If you would, if you want to
turn along, Isaiah 53. I wondered if I should do this,
because it's so common to us. We know it, but it's still the
gospel, so it's worth repeating exactly. Isaiah 53, and I'm just going
to read the whole chapter. 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 calmliness,
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 transgressions. 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 every one to his own way. and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before shearers as dumb, so he openeth
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. 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,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his
soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he
bear the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors. And when I read this passage
and I think about what some say, you know the saying that says,
God has done all he can do and now it's up to you. I look at
these words and I see no such thing in this passage. In fact,
I see quite the opposite. I see he has done for us what
we could not do for ourselves. Man by nature does not like to
think, does not want to think of him or herself as being one
of these that Christ did this for. It says here he is despised
and rejected of men. But they don't think they despise
him. I did not think I despised him until he showed me I did. You know what they think, as
Joe has pointed out before? If I was there, I would have
stopped that crucifixion. If that would have been possible,
you remember Peter took that sword and cut off Malchus's ear?
He told Christ he was willing to fight to the death, and he
meant it. What did our Lord say to him
when he said to Christ, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be unto thee? What did Christ tell Peter? He
said, get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me,
for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. If it would have been possible
for us to stop the crucifixion, and we did that, we would have
plunged every single one of us into hell. All hope of salvation
would have been lost. But thank God, It was not possible,
and it is not possible, because we always do the wrong thing,
and we would have surely done that. This kind of thought just
brings to my mind the children of Israel in the wilderness.
You know, when God told them to go into the land, and they
said, no, we won't. Then God told them they would
die in the wilderness, and then they said, oh, we will go. Always
the opposite. But you know what happened to
them? they died in the wilderness. Hebrews 3, 16 and 17, we read,
for some, when they had heard, did provoke, howbeit not all
that came out of Egypt by Moses, but with whom was he greed 40
years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? When God says he paid the sin
debt on that tree, men say, this flesh says, I would have stopped
that. When he says, look to me and
be ye saved, they say, this flesh says, God has done all he can
do and now it's up to me. You know the saying, when I say
black, you say white, or when I say white, you say black? This
flesh always does the wrong thing. It can do no other. It does the
opposite of what God says. We will have our own way in this
flesh. Verse six tells us this, verse
six. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone
to his own way. This is the kind of people Jesus
Christ died for. And until God does something
to you, and he will only do so if he has chosen you in Christ,
and only when he wills. But it will be him that changes
your mind, and not until then. But we today can still say, as
Isaiah said, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed? The answer is still the same
as it was then. No one but to whom the Lord God
Almighty is pleased to reveal it. We have a wonderful record
that God has given of his son in this passage. And I know this
passage is familiar to everyone. But it's still good to see these
words in scripture. It's what we want to hear by
the grace of God, and we'll hear that here. That's the only thing
we'll hear by the grace of God. And if some do not see what Jesus
Christ has done, it's because he has blinded their eyes. All
kinds of people hear the gospel. In hearing the gospel, they are
hearing of the faith of Jesus Christ, the record God gave of
his son. If someone is sin of God, then
faith is coming to you. But unless God gives you faith,
you will not and you cannot believe. Hebrews 4.1 and 4.2, let us therefore
fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest,
any should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel
preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. Without faith in you, The gospel
will not profit you. God says so. But if he is pleased
and he gives you faith, the faith of Jesus Christ that we read
about in this passage, in Hebrews there, and sends the gospel to
you, you will believe. Romans 1 16 and 17 says, For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed, from faith to faith. As it is written, The
just shall live by faith. If you do not, if you cannot,
if you do not want to believe it, you're blinded by God. Turn
over with me to John 12. John 12. John 12 and we're gonna begin
in verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, Yet
a little while is light with you. Walk while ye have the light,
lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe
in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These
things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. That the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath
the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe
because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes and
hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes
nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should
heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw his glory and spake of him. And I know we also read this
in Scripture. I know this. It says this in
2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. That's talking about Satan, God
of this world. But Satan does not do anything
that God has not permitted him to do. God is in charge, not
Satan. Now, Satan may be in charge of
men and women, but it's only because God allows him to do
so. And I want to look at the gospel today in this passage. 1 Corinthians 9, 16 says, For
though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. For necessity
is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. If we cannot see the faith of
Christ in this passage, then our minds are blinded. And I
pray He open our eyes to see Christ. So let's look at no formal
comeliness, rejected of men, what He has borne despite our
rejection, His faith, satisfaction, and then we'll conclude with
salvation. No formal comeliness, verse two. 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. This verse is talking about the
right arm of the Lord, which is Jesus Christ. A tender plant. This is a plant that's unnoticeable. A little tree coming up from
a big tree, if you will. Everyone notices and sees the
big tree, but the little one they pay no attention to. The
little plant growing up in dry ground. He was born of Mary and
Joseph, and Joseph was his earthly father, if you will. But Joseph
was a carpenter, and this was not a very high place of employment
from what I gather in scripture. He was not born into an affluent
family, if you will. He could do whatever he wanted.
He's the Lord of glory. So if he wanted to come that
way, you know, any other way to an affluent family, he could
have done that if he chose to do that. But he didn't. He was
not tall, dark, and handsome, as they say. He had no features
that would make him stick out. He was ordinary. He was basically
born in a barn. It may have not been a barn,
but it was not a normal place that children were born into
unless you had no money. It was not a place where it was
desirable for a woman to have a baby and to take care of that
baby. This is the Lord of glory. He
purposed to come into the world in this manner. He did not come
in pomp and circumstance. In fact, Joseph, if you remember,
put Mary away, privily. I mean, he knew it was of God,
but he didn't want anybody to say anything. And you know the
saying, let people see Jesus in you? They did not see Jesus
in Jesus. How will they see Jesus in me?
The world I'm talking about are those who are dead in sin. We
will not see Jesus, period, unless God reveals him. All this world
did and does, and this was for me before God did open my eyes,
and that is I rejected him. So next we have rejected of men. He is despised and rejected.
He was counted as vile and rejected of men. And that is all men and
women. We're not just talking about
men and women at the time of Christ that was there at the
cross. We're not just talking about them. Not a one of us,
not one of mankind has ever given glory to God because it was in
them, in and of themselves to do it. Not one of mankind has
ever chosen Christ. Not one of mankind has ever sought
after Christ on their own. Even God's people, as we read
here, had gone astray. We did not go to God, we went
our own way. We went the way of man. That
way is we can do, the way that man goes is we can do this on
our own by our own effort. This flesh loves to give itself
glory as if man could ever do anything God good. Even as believers,
our flesh loves to seek its own glory. But Christ and his cross
work, we hid our faces from. We hid our faces from him. That's
what it says. We did not want to be associated
with this God. But despite what man has done,
Jesus Christ has done something for his people. So next, what
has he borne despite our rejection? He has carried or he has taken
our sickness, pain and sorrow. All we could do is esteem him
defeated of God. Even though it was our sickness,
pain, and sorrows he bore. He was driven and afflicted to
the point of having the father turn his back on him. We all at one point in time either
thought it useless to do anything because of this God stuff, this
Jesus stuff. We thought it absurd. Some of
us may have done that. Or we thought he was defeated
and we had thoughts like this. He has done all he can do and
now it's up to me how to get to God. But it was our transgressions,
sin against God, the transgression of his holy law, You know what we say, and rightfully
so, salvation is not due, salvation is done. We can equally say transgression
is not due, transgression is already done. We certainly in
this flesh continue to break God's law and sin against Him,
but our transgression already happened at the beginning of
time. sin entered into the world, it entered to the extent that
every one born of Adam has transgressed or sinned. Scripture says, Romans
5, 12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and
death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have
sinned. What came along with that is
death, spiritual death, sending us far, far from God. We buried
ourselves in a grave pit, and only He can get us out, and only
if He's pleased to do so. If He isn't, we have no hope. And that's what we're reading
about right here in Isaiah 53, how God in the face of Jesus
Christ dug us out of our pit, which we digged, This Jesus Christ
did by his faith, so next, his faith, verses seven through 10.
He was oppressed and was afflicted, yet he openeth not his mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before
her shearers is done, so he openeth 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. 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 sin
and shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hands. We read of the faith of Jesus
Christ right here. All of our iniquity being laid
on him, him being oppressed, and he was exacted what I should
have been exacted. He was afflicted. He was bowed
down under the guilt and shame that he took for us. He did all
this without opening his mouth. He never complained about it.
He never complained about having to die for his people's sins,
even though he was absolutely perfect. He had the shame of
our sin, which he made his own. Turn over with me to Psalm 22,
and we'll see this. Psalm 22, just gonna read the
first few verses. Well, first 16 verses, Psalm
22. Psalm 22. My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not, and in the night season am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel. He's praising God the whole time. Our fathers trusted in thee,
they trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and
were delivered. They trusted in thee and were
not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man,
a reproach of men, and despise of the people. All they that
see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver
him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
delighted in him. But thou art he that took me
out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when
I was upon my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from
me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls
have come past me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset
me around. They gaped upon me with their
mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a pot shirt, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. And thou hast brought
me into the dust of death, for dogs have come past me. The assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet. He was made a curse and sin for
his people. He did all this without opening
his mouth. It's just amazing. He never complained
about having to do this. He never objected to doing what
he did. John 12, 27, we read, this is
Christ speaking. Now as my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
But for this cause came I unto this hour. He is Lord of all,
yet he said nothing when he was being sped upon or beaten on. And he had to be in agony with
what they were doing to him and what my sin did to him. But he
never said, stop this. Had he done that, the father
would have stopped it. But this was ordained of God
to happen, and even though it was ordained, men and women did
exactly as they wanted to do. I did not have to be there to
reject God. My sin rejected God for which
he died for. But he was made a curse and sin
for us in our stead. His love for us and the covenant
made with the Father was sure to come to pass, and it did. It was like Abraham taking Isaac. You know, he told them they were
going to go up to the mountain and they were both going to return.
But he knew what was going to happen here. But both would return
from making the sacrifice. Because that sacrifice made was
acceptable and it's satisfied. So next, satisfaction. The word satisfied there means
to feel to satisfaction. You know what his sacrifice was
and is? It is enough. enough to satisfy
a holy and just God. Because He did this, those for
whom He did this for, satisfy God in Jesus Christ. Because
He was impinged their iniquities. First Peter 2, 23 and 24, we
read, who when He was reviled, reviled not again. When He suffered,
He threatened not, but committed Himself to him that judgeth righteously. who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Our sickness is healed. Our iniquities
are forgiven. What he did on that tree was
the only way that God could be just. a God that punishes sin. He does not just sweep it under
the rug. It has been dealt with in His
Son for His people. But in doing this, He could and
did justify many. He made many right before God
so that they could stand before Him in righteousness. Having
been given, having been wrapped in that robe of righteousness,
our sins are covered and we are made right in God's eyes. What
is the conclusion to all of this? Jesus Christ is God. God is just
and sin must be punished. God was made a curse and sin
for us in our stead. In doing this, he made us right
before God. He justified us. Romans 3, 24
through 26, we read, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare
His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through
the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time,
His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. If you are one of his, he saved
you. That's the conclusion. Salvation
is accomplished. Now the question is, do you believe
it? Do I believe it? And maybe there
are some that don't believe it now. Maybe they never will. And
if not, they will never see God. But maybe you don't now. But
if you are one of his, he will come to you in time, sending
you his gospel. that gospel which speaks of the
faith of Jesus Christ. Having been given faith by God
the Holy Spirit, you will believe him. When this happen, salvation
is manifested to you. When it is, you won't say he's
done all he can do and now it's up to you. But rather you will
say, he has done it all, I have nothing to bring him. or that
I can do to reconcile myself to him. I must rest in him, trust
him for what he's done. Salvation is not due, salvation
is done. Jesus Christ has healed those
that are his by his death on that tree. Rejected of men, accepted
of God. That is salvation accomplished,
so be it. Amen. Holy, sovereign Father in heaven
above, dear Lord, we thank you that you loved the son as you
did, and you gave him a people for his name, dear Lord. We thank
you for that, dear Lord, that you would even think about us,
dear Lord. Thank you, dear Lord. Cause us,
help us to magnify His name, dear Lord. Help us put down this
flesh when we try to glorify ourselves, dear Lord. Forgive
us of our sins. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.