Now this is the close of this
great prophecy, and notice as we read 10, 11, and 12. 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, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Here's our text. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity. 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. And he was numbered with the
transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors. Now again, in the end of verse
11 and for by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many. Now as we make another
visit under the great prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53, I wonder
if there are any that could ever doubt that this is the greatest
Old Testament prophecy regarding our Lord that we have and particularly
with relation to his suffering and his death and his treatment
upon the earth in his day. We said last week, I believe,
that the last three verses of Isaiah 53 and particularly the
last two verses are the closing or the summing up of this great
prophecy concerning Messiah in Isaiah. And this seems logical
as we see that the speaker can be none other than Jehovah. Jehovah the father and refers
to the suffering one as my righteous servant that is the father that
is Jehovah it's mentioned also back in chapter 52 and verse
13 my servant so this one is the righteous servant of Jehovah. In fact, he is the righteous,
suffering servant of Jehovah. And this one, as we see in prophecy
and in fulfillment, suffered unto death. Jehovah was pleased
to bruise him. We read in the 10th verse here. And to make his soul, or for
him to make his soul an offering for sin in behalf of his people. And then in verse 11, he will
see the fruit of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Be pleased, take pleasure in
the fruit of his suffering upon the tree. He travailed but not
in vain. It was not to nothing that our
Lord suffered and died and travailed. And so the travail of his soul
will not miscarry in any way or fashion, for whom His soul
has prevailed in the agony of sin and of death, shall be brought
to spiritual life by means of that suffering and that death
that our Lord died. I will plagiarize, if I might,
some thoughts from one of my favorite expositors, John Gill,
from these choice verses here, in Isaiah, the 53rd chapter,
such as, as Gil gave me the thought, the travail of his soul is what
he suffered in working out the plan and purpose of God and the
salvation of his people. The travail of his soul is what
is brought forth, as we have the analogy of a woman and the
travail and the bringing forth in birth. Now the pain and the
agony that he went through, which culminated in that awful death
of the Roman cross, but he was pleased at what his suffering
and what his death accomplished, and that was the complete redemption
and justification of the children of God, of the chosen ones, of
they that the Father had given unto him. from where he is for
his obedience and his suffering and his death. He is now highly
glorified at the right hand of God. And he has been richly compensated
for his suffering, for his death, for his obedience under the Father. And that compensation is that
he shall have a spiritual seed. A great and large spiritual seed. And he will be compensated by
being resurrected from the dead. For it says, his days shall be
prolonged. I believe that refers unto the
resurrection. Death would not be the end of
this suffering servant. He would live again. He would
be exalted. He would be at the right hand
of God. Not only that, but it said the
pleasure of Jehovah, that is the goodwill and the purpose
of God, will prosper in His hand. He will move it forward. He will
bring it to pass. He will complete it. And especially
the work of redemption. For in verse 11, My righteous
servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity. So all whose sins our Lord did
bear shall be justified, because that is the connection. That
is cause and effect. He shall bear their iniquity,
and they by virtue of that shall be justified. In the twelfth
verse, On this account, he will be rewarded and highly honored
and exalted. And if we may notice two words
there in the 12th verse that stick out and lead under this,
and they are the word one, therefore, and they are the word two, because. Therefore, and because a certain
thing will be blessed unto him. Therefore will I divide him the
spoils with the grain. Like a mighty general who has
won the battle, like a mighty king who has defeated his enemy,
he then will take the spoils of victory as he pleases and
have them for his very own. because he has poured out his
soul unto death. I will divide unto him the spoil. As a conquering victor, the picture
is here, Colossians chapter 2 and verse 15, where he has destroyed
the enemy and has brought them down unto nothing. He spoiled
principality and powers, Paul said, in Colossians chapter 2
and verse 15. He defeated his enemy. He stripped
them of their prisoners and took them for his very own and the
spoils of victory. Watch it again. Because he poured
out his soul unto death. And it seems there that the word
because applies to everything that follows in that verse 12. of Isaiah chapter 53. Because
he poured out his soul unto death, because he was numbered with
a transgression, with a transgressor, because he bore the sin of many,
because he made intercession for the transgressor, therefore
will I highly reward, honor, and exalt him. Now this passage
here in Isaiah chapter 53 that we have read this morning seems,
at least unto me, there is a connection, a resemblance to what Paul writes
in that great passage in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5 through
11 in our New Testament, one of Paul's epistles. There in
that epistle, like Isaiah before, Paul contrasts the two states
of the Lord. We call them his humiliation
and his exaltation in theology. A, in verses 5 through 8 of Philippians
2, we have his humiliation. That first being equal with God,
being with God, being with God in the heaven of the heaven. And then we see that he assumed
the fashion of a man and the form of a servant. He that thought it not robbery. to be equal with God, made himself
of no reputation, emptied himself the kenosis, and became in the
form of a man. And in that form, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, as Paul said. And Isaiah wrote, this involved
his soul, making an offering for sin, being numbered with
the transgressor, bearing the sin of many, and suffering at
the hand of God. This he did as our great high
priest. And then B, we notice secondly,
in Philippians 2, this is in verse 9 through verse 11, his
exaltation. And in verse 9, the therefore. The therefore, just like in Isaiah
53 and verse 12. Therefore also, therefore God
also, therefore God too. did highly exalt him. Let's be careful here and discerning
here that neither Isaiah nor Paul are simply giving the order
in which the things occurred concerning Christ. Even his suffering
and his death preceded his entering into glory. Luke chapter 24 and
verse 26. The Lord tells the two yonder
on Emmaus Road as he joined himself to them that his death was the
way into his glory. Ought not Christ Messiah to suffer
these things and then enter into his glory. We see it typically
in Joseph in the book of Genesis when Joseph was brought from
the dungeon to become the high minister of the land of Egypt. Both Isaiah and Paul are making
that great connection that because Christ so obediently and effectively
submitted himself and did the will of God To quote John Eady,
quote, has won for himself eternal renown, unquote. Has won for
himself a glory and exaltation and an honor never bestowed upon
any other and never will. I think this is given again in
Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. when he had by himself purged
our sin, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high."
Now this is the highest place of honor that God bestowed. Paul writes it this way. Highly
exalted. Not just exalted, but he uses
the word highly exalted using the compound word that actually
means highly and greatly exalted. And even as Isaiah chapter 52
and verse 13 predicted of this great servant, he shall be exalted
and be extolled and be very high. Isaiah 52 and verse 13. In Acts chapter 2 and 33, being
by the right hand of God exalted, he hath received this, which
you see in here, and hath poured out the Spirit of God upon his
people. But, says Paul in Philippians,
he has been given a name above every name that every knee should
bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory
of God. I mentioned Joseph. You remember
when Joseph went out among the people, he rode in the second
chariot behind the king Pharaoh? And as he went, all the people
were commanded, bow the knee, bow the knee, as Joseph came
and went by their way. Now all that Having been said,
we have settled upon a small but a very weighty part of the
prophecy found in Isaiah 53 and verse 11. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many. Now let's be careful. Let's
move slow. Try to grasp everything. Let us extract from this very
short words three words that we want to look at and to emphasize. Number one is knowledge. Number two is righteous. And number three is justify. Knowledge, righteous, justify. By his knowledge, my righteous
servant shall justify many. Now part of this saving work,
yea, a major part of it, is the justification of the elect of
God by and through Jesus Christ. And this involves knowledge done
by the one who is the Lord's righteous servant who has died
and made his soul an offering for sin. Now that text By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." Here's
two questions as to which way we ought to go with this statement
and our text today. Number one, we have two great
questions to consider. One is, What is the nature of
this knowledge? By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. Is it the knowledge that is possessed
and exercised by the justifier? Is it the exercise of the knowledge
of the justifier or the knowledge imparted to the one that are
justified? Number two, What is the source
or the essence of this justification? Let's consider this issue first. Justification is a vital part
of the saving process. Without being justified, there's
no way that a person can be saved. in the sight of God. Apart from
justification, there is no salvation. For condemnation, Stan, and without
justification, there is no salvation. And to compound that problem
or issue, they cannot justify themselves, nor can any other
justify them or do anything toward their justification. They cannot
be justified by the works of the law or by religious works
or by giving up their sin or their bad habit or changing their
way of living. Justification comes only by and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God that justifies. God only. Romans 8 and verse
23. It is God that justifies. And sin is not imputed as such. as to make them guilty and condemned
before the almighty God. For, Paul asks this, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies,
yea, Christ that has died and risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God and maketh intercession for us. If they
cannot be charged, they cannot be condemned. They are justified
completely and fully. Romans 8 and verse 34, since
Christ died for them and is risen again, and even at the right
hand of God, making intercession for us as our great high priest. Now I want you to listen to this
statement and don't take it the wrong way and don't misunderstand.
If you never thought of it, think about it now. Justification is
not in itself an internal work in the elect of God. It becomes
one later, but it's not an internal work. as is regeneration, conversion,
and sanctification. Those are all internal, irresistible
work of the Spirit of God in the elect. But justification
is not an internal work, and it is not an infusion of righteousness
into the elect. just as its counterpart. Condemnation is not an infusion
of depravity in the wiki. Condemnation is not putting sin
in us. Justification is not taking it
out. Both are what so many older theologian
and expositors call a forensic act of God. Justification is
a forensic act of God. In other words, it is a sentence
that is passed upon or toward certain individual. It is a sentence
path. Forensic has to do with the law,
with courts of law, with the judicary, and with judicature,
that is, court trials and the examination of men, whether innocent
or guilty. Court trials, a forensic term,
is the word justification. Now condemnation occurs. The
sentence is passed upon either one of two grounds. Either actual
sin or imputed sin is the cause of condemnation. So justification
occurs. The sentence is passed upon them.
again upon one of two ground, either upon their perfect, complete
obedience to the law of God, or the imputation of the righteousness
of Jesus Christ unto them through him. As for justification, we
have a threefold view of this vital doctrine that is set out
before us in the scripture. And together, the three, give
us a complete view or overview of the doctrine of justification. I'd like to run through them,
three aspects of justification that one may study from the scripture. One is eternal justification,
that justification is part of God's eternal purpose and will. It's stated, I think, in Romans
chapter 8, in those verses that we love, verse 28 through 30,
beginning with foreknowledge. And it said this, whom he did
foreknow, he also did foreordain, predestinate, mark out, or set
aside. As Shedd wrote, there is nothing
here to qualify or to modify this foreknowing. And think about
that. Whom he did foreknow. It is not said whom he did foreknow
would accept Jesus, or believe, or repent, or turn to Christ,
or let Jesus come into their heart. Or any other condition
at all is set forth for the foreknowledge. To foreknow and to predestinate,
call, justified, and glorified are all here in the past tense
in Romans 8, 28-30. Some argue one cannot be justified
before they exist, and others argue that they cannot and are
not justified until they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
you need to remember, this is the very same argument that the
Armenians made in their remonstrance against election and will probably
make against the doctrine of adoption as well. How can we
reconcile that Christ died for our sins before we actually existed
to commit them? Christ, did he not, died for
our sin before we existed and before we had committed them. He will never die again. That
one death is sufficient for the Old Testament saint and for the
New Testament saint. And yet, he died for our sin
before they were ever been committed. And the Old Testament saints
were justified, Abraham is a prime example, before Christ ever died
for their sin. Now he died for their sin before,
he justified them before he died for their sin. And He justified
and died for us before we existed to commit our sin. Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Romans chapter 3 and verse 24. And Isaiah 53 and verse 11. He shall justify many, for He
shall bear their iniquity. Now, if he justifies many by
bearing their iniquity, then it will follow that all whose
iniquities he bore will be justified. If that's the ground of their
justification, and it is, since his atonement is the basis or
the critical component of justification, is his death on the cross. Then three. The scriptures speak
frequently of the Lord justifying us by faith. From eternity, by
his death, by grace in his death, and by faith. The scriptures
speak frequently of that. So there are those three aspects
of justification for us to mull around and try to reconcile all
of them. The righteousness of faith, we
read about in Romans 10 and 6, Philippians 3. and verse 9, being
justified by faith, Romans 5 and verse 1, Romans 3 and verse 28. We conclude that a man is justified
by faith without or apart from the works of the law, says Paul,
and we should bear in mind in many such scriptures justification
or the righteousness of faith is consistent to the same is contrasted, rather, I meant
to say, to the law. To be justified by faith is contrasted
from being justified by law in the writings of the Apostle Paul. So it is a faith. that it might be a matter of
grace. Romans 4, 16. Let me say it again. Therefore, it is of grace that
it might be by faith that the righteousness of Abraham come
upon them that believe. Romans 4, 16. And we saw that
in the case of Abraham, who's the great case for justification
by faith. Now the phrase we heard in Isaiah
53 And 11, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. And this returns us again to
that earlier question. And what is the nature of this
knowledge by which we're said to be justified? Is it the knowledge
possessed by or exercised by the justifier, that is, God or
Christ? or is it the justification of
those who come to know the Lord Jesus Christ? Does God exercise
his knowledge and Christ how they might traverse or navigate
the great complexities involved in bringing a sinner to be justified
before God so that they cannot be charged with sin and condemned. And that one who has nothing
to commend them to God, nothing at all. Of course, the justifier,
whether it be God the Father, or Christ the Son, in the text
it refers to the Messiah, that such know how to do that, but
is this the meaning of the statement in Isaiah 53 and verse 11? Or is it knowledge imparted? concerning justification to one
whose sins Christ has borne in his death. I suggest to you that
it is the latter and amounts to what we know as justification
by faith in New Testament speak unto us. Justification by faith. Now this happens to be the view
and the opinion of some very able expositors like John Gill,
like John Brown, like Matthew Henry, and E.W. Hinschenberg
in their writing, to name a few. There are varying kinds and degrees
of knowledge. There is mere notional knowledge,
historical knowledge as we've heard it called. And then there
is spiritual, saving, justifying knowledge. There is initial knowledge
and there is growth. in grace and knowledge, as Peter
said. Thomas Goodwin of Puritan wrote
this, quote, spiritual knowledge is the great and main component,
but the working of grace and the increasing of grace, unquote. For after saving knowledge, there
is growth in knowledge yet, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. And Isaiah
attributes to spiritual knowledge a justifying power and ability. By his knowledge shall he justify,
as does the Lord, by the way, in John 17 and 3, in that great
prayer that we call the Lord's Prayer. And in verse 2, the Lord
had mentioned their eternal life in the second verse. And in the
third verse, This is eternal life that they, as many as thou
hast given him, verse 2, might know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Now do we understand what
we read? Eternal life is knowing God and
Christ. Eternal life is to know Father, and know the Son. Now, this family of words here,
know, known, and knowledge, that family of words, and used as
verbs, and then as adjectives, and as nouns in the scripture. They have a wide variety of applications. They mean to come to know, to
know, to take in knowledge, to understand, to realize, to perceive,
to discern. All of those can be the meaning
of this word knowledge in the scripture. And have you noticed
something about reading from the Apostle John in his first
epistle? the first epistle of John, he
is repeatedly using the words, we know, we know, we knew, we
know, we know, again and again. And he uses it with very strong
assertion and very strong conviction. We know beyond the shadow of
a doubt. We know this or that. of a certainty. And he uses those
Greek words there in it, ginosko, to be aware, to be sure, to be
aware. Fifteen to twenty times John
uses that in the first epistle. And the word idio, fullness of
knowledge, it seems to be the meaning of that word, to be sure
of a thing. And John said, we know this or
that. John says such things as this,
we know that we know him in 1 John 2 and 3. We know that we are
in Him, chapter 2 and verse 5. We know that we are of God, chapter
5 and verse 19. We know that we are in Him, chapter
4 and verse 13. So John uses that word, we know
Him again and again, 15 to 20 times or more in one epistle. Now justification as to its essence
or being is from eternity, even as Christ was slain before the
foundation of the world. Revelation 13 verse 8. First Peter chapter 1 and verse
20. Who truly was ordained from or
slash before the foundation of the world, then made manifest
in these last time. We were given grace in him, you
know, before the foundation of the world, 2nd Timothy chapter
1, And verse 9, I'm sorry. And verse 10 said, is now made
manifest by the appearing of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We were given grace in Him before
we existed, even before He became incarnate. Grace stored or deposited
in Him. A Puritan said, He's the cabinet
in which God stores the grace for His children. So a justification,
which Gill called an imminent act of God, because determined
from eternity. And in conjunction with Christ
being slain in the eternal decree of God before the world and before
he ever became incarnate, and the elect chosen in him before
the world, as God's decree that Christ be slain before the world,
so his decree to adopt and justify stand in and with connection
unto Christ. Now, as for justification from
everlasting, let's see if we can buttress a case from the
other doctrine of election, that one either is or is not elect
before the world. And yet being an elect does not
exempt them from depravity, does not in itself make them holy,
though they are elect when they are born, yet at that time It
does not appear that they are or what they shall be. And by
nature, they go astray when they are born into the world. John
Bryan, born in 1700, put it like this, election is an act of God
and is not effective of any real change in us, in and of itself,
if it should stand alone, but it does not. So the point of
emphasis, election. and adoption and justification. All of them are from eternity
and all of them are assured and confirmed and manifested in Christ
and then are manifested to and applied unto the object, spiritually
applied unto them. Now Isaiah speaks of justification
by the knowledge of Him that is Christ our Messiah, though
not just by teaching or education. We're not talking about teaching
or education, but they are justified by His knowledge, and by that
by the revelation of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ unto
them. And some call this actual justification,
and I guess that's a good expression for it, that it only occurs at
believing and not before. This is what we call the manifestation
or the application of justification. For though it is by faith and
it is through faith, yet it is not for faith. or on account
of faith. Our justification is traced to
the free grace of God and the purpose and the will of God. But the way in which justification
is applied or manifested unto the elect, but the declaration
of the justification cannot be believed until or unless Faith
is created in the heart antecedent to that. That's what some call
actual justification, is what one is brought by faith and enabled
by it. the grace of God to believe. It's justification, the revelation
of it, in the sweet voice of the gospel of Jesus Christ our
Lord. And when we have had our hearts
prepared as soil for the sowing, then the sweet voice in the gospel
of our blessed Lord, declaring that Christ has died, that he
had borne the sin of his people. And this justification is then
declared in the truth of the gospel. But only they that have
ears to hear are able to savingly or to spiritually hear it and
believe it. Now, say this, regeneration is
the only bridge over which one can cross from the wilderness
of blind unbelief and ignorance into the faith of God's elect. Not even an elect can believe
on Christ until they are quickened or an internal work of God is
done in them by the Holy Spirit, whose job it is to apply these
things and enlighten our mind and enliven us that we might
know. Faith is not the cause of regeneration,
but vice versa. At first, after this quickening,
the conscience is a lot like Saul of Tarsus, breathing out
threatenings and slaughter, accusing us, convicting us, stirring up
fear and bringing guilt before our heart. said one, God erected
his tribunal in the heart and consciousness and terrifies and
wounds us, quote unquote. But then comes the sweet voice
of the gospel. Then comes the voice of Christ
in the gospel declaring that Christ has borne our sin, borne
the sin of his people. And that great truth applied
to us calms down the newborn conscience and wraps us in the
swaddling clothes of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and
declares that Christ has died for our sin and has raised again
for our justification. Romans 4.25 and in Acts 13.39,
by him all that believe or justified from all things
from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. Their faith standing contradistinct
unto the law. And even more definite words
of the famous superlapsarian twist that only believers have
a sentence of justification pronounced in their consciences by the spirit
of the living God." Unquote. A right understanding of justification
is essential to the Christian life. If you mingle it or mix
it in with justification and try to make one the other and
vice versa, you'll be confused. A right understanding of justification
is essential to the Christian life. It's not one and the same
with justification, not one and the same with conversion, strictly
speaking. But it is a comfort when the
atonement of our Lord is applied unto us. And that atonement was
in the eye of God from eternity. That Christ would die upon the
cross was in the eye of God in the eternal decree and from all
eternity. Then and there he became our
surety. not when He entered the world,
not when He died on the cross, but He was our surety in the
everlasting covenant of grace to guarantee the debt and to
make a proper recompense for our debt of sin and justification
enforced by the death of our Lord upon the cross. And this
knowledge then imparted unto those that Christ has chosen
and has died for, and his righteousness is imputed unto them, put to
their account. The righteousness of Christ is
put to their account. So how important is this knowledge. By His knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many." Thank God for that and that revelation
and that manifestation. When we're taught that, when
our heart and eyes are opened and we can see the Lord Jesus
Christ in the Gospel and we hear His voice, there, that He is
our Savior. Our sins were put upon Him. We
stand freely justified because He bore our sin away to perfection.