Okay, we're gonna be looking
at Isaiah 53. This is the second message in
this chapter, the book of Isaiah chapter 53. The title of the
message, and this is part two, Christ, Our Victorious Substitute. We covered a little bit of verse
eight in the last message, but I'm gonna start there where it
speaks of talking about the suffering, substitutionary work of Christ. what he actually went through
in order to save us from our sins. And all of this based upon
the fact that he bore our griefs, he bore our sorrows, he was wounded
for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The punishment
that brings peace between God and sinners was upon him. And
that's the imputation of our sins to Him, and the imputation
of His righteousness to us, that we might be reconciled, brought
together with God Almighty. What a joy that is that we can
even say it. That sinners like us can be reconciled
and at peace, approach and be accepted by God Almighty who
hates sin, who hates those to whom sin is imputed, that's what
the scripture says, but we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous, and now he's talking about here in
verses seven and eight and nine, he's talking about what Christ
actually had to do to accomplish this for us. And let's read verse
seven, he was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth. I was talking to Brother Gary
Shepherd last week, he said he preached from this one time,
and the title of the message was The Silence of the Lamb.
I thought that was good. He opened not, the lamb opened
not his mouth. And what that's talking about,
as we said last week, he didn't defend himself. He willingly
went to the cross. He willingly accepted the plight
that He had to do in order to save us from our sins. He's brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is
dumbed, so He openeth not His mouth. What a Savior, hallelujah,
what a Savior, that He would do this for sinners like us,
for His enemies. It's what Romans chapter five
says, even when we were enemies, not deserving of it. And so it
says in verse 8, he was taken from prison and from judgment
and all of this, and who shall declare his generation? Who shall
declare his generation? Now there's some difficulty in
the translation of these words. As I put in your lesson, it seems
to indicate that even though no one in the generation of people
at that present time, in that historical present time when
he was crucified, spoke up for him. He had nobody defending
him. And no one considered that even
though he was cut off, look here in verse 8, it said he was cut
off out of the land of the living. What does that mean? It means
he died. to be cut off out of the land of the living is to
die. And he said, no one considered in that generation that he was
cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions
of my people was he stricken. It was not for his own sins that
he died. It wasn't for his own iniquities
that he was stricken. It was for the sins of his sheep. the good shepherd laying his
life down for his sheep. And so that's what they didn't
consider. Well, that's what we didn't consider either before
God opened our eyes and gave us an understanding of Christ.
Y'all have to forgive me for doing this, but it's just something
I have to put up with in my old age, I guess. I'm thinking about
going to a doctor about this. I have to add another doctor
to my list of doctors, but anyway. But anyway, back to the important
thing here. Look at verse nine. He made his
grave with the wicked. When he died, he died the death
of the wicked, though he himself was not wicked. Think about that. He was never wicked. He suffered
for our sins that were imputed to him. And look at verse 96,
and with the rich in his death, now with the rich in his death,
I believe that's a direct reference to what is spoken over in Matthew
27, that he was laying in the borrowed tomb of a rich man,
Joseph of Arimathea. But I also think there's a spiritual
application to that. His death in place of the wicked
brought forth the riches of God's grace and glory to his people.
So even though he died like someone who had nothing, out of his death
we have everything. He that spared not his own son,
how shall he not with him freely give us all things? And what
are the all things there? It's all the benefits, all the
blessings of salvation that we have in him. And it says that
he made his grave with the rich in his death. Because he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Now,
understand what the Bible teaches about the mouth, what we speak
and what we say. And Christ said this, he said,
out of the heart, the mouth speaketh. And what he's talking, you know,
don't take that and make too much of it as far as, well, everything
we say, because sometimes we say things in anger that we don't
mean. We'd like to take it back, but
we get angry when we spout things and say things. And if we're
a believer, that's not the state of our hearts. The state of our
hearts is believers in Christ. So when he talks about out of
the mouth come the issues of the heart, he's talking about
salvation. What we know and believe about salvation. What we know
and believe about Christ. and who he is. Well, there was
no deceit in his mouth. That means there was no deception
in his heart, in his mind, in his affections, in his will.
It just wasn't there. There was no sin in him. And when our sins were transferred
to him, they were not put in him, as people say. It did not
corrupt him. He never had a sinful thought.
Think about that. On that cross where his enemies
were crucifying him and spitting upon him and deriding him, he
didn't have one thought of anger or sin. He was pure and perfect,
the perfect spotless lamb of God. Yet he suffered justly under
the wrath of God for our sins charged to him. That's an amazing
thing. And then when you add this, it's
even more amazing. He did it willingly. He did not,
he was not an unwilling participant. I think I brought that up to
you last week if I'm not mistaken, or I may have done it when I
was recording television. Sometimes I get those mixed up. But I wrote an article and put
on the internet about imputation. And I said, if you don't understand
the doctrine of imputation, just think about what our president
did last week. He decided to do away with all
student debt. All student debt, all those who
went to college and borrowed money from the government. He
said, do away with the debt. And somebody wrote on the internet,
they said, he said, the debt's not done away with, somebody's
gonna pay it. Well, you all know who's gonna
pay the debt. We are, the American taxpayer. So what's happened? Well, that debt was imputed,
was not imputed to the one who run up the debt, the student,
and it's imputed to us. Now the problem is, is that we're
not willing participants, most of us are, I'm not, we're not
willing participants in that debt exchange. Well, our debt was imputed to
Christ, but he was a willing participant. He's like Paul said
to Philemon about Onesimus. He said, if he owes you anything,
or if he's wronged you, put it on my account, I'll repay it. And that's what Christ did. He
was made sin. He didn't become a sinner. Well,
now these last three verses, verses 10, 11, and 12, they are
expressly showing the success of his work. Christ did not fail. Mark it down. He did not fail
to save any one of his sheep who were given to him before
the foundation of the world by the Father, whose salvation was
conditioned on him, for whom he became surety, all our sins
imputed to him, who shall anything to the charge of God's elect,
God that justified. And so he agreed to do what was
necessary. What was necessary, he had to
become our substitute. It means he had to be made flesh
without sin. He had to keep the law perfectly.
He had to go to the cross and die, suffer, bleed, and die.
And in that, he paid the price of our redemption. He's our redeemer. He was buried and rose again
the third day. He's now seated at the right
hand of the Father. So look at verse 10. The first
thing that is said here that is an astounding truth is that
all that Christ went through to save us from our sins, it
was ultimately the work of the Father. Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise or to crush him. Pleased him? What does that mean? You mean the father took pleasure
in doing this? And the answer is yes. But it's
not pleasure in the sense of some sadistic love of pain and
seeing other people, seeing his son suffer. The pleasure is God's
satisfaction of his justice that was accomplished through Christ.
It's a legal pleasure, you could say it that way. In the death
of Christ, Think about it. God's justice was satisfied. That's what it's talking about
when it says it pleased the Lord. The father spoke from heaven
at the son's baptism. This is my beloved son, hear
ye him, in whom I'm well pleased. God was pleased because God was
satisfied. You see, that's the problem with
salvation by works, the works of men. It can never satisfy
God. He can never take pleasure in
what we offer him if we're trying to work our way unto salvation
and righteousness. But in Christ, we see every attribute
of God honored, fully honored, working together, a just God
and a savior. The mercy of God, as well as
the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, all working
consistently together in the salvation of sinners. God reveals
himself. It says he hath put him to grief.
The Father put him to grief. It was to the Father that Christ
offered himself. It wasn't to man. He didn't offer
himself to man. He offered himself for men, God's
elect. It wasn't to Satan. You know,
there's some preachers who claim that he offered himself to Satan. You remember this movie that
came out based upon those books by C.S. Lewis, who wasn't a believer. What was it called? Tell me,
Debbie. You know about the line, the
robe, and all that stuff. My mind's gone blank on the title,
anyway. Narnia, The Chronicles of Narnia.
Thank you, Frank. You know, in that movie, at the
end of it, the lion, which is supposed to be Christ, goes into
the tent of Satan and dies. Well, Christ didn't offer himself
to Satan. In fact, I believe Satan did
everything he could to stop him. You remember when Peter tried
to stop the Lord from going into Jerusalem, and Christ said, get
thee behind me, Satan? He came into the world to die
for our sins. He offered himself to the Father.
He hath put him to grief. Look at verse 10 again. When
thou shalt make his so an offering for sin. God made him an offering
for sin. He was made sin, not that he
was made a sinner, but he was made a sin offering. He's always
been a sin offering. And to offer himself on the altar
of his deity, to satisfy God's justice. Look here, he shall
see his seed. Now what is his seed? That's
his children. That's his generation. Look over
at Hebrews chapter two with me. And I love this. You know, he
talks about in verse nine that he tasted death
for every, and it says every man, Now that doesn't mean that
Christ tasted death. This is Hebrews 2 and verse 9.
It doesn't mean that Christ tasted death for every individual without
exception. In fact, if you go to the earliest
manuscripts, the word man is not even there. It was added
by the translators. Usually, if you have a King James
Version, those kinds of words are put in italics, but this
one isn't. It probably would be better translated every son
because the context tells us who he's talking about. Who is
the every man? Who is the every son? Well, look
at verse 10. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons
unto glory. These are the adopted children
of God, elect of God, adopted. to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings. Now, we won't turn back here,
but there's a significance to that. How was Christ made perfect
through sufferings? It's not talking about his person
made perfect. He was always perfect in his
person. It's talking about finishing
the work. He perfected forever them that are sanctified. And
so made perfect in the sense that he finished the work 100%.
He aced the test, you might say it that way. And he says in verse
11, for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are
all of one, for which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren,
saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren, that's his
people, that's God's elect. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee, and again I will put my trust in
him. And again, behold, I and the children which God hath given
me. That's the seed of Christ. That's
his generation. That's what came from him. First
John 3, 9 talks about his seed remaineth in him. That's his
children. They won't leave him. They cling
to him by the grace of God and believe in him and rest in him.
Go back to Isaiah 53 now. Verse 10, he shall see his sea. He said he shall prolong his
days. That's eternal life. I know eternal
life is more than just the length of it. It's the quality of it,
too, because it's eternal fellowship with God through Christ. But
there is the length that he shall prolong his days. He died, but
he didn't stay dead, did he? He arose from the dead. And the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Now, what that means
is this. It means that whatever God intended
in all of this will be successful in Christ. Everything that God
purposed, everything that God promised is fully fulfilled and
accomplished in Christ, in the hands of Christ. All the promises
of God in him are yea and in him amen. And then verse 11,
he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. That word travail is often used
of a woman in childbirth, going through the suffering, the pains
of childbirth, and the only way the woman can be satisfied completely
is to see a healthy, strong child as the result of it. And that's
the picture you have here. Everything that Christ suffered,
like a woman in childbirth, and suffering even harder than that,
he's going to be satisfied. He's not gonna lose one of his
people. They are all going to be saved,
kept, and glorified. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, he said. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but raise it up against the last day. How could we perish? The
sin that demanded our death is now put away. It was imputed
to him and he satisfied justice, it's put away. And we have a
righteousness imputed to us that demands life and glory. God cannot
send a righteous person to eternal damnation because he's a just
God. And that's what we are in Christ.
If we're in Christ, we are righteous people. Not because of our behavior,
because sometimes we, well, we just display sinful behavior. We're still subject to the results
of sin physically. This body is dead because of
sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. So he's going
to see the travail of his soul. Look at verse 11, by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many. By his knowledge? The knowledge here speaks of
that which he came to know by his experience under the wrath
of his father. He was made perfect through sufferings. He completed the Word. You know, they say sometimes
you don't know anything until you experience it. Well, that's
what this is talking about. Christ knew this, his knowledge.
He knew his people. Remember, he told those false
preachers in Matthew 7, I never knew you. Well, he knows his
sheep. He said, I know my sheep. And they know me, and they won't
follow another one. They'll follow the shepherd.
He gave his life for the sheep. Our names were written on his
heart. Our names were written on his
shoulders. He knew us. But also, he knew
the experience of suffering unto death like nobody else has ever
suffered unto death. And he experienced that. And
by that knowledge, by his experience of going through that, we're
justified. That means our sins are forgiven
and we're declared righteous. When God the Father chose a people
to save, he did it on a just ground. And this is it right
here. The death that Christ would suffer
on behalf of his people, his elect, That's how God elected
us. When God justified us in his
eye and his mind, he did it on a just ground, upon the fact
and the assurance that Christ would come and suffer, bleed,
and die on our behalf. This is the ground of our justification. This is the ground of our salvation. How do you know? For he shall
bear their iniquities. He bore our iniquities. Our sins
were imputed to him. Well look at verse 12. Now here's
the results of it. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great. You know, sinful humanity in
crucifying Christ, we certainly by nature did not and do not
look upon him as being anything great. And you think about history,
how people study history. The great men of history. Well,
let me tell you something. There's none greater than this
man. This God man. God said, I'll divide him a portion
with the great. He's the greatest of all. There's
no one even to compare with him. And he shall divide the spoil
with the strong. Now, the spoil means all the
benefits and blessings of eternal life and glory. and he's gonna
divide them with the strong. Well, who's the strong here?
You say, well, am I strong? No, I'm weak. You're weak. But didn't Paul say, and I've
got this cited in your lesson, didn't the apostle Paul say,
when I'm weak, I'm strong? The strong here refers not to
his people in ourselves, because we're very weak. in ourselves. That's why we have to be saved
by grace, kept by grace, and glorified by grace. But the strong
here speaks of us as we stand in Christ, who is our strength. And he's going to divide the
spoil with the strong. That's his people in him. And
why? Where's all this spoil coming
from? All right, because he hath poured
out his soul unto death. Somebody said that Christ's death
on the cross, his suffering and death on the cross, was more
than just physical, it was a soul suffering. And I agree with that. I don't know how to explain it
or how to describe it, but it was. his untold suffering, he
poured out his soul, his life, I think that's what it means,
poured out his life unto death. And then it says in verse 12,
he was numbered with the transgressors. Now, numbered means accounted. How was he numbered with transgressors? By the imputation of our sins
to him. By his suffering unto death on
our behalf. And then it says, he bare the
sin of many. See how, this is the language
of imputation here. There's no other way to describe
it rightly. He bare the sin of many. How
many? However many the father gave
him before the world began. However many are justified by
his blood and righteousness. And then it says, he and made
intercession for the transgressors. He interceded for us. He interceded
for us on the cross when he died for our sins. And that right
now, think about this, as I stand here preaching, as you sit there
listening, as we pray our prayers, as we sing our hymns, as we hear
the message preached, as we go out through our lives, right
now Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living
to make intercession What does that mean to me? It
means there's no way that I can perish. How do I know that he's
interceding for me? Well, are you looking to him
and him alone for salvation? Are you living your life looking
unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith? Are you
looking to something else? to get you by, to finish this
thing up. No, Christ is our all, and he's
in all, and we thank God for him. Okay.