Alright, beginning at Isaiah
52 and verse 13 through chapter 53 and verse 9. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. as many were astounded at thee,
his visage was more marred than any man, and his form more than
the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations,
and kings shall shut their mouth at him, for that which hath not
been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard
shall they consider. Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground,
he hath no form nor comeliness, And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. 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. But he was wounded for our transgression,
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 have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before shearers, is dumb, so he opened
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 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." Now, this passage
may be as I referred unto it, the crowning jewel of all of
the prophecies of Christ to be found in the Old Testament. No other prophecy speaks more
clearly of the suffering and of the death of Messiah. It also may be among the most
important of all of the Old Testament prophecies or passages foretelling
the coming of Messiah and his death. Notice what we read. It speaks of, quote, my servant,
unquote, in chapter 52 and verse 13. And down in chapter 53 and
verse 11, we will see that he is called my righteous servant. And who is this servant of Jehovah? Who is it that shall deal prudently? That is, he will act wisely and
cause his interest to prosper. And he will be exalted, and he
will be extolled, and he will be lifted up very high. Then, chapter 53 and verse 11,
who is this righteous servant who will justify many and will
bear their iniquities. Who might this be? Who is this
wonderful personage that Isaiah is describing in chapter 53? Who is this that will come and
do great and wonderful things? Now the old Jewish doctors and
theologians and such like clearly taught that this was Messiah. They said, this is the Messiah
that is to come. But when He appeared, when the
nation rejected Him and despised Him and set Him aside and crucified
Him, then they began to give the passage Another interpretation
altogether. And so did some of the so-called
liberal Christian theologians as well. We say that this could
be none other than the Son of God. This is none other than
the Christ. This is none other than Messiah. The Messiah, the hope of Israel. And from the old commentary on
the Pentateuch, this comment is made as to this passage found
in Isaiah, and I'm quoting, This is the King Messiah, who is high,
and elevated and exalted, yea, more exalted than Abraham, elevated
above Moses, higher even than the ministering angels." Now
some very revered and famous names in Israel gave it that
interpretation. But again, we said, he is rejected
later by the Jew. And this also prophecy was rejected
as having any reference unto Messiah. And it also might be
given another interpretation by those liberals who deny the
blood atonement and the necessary perpetuation for the sin of the
people of God. Now, we hold it to be the Lord
Jesus Christ. and we hold it to be Christ upon
two grounds, there would be more, but upon two main grounds, we
say that this is the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, you may
remember in Acts chapter 8, the Ethiopian unit, verse 30 through
verse 35, when that nobleman was riding along in his chariot,
reading from this very passage in the prophecy of Isaiah. And he asked Philip the Evangelist
this question. Of whom does the prophet speak? Of himself or of some other man? And Philip, we read, used this
very same text, one verse from it, and preached unto him Christ,
proving, we believe, that it was Christ that was to be the
Lamb led unto the slaughter. Secondly, we know that this refers
to Christ upon another ground, and that is from the many times
that the New Testament authors and speakers referred to some
part of this prophecy and applied it directly to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when preaching the gospel,
they referred to this passage and made it refer unto Christ. The many New Testament cross-references
for us to take the time to call our attention or to mention.
But just suffice it for us to say, He is the suffering servant. He is the man of sorrows. He is the lamb that was led unto
the slaughter. He is the one that was numbered
among the transgressors. He is the one that lay in the
grave, and yet God did prolong his day. Then comes the question
for us to consider. If this one be the great one
come from God, if this is that great Messiah appointed and sent
into the world, if this be the servant of the Lord, if this
is Jehovah's fellow, according to Zechariah 13 and verse 7,
If this be He that would redeem Israel, Luke 24 and verse 21,
that He should turn ungodliness away from Jacob, Romans 11 and
26, then if that be the case, Why then this woeful complaint
in Isaiah 53 and verse 1? Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? John Brown called
this the complaint of the primitive evangelist, unquote, that is,
evangelist of old time. So great was the person, so glorious
was the report of Christ and of the gospel, yet how few there
were that believed, how few that took it unto heart, even though
it was the gospel worthy of all acceptation. 1 Timothy 1 and
verse 15. Now this has been the case, I'll
remind us, in every generation that passes, and was especially
true of the Jew. Paul mentions this verse in Romans
chapter 10 and verse 16, that not all had believed the gospel. And John 12 and verse 38 declare,
their generation rejected the Lord, actually fulfilling the
prophecy of Isaiah 53 and verse 1. And then notice the last part
of verse 1, Isaiah 53, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. This is
why no more did believe the report. This is why all did not believe
the report. Because to believe it requires
an internal work of the sovereign Spirit of God. It requires an
irresistible regeneration and an irresistible call that few
believe in no way diminishes the glory or the truth of the
gospel or the person of our Lord. Its glory and its truth is not
dependent upon the number that do or do not believe. since faith, therefore, is not
in the ability of any natural man. Just as the size of a church
does not mean that truth is being preached there, it is, in fact,
it may be the exact opposite. But now beginning at the second
verse of Isaiah 53, we have here what I like to call, because
I read it from some exegete, the penitential confession of
Jewish converts. Let me say it again. The penitential
confession of Jewish converts. Those who at first did not believe,
and then were brought to believe on the Lord. John Brown said,
it is a statement on the part of the converted Jew, such as
first had rejected, set him aside, disallowed all of his claims,
and his person had looked upon him with contempt, and with ridicule
and had rejected the message and the teaching of our blessed
Savior. These at one time may have mingled
their voices with the dissemblers from Christ and from the Gospel. They did not at first sight and
they did not at first hearing take Him to be the Messiah who
had come from God. Why? Well, He did not meet their
expectation. We have that clearly here in
verse 2 and verse 3 of the 53rd of Isaiah. He was not what they
imagined that Messiah would be when He appeared. as they, for
the most part, were in expectation of an illustrious king, of a
mighty prince, of a mighty conqueror who would destroy their Roman
masters and free them from their yoke and elevate them, Israel,
again to the head of the nation. Thus, they tell us why here,
in these two verses, they first held him in contempt. And we sum it up by saying, he
did not meet their expectation as to what Messiah should be,
and that upon several accounts as we shall read. In verse 2
and verse 4. Look at verse 2 through 4. Look
at the second verse and the first part. We see a metaphor applied
to Him. He shall grow up before Him as
a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. Now there's
a metaphor. that we need to understand. Now
most agree that these things, and let us notice, are expressed
in the past tense in this prophecy. Look at it. He grew up. He had
no form or commonness. He was despised and so forth. Now the image is vivid and every
mind can picture it. Here we have a dry plant. Call
it a sprout. We used to call it a sucker or
a shoot that from all appearances was so puny, coming as it were
from a dead stump, that it had no chance of surviving, much
less growing strong and producing fruit. Because the tree appears
dead and decayed to the eye above the ground. And so a small green
sucker, springs up out or in the area of that trunk and of
that root with little hope or expectation of ever surviving. Even so, the meaning I believe
is, the Lord sprung out of the decayed house of David. That's where our Lord sprang
from. But he grew up mighty before
the Lord God. He came as a babe from the womb
of a common peasant woman, married to a man who made a living as
a carpenter. And as John Gill wrote, he was
born of mean parents, he was brought up in a contemptible
part of the country, and he lived in a town from which nothing
good was expected. John chapter 1 and verse 46. All of this refers to the seeming
low appearance of the Lord at His incarnation and His appearing
in the flesh among men. Furthermore, look at the second
half of the second verse, and when we see Him, or saw Him,
He has no form, or He has no comeliness, Then he said, and
when we behold him, there is nothing about his appearance
that distinguishes him, nothing physically, quote, grand or majestic,
unquote, or to remind us of a prince or of a king. Or, as a man Durham
said in his commentary, his physical appearance was without any external
grandeur, pomp, or splendor." Unquote. Our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not glow with light or
radiate glory when He walked about in the flesh. And what's
more, look at Isaiah 53 and the third verse now for our consideration. Despised, rejected, a man of
sorrow, filled with grief and we hid our faces from him and
so forth. Now, not only have few believed
on him, not only have few believed and accepted his gospel, Not
only was he lowly in his physical or outward appearance, and not
only was he without any outward beauty to make him desirable,
but the third verse said he was an object of contempt, and he
was rejected by the body of the nation. Hated he was till a fallacy
that everyone loves Jesus. You know, we kind of come to
that place, oh everybody loves Jesus, but that is a fallacy. Some say they love Jesus. If
you ask them, they would say that they would. But here we
have those who once hated Him, they have by efficacious grace
come to love Him, and to believe Him, and to own Him as the Messiah
come from God. Then too, notice that the verse
said that He was a man of sorrow, and He was acquainted with grief. Sorrow was his meat, and a close
companion was grief. And their confession in the end
of verse 3, look at it again, we esteemed him not. We esteemed Him not. When He appeared, when we were
in the flesh and were natural and had not ears to hear, we
esteemed Him not. Now, this word here, esteemed,
from the mental aspect of it, it means to think or regard or
value or to compute or to put a value upon something. So they're saying we did not
place a high value upon Him. We did not reckon Him worthy,
honorable, and glorious. Now, in verses 4 and following,
we have the confession of the converts concerning the great
suffering of this one, and the cause of this suffering, and
how they had misconstrued the suffering of the Lord. He was suffering, they say now,
the fact is, He was suffering and enduring for the sake of
others. He was suffering in behalf of
others. Notice, He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrow. Yet we, in our blindness and
in our ignorance, did think His suffering marked Him as an object
of the displeasure of God. For a time, our opinion of His
sufferings was that He Himself was an offender against God,
for only an offender or a great sinner would suffer so. Remember the logic of Job's friends
upon this point. But then look at verse 5. Though
we reckon him stricken and smitten of God, he was actually wounded
for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity. Now we should
notice something here. Notice the particle but. These little words sometimes
are important in the scripture. But, which opens up for us the
fifth verse. It makes the connection and the
contrast with the end of verse four. Look at it. We thought
him to be smitten of God, but how wrong we were. He suffered
greatly, but not for his sin, but for the sin of others. Yes, he suffered at the hands
of God, but the chastisement of our peace was upon him." We
see these words in verse 5, notice them, describing something that
our Lord endured. There's the word wounded, there's
the word pierced, the margin has that one, tormented, He was
tormented. Then it said He was bruised,
then chastisement, then strikes. All of these referring to what
our Lord suffered for His people. Now, as we move along in this
prophecy of Isaiah, we notice that each verse sets forth Christ. Sets forth Christ with what an
old-timer named Tobias Chris called, quote, ravishing sweetness,
unquote. How sweet this blessed one. Now, having arrived at verse
5 and at verse 6, we ought to, I think, linger here a while,
slow or slacken our pace a little bit, so that we might, like Moses,
turn aside to behold this glorious thing that is brought before
us here as a bright and shining light. Because it's like we're
standing now upon holy ground. Because here is the gospel according
to Isaiah. Here is the pattern for the gospel
of the apostle. This might have been written
by the apostle Paul, how it agrees with that gospel in the New Testament. For the prophet sets forth the
atonement, the suffering, and the death of Christ as the remedy
for the sin of his people. His sufferings were in behalf
of others, and they were inflicted upon him by none other than the
almighty, just, and holy God. One who wrote a book on this
prophecy called The Sufferings and Glories of the Messiah, and
he said of Christ's sufferings here, quote, they were numerous,
they were violent, they were fatal, they were penal, they
were vicarious, they were expiatory, they were saving and reconciling,
unquote. The suffering and the death of
Christ was all of that. We ought to take notice. They
were also particular. They were definite. They were
limited, if you prefer. They were effectual, as He justified
many by bearing their iniquity. Now, Isaiah lays out the need
for such a sacrifice, and the need is human depravity. Look in verse 5, transgressions,
iniquity. Then look at the punishment that
was imposed upon him. Wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity. For though wicked hands put him
on the cross, Yet Jehovah was pleased to bruise him and to
put him to grief, as we will see in verse 10 in the second
service this evening. But we camp here before verse
6. of Isaiah 53. For a time, let's
stop here, turn aside, and look at it and observe it very closely. First of all, we notice it has
two halves. It divides itself into two halves. Number one, the estrangement
resulting from sin, that men are astray, that they are separated
from God. And the second part is Jehovah,
the Lord God Jehovah, putting iniquity upon the suffering substitute. Now first of all we notice from
the first part of the verse the strayed sheep. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. Now, as I mentioned, This is
a part of the penitential confession of those who became believers
and had just confessed their former errors concerning Messiah. Now, with new light, new eyes,
and new ears, they confess their former estrangement from God. Notice, all we. everyone in the
first part of that verse. They likened themselves to a
strayed flock. like sheep who wander, who leave
the foe, who disregard the voice of the shepherd, crossing over
hill and dale, losing sight of the shepherd and of the foe. We notice something, as Calvin
wrote, and that is the prophet does not exempt the Jew who thought
themselves the superior people. They are included in this mass
of wandering and lost sheep. Now, let's take a little closer
look at the description of the prophet. He says, gone astray,
turned everyone to their own way. In reading from the scripture,
we discover that this is a way of expressing the sinfulness,
the depravity, the sin of mankind. All we like sheep have, or past
tense, had gone astray. We have, or literally had, turned
every one unto our own way. Now, to really appreciate this,
let us hear Paul in Romans chapter 3 and verse 12. In Romans chapter
3, verse 10 through about verse 18, he is declaring the collective
depravity of the whole race of mankind. He's declaring the depravity
of the race. Jew and Gentile are lumped together
here in Romans 3, 10 through about verse 18. And notice some
phrases that he uses that will agree with what Isaiah has also
said. None righteous. We're in Romans
3. If you're turning there, there
is none righteous. And then he adds, not one. None who understands. And by the way, Paul is quoting
almost every verse in this little passage comes out of the Old
Testament Scripture. None that seek after God. None that does good. Now, does
Paul not agree much with Isaiah? All we like sheep have gone astray,
we have turned every one unto our own way. And in Romans 3
and 12, Paul adds this, and they are all gone out of the way,
agreeing with Isaiah so closely. All have turned away, all have
turned aside, all have gone astray and are lost in their sin and separated from
God. William G.T. Shedd renders it
this way, they all, all have inclined away, unquote. Listen to that. Not only gone
astray, but all have inclined away. The inclination of every
natural person is away from God. It is not toward him. Paul is
quoting there in Romans 3, he is quoting from Psalm 14 verse
3, that said, they are all gone aside, and he's quoting from
Psalm 58 and verse 3 that said this, every one of them is gone
back. So Paul confirms from the Old
Testament, the whole race, without any exception, have apostatized
from God, from the right way, from righteousness, from His
law, and have gone in a wrong way. All of them are like an
ox unaccustomed under the yoke." Jeremiah 31 and verse 18. Now,
we read in Hebrews 5 and verse 2 where the author is describing
the priesthood, and he said that one aspect of the Aaronic priesthood,
in addition to offering gifts and sacrifices, that was his
main duty, offering gifts and sacrifices, but listen to this
quote, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that
are out of the way." Hebrews 5 and verse 2. Oh, and in his
commentary on Hebrews 5 and verse 2 says, those that are out of
the way, those that are going astray, are one and the same
with those back in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 10, who erred in
their heart. Everyone has erred in their heart. That a twofold meaning is here,
says Owen, first of all, in their hearts, that their hearts are
evilly, sinfully inclined. Their hearts by nature are ignorant. They are not inclined toward
God. By the way, do not mistake the
work of a convicting conscience for a love for God. They're all
inclined away from God. Secondly, in their ways or their
conduct. Not only are they inclined, but
then they deliberately go astray. They deliberately, willingly,
and determinately turn away from God and those things that are
holy and right. Again, the Apostle Peter no doubt
had the prophecy of Isaiah in mind, when he wrote in 1 Peter
chapter 2 and verse 25, reminding them this, quote, you were as
sheep going astray, unquote. But then what happened? You returned
to the shepherd and the bishop of your soul. Now we are not
to take this as an accidental, I'll use that word, I don't know
a better, we're not to take this going astray as an accidental
departure, as if they mistakenly took a wrong path somewhere not
intending to, simply wandering aimlessly away. We must take
it as a deliberate disinclination from God. Now it expresses a
willful and a deliberate departure from God and from all of His
way. What do we have here but that
the whole herd fell away. And the whole herd fell away
in and with and by Adam. Not only did they fall away in
Adam, but notice something else. Each of them individually went
their own way, so that they are now not in one mass, but are
scattered in every direction, scattered even one from the other. And then the good news of the
gospel. They had gone astray, they had
turned to their own way, but God did provide a sin-bearer. God sent a willing and a faithful
substitute, one to make an atonement, one to bear the sin of many,
one upon which he caused the sin of all of the elect to lie. Now one thing we know, that sin
bearer is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And the testimony in Isaiah chapter
53 is strong in behalf of Christ as the surety of His people in
regard to their debt of sin. Let's see that again going over
territory we've already traversed. Verse 5 again, wounded for our
transgression, bruised for our iniquity. Look at verse 6, lay
our iniquity upon Him. Look at verse 8, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Look at verse 10, made his soul
an offering for sin. Look at verse 11, he shall bear
their iniquity. Look at verse 12, he poured out
his soul unto death and bear the sin of many. Now consider
again the last act of Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 6. The Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all. You may notice in the margin,
if you have a reference Bible, the alternate reading might be
something like this, quote, made the iniquity of us all to light
upon Him." Unquote. Made our iniquity to light upon
Him. Now, only God can make this transfer. Only God can take the sin of
people and put them upon His blessed Lamb that He bear them
away and suffer the consequences. Now I said that to make a point.
A lot of these preachers tell their congregation, just roll
your sins up on Christ that they be gone. It's not us that does
that. It is God that makes our sins
to light up on Christ. Now, several commentators make
the point that the transfer of our sins to Christ was not easy,
nor was it gentle. But as Gil described it, he made
to rush or to fall upon him the iniquity of us all, like a large
and mighty army beset him and fell upon him in a hostile manner."
End of quote. The words of John Gill. Now every
sin of every elect Every single sin of every single elect, not
every sin of every member of the race was to light upon the
blessed Lamb that God had provided. For all sins, all sins, that
lighted upon him were fully punished and were forgiven and were justified
from them. So as in verse 11. The purpose of him bearing their
sin was to justify those whose sins he bore in obedience unto
God. Now, do you raise this question?
If you're not acquainted with the gospel, you might raise the
question, wherein is the righteousness? Wherein is the justice of putting
the sins of the guilty upon an innocent one and requiring them
of him? Not only that, but then, punishing
them in the innocent substitute, letting him suffer their consequences
and die for the guilty transgressor. But again, pardoning and justifying
the guilty party whose sins have been put upon the Lamb of God. Yet this is the divine arrangement,
because Christ, in the covenant of grace, and I want you to hear
this, pledged Himself as the surety of the covenant, as the
surety of the elect of Christ. Hebrews 7 and 22. He's the surety
of the covenant. Now, a surety is one who becomes
responsible for the person or the debt of another. Now, it's not a thing that can
be forced upon one to become a surety. One cannot be forced
into the office of a surety. It is a thing that is done willingly,
out of concern, and wanting to help. But now coming to verse
7 and verse 9, the prophet describes the way in which the Lord was
treated by the Jew in league with the Gentile, how he suffered
many things of the Jew. Matthew 16, 21, Mark 8, 31. Mark 8 and 9, Mark 9 and 12,
and Luke chapter 17, verse 25. I must suffer many things at
the hands of the Jew. And the way in which the Lord
responded or submitted to this mistreatment at the hands of
the wicked How did he react? Isaiah said he made no protest
against his unjust treatment. He opened not his mouth to defend
himself or to free himself or to justify himself. He was led
as a lamb is led to the slaughter. He made no protest against the
unrighteous things that were done to Him. Not at any time
did our Lord use words or His miraculous power to save Himself
from suffering and from death. In fact, He laid down His life. He did not save Himself from
the awful, Death of the cross. He went like a lamb being led
under the slaughter. And what's more, in Isaiah 53
and the 8th verse, some things here, I admit, are hard to understand
and to interpret, but He was violently taken away and put
to death. The prophet asked, who shall
declare his generation? I think that means the men of
his age. And it refers to their barbarity,
their willingness to kill the Holy One of God. He drank that
bitter cup. that the Father had set before
Him. He was cut off, Isaiah said,
out of the land of the living. Cut off violently and cruelly
out of the land of the living. What's more, in verse 9 of Isaiah
53, the prophet speaks of the burial of our Lord, and I'm giving
the first part of the verse from a combination of the NIV and
the ASV, quote, he was assigned a grave with the wicked, yet
was with the rich in his day. So the question, what would have
been done to the Lord's body had it been left up to the Romans
and those who took care of Golgotha? Would they, as sometimes were
done, leave His body upon the cross for days and days, for
beasts and animals to chip away at? Or would they have taken
Him and buried Him over in the potter's field, or boot hill,
as we call it in the Old West, where common criminals and the
injured were buried? But the Lord's Holy One, was
not to see corruption. His body was not to be swallowed
up in corruption. He was to rise again. He was not dead forever. The
grave could not hold him beyond the appointed time. Thus we notice
that a rich man came by the providence of God, desired or begged or
took the body of our Lord and gave it a proper burial and lay
it in a new tomb wherein never a body had lain. Now, our time
is gone for this morning. We'll finish verse 10, 11, and
12 in the afternoon service, but just let me close by bringing
this to our remembrance. How many and how great are the
providential circumstances met together in the death of Christ,
the prophecies of old, how they met together This could not be
a coincidence in a thousand years. How many are met together in
the suffering and the death of our Lord that He meets, He fulfills,
He answers what the prophets have said about His suffering
and about His death. Thank God. When we had gone astray,
our sins had been laid, upon one who bore them away, and they
are remembered against us no more." Thank God for the Lord's
righteous servant and the suffering substitute.