Now let's open our Bibles to
Isaiah chapter 53. I've been preaching through this in
the past few Sundays and I'm going to continue that next Sunday
and the Sunday following concerning the suffering of our Savior.
This is a prophecy of Christ, Isaiah 53. And then last week
when I came to the end of the message, We've gotten to verse
six, and I wanted to say more about this verse. Isaiah 53,
verse six, which says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him, on Christ, the iniquity
of us all. What a verse. Wish we could say
that about a lot of verses in the scripture, couldn't we? There
is a summation here of what I call the way made by our Savior's
suffering. The way made by our Savior's
suffering. Of course, what we're talking
about is the way of salvation. The way to God. And it's the
way of the Savior's suffering. Suffering unto death. as the
surety, the substitute, the redeemer of his people. There's a song
that I used to sing, and I was gonna put it on our list today
to sing, but it's not in our book. It's called The Way of
the Cross Leads Home. And it says, I must need to go
home by the way of the cross. There's no other way but this.
I shall ne'er get sight of the gates of light if the way of
the cross I miss. I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled
way, the path that the Savior trod, and if I ever climb to
the height sublime where the soul is at home with God. And then it says, then I'll bid
farewell to the way of the world, to walk in it nevermore. For
the Lord says come and I seek my home where he waits at the
open door, the way of the cross. It has been said that the Bible
is a book of unity. I beg to differ. The Bible is
the greatest book of division ever written. Now there is a unity that exists
by the grace of God amongst the people of God, amongst the family
of God. But the Bible continually, and
if you'll look at that Psalm 1 that Brother Mark read, this
is why I had him read that. You'll see that the Bible looks
at the whole human race in two divisions, one and one,
in opposition to another. Here it speaks of the godly. Who are the godly? Well, they're
sinners saved by the grace of God. They're sinners whom God
has brought to walk the way that the Savior walked in his suffering
for the salvation of his people. And so it says in verse one,
blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Who are the ungodly? They're
unbelievers. In other words, when it comes
to salvation, when it comes to righteousness, when it comes
to being right with God, We don't listen to them. That's what he's
saying, we don't listen to them. Their counsel is useless to us
when it comes to that. Now they may be good accountants,
they may be good carpenters, they may be good doctors, and
we'll listen to them on that issue. But when it comes to salvation,
we don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Because they're
not gonna tell us the right way. Nor standeth in the way of sinners.
We don't stand with them, that's what that means. Now we're all
sinners, but there are only two types of people. Here's this
great division. There are sinners lost in their sins, and there
are sinners saved by grace. And what he's talking about here,
the way of sinners, is unbelievers. Nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. That is, those who scorn, they
scorn what we believe. They count it useless, even evil. They called Christ himself a
blasphemer. They called him an ungodly man.
But the way of the godly, the way, the seed of the believers,
it says his delight is in the law of the Lord. How in the world
can I delight in the law of the Lord? The law of the Lord requires
perfection. And I don't have that in myself.
Everything I do falls short of that. How in the world can I have delight
in the law of God? There's only one way. And that's
looking to Christ who is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. Christ is my law keeper. Christ is my righteousness. And
in the law does he meditate day and night. If you'd meditate
on the law day and night, knowing your sinfulness without Christ,
you'd be in sorrow day and night, if you're truthful. The other
ones who are not are those who are self-righteous, who think
they measure up because of what they do or what they've done,
like the Pharisees, but a sinner And it says in verse three, he
shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Talking about in the
way of salvation. The ungodly are not so. Here's
your two David, the godly and the ungodly. They're not so.
They're like the chaff, the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment. What is the standard of judgment?
Christ. God hath appointed a day in the
which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained and that he hath given assurance unto
all men and that he hath raised him from the dead, Acts 17 31.
So those who are found before God at judgment without Christ
Not washed in his blood, not clothed in his righteousness.
They'll not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation
of the righteous. Who is the congregation of the
righteous? Sinners saved by the grace of God. Washed in his blood,
clothed in his righteousness. We sang about it. His righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. And he says, for the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous. Now the way that is made by our
Savior's suffering is the way of the righteous. It's the way
of the cross. It's the way of the blood. It's
the way of God's grace, saving sinners who cannot save themselves,
making them righteous, rather declaring them righteous by what
Christ has done and what he has accomplished in his death, burial,
and resurrection. God knows that way, and the word
know there means that God has an intimate love and relationship
with the way of the righteous. But the way of the ungodly shall
perish. Look back at Isaiah 53 6. He starts off with the essence,
what I call the essence of sin and depravity. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. Now, another division or another
way that the Bible explains or describes the great division,
and it does it in many ways, as we saw in Psalm 1. Back in Genesis chapter four,
you can use it this way. There's the way of Abel and there's
the way of Cain. What was the way of Abel? The way of the lamb,
the way of the blood, that pictured Christ. What was the way of Cain?
That was the way of work salvation, the way of salvation conditioned
on sinners. But another way that the Lord
described it is the sheep and the goats. Did you know in this
world there's only two kinds of animals? There's sheep and
then there are goats. One old preacher said, sheep
follow. Goat's butt. Who are the goats? Well, Christ
said it in Matthew 25, they are those who die in their sins.
Who die in unbelief. Who never come to a saving knowledge
of Christ. There are those, for example,
as he describes in Matthew 7, who are on the broad road that
lead to destruction and many there being. How many? I don't
know. I'm not in the numbers game. Never have been. Well, when I was lost, I was. But since I've been preaching
the gospel, I haven't been. That's the goats. And who are
the sheep? Well, they are those who God
has brought on the way that was made by our Savior's suffering. It's the narrow way. Remember
he said that in Matthew 7. Straight and narrow is the way.
Few there be that find it. How few? I don't know. More than
I can see. So there's sheep and there are
goats. So who's he talking about here? Oh, we like sheep have
gone astray. Well, he's talking about his sheep. How do you know he's talking
about the elect of God? Now, we can say that all people
by nature have gone astray and have turned
everyone to his own way. But he's talking specifically
about his sheep, and how do I know that? Because he says in the
next line, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all. So whoever they all are, God's
laid their iniquity on him. What does that mean? God has
imputed their sins to Christ. We'll hold on to that thought.
But here's what I want to make the point to start off with.
As far as sheep go, You know right now on this earth, as we
exist on this earth, there are two kinds of sheep. There are
lost sheep, who haven't found the way yet, and by the way,
won't find it until God finds them. And then there are found
sheep. They've found the way. But think about this, all we
like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his
own way. Do you know that's the essence of sin and depravity
right there? And I wanna make this point real
clear because if you don't understand this, there's no way you can
understand the Bible in any part of it. You know, there is a lot,
there always has been, And there always will be until the Lord
comes back. There's always been a lot of
human immorality in this world. You know that, don't you? You
know that. There's been a lot. Perversion. It's always been. You say, well, it's worse today
than it was. How do you know? You weren't living back then.
It's always been bad. Do you know what? There's always
been a whole lot of false religion too. And if you want to understand
the essence of sin and depravity, don't think like this, all we
like sheep have got drunk and laid in the street. That's not
what he said. Now is it a sin to be drunk and
lay in the street? Of course it is. Is that a damnable
sin? Yes. All sin is damnable, isn't
it? It doesn't say all we like sheep
have taken drugs and sold drugs or murdered people. No, it doesn't
say that. It says all we like sheep have
done what? Gone astray. And how do you go
astray? He says it right here. We've
turned everyone to his own way. Now how did we get like that?
Well, we fell in Adam into sin and death, the scripture says,
ruined by the fall. And then we're born dead in trespasses
and sins. Psalm 58, three says, the wicked
are estranged from the womb and go astray as soon as we're born. And it also says there, and we
naturally speak lies when it comes to the reality of God and
our sins and salvation. Like sheep, we've gone astray.
We've gone another way other than the one right way. And that
speaks of not only our ignorance, but our rebellion. We don't know
the right way. Why do you suppose false preachers
preach a false gospel? Because they don't know the right
one. I had an old gentleman up in
Ashland who had a quaint way of putting things. And a lady
asked him, said, how do you know you're saved? He said, I'll tell
you how I know I'm saved. Or she said, how do you know
you're not lost? And he said, I'll tell you how I know I'm
not lost. I know the way. If you take a trip today and
you've got a destination, if you know the way, you're not
lost, even though your wife may tell you are. But you're not
lost if you know the way. Won't you pull over and ask directions?
Well, you better find somebody who knows the way if you're going
to do that. Like sheep, we've gone astray. Now, I wouldn't
do anything to insult you all or myself. There's a lot of smart
people here today. We've got a lot of smart people
in our church. But when it comes to salvation and the way to God
and the right way to get to God by nature, we all are as dumb
as lost sheep. You know, he says all we like
sheep are gonna stray. He didn't say all we like the
oxen or the ass have gone astray. And the reason I say that, back
over in Isaiah chapter one in verse three, he talks about even
the ass knows his master. Did you know something about
a sheep? A lost sheep does not know its master. A lost sheep
cannot find its way back home. It can't. It's totally helpless. And that's
what we are by nature, lost sheep. If we're one of God's people
now, if we're one upon whom God laid our iniquity on Christ,
by nature we're sheep, but we're lost sheep. And that's why the Lord is called
our shepherd. You know, he spoke through the
prophets to Israel. He said, my people are like sheep
without a shepherd. Nothing worse than that, folks. And people go their own way. I went my own way, the way of
false religion. If you want to understand sin
and depravity, as I mentioned this in the Sunday school lesson,
if you want to understand sin and depravity, don't start with
the lowest dregs of society, describe it. Now that, this,
and understand now, that is sin and depravity. But start with
the best of the best and work your way down. Because man at
his best state is altogether vanity, the scripture tells us.
You take the one who's doing his or her dead level best to
try to work their way into God's favor. That's sin and depravity. Did you know that? You say, well,
I don't believe that. That's okay, you just don't believe
this. That's what God's book says.
And that's why the Lord is called our shepherd. He's the Good Shepherd,
John 10, 11. The Good Shepherd gives his life.
Who did he die for? For the sheep. He's called the
Great Shepherd. He died, was buried, and arose
again the third day to establish the only righteousness whereby
God could be just to justify the ungodly. He's called the
Chief Shepherd. Peter wrote about this in 1 Peter
5, 4. When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away. That means he'll keep
us. And it's only when he finds us
and calls us and brings us back to the fold that we know him. For you were as sheep going astray,
Peter wrote, but are now returned to the shepherd and bishop of
your souls. You know what a bishop is, don't
you? That's an overseer, that's a superintendent. He saves us
and he keeps us. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want, I shall not lack. Everything that God requires
for my salvation, I find in my shepherd, I shall not lack. He
makes me to lie down in green pastures, the green pastures
of God's love and grace and mercy, the green pastures of his word.
He leadeth me beside the still waters, peace, He restoreth my
soul. You know the Psalm. Without our shepherd dying for
our sins, seeking and finding us and bringing us to himself,
we would never find our way to him. I love this verse in Psalm 80,
verse one. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel. Thou that leadest Joseph like
a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. That's
the mercy of God by the blood of Christ. He says here, we've
all turned to everyone to our own way. After the fall of man,
God drove man out of the Garden of Eden to bar the way because
of sin. And man cannot find his way back
to God, we're lost. But God revealed that he had
already established the only right way of salvation, and that
way was the way of his grace through the promised woman's
seed and by the blood of the Lamb. That's the only way of salvation.
That's the only way to God. Do you know that the gospel,
true Christianity, reveals that there's only one, one way and
no other? It's the way of God's free, sovereign
grace through the righteousness of Christ, which righteousness
required his suffering unto death to accomplish. The blood of the cross. Christ
is literally the only way to God. He said that in John 14,
6. He said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No
man cometh unto the Father but by me. Buddha won't do it. Mohammed won't do it. Brahmanatman
won't do it. Joseph Smith won't do it. Baptism
won't do it. Works won't do it. Only Christ. Acts 4.12, Peter, he preached,
neither is there salvation in any other for there's none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
First Timothy 2.5, there's one God and one mediator between
God and men, not two, not three. Mary's not a mediator. The saints
aren't mediators. There's one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. All else is idolatry. Have you ever studied isms? Most isms are bad, if not all.
Let me give you some isms to avoid today. Relativism, you
know what that is? That's when people say all truth
is relative. There's no absolutes, you see. In other words, what was necessarily
true for Isaiah and for the Apostle Paul is not really true for us
today. We've got a different truth.
That's heresy. Pluralism. That's another ism
to avoid. Pluralism is really related to
relativism. It really says, well, we all
differ, but we're all right. We're all okay. What's true for
you may not be true for me. You ever heard anybody say that?
That's pluralism. That's not Bible. That's not
gospel. That's heresy. Denominationalism. Somebody told me one time, said,
well, I believe there's saved people in every denomination.
And I asked him this. I said, well, what if the denomination
denies the doctrine of Christ? Now, there may be some lost sheep
in there, but they haven't been found yet. Because once they're
found, he's going to bring them out and put them on his way.
There are denominations that denied the true gospel. You realize
that, don't you? You say, well, you're just being
mean. Well, okay. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just trying to
tell you the truth. Denominationalism is not biblical. There is a unity
in the Bible, but it's a unity of faith in the people of God
who believe the way that Christ made by his blood, his righteousness
alone. And then another ism to avoid
is ecumenicalism. That means, well, we all go different
ways, but we're worshiping the same God, so let's just worship
together. No. No, that's heresy now. You know the book of Judges?
If you haven't studied the book of Judges, you might want to
go read it. But two times it says, here's the statement in
the book of Judges, and tell me if this doesn't mark our day.
It says, in those days there was no king in Israel. Every
man did that which was right in his own eyes. Sounds like
today, doesn't it? You see, if the Lord is king
in your heart, you won't do that which is right in your own eyes,
you'll do that which is right in His Word. All other ways are evil, idolatry,
and deadly. And this one way is a narrow
way. Few be there that find it. It
takes a sovereign work of God for us to find this way of life.
We cannot find it on our own. Why? Because all we like sheep
have gone astray. Proverbs 14, 12 and Proverbs
16, 25. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Romans 3 tells us that we've
all gone out of the way, his way. But look here in Isaiah
53, 6, it says, think about it, what is the right way? What is
the one way? Well, here it is, summarized
in this phrase, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. There's the right way. It's the only way to God, and
it's the way of righteousness. That's what it is, the way of
right. Yes, it's the way of his suffering
unto death. It's the way of the cross. Let's
summarize it in this one phrase. It's the way of righteousness.
Listen to the Psalm, Psalm 5a. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness,
because of mine enemies. Make thy way straight before
my face. Proverbs 12, 28. In the way of
righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is
no death. Proverbs 16, 31. Listen to this
one. The hoary head is a crown of
glory. You know what the hoary head is? I see a lot of hoary
heads here today. That's gray hair. But listen to this. The hoary
head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. How is righteousness accomplished
and established for God's people, for his sheep? Here it is, the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Based on the imputation, the
actual charging, the accounting of our sin debt to Christ, and
we're gonna read about this in the last part of Isaiah 53, in
the next messages. Based upon the accounting, the
reckoning of our sin debt to Christ, he, for his sheep, justly
went under the full wrath of God for that iniquity that was
laid on him. Number one, because our sins
were laid on him, that is imputed to him, God will not lay them
or impute them to us. Aren't you glad? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? You could read it this
way. Who shall lay anything to the charge of Christ's sheep?
It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died, yea rather, is risen again, seated at the right hand
of God, ever living to make intercession for us. Secondly, because our
sins were laid on Christ, imputed to him, God imputes his righteousness
to us, to his sheep. Look at Isaiah 53, 11. Listen
to this. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, that's the suffering he went through to save his people,
and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. What is it to be justified? It's
to be forgiven of all my sins on a just ground. And what is
that just ground? The blood of the shepherd, the
blood of the lamb. What is it to be justified? It's
to be declared righteous in the sight of God by his grace through
Christ, righteousness imputed. And it says, for he shall bear
their iniquities. Thirdly, because our sins were
imputed to Christ, laid on Christ, He suffered unto death to work
out this righteousness by which God justifies us. That's the
way of the cross. That's what it took for Him to
accomplish righteousness. You know, when Christ set out
on His public ministry, remember He came to John the Baptist?
And he said, John baptized me. And John said, I have need to
be baptized of you. And Christ said, suffer it to
be so for us to fulfill all righteousness. And in his baptism, he pictured
how he would fulfill righteousness in his death, his burial, his
resurrection. That's how he would do it. He
would suffer unto death, he would be buried, and he would be raised
again the third day. That's how he started his public
ministry. Suffer it to be so for us to
fulfill all righteousness. Now how did he end it? John 19.30,
he said, it's finished. Now what was finished? Romans
10.4, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believe it. Fourthly, because our sins were
laid on Christ, he delivers us from our own evil ways ways of death and damnation,
and he delivers us to his own glorious way, the way of life
and eternal glory in him. That's what he does. Psalm 119
in verse nine asks this question and answers it. Wherewith shall
a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed therefore according
to thy word, to God's word. And what does God's word tell
us is the only right way? Well, it's the gospel way, the
way of salvation, the way of righteousness, the way of God's
grace in Christ, and there is no other way. There is no other way. You know,
we had a lady come here and visit from another church, and she
said the reason she left that church is because they believe
in what they call progressive Christianity. I don't know if
you've ever heard that term or not. I'd heard it, but I asked
her to tell me what she thought it meant, progressive Christianity. And here's what she told me.
She said, they now believe that there are many ways to God, not
just one way. Well, that's man's way and that's
a way of death. There's only one way to God,
folks. And that's the way of the blood, the way of the cross,
the way of righteousness, the way of Christ, the way of God's
grace. All right.