will turn with me to Acts, well
actually you turn there and let me just say, turn to Acts chapter
8, that's the passage we'll look at by the Lord's grace today
and I asked Donnie to read from this portion in John 12, because
I want to preface the message that I believe the Lord has for
us today with some thoughts from these words of our Lord here
in John 12. And as you know, He's going up
to Jerusalem, and He says some remarkable things in this passage. The first and most remarkable
is that he says, now is my soul troubled. Just think about that
for a minute. The soul of God troubled. Troubled. What could trouble
the soul of God? Here he says, now is my soul
troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No. because for this hour he
came, didn't he? He was coming from eternity,
coming for his people, just like we heard in the Song of Yusuf,
for everyone who the Father gave to him. And here he is, and the
hour is approaching, and he is beginning to think of what faces
him, and his soul is troubled. His soul is troubled. Why? It's
troubled by the sin of his people. the prospect that awaits him,
and he says, Father, glorify your name. Most of all, this
is why he came, isn't it? He did come to save his people,
but more than anything, he came to glorify his Father. And he
says, then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified
it and I will glorify it again. And he'll glorify it. In what
way? He'll glorify it through his
son. He always will. And the people who stood by and
heard it, what a marvel to hear God speak from heaven. And the
people who stood by, what did they hear? They just heard thunder. Some said, oh, an angel spoke
from heaven. And Jesus said that this voice
didn't come because of me, but for your sakes. And it's for
our sake. That's who he's speaking about, isn't it? For your sake
and our sake. If you hear him. If you hear
him. If I hear him. And then he says
three remarkable things. He says, is the judgment of this
world. Speaking about his coming death
on the cross, now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler
of this world will be cast out and I, if I am lifted up from
the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. And as he said, signifying
by what death he would die. Now listen, what did the people
say? They answered him, What are you talking about? We've
heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. So how can you
say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son
of Man? And that's the question, isn't
it? Who is this Son of Man? Well, you know, this morning
I'd like us to look at just one of these things. Christ had just
answered that, didn't he? He just said it. He just answered
that question. What I want to look at this morning
is just one answer to that question. Who is the son of man? Well,
he's the one who, when he is lifted up, will draw all to himself. And so this is what we want to
consider as we're thinking, as we're looking at this passage
in Acts, Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 26. And this is a familiar
passage. I know every one of you here
know it. But let me just read through this passage again to
remind ourselves of this man from Ethiopia. And in verse 26
we read there, now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying,
arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down
from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and
went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under
Kandase, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury
and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting
in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the
spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. So
Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and
said, do you understand what you are reading? And he said,
how can I unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come
up and sit with him. The place in the scripture which
he read was this, he was led as a lamb, as a sheep to the
slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent so he opened
not his mouth. In his humiliation his justice
was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is
taken from the earth. So the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of
himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth,
and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as
they went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch
said, see, here's water, what hinders me from being baptized?
Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. So he commanded the chariot to
stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into
the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of
the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so the
eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way, rejoicing. Rejoicing. Now, Now here we read
of this man. We'll just work through this
passage and see what the Lord has to teach us. But here we
have this man. this man of Ethiopia, and he's
read in the scriptures of a man who God describes as his righteous
servant, who would justify many, for he would bear their iniquities.
And he, too, asks this great question, but in a different
spirit than we heard in John 12. He asks this great question,
of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other
man? Who is this man? It's not too
much to say that the answer to this question is a burning and
a consuming passion for this man of Ethiopia. And let me tell
you, today too, there's no greater question for you and for me.
If we're ever to know God, if we're ever to see God, we must
know this man. We must. We'll look there in
verse 26. Let's see. Let's see what the
Lord reveals to us. Now an angel of the Lord spoke
to Philip saying, arise and go toward the south along the road
which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he
arose and went. Now an angel of the Lord spoke
to Philip. He comes to Philip. How, we don't
know. But an angel comes and he says,
arise and go. Well, who sent this angel? The
Lord sent the angel. Now the Lord tells him to get
up and go to a place which is a desert where no men dwell. A desert. Why? Why? Well, Philip was in Samaria and
he was having a great ministry. Just turn back a few pages to,
where is that? Verse 3. Let's look there in
verse 3 and just see the circumstances which bring us to this place. Here is Philip, and well, let's just look back. As for
Saul, here's Saul, and what do we read? He made havoc of the
church. He made havoc of the church,
entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing
them to prison. What a terrible event among the
Church of God. We would think, wouldn't we?
No? Therefore, look at verse 4. Therefore,
those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord
heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles
which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with
a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many
who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy
in that city. So here is Philip, and he's having
a fruitful ministry. The gospel is being preached
with power and with effect, and the Lord is with him. And many
souls are brought to the Lord, baptized. And here is Philip
in the midst of this, and the word of the Lord comes to him
and says, get up and go to a deserted place. The Lord, surely, I must be mistaken
in what I'm hearing. Surely the Lord can't be telling
me to get up and go. But no, that would be my response,
wouldn't it? That would be the typical response.
No, no, no, no, this can't be. But Philip, we're told elsewhere,
was a man full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. And when the
Lord speaks to him, how? We don't know. What does he do? He gets up and goes. He gets
up and goes. Now why would the Lord send Philip
to a deserted place? Because soon we know there will
be a man traveling through this desert, a man for whom Christ
died, a man whom Christ shed his blood for. And Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ, is going to draw him to himself. Verse 27,
here's this man. And behold, a man of Ethiopia,
a eunuch of great authority under Kandasi, the queen of the Ethiopians,
who had charge of all her treasury, had come to Jerusalem to worship,
was returning. Now, when we read through this
passage, I don't know if you've noticed this, how much detail
the word of God gives us about this man. It's unusual. Most
often, it just gives a few statements about a person that the Lord
is working with through the Gospels. But here, a great amount of detail. Well, what does the Lord intend
for us to learn from this? Well, let's consider now. Here
is this man, he's from Ethiopia, a land far from Israel, a land
of idols and spirit worship. And here
is this man, he's undertaken a remarkable journey. Remarkable
journey. This journey from Addis Ababa,
which is the capital of Ethiopia, to Jerusalem was a journey of
2,500 miles. More than 2,500 miles. L.A. to
the shores of North Carolina. That's the distance. That's the distance. What did
he do? Did he run down to the international
airport of Addis Ababa and hop the plane? No. Did he jump in
his four-wheel drive and head off to Jerusalem? No. No. This is a journey of 2,500 miles
in a horse-drawn carriage. And much of the journey would
have been over very harsh terrain, through dangerous territory of
vandals and tribal kingdoms. A journey like this would have
taken at least six months one direction. This man had committed
a full year or more of his life to go up to Jerusalem to do what? The Word of God says, to worship.
To worship. Think of the cost of this journey.
You know, even in terms of contemporary wealth, it would have been enormous.
Here, servants? A company of soldiers, absolutely,
to guard him. Accommodation and food for horses
and men during all that time. What would compel a man to undertake
such a journey? Well, we're told that he came
to Jerusalem to worship. Well, why? Aren't there gods
in In Ethiopia? Yes, there are. Isn't there all
sorts of worship in Ethiopia? Yes, there is. But this man knew
that the gods of his land were false gods and that in Israel
was the worship of the one true God. Nothing else would compel
him to go to Jerusalem to worship. And how had this man come to
know this? We're not told. We're not told, but, you know,
I think we can, we can, yes, I think we, from the Word of
God, we can surmise. When was, think of this, now,
when was an Ethiopian mentioned prominently in the Word of God? Do you remember? Do you remember
after God had delivered people of Israel, out of Egypt, by his
mighty arm, by his servant Moses, you know, and he was leading
them to this promised land that he promised to give to them.
And here's Moses, but Miriam and Aaron challenged his authority.
And what did they say? Has God spoken through Moses
alone? Hasn't he spoken through us also?
And then this is what they said. What relationship it had to this,
I have no idea. But we read there in Numbers,
then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian
woman he had married. for he had married an Ethiopian
woman." So Moses had taken a woman of Ethiopia as his wife. And
like I said, what bearing that had on what they were complaining
about, I have no idea. But a man in sin is never rational,
is he? So here they're complaining against
Moses because he'd taken this Ethiopian woman. In marrying an Ethiopian woman,
Moses married into a whole host of relatives of this woman. This is just the way it is. We
have very small, even our extended families are very small relative
to how most people in the rest of the world view things. So
Moses would have come in contact with a great number of people
during the course of time of his marriage. And in so doing,
what did this bring about? The people of Ethiopia came to
know of the one true God. Isn't that so? Wouldn't Moses
have spoken to them of the one true God? And somehow, over the
centuries, the knowledge of the God of Abraham and of Isaac and
of Jacob had been kept alive in this land. That's what I think.
This man was in possession of what? He was in possession of
the Holy Scriptures. He was in possession of a parchment
scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Even that was a great treasure
in those days, a real treasure. And here he has it and he's reading
it. We're also told that this man
was a man of great authority, power, wealth. He had charge
of all the treasury of the Queen of Ethiopia. He was the equivalent
of what we would say today as the treasury secretary of the
country, the finance minister of that country. This man was
no mean person. This man was a man of great stature
and position. And with all of that, you know
how it is. A man in this place has great
influence. And it's held in great esteem.
And not only that, we know that he was a highly educated man.
Here he is, he's reading the prophet Isaiah in the Hebrew
tongue. That was the language of the
scriptures. He was an educated man. This man possessed all the things
that natural men pursue. Do you see that? Today, So many of us too, pursuing
all of these things, desiring all of these things, giving our
hearts to these things, our lives to these things. Why? Because we think satisfaction
will be found in them. But was this man satisfied? No. No he wasn't. No he wasn't. He was going to Jerusalem. He
was looking for something more. He had all these things. He wasn't
pursuing them. They were already in his possession. They were his. But it seems he
found no peace, no satisfaction in these things. It seems that
he knew that he was poor before God. without any righteousness of
his own in the eyes of the Almighty God of Abraham. And he was searching
for peace with God. He went up to Jerusalem to worship. Now, why, why have all people,
had this one man undertaken such a journey? And why was he searching? Why was he searching? Because
God was seeking him. Didn't we just sing that? Because
God was seeking him. God was drawing him. In verse
28, look there. Verse 28. And sitting in his
chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said
to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. So Philip ran to
him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, do you
understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I unless
someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up
and sit with him. So here we have the Lord says,
go near, go near and overtake this chariot. And when God purposes
to seek and to save those who are lost, he sends a messenger,
doesn't he? He sends a minister of the gospel
and he says to Philip, go near, go near. Now look. You don't
need to turn there. This is a passage that is familiar,
again, to all of us. In Romans 10, it's a passage
that is so often used as a great missionary incentive. And it
is. It is. But it's so much more
than that. So much more. It's this passage
in Romans 10. Listen. It begins in this way. Whoever
calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. What a promise. What a promise. What a message. Whoever, whoever calls upon the
name of the Lord will be saved. Who speaks? God speaks. His Son
speaks and promises. And this is true. This is true.
But then we read, listen, but then we read, how then, four
questions, how then shall they call on Him in whom they have
not believed? And how shall they believe in
him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach unless
they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful,
how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of
peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. Beautiful feet because of the
message. Beautiful feet, because of the gospel of peace. But listen. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has
believed our report? So then, faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. You know, we sit here today,
and who do we need to hear? You know, you and me, as I'm
preaching, we hear this Word, I speak these words, but who
do we need to hear in these words? We need to hear Christ, present,
don't we? Speaking to us in His Word. Opening our hearts and giving
us understanding. That's who we need to hear. Not
me, not Donnie, not whoever preaches to you. We need to hear Christ.
I need to hear Christ. The prophet Isaiah asked this
question, who has believed our report? And the answer here is
all that the Lord draws to himself. The Lord sends a messenger of
the gospel to go near. This has always been His way.
It always will be His way. Is this man in the desert? Well,
to the desert, God will send a preacher, a preacher of the
gospel, a man to preach Christ. And this man will hear, he will
believe, he will call upon the name of the Lord, and he will
be saved. And so the Spirit says to Philip,
arise and go. And Philip gets up and goes. And the Spirit says to Philip,
go near. And Philip ran to the man of
Ethiopia. You know, wouldn't it be wonderful
if I did that, when the Lord commanded me? And every preacher
of the gospel did that. When the Lord commands, we get
up and we run to do his will. Run to preach the gospel of his
blessed son. And what does he find? He was
reading Isaiah the prophet. Now listen. Listen, when we go
to do a work, God's going to do a work, isn't he? Right now?
Well, when we go to do a work, do we just go with our hands
only? Let me just use the illustration
that I used to the people in New Guinea that we work among.
You know, they build their gardens hours of the valley we live in
and clear the high mountain forest that is there and I say, when
you go to clear that forest, fell those trees and clear all
that brush and dig up the tree stumps, clear out all those rocks
and boulders out of the ground and dig that garden to plant,
do you just go with your hands? No. No, you go with the tools
that are effective to accomplish what you purpose to do. You take
an axe to fell those trees, and you take a machete to clear out
that brush, and you take a spade and shovel to dig up that ground
to plant, all the things that you need to accomplish that work. Apply it to yourself. Apply it
to anything that we do here. We go with our hands to do a
work. No, we go with the tools that are effective to accomplish
what we purpose to do. Now, I say this because when
God purposes to do a work and sends the Holy Spirit, what does
he do? He too uses what's effective,
doesn't he? And what is that? What is that? He uses what's powerful and effective,
and he uses the Word of God. You know, just that simple truth
needs to be pounded home again and again and again. I find in
my ministry, to myself and to the people themselves, you know,
we're so prone to start looking to other things. God speaks through
His Word. This is what He uses. Why is
that? Because He tells us, for the Word of God is living and
powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Why is it living?
Because it's Christ's Word. speaking to his people sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul
and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and as a discerner of
the thoughts. and intense of our hearts. Isn't
that true? You know, we sit here and the
word speaks to us, and if you know Christ, you know that experience,
don't you? You know, that is piercing and
it speaks to you, knowing your thoughts and intense. It does.
And so the man is reading the word of God, the prophet Isaiah. Of course he is. Of course he
is. But listen, Philip says, do you
understand what you are reading? Does he understand? This is the
great tragedy of natural man, isn't it? The great tragedy. His foolish heart is darkened
by sin. He's blind and cannot see, deaf
and cannot hear. You know, this is why we have
all of these analogies and illustrations by the Lord, in the Gospels in
particular, of the deadness of man and sin in the epistles.
We're dead. Unfeeling, unhearing, unseeing,
unthinking, darkened by our sin. And this Ethiopian, listen, he
can do many things. He can do many things, searching
even to the ends of the earth. But he knows that unless there's
someone to guide him, he will never know. And he will never
understand. How can I, unless someone guides
me?" For this man to see and to believe, for this man to hear
and understand, the Spirit of God must come and illuminate
the darkness of his mind and pour life into his heart, enlightening
the eyes of his understanding. And then, then he'll know the
hope of his calming. And he asked Philip to come up
and sit with him. Now, the Spirit sends a messenger
of the Gospel to the Ethiopian, and he causes the Ethiopian to
receive this man. Now we can just read over that,
but I'm telling you, As a missionary, you go and you
go and you preach. In the beginning of the work,
you're preaching to unsaved people. And I'd go out to village locations
and seek to establish a weekly meeting that I'd go to and gather
the same group of people every week, preaching the truth of
the Word of God to them. And they'd sit down on the ground,
I'd sit down with them outside their houses, which is the cultural
way, and I'd preach Christ to them. And what would I see? I'd see these eyes. What would
I see? Dead eyes. Dead eyes. And I'd go, week after week,
and at times, at times then, I'd see, we say that their eyes begin
to alight. And it, you know what I'm talking
about. I know Domini does. And you see,
and you think, they're, now they're receiving the Word. Now they're
receiving the Word. And in God's grace, you see,
then this person comes. They begin to love the Word.
They begin to wait with expectation to hear. And the Lord, in His
mercy, then calls, you see, that He's called this person out.
And here, well, it begins with them receiving naturally. But
here is this man, and the Lord has prepared him. You know, here's
this, think of this, here's this wealthy man, he's riding upon
his chariot, he's surrounded by his retinue of servants and
guards in the desert, and here comes Philip, running up out
of nowhere, a man entirely unimpressive, alone, on foot. And what does
the Secretary of the Treasury do? Come up and sit with me. How remarkable. All the people
with him must have thought, what is he doing? What is he doing? How startling this must have
been to them. I thought, maybe not, maybe not,
because they were probably already thinking, what are we doing in
this place, in this desert, in Gaza, far from our homes, far
from our country, far from our wives, far from our children.
Because our master wants to go up to Jerusalem to worship. What
a nut, you know? They probably did. They probably
did. And so maybe anything he did wasn't a surprise to them.
But here, this unknown, unimpressive man, he says to him, come up
and sit with me. and verse 32, and the place in
the scripture which he read was this, he was led as a lamb to
the slaughter and as a lamb before its shears is silent so he opened
not his mouth. In his humiliation his justice
was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is
taken from the earth. Now All the Word of God is profitable,
isn't it? All the Word of God. But it's
a very specific message that the Lord uses in the salvation
of His people. This message, we know, is the
message of Christ. It's the message not just of
Christ, but the message of Christ and Him crucified. It's the message
of the cross. And we're told of all the Word
of God, this is the message. This is the message which is
the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. This
is the message that saves. This is why Paul continually
emphasized this in his ministry. I determine not to know anything
among you except Christ and Him crucified. This is what he said
because Paul knew this and he understood this and he believed
this and he wanted to be certain that this was what characterized
his ministry. And so here is this man. Where
does the Spirit direct the attention of the Ethiopian as he reads
the Word of God? He directs him to the 53rd chapter
of Isaiah. Now, as I said, all the Word
of God is good. We know that. We know that. And
I know that. You know? Until the day I die,
I'm going to be convinced that this chapter in Isaiah 53 is
the best part. I'll tell you why. I had the privilege, I think one
of the greatest privileges a child could ever have, and that's having
Christian parents. And not only that, my mom and
dad were missionaries, my dad a minister of the gospel. And
we were raised from my whole life, literally, from
as early as I was able to hear and be taught the truth of the
gospel of the grace of God. We'd have family devotions every
day. singing a hymn, not long, not
long, but singing a hymn. And we'd, my dad would have us
memorize verses. And me and my sisters, we'd go
around reciting, you know, one verse, the next would recite
the next. And, you know, then afterward,
my dad would speak to us from the word, maybe five, five, 10
minutes, you know, and then we'd pray. And we did that my whole
life growing up. And let me tell you, you know,
all of this, all of this, I do this every day, didn't mean a
thing. Didn't mean a thing. You know,
I'm just a kid doing, doing what mom and dad, from all appearances,
just the, you know, the most obedient child. That word, I
didn't, for all intents and purposes, I didn't hear a thing. The only concern I had was about
that time for memorizing, and I'd be scrambling at the last
minute, so I'd be ready to say the next verse. And we learned
whole chapters of Scripture. And one night, as I remember,
I was around 10 or 11. I was laying in my bed, and I
don't know what exactly It was a long time ago. I don't know
exactly what thoughts the Lord brought to me, but I became very
concerned. I began to think of my sin. And
I became fearful. And at that time, parents were using kerosene lanterns
for lighting and my mom had the last one on she was in the bathroom
she was going to be the last one going to bed and so she finished
up in the bathroom turned that light off and came out of the
bathroom which was near near my room and I called to her and
she came and I said mom you know and I was in I was in tears and
I said what you know what do I need to do to be saved And
she said, just wait here, and I'll go get your father. And
you know, my father came in, and he opened, holding a torch,
I remember all this, holding a flashlight, and he opened the
Word of God to Isaiah 53. This is not only a Christian
parent, but a parent who knows what a sinner needs to hear.
And he spoke to me from Isaiah 53. Like Philip, what did he do?
Even though I didn't know all of this at the time, with the
clarity I do now, but he preached Christ to me, didn't he? And
spoke of this one, this man, who bore the sins of many and
accomplished salvation. of all those given to the Father,
and that all who believe in him will be saved." what the Lord used. I can't remember,
but possibly it was even the verses that I memorized. Like
in Romans 3, you know that passage where it speaks about there being
none righteous. No, not one. There is none who
understand. There is none who seek after
God. They are all gone out of their way. Hear that? None seek
after God. All gone out of their way. They
are together become unprofitable. There is none, none, who does
good. No, not one. And here in Isaiah 53, it speaks
of this Savior, the Savior of sinners. And this was the most
important day in my life. It was the day I passed from
death to life. How could I forget that day?
Well, here is this man. Now think of this. Here is this
man. The Lord brought this man up out of Ethiopia on this monumental
journey. He sent his angel to Philip.
He sent Philip down into the desert. The Spirit of the Lord
told Philip to go near. He opened the heart of this man
of Ethiopia to receive Philip. The Lord put into the heart of
this man to be reading the scriptures and he directed him to read a
passage which speaks of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and
his atoning substitutionary death upon the cross to save his people
from their sins. It sounds to me like salvation
is of the Lord. You know, I don't hear anything
about all this man did, do you? I hear about what Christ did,
and what God did, and what the Spirit did. That's what I hear. Salvation is of the Lord. Verse
34, so the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom
does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man? You know, that's the great question.
That's what I want to emphasize. Who is this man? This is the
thing. that captured the heart and the
thoughts of this man of Ethiopia. This is his question. Who is
this man? Of whom does the prophet say
this? Of himself or of some other man? Is he the one? This is his question. You see it. Is he the one who
can truly make atonement for sin and give peace with God? Is he such a one who can truly
bear the punishment of sins that we ourselves could never bear?
Is he the one who can satisfy the justice of God that we could
never satisfy? Is he the one through whom a
sinner might be justified? That's the question, isn't it?
Who is this man? Verse 35, verse 35, here is the
gospel minister, then Philip opened his mouth and beginning
at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. He preached Jesus to
him. This is the man of whom the prophets
spoke. This is the message, isn't it?
And what a message. This is the man of whom all the
prophets spoke. This is the man of whom all promises,
all prophecies, all fulfilled, all the types and shadows fulfilled
in this one man. This one man. And so, beginning
at this scripture, Philip preached Jesus to this man of Ethiopia. He began in the scripture, but
we won't begin there, but we'll end there. We'll end there. Turn
to Isaiah 53. And I'd just like us to look
at just a few of these verses that are found here, these truths
that are so precious, so precious. And you know, the passage begins
in the chapter before that, in verse 13. But let's just begin
there at that first verse of Isaiah 53. And there's that verse
quoted that we've heard. Who has believed our report,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And then
jump down to verse 5. Here it's speaking of this man,
but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by 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
on him the iniquity of us all. Here is this man of Ethiopia
and this is what he's reading. the word of God speaking to him.
Do you hear it? Do I hear it? Who is this man? Who are these people for whom
he is born so much? This was the great and overwhelming
concern of this man of Ethiopia. Is this man spoken of by the
Prophet? Is he wounded for my transgressions? Was this man bruised for my iniquities? Was he chastised that I might
have peace with God? This is his concern. It's a good
concern, isn't it? Did the Lord lay my iniquities
upon this man? Could it be that this man has
borne the punishment for my sins, such that the fiery indignation
of the wrath of the holy God was quenched in the body and
soul of this man? Could it be? Who is this man? And look there in verse 8. He
was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will declare
his generation? For he was cut off from the land
of the living, for the transgressions of my people. My people, he was
stricken. And this, I believe, was one
of the troubling burdens of this man of Ethiopia. God, think now. Think back. Put yourself in that
place in that time. God was the God of Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob. He was the God of what nation? He was the God of Israel, wasn't
He? Out of all the nations in the world, God had set His favor
upon this one people, this nation of Israel. They were His people. To Israel, God, we know, spoke
at various times and various ways through the prophets to
them. He had given the law. sent Moses to them, this great
prophet, and delivered them by his mighty arm out of the hands
of the Egyptians. His favor rested upon Israel. And here is his question. Was this man stricken for the
transgressions of Israel only? But wasn't the promise of God
given to Abraham that he would be a blessing to all nations. He had, we know he had the prophet
Isaiah, and perhaps he had read, almost certainly he had read
in Isaiah 42, this text. Behold, behold my servant whom
I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put
my spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. What hope this must have given
this man? Could it be? Could it be that he was stricken
for me? Could it be that he was stricken for my transgressions?
Could it be that I'm one of his people? Who is this man? Look down, verse 10. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief when
you make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days. And
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see the travail of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant shall justify
many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Here is this man. He's made an
offering for sin. He would die. Yet, what do we
read? If the Lord would prolong his
days... If the Lord prolongs your days,
what? They'll be without number, won't they? They'll be without
number. Yes, he would die, but his days
would be prolonged and he would be raised in the power of an
everlasting life. The power of endless life. And he's despised. Yes, that's
what we read here in Isaiah. Despised, rejected by men, smitten
by God and afflicted, his soul made an offering for sin. But
in all this, in all this, what would occur? The pleasure of
the Lord would prosper in his hands. All of God's purposes
perfectly fulfilled and accomplished in the salvation of his people.
Why? Because they're in the hand of
this man. No one better, no one more perfect,
no one more sufficient, no one more great to accomplish this
work than the hands of this man. The pleasure of the Lord would
prosper in his hand. This righteous servant of the
Lord would justify many. Could it be? that he was despised
and rejected for me." Think of this. This is not just this man
of Ethiopia, but for yourself. Could it be? Could it be that
he was smitten by God for me? That his soul was made an offering
for sin, for me? Could it be that he would justify
me? Who is this man? Well, the prophet
Isaiah cries, Who has believed our report, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed? Well, this man of Ethiopia believed,
didn't he? He surely did. Why? Why? Because Christ said, and
I, if I be lifted up, will draw all to myself. This man of Ethiopia,
he came up, a dead man, out of desolate places, and he returned
rejoicing, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. Amen. that's good good good good