All right. I want to talk about
how our Lord Jesus describes himself. Here is our Redeemer. Here is our Redeemer in these
verses. We know that all the scriptures declare and reveal
the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, our Lord
told the Pharisees and the lawyers and them that they took away
the key of knowledge. And when they took away the key
of knowledge, what he's talking about is himself, himself. And when the Apostle Paul wrote
in 1 Corinthians 15, that Christ died, buried and rose again,
according to the scriptures. He is talking of course, about
the Old Testament scriptures, New Testament hadn't even been
written yet. So when he's talking about the scriptures and here
we are, with our Lord Jesus Christ, who describes himself. And let's
go down through these just a little at a time. Thus saith the Lord. That's the first thing you gotta
face. Thus saith the Lord. It's God
speaking, the Lord speaking. Where is the bill of your mother's
divorcement, whom I have put away? Where is your mother's
bill of divorcement? You know, when a man divorced
his wife, He is required to give her a paper stating that he had
actually divorced her. Or vice versa, I guess it's the
same way in this country now. And our Lord said, here you have
no bill. You have no bill of divorcement.
You don't. I did not forsake you. I didn't
put you away. I didn't put you away. I didn't
forsake you. I never divorced myself from
you. And then he's asked this question.
of which of my creditors is it to whom I've sold you? He said, oh, I'll tell you what,
which, you know, which of my creditors to whom I've sold you?
You know, when a man is so heavily in debt, oftentimes they couldn't
pay, they'd sell their children into slavery to satisfy their
debts. And that still happens in this
world today. Down in the Philippines and Indonesia
and some of these third world countries, fathers sell their
children just to have a little money. Sell them when they're
10, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 years old. They can't raise them, they're
too poor to feed them. And they sell them. They sell
them into slavery. And I tell you, that's what our
Lord said. The Lord, I tell you this, which of my creditors? Our Lord owes no one. He has
no creditors. And I tell you, so He ain't sold
us to our creditors. He's not divorced us. He said,
I've not forsaken you. And here's what He says is your
problem, and our problem, and everybody's problem. Behold,
for your iniquities have you sold yourself. You sold yourself
for sin. And your transgressions is your
mother put away. And I tell you, separated from
God, man and his sin, Man in his ruin, man in his spiritual
death, and his slavery all lie at his own door. You know why?
Because man was born in sin, live in sin, and will die in
sin. Look over here in Isaiah 59. Look here in verse 1 and
2. Your iniquities have separated
you. Sold yourselves for your transgressions. I didn't put
you away. I don't have any creditors, so
I couldn't have sold you. I've never been in debt. But
in Isaiah 59, look what it says here. Behold, the Lord's hand
is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that
it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from
you that he will not hear. So that's what he's talking about
here. So we're not, Our problem is as our sins and our iniquities.
And then look what he says here in verse two. Wherefore when
I came, when the Lord Jesus Christ came, wherefore when I came,
there was no man, no man. There was no man to stand with
me, no man to help me, nobody, I was there by myself. He was
in the world, the world was made by him, and yet the whole world
did not know him. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. I came, and people acted like
I was nobody. And when I came, there was no
man. They paid no attention to me. But he came, and he came
into this world as a man. And then, look what else he says
here. When I called, there was none to answer. When God called,
he called out to peace. He called out for peace. He called
out, peace, peace. He called out rest, called out
come to the marriage feast. And they all made light of it.
They made such light of it. He stretched out his hands. He
said in Isaiah, he said he stretched out his hands. And only in Romans
it says he stretched out his hands. And that beloved thing
was a disobedient and a gainsaying people. And that word gainsaying
means the deniers. And so he said, I stretched out
my hands to you. Christ came and stretched out
his hands to men and women. Christ came into this world and
God stretched out his hands to the human race. And he called and nobody answered.
Who's gonna hear me? Who's gonna hear me? Oh my. And no man regarded. Sinners
are not to be pitied. I'll tell you this about them.
My family, your family, and everybody else's family. Sinners are not
to be pitied, but they're rather to be blamed. For our condemnation
is our fault, their fault. God's done all He's gonna do
when He sent His Son into this world. He ain't gonna do no more.
And if men don't hear that, and don't believe that, and don't
come to a realization of that, Then there'll be no hope for
him. But God came in the person of his son, and he stretched
his hands out to this generation. And he has been stretching it
out for generation after generation. And then look what else he says
there in verse two. Is my hand shortened at all that
it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a
wilderness. The fish stink because there's
no water. And they die from thirst. So
what is he saying? Have I not got the ability to
save? Is that what he says? Have I
not got the ability to save? Have I not got the ability to
redeem? Have I not got the power to save
those that call upon me? And he's got the power. He's
got the authority. He's got the ability. Nothing,
nothing is too hard for our God. When He said He dried up the
sea, He dried up the Red Sea, and Israel walked through on
dry land. He made the River Jordan a wilderness,
and I tell you, the water dried up and the fish started stinking,
and He did the same thing in Egypt, and the fish started stinking.
And he clothed the heavens with blackness. He told Moses, he
said, Moses, he says, stretch out your arms, stretch out your
rod, and cause a blackness to come over Egypt, over the whole
land. And God caused a blackness to
come over it, so nobody could see, nobody could get out, nobody
could do anything. Now that'd be awful for God to
stretch out blackness and leave people in their darkness. And
I tell you, he closed the heavens and made sackcloth to cover the
sun, is what he said in Revelations. Old black sackcloth to cover
the sun. And I tell you, God is able.
He said, my hand's not short. No, no, my hand's not short.
He said in another place, neither is my arm. My arm's not short,
nor is my hand short. My arm's short, nor my hand not
made, not able to save. And I know, and you know, and
we both, all of us know this, that preachers today make man
to be more than he is. Oh, they make man more than he
is. Oh, they make man to be everything. They make his power to be everything,
his will to be everything, his works to be everything. Oh, they
make man to be more than he is, and then they turn around and
make God to be less than he is. And God cannot be any less than
he is. When he describes himself in
his word, and he does describe himself, you can go through this
book and how many places does he describe himself. He said,
I declared thee in from the beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, said all my counsel is gonna stand. And
you know what else? I'm gonna do everything that
pleases me. That's what I'm gonna do. And I tell you, God, when
He declares Himself, He declares His majesty, His power, and His
absolute sovereignty. He said He told Moses, as He
said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I
will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion. And I
tell you, so He said, it's not of him that willeth. Where's
that man that's willing? It's not of him that wanteth, but it's God, God that shows
mercy. The Bible absolutely knows nothing
about a God that has no power. And it certainly don't know anything
about a doormat named Jesus. I haven't talked about that in
a long time, but oh my goodness, he's used as a doormat in most
places. Oh, he's a doormat, you know, you go, Go back to the
world and you come back into church. You know, you wipe your
feet on Him. You wipe your works on Him. You
wipe your self-righteousness on Him. And you wipe your free
will on Him. You wipe your sins on Him and
everything else. And I tell you what, God don't
know nothing about a doormat named Jesus. God says, I spoke
and it stood fast. I commanded and it was done. And I tell you what, I purposed
it and I'll do it. God said, for whom he did foreknow,
he also called. Those he did predestinate, he
also foreknew. I tell you, God's a God of predestination
and power. It's a sad, sad thing the way
these preachers talk about God. Sad thing, sad thing. Sad, sad
things they say about God. And then here in verse four,
Here's the Lord Jesus describing his offices here. He says, the
Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned, and that I should
know how to speak a word and season to that person that's
weary. He waketh morning by morning, he waketh mine ear to hear as
the learned. Here our Lord's talking about
his offices. He's talking about first and foremost, his office
as a prophet. He said, I've got the tongue
of the learned. He's the only one that can make God to be known.
God can't be known apart from the Lord Jesus making Him known.
And nobody knows who the Son is except the Father makes Him
known. But our Lord has a threefold office. He's King, of whom David
was type of. And as King, He reigns by decree. Reigns by decree. And the fact
that He died, that He might be Lord, both of the dead and the
living. Then he's a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. And I tell you, it had no beginning
and no ending, no father, no mother. You don't know where
it started at. That's like our Lord started
in eternity. And then he's also the prophet
spoken of by Moses. And that's why God said, if you're
gonna listen to anybody, you listen to my son. I speak by
Him, I speak because I speak through Him, and everything I've
got to say to a human being is through this blessed man, my
son, my son, my son. And our prophet, he's the only
one that can reveal and manifest the Father's will, the Father's
purpose, and the Lord Jesus Christ's work. Only one that can. But
now I want you to notice what our Lord says about Himself here.
Oh, He has a word that, oh, He speaks a word in a season to
him that's weary. What a blessed thing it is, a
word, he gives a word in a season to him that's weary. He said,
Lord God hath opened mine ear and I was not rebellious, neither
turned away my back. Here it shows our Redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ, his submission. He submits himself as the messenger
of the covenant. And the Father's servant, that's
what I talked about last week. the Father's servant, my elect,
my servant, my righteous servant. And he is the God-man and the
servant who came into this world to willingly do everything that
was required to save his elect people, to save those that was
chosen in eternity. And when he said here, the Lord
hath opened mine ear, it means dig my ear. And I was not rebellious,
neither turned away my back. And you find this in Ezekiel.
where when a slave was, person went into slavery for a master,
and sometimes it's seven years, sometimes it's longer than that. Like Jacob served 14 years. 14
years Jacob served. And here he is, he says, the
Lord dig my ear, bored my ear. You know, when the slave had
served his time and he has the chore, now you can go out of
here free. You're free to go. You can leave right today, you
don't have to serve me anymore. But out of love for his master,
and how kind his master was to him, how generous his master
was, how gracious his master was. He wanted to remain willingly,
he loved his master. And I'll be a grateful, greatly
be, just count it a great blessing and privilege to be a bond slave
to you. And they take them in front of
the judges and put them at the post door and take an awl and
drill a big hole in their ear. He said, that's what God did
to me. He said, to put a hole in my, I'm a master servant. I served my father perfectly,
completely, obediently, and out of love for him and out of love
for my elect. No wonder our Lord says, no man
takes my life from me. No man takes it from me. I've
got the power to lay it down. I lay it down willingly. And
I did it out of love for my father and love for my elect. So he
shows his submission. Now look here in verse six. Our
Redeemer describes himself as a suffering servant. I gave my
back to the smiters. You remember when you read about
they took him in there and Pilate's judgment hall and the Jews and
they took that cat of nine tails and beat him and beat him and
beat him. 39 stripes they gave our Lord Jesus. had rocks on
it, glass on it, bones on it, on the end of those leather throngs
that they had on it they had stuff put on them so when they
hit them it'd cause them to hurt and bleed and tear the flesh. He said, I gave my back to them.
Gave my cheek to them that plucked off my beard, plucked off the
hair of my head. And I tell you what, when they
spit in my face, I never, I never, I wasn't shamed. I was from shame.
They spit in my face. As you know, one of the most
disrespectful things a person can do to another person is spit
in their face. You spit in somebody's face.
You're telling them that I hold you in the awfulest contempt
that there is. Just clear my throat and spit
in your face. And that's what they did to our
Lord. And He did it willingly. He said,
here, here's my back. Here's my cheek. Here's my face. Go ahead and spit. And he did
not open his mouth. He never ever opened his mouth. Oh, when the false witnesses
accused him, he never opened his mouth. When the men abused
him, he didn't open his mouth. And he gave his back to the smiters,
his face to those that pulled out the beer. The suffering of
our Lord Jesus Christ was no accident. It wasn't a tragedy. It wasn't something that got
out of hand. God himself decreed that it's
time for you to go to the cross, time for you to suffer, time
for you to take the place of my people, my elect, under my
hand, under my determinate counsel, under my foreknowledge, under
my wrath, under my judgment. And I tell you what, our Lord
Jesus Christ, oh, look over here in Isaiah 53. Just look here,
what he's talking about. This is what we're talking about.
Oh, he was not only a submissive servant, but he is a suffering
servant. No wonder he said here, who has believed our report?
Who's believed our preaching? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? He says that over there. And
all he shall, who? This is the report that we have
to people. Listen, I personally, I believe
the report. And I think the arm of the Lord's
been revealed to me, but he asked, who has it? For he, Christ, shall
grow up before him, before God, as a tender plant and as a root
out of a dry ground. He hath no form, no comeliness,
no beauty about him, that when we shall see him, there's nothing
stood out about him, that there's no beauty that we should desire.
He's despised. He's rejected of men. He is a
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And you know what
we did when that happened? Everybody there at the cross
hid their faces, turned away. Don't want to know that. Don't
want to see that. Other than those crying out and crying out
for Him. And then back over here in Isaiah
50. The Redeemer, I, the Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, describes the success of His work. Look
what He says there in verse 7. For the Lord God will help me. You know God was with the Lord
Jesus Christ except for those three hours of darkness on the
cross. But every day of his life, God
helped him. When he cried out, Father, into
thy hands, I commend my spirit. The Lord God helped him. That's
why no wonder the Father said from the heavens, oh, this is
my beloved son. I'm pleased with him. You listen
to what he has to say. And I'll tell you, that's no
contradiction. though he was God manifest in the flesh. But he was also in the flesh
and he was bound by his flesh, bound by the weakness of the
flesh. And he was a man. And I tell you he had all the
limitations of it. And he needed strength, he needed
power of his God to enable him, enable him to effectually finish
the great work God gave him to do. Hitherto as my father brought
me, hitherto as my father sent me. Don't you know I must be
about my father's victims? And when I learned Jesus Christ,
I preached on and it says, you know, Father, forgive them. First words our Savior said on
the cross, Father, Father, Father, forgive them. What did God do? He forgave. He forgave. And then He says,
look there, again, therefore I shall not be confounded. That
means that I know I shall not be ashamed. I shall not be ashamed. Oh my. I tell you, what would
Christ be, He said, I won't be confounded. I won't be, when
they all turn against me, I won't be confounded. When sinful men
cry out, crucify Him, I won't be confounded. And I won't be
ashamed. I won't be ashamed of what they
do to me. I won't be ashamed of the ministry that God gave
me, the truth that He sent me to preach, the authority that
He gave me over men. I'm not gonna be ashamed of that.
I'm certainly not gonna be ashamed of the obedience that I rendered
unto my Father. And I certainly am not ashamed
for my sufferings. for the sake of my blessed people,
for my elect. And I tell you what, he wasn't
ashamed of his work, that it was effectual, that work of redemption.
He said, Father, I finished the work that you gave me to do.
Did it, now, now glorify me with yourself, which the glory I had
before the world was. Then he says there in verse seven
again, I set my face like a flint, set my face like a flint, and
know that I shall not be ashamed. Oh my, cause look what it says
there in verse eight, he is near that justifies me. He said, what
he's saying is, is I'm so set to accomplish the work that the
father gave me, and the one that's gonna justify me. And what does
he mean by this? God Himself decreed the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sent Him into this world and
the Father drew near to Him in His whole state while He was
in this world in humiliation. And I think the greatest humiliation
that our Lord went through wasn't at the cross. I think it was
the fact that He just became a man so identified with us.
You just imagine what it was like for God who inhabited eternity
to come down here and take on a body. For the humiliation,
the angels moved at his beck and call. Everything that was
ever done in this universe and in this world, it was done by
him and by what he said and he accomplished it. And yet he come
down here in the womb of a virgin and became a man. How humiliating
can that be? But the Father sent him as near
to him, and he justified him from all the false charges they
brought against him. And he justified him from all
the sins of the people of his elect that was laid upon him.
And how do we know? He is raised from the dead. He is raised from the dead. God raised him up from the dead. And look what he says now. In
verse eight, who will contend with me? Who in the world's gonna
contend with me now? Who is he that's gonna condemn
me? God's certainly not gonna condemn him. Satan had no part
in him. The law cannot do anything. He
honored it and magnified it. The justice of God lays no more
claims on him. And oh my, yes sir, I tell you,
look what he says here. Who is he that condemned me there
in verse 9? He said, you know what they're
all going to do? He said, well, I'm going on setting on my throne.
You know what's going to happen to them? They're going to just
get old like an old garment. That's what we're doing. We're
getting old like an old garment. Do you all remember anything
that you wore 10, 12 years ago? Your garments get old, you wear
them up, you throw them away, or you give them away, or you
do something with them. And he said, all these people that was
against me, he said, you know what? He said, they're going
to just get old. Going to get old like an old
garment. And it's not only an old garment. And a moth is going
to eat them up. You ever got something out of
the closet and then the moth had it all eaten up? I still
got my Marine Corps uniform. And it's the winter greens. And there's some moth holes in
it. Of course, I couldn't wear it
anyway, you know. I was much smaller in them days. But I'll
tell you what, he said, that's what's going to happen. All these
folks who said, they're just going to get old. Moth's going
to eat them up. And I'm going to sit on the throne.
Who's going to condemn me? God's already justified me. How
do you know He sets it right hand of God? Bruce Crabtree and
I was talking about that yesterday. About justification. And all
the things about justification. And I tell you what, if you want
to know my justification, I've told you this. probably no telling
how many times, at least probably a hundred as long as I've been
here. If you want to know who justifies
me and who's my justification, right there it says it's the
right hand of God. How do I know? He bore my iniquities, He bore
my offenses, and God raised Him from the dead and set Him at
His own right hand, and there He sets as my justification before
God, before law, before Satan, before sin, and before death
as my justification that I'll be in the presence of God. And
I tell you, how do we know he's that way? Because he's got nail
prints in his hands, nail prints in his feet, and he's got a hole
in his side, just a scar on it. We'll recognize him when we get
there. And then let me show you this
real quick. The Lord describes two classes of people here, two
classes of people. And he says this, who is among
you that feareth the Lord? that obeyeth the voice of his
servant. Here's this, who obeys the Redeemer, who fears the Lord,
that walks in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the
name of the Lord and stay upon his God. Now I know we walked
in darkness and we had no light, but I think this right here is
talking to us about we hear the voice of Christ, we obey the
voice of Christ, we may be walking in darkness, We may not have
no light. Every one of us. Gary Spiker
is in darkness right now. I mean, he's right down to his
time to leave this world. His family, they're watching
this. And we have some dark days in
our lives. We get up some days and the days
are so dark that we can't, you know, it's just awful how it's
like. Walking on in darkness. We're in the darkness of some
great trial. But you know what he says? Let
him trust in the name of the Lord and stay, just stay right
there on your God. Don't move a peg! That's what
Brother Henry used to say, don't move a peg! Stay right where
you are! It might get dark, but stay,
stay on God. Oh my, they trust him for everything
they need for their righteousness, for everything. But then look
at this other class of people here. Behold all you that kindle
a fire. Oh my, kindle their own fire. Now get yourself, you got sparks
all around you. You walk in the light of your
fire and in the sparks that you have kindled. Now these folks,
this is self-righteous People that depend on their own works
and their own righteousness, they kindle a fire. And then
they walk in their own light of their own fire. And you know
what God says here? This is what's gonna happen to
you. This is what I'm gonna give you right out of my hand. You're
gonna lie down in sorrow and in judgment. You walk in your
own light, make your own fire. And he said, I'm gonna, you're
gonna lay down with judgment and in sorrow. So we got a blessed,
blessed Redeemer. Gave His back to the smiters,
to them that plucked off the face of His beard, spit in His
face. But God upheld Him, God held
Him. Our Lord Jesus, oh our Lord Jesus,
our Savior, our great God and Savior, we bow our hearts here
in Your holy presence. So thankful that you're our Savior.
Thankful you're our Redeemer. Thankful you submitted yourself
to God. Thankful that you suffered as
Jehovah's Servant. Thankful you had a successful
work. Your work was successful. You accomplished what you're
sent to do. And Lord, the proof is that now that you sat at the
right hand of your Father. and all majesty and all power
vested in you. And Lord, no matter what we go
through in this world, whether it's daylight or dark, whether
it's gray or sunny, whether it's pouring down the rain, or whether
the sun's shining bright, help us always to stay upon our God. Stay upon Him. Trust Him. Trust Him. And Lord, never let
us walk in our own light, our own understanding. Please never
let us do that. And God bless my dear brother,
Gary, and his family. My dear brother and sister, Bruce
and Joe, and Todd and Lynn. Oh, these
people, you love them. They're your people. They belong
to you. You bought them and paid for
them. And you love them. Oh, how you love them. So God,
meet their needs and bring glory to yourself through meeting their
needs. For Christ's sake, we pray. Amen. Amen. Jesus Christ is made to me. All I need. All I need. He alone is all my plea. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power. Holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure. He is all I need. Well God willing, I'll see you
soon.