
him. He'd be stripped of his garments
and of his vesture. And for that vesture, his men
would cast lots. He would be beaten. His beard
would be pulled out. He would be mocked and he would
be spit upon. His back would be beaten. Isaiah says here in Isaiah 53,
it'd be numbered with the transgressors. His hands and his feet would
be pierced, but none of his bones would be
broken. He would be given vinegar and
gall to drink. David says that this one whose
portrait is being painted throughout the Old Testament, he would,
from the depths of his soul, cry out, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? He would be buried in a rich
man's cemetery plot or in a tomb. And David says his body wouldn't
see any corruption. No corruption. He'd be raised
from the dead and he would ascend into heaven where he would be
seated and is seated at the right hand of God. What a glorious,
glorious picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody who honestly looks and
reads the scriptures, as they read all of these prophetic passages,
statements that I've just mentioned to you, and more as well, anybody
to whom God gives wisdom can absolutely see, is can only be
speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Son of God. What a glorious portrait is painted
in the Old Testament by the Spirit of Grace of our blessed Redeemer. All the predictions meet in Him. His entrance into this world
was prophesied and predicted and pictured. But not only His entrance into
this world, But his death was also predicted and prophesied
and pictured. What kind of death would he die?
He would die the death of a convicted felon, death by crucifixion. On a number of occasions, the
Jewish leaders would have killed him, stoned him to death but
they couldn't stone him to death because that was not the appointed
way for him to die. He would die with being, as the
scripture says, hung on a tree, cursed of God, as he bore the
sins of his people. Of all the vicious ways man has
invented to execute someone, back in those days none was considered
as barbaric as the Roman method of executing men by crucifixion. It was an absolutely painful
and shameful way to die, and it was a death reserved for the
very worst of criminals In fact, under Roman law, only slaves
could be crucified. A Roman citizen couldn't die
that way. It was too vicious, too vicious
a death. One of the Roman philosophers
and statesmen, Cicero, who was an orator, Widely considered
to be one of Rome's greatest orators of execution by crucifixion,
he said, it is a most disgusting and cruel punishment. The person to be crucified was
usually beaten with a whip that had several cords with a piece
of bone at the end of each cord, and every lash ripped flesh out
of a man's back, and as it went around to his chest, it would
rip open the chest cavity as well. And then he'd be forced
to carry his cross, at least the top beam, if not the entire
cross, He'd have to carry it to the place of execution, which
our Lord did. Along the way, they did summon
one, another man to carry his cross, not because the Savior
stumbled, the scripture doesn't say he stumbled, no indication
of that, but perhaps the reason that the Romans compelled Simon
to carry the Savior's cross was that they didn't want him to
die before he got to the place of crucifixion. They wanted to
see it carried out. The man to be crucified would
be forced, when they got to the place of crucifixion, he'd have
to lay down on top of the cross. They would then attach at the
upper part of the cross a message that would indicate the reason
for the man's death. And then they would nail his
hands to the cross beam, and then they would cross his feet
and put a spike through his feet into the wood. Then they'd hoist
the cross up, drop it in a hole, jarring effect
upon the wounds in the hands and the feet would be gaping,
gaping holes. And the longer he hung there,
the wider those wounds became, bearing the weight of the man
who was crucified. Those crucified were stripped
of their clothing. Victims lost all control of their
bladder and their bowels. What an awful, shameful way to
die. That's how Christ died. And by that death, he redeemed
us from the curse of the law. Now that's just what man did
to him. What God did to him was even
worse. In fact, that which God did to
our blessed Redeemer can't even be described. We can enter into the crucifixion,
the reality of it, and what a barbaric act it was for the sons of men to lay their
hands on the blessed Son of God and do all of this to Him. And we just shiver and say, oh, how awful. How awful. But the Scripture says that God
bruised his soul. Here in Isaiah 53 verse 10, Yet it pleased the Lord, to bruise
him. God bruised him. Well, Mike, we ask this question,
how did Jesus of Nazareth come to die such an awful death? And I would say he or she who
reads the life and death of Jesus Christ as mere history, they
would undoubtedly traced the death of Jesus to the hatred
of him by Satan. They trace it to the covetousness
of Judas. They trace it to the malice of
the Jewish leaders of religion. They would trace it to the weak
character of Pontius Pilate, and they trace it to the brutality
of the Roman soldiers. There's no doubt but what those
men bear responsibility in the death of the Son of God. Satan
entered into Judas to betray Jesus of Nazareth. Judas sold
his master for 30 pieces of silver. The Jews had him arrested on
trumped up charges. And the Romans actually crucified
him even though Pilate said, I find no fault in this man. Yet they did kill him. How did he come to die? He came
to die because God ordained for him to die. Continue reading here, yet it
pleased the Lord to bruise him, Isaiah 53, 10. He hath put him
to grief. Who did this to him? God did
this to him. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Who made his soul an offering
for sin? Well, the Jews knew a lot about
offerings for sin. Certainly throughout the Old
Testament, rivers of blood flowed from Jewish altars. Multitudes of goats and sheep
died, rams, bullocks, birds. Sacrifice to God. They knew what
an offering was, an offering to God. But this is so different. Here's a man who's a real man,
body and soul. We talked about that last Wednesday.
And he makes his very 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." When we look at the cross of
Calvary, we see our Lord Jesus dying, we see him suffering at
the hands of God. We see God's eternal purpose,
we see it prospering in the hands of Christ Jesus. All of this
was ordained by God. Not only his physical sufferings,
but his soul sufferings. I confess, I don't know how God
bruised his soul. But he did. He did. Somehow, During those
hours of darkness on the cross, God the Father dealt with God
the Son in a manner that nobody was allowed to see. Nobody really knows all that
happened except those two. I know there was a wonderful
and glorious transaction took place. A debt came due. The debt of all the guilt and
all the iniquities, transgressions and sins of all the people of
God, the debt of all of God's elect came due. Had to be paid. Justice demanded it. And God
the Father exacted it from God the Son. And that involved using
the brutality of vile human creatures to kill him physically. And it
involved the righteous indignation of God in bruising his soul. This was the way, this was the
only way whereby our sins could be put away. They were all made
to meet in a mysterious manner upon the Son of God. And in His
own body, though He Himself was spotless, He read to us from
Hebrews chapter 9, he offered himself without spot unto God. And that one who was without
spot, he bore all of the vileness of all of his people, all of
his elect, he bore it in his own body on
the tree. I talked to a preacher this week
and we were discussing 2 Corinthians 5.21 and I said, I believe men
have waded into the darkness trying to explain that which
can't be explained. something awful beyond human
description took place. And God just sets it forth in
just a few words. For He had made Him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And our Lord Jesus, in three
hours of darkness, He bore all of our hell. I can't even begin to comprehend
that, and you can't either. Because we don't even know what
hell is, really. We can read about the flames.
We can read about outer darkness. We can read about where the worm
doth not, fires not quenched, read about the brimstone, the
smoke of those who are in hell rises up forever. We can read
all of that. You can't comprehend. You don't
know and I don't know save what the scripture says and we can't
enter into it. But I'll tell you this, whatever
hell, all of God's elect would have suffered forever and ever.
Our Lord Jesus, He bore it in His own body, in His own soul
on that tree. And He bore it until finally
the wrath of God exhausted itself. There was no more indebtedness.
He paid the debt in full for all of His people. Men did all
that they could to Him. And God did all to Him that was
necessary to remove our sin. Mysterious? You betcha. Miraculous? Absolutely. Gloriously wonderful? Indeed. Indeed. For there we see our
salvation. There we see the removal of our
guilt. We see our transgressions buried
in the depths of the deepest sea. And we see that everlasting righteousness
that God demands brought forth. by our Lord Jesus Christ. Go with me to Acts chapter 4. Back in the third chapter, Peter
and John had gone to the temple. There they came upon a man who
was begging for money. And when he saw Peter and John, he said he was asking alms. Peter looked at him and said,
Look on us. Look on us." And he gave heed. He thought he was going to get
some money in his little cup. And Peter said to him, I don't
have any silver or gold, but such as I have given unto
thee, And he says in chapter 3 and verse 6, in the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He took him by the
right hand, lifted him up. Immediately his feet and his
ankle bones received strength. Word of that spread quickly. Before long, A great crowd had
gathered, and Peter used that opportunity to preach the Lord
Jesus Christ to them. You see, they didn't have a healing
crusade. They didn't hang a sign outside
the church building or outside the temple saying, we're going
to have a healing service today. No, this miracle was performed
by the Apostle Peter, by the Spirit of God's enablement, in
order to open the door to preach the gospel. Those gifts that
those men were given back in those days were to manifest the
greatness of the God that these men represented and to verify
that they had the right message. I need to listen to this man
preach because look what kind of power he's got. He heals the
sick. Here's a man who's lame. He's
walking now. So a great crowd gathers together
and that drew the ire of the Sanhedrin. They got very upset. And they brought Peter and John
before them said, now, you men can't preach in the name of Jesus
of Nazareth anymore. We don't want to hear any more
of that kind of preaching. We don't want to hear anything about
grace. You know, we believe the law. We believe the law of Moses. So you keep your message of Jesus
and him crucified to yourself. Peter said, well, You can tell us what to do, but
we're going to do what we feel like in our hearts we've got
to do, which is preach the gospel. And they threatened them then.
And Peter said, go over to chapter 4 now. In chapter 4, the Sanhedrin,
they've had a special council meeting. They went into a special
meeting. And then they brought these two
preachers before them. In chapter 4, verse 18, they
called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach
in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, will you be the judge? Who
do you think we're going to listen to? We're going to listen to
you, we're going to listen to God. For we cannot but speak the things
that we have seen and heard. So, when they had further threatened
them, they let them go, finding nothing how that they might punish
them because of the people. For all the people glorified
God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years
old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. And being let go,
they went to their own company. You know where you'll find God's
people? Among their own company. I'm always, always concerned
about people who don't join in the company of God's people. needing the fellowship, and needing
to hear the gospel. Those are, I'm suspicious of
them. I just, I wonder about them. Because the Lord's people love
their own company. They love people who understand
the language of grace, who understand the language of Jesus Christ
and Him crucified and salvation by His blood. So they went to
their own company and reported all that the chief priests and
elders had said to them. And when they heard that, their own company, when their
own company heard that, they lifted up their voice to God
with one accord and said, Lord, Thou art God. Man, that's a good
way to start, isn't it? Lord, thou art God. Thou art
God. Thou art God when Christ died. Thou art God when He arose. Thou
art God when He ascended. Thou art God when He sent the
Holy Spirit. Thou art God when Simon Peter
and John were enabled to heal this lame man. Thou art God when
they were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Thou art
God when they were released. And He's always God. This is
the way they began, Lord thou art God, who made the heaven and the earth
and the sea and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David, Psalm 2. David said, why did the heathen
rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth
stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ. And that's what they did. They
all gathered against God's Christ for of a truth against thy holy
child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius
Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered
together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. The death of our Lord Jesus was
a death by divine determination. For you see, it's the only way
sin could be put away. It's the only way justice could
be satisfied. It's the only way we could be
saved. It's the only way. And the one that did it was God. That doesn't take Satan or Judas
or the Jewish leaders or the Roman soldiers. That doesn't
let them off the hook. That doesn't leave them without
any responsibility. In fact, Peter has already said,
go back into chapter 3 and verse 14 and 15, it says, you denied
the just one. You denied the holy one and the
just. You denied, you rejected the
holy one and the just. You desired a murderer to be
granted unto you, Barabbas. And he said, you killed the prince
of life. You killed him. bunch of murderers whom God raised from the dead
were of we're witnesses. Oh, they're responsible. We're
responsible. But all that happened was by
divine determination. God ordained this for His glory
and for the salvation of His people. And this evening we gather
together to observe the Lord's Supper. Before us is the bread
that speaks of our Lord's flesh, the reality of His manhood, wounded, bruised, crushed to
be the bread of life for us. And we have the wine, which speaks
of his blood poured out. Blood poured out deliberately,
on purpose. You see, he's the lamb slain
from before the foundation of the world. And we've come this evening to
worship him by the partaking of this supper. Get your handbooks
and turn to 192.