The message this morning is the
right to bear arms. If it's familiar, it is, because
two weeks ago I preached the first part on this message, and
this is the second part in a three-part message on the right to bear
arms. And under the second article
of the Bill of Rights of our Constitution, an American citizen
has the right to bear arms. This is in addition to the constitutional
right of the sovereign United States of America to have a military
power superior to all that we might be able to defend ourselves. History proves that the best
defense is a superior offense and the willingness to deploy
that military might when we need to do so. We must
stand ready to oppose those who would disarm our military and
the citizens with a notion that we can negotiate peace with our
enemy who seeks to destroy us. Failure to make use of the means
given us to defend ourselves would be a disastrous effect
upon us and all freedom-loving people. Well, as America has
the right to bear arms, so has the Lord. made bare His holy
arm. In Isaiah chapter 52 that we
looked at last week, a week before last, in verse 10, it talks about
this. The Lord hath made bare His holy
arm in the eyes of all nations, that is, Jew and Gentile, and
all the ends of the earth shall see His salvation. Every kindred,
tongue, tribe, and nation shall see the salvation of the Lord.
That doesn't mean everybody will see it, people out of every kindred,
tongue, tribe, and nation will see the Lord's salvation and
embrace it. Some will see it and won't embrace
it, but those who see it savingly will. As God has given us the
means to defend and protect our borders, so has he given us the
means to protect and provide for the church. His commandment
to his servants is this, put on the whole armor of God and
stand against the wiles of the devil. Failure to make use of
these means has its consequences also. We have much more here
worth defending than just national boundaries or territories. We
have the church to defend. So what are we defending? You know, Satan is a defeated
devil. His head has been bruised. God told Adam, in chapter 3 of
Genesis that Satan would bruise the heel of Christ but Christ
would bruise his head. So Satan is a defeated devil. He has suffered a death blow
by the work of Christ on the cross. This was Isaiah's message
and it is the message of every sinner made righteous by the
holy arm of God. Notice Isaiah's writing here
of something that would happen as though it had already In other
words, he's writing in the past tense. God could and did declare
sinners righteous. Those who see his salvation based
on that righteousness yet to be established on the cross and
revealed by his holy arm because it was sure and certain to be.
Our battle has always been not to save sinners. Christ has saved
his people. But our battle has always been
for the hearts and minds of those for whom Christ has established
and imputed that righteousness. You see, the problem today is
folks whom the Lord has imputed that righteousness to, some don't
even know it yet. And it takes the preaching of
the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal that to
them. And that's our mission in life today. They must be enlightened to that
righteousness which has already been established and imputed
to them. And ours it is who know of this
great redemption of Christ, to beseech sinners, be ye reconciled
to God, based on that finished work of Christ. So in this conflict,
we learned in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 4 and 5, that the weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the
pulling down of strongholds. casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. This warfare is not carnal. In
other words, it's not governed by human nature, but it's spiritual. It is not to maintain borders
or gain territories. That's not what we're fighting
about. This warfare is to liberate and illuminate the Church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. These are they of whom Christ
said in John 10, verse 15, 16, I lay down my life for the sheep,
them I must bring. This warfare is for the hearts
of God's elect. The Holy Spirit of God must do
heart surgery to accomplish this work. And his instrument to perform
this surgery is a two-edged sword, the living word, the gospel.
God is pleased, the scripture says, by the foolishness of preaching
to save them. that believe. First Corinthians
121. What do we mean when we say the
heart? We're talking about not only this physical organ that
pumps blood, but we're talking about the mind, the affections,
and the will of sinners. And this heart surgery is specific.
Paul calls it here the pulling down of strongholds. Let's look
at these for just a moment. First of all, the first stronghold
is the mind. Casting down imaginations. He
says as a man thinketh God says in his heart. So is he? And what
is the imagination by nature? Psalm 15 verse 21 says this These
things hast thou done and I kept silent there therefore thought
is that I was altogether such as one as thyself But I will
reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes In other
words, we imagine a vain thing when we think that a sinner can
be saved, we can be saved based on something other than the imputed
righteousness of Christ. That's vanity. That's an imagination
of the mind of a lost sinner. But God will set things in order
for those who see his salvation. Let this mind be in you, Paul
said to the Philippians. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. What was Christ's mind? What
was in his mind? Well, first and foremost, the
father's glory and secondly, the salvation of the church.
What was Christ's mind? The truth that sets men free
to be preached. And that that's that's what affects
the truth that sets men free. First affects the mind. Secondly,
the affections. Every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God, Paul writes here, God
has revealed, he's made bare, he's made known his arm and men
reject Christ's righteousness imputed for their own self-righteousness
until God who shines in the light out of darkness shines in their
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. In false religion, I never heard
of an imputed righteousness. I never knew what men were talking
about when they talked about an imputed righteousness. And
I love my own righteousness. I thought my works would recommend
me to God. I wouldn't tell you that, but that's what I was doing,
thinking that something I did made the difference in my salvation.
But God shined in my heart and caused me to see the righteousness
of Christ worked out as the only hope that I had for my salvation.
Until And unless the mind is lightened to the truth, the affections
will not change. Let me say that again. Until
and unless the mind is enlightened in the truth, the affections
will not change. Why? Because Jesus said it this
way. For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. So we have the mind, the affections,
and third, the will. The third stronghold that Satan
must be cast down is the will of man. Bringing into captivity,
Paul says, in every thought to the obedience of Christ. The
spiritual warfare is to capture every thought as to what Christ
has accomplished in his obedience. Satan would keep us ignorant
of Christ's finished work and keep us busy doing our own work. The will is bound either by ignorance
or by the truth, and based on which one we're in is how the
will operates. God's elect are made to see that
it's not their obedience, but the obedience of Christ, His
satisfaction, His righteousness, and willingly submit unto that
for all of our salvation. The will is always influenced. The will is always influenced
to follow the mind and the affections. These three things, the mind,
the affections, and the will are orderly, they're inseparable,
and they're indispensable. And we all have the mind, the
affection, and the will. So this is the warfare every
elect son and daughter of God is called to engage. The mind,
the affection, and the will of God's people. So last week in
the first of these three lessons, we looked in Isaiah 53. We saw
how God's holy arm was made bare in the incarnation of Christ
and in Then we're going to look at today the humiliation of Christ. And then in another lesson, we'll
look at the exaltation of Christ. But in our first study, we saw
how God made bare his holy arm in the incarnation of Christ.
And we looked at Isaiah chapter 53, verses one and three. And
here we discovered several things. First of all, how the eternal
son of God, the sovereign creator, Lord over all, equal with God
the Father and God the Holy Spirit, according to Philippians 2, made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men. What we have here is
very God, a very God, in every attribute of his deity,
united with true humanity, body and soul, without sin, for the
purpose sole purpose of redeeming his people and glorifying the
Father in the process. This one of a kind, once for
all time, only begotten Son of God incarnate accomplished three
things in his incarnation. We talked about these last week,
and I'll just review them briefly. First of all, in his incarnation,
he fulfilled the promise of God. Look at Isaiah 53 and verse 1.
He says, who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? What is our report? It's our
gospel, our promise. What is the promise of the scripture?
Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 18 says this. This is a promise
from God. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren
like unto thee Moses, and I will put my words in his mouth. I'll
put my gospel. in this prophet's mouth, and
he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." God
the Son incarnate fulfilled God's promise of that Savior. Secondly,
this incarnated Christ fits the person who is God. Verse 2, look
at Isaiah 53 verse 2, 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. Who is this person? Who is God? He shall grow up before him as
a tender plant. This speaks of his humanity.
Growing up is a natural human trait. God didn't grow up. God can't grow. He can't change.
He's the same yesterday and forever. So he's talking about Christ's
humanity here. And then he says, as a root out
of a dry ground, this speaks of Christ's deity. Because nothing
can grow in dry ground. Without moisture, nothing can
live. But with God, all things are
possible. And he talks about in Isaiah
a root out of the stem of Jesse that would come forth out of
David's lineage. This speaks of Christ's deity. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman. This is that root out of the
stem of Jesse. This fits this person who is
God. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 says
this for unto us a child is born is humanity but unto us a son
is given this is his deity so Christ fulfilled the promise
of God he fits the person who is God and thirdly he forbears
with the people of God look at verse 3 Isaiah 52 53. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hit as it
were our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed
him not. Though we esteemed him not. In
other words, we counted his blood as nothing. That's what it means
to esteem not. He certainly did esteem us, his
elect, because he's not willing that any of his elect should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. And this is what
he did. in his, when his holy arm was
revealed to his people. So in this, in this second lesson
today, we see how God may bear his holy arm in the humiliation
of Christ. This was in the, in the coronation
of Christ, but this morning we want to look at the humiliation
of Christ in verses four through nine. You know, Christ's humiliation
began with his incarnation. When the eternal Son of God took
into union with Deity, true sinless humanity, body and soul, He,
according to Philippians 2, verse 7, made Himself of no reputation,
and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. In another place in Hebrews,
He said He was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. This Christ, this God-man, went
from the highest he who being in the form of God, to the lowest. In other words, he made himself
of no reputation. That reputation means, no reputation
means he made empty. Christ did not lay aside the
form of God in which he was. He did not lay aside his divine
nature, nor deny his equality with the Father. His deity was
simply veiled for a time. It was hidden from view. He said
here in verse three, he had no form nor comeliness that we should
desire him. In other words, he didn't look
like the Son of God. Man's concept of the Son of God is one thing,
but he never fits the natural mind concept of who God is. He had no form nor comeliness.
He didn't look like the Son of God. He subordinated himself
to the Father in office only for the purpose of magnifying
and honoring every attribute of God's redemptive character
in the salvation of his people. So in his willingness to humble
himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross, God made bare his holy arm in that humiliation. And
we see three things here in that humiliation this morning. First
of all, his humiliation reveals the holiness of God. We'll see
how this is so. Secondly, the justice of God. and thirdly, the love of God.
So, in verses four through six, we'll look at the holiness of
God, first of all. Back in Isaiah 52.10, God defines
this arm as a holy arm. Before God is anything, He's
holy. God is love, but His love is
holy love. God is just, but His justice
is holy justice. What is holiness? It is infinite
perfection in every attribute of deity. There's no flaw with
our God. He is holy. He is infinitely
perfect in every attribute of his deity. And we'll see that
in just a moment. In the salvation of ungodly sinners,
every attribute of God's redemptive character is actively and harmoniously
engaged in that salvation. His love is not dispensed at
the expense of his justice. His faithfulness to save is not
at the expense of his threats to punish the wicked. God always
does what's right. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? He sure will. Why? Because he's holy. He always
does what's right. And his name is holy. Look at
what the psalmist says in chapter 99 and verse 3. Let them praise
thy great and terrible name, for it is holy. You remember
what the seraphim said in the temple in Isaiah chapter 6, holy,
holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. His name is holy. So I don't
guess anybody here or anybody hearing my voice would deny that
God is holy. The scriptures are full of testimony
to this fact, but where is God's holiness? seen in its greatest
demonstration. Is it not in the cross of Christ?
Is it not at the cross? The holiness of God demands the
severest of punishment, which is eternal death, to the most
moral of persons where the least sin is found. This is proven
out by Adam. By his one sin brought the sentence
of eternal death upon all his posterity. Roman 512 talks about
this. As the representative of the
whole human race, his sin was made my sin by amputation. And his guilt became my guilt
by amputation. God's holiness demanded that
it be such. To refuse this representation
is to deny the holiness of God. Never before or after has God's
holiness been manifested more than in the punishment poured
out on his son when sin was charged to him. And this charge is vital,
for had not Christ been charged with sin, God would have been
unholy to punish him. But we know that God acted in
holiness because this man, Jesus Christ, was holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners. And yet God killed him. had him
crucified. By contrast, the vilest of sinners,
in whom the charge of sin has been satisfied, cannot die the
spiritual death. He must live. God's holiness
demands this also. God can no more punish the righteous
than He can fail to destroy the ungodly in eternal death. 1 Corinthians
15, 22 says, As far as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all
be made alive. all those who die in Adam and
are not made alive in Christ shall perish. This is the judgment
of God. Look at verse four. We'll show
you how this is so. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. He was killed because he claimed
to be the Son of God. by men. Men took, by wicked hands,
took him and slew him. We know that he died as a substitute
and representative of his people. But men accused him of claiming
to be the son of God. And he said, because of this,
and we know you're not the son of God, you deserve to be put
to death. And we said the same thing, basically.
In the parable in Luke 19, 14, they said, we'll not have this
man to rule over us. And every one of us, by nature,
have refused God's salvation. We were denying the holiness
of God when we did that, when we said, I'll not have this man
to rule over me. We were, as Hebrews 29 declares,
counting the blood of the covenant whereby he was sanctified as
an unholy thing. Though we were guilty of this
wickedness, look at what happens in verse six. Read verse six.
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. Why? Because God is just to justify
the ungodly, and the incarnate Son of God is the only one who
could bear the sins of those he would save. He alone could
do for them what they couldn't do for themselves. He alone could
satisfy all the claims the law had against him, against us,
and all of those that the Father chose in him. He alone was set
up in eternity to be the surety of a people loved of God. In
order for a holy God to have a holy people, and he calls his
church a royal priesthood, a holy nation. In order for a holy God
to have a holy people, he must have a holy sacrifice. Every
charge against us listed here in this chapter, Isaiah, was
satisfied by this incarnate Christ in his humiliation. A holy God
could accept nothing less. So the humiliation of Christ
revealed, first of all, the holiness of God. Secondly, it reveals
the justice of God. In verses 7 and 8, we'll see
this. How can God be just or holy and justify the ungodly? And both he must do, because
he has obligated himself to this end, and his holiness will be
satisfied with nothing less. In fact, His holiness demands
the salvation of all He set His love upon. So let's look at the
answer in verses 7 and 8. Look at verse 7. The scripture
says, He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened
not His mouth. This is speaking of Christ. He is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is
done, so He opened not His mouth. Two things are necessary if a
sinner would stand holy before the Lord. And God commands us
to be ye holy, for I am holy, saith the Lord. First of all,
we must be justified from the guilt and condemning power of
sin. We must stand justified. Secondly, we must be made and
stand righteous in the sight of a holy God. So how is the
sinner justified? Our justification from guilt
and condemnation is by the lamb brought to the slaughter that
he speaks of here in verse seven. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. Why is this? Because without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. By the
death of this Lamb of God, satisfaction was made to God's law and justice
for every sinner Christ represented. God the Father charged God the
Son with the sins of his sheep, and he bore his sins in his body
on that tree. He became a curse. for those
of us who were cursed. He exacted from God what we deserved,
and we received from God what we didn't deserve. We received
release from the demands of the law against us. The death of
the lamb slaughtered removed the guilt and condemning power
of sin from every elect son of God. So our justification is
by the lamb brought to the slaughter. Our sanctification from the filth
and defilement of sin is by the sheep done before her shearers. Satisfaction to the law of God
is necessary for salvation, but that's not the whole of it. Unless
we have a righteousness to stand before a holy God, we cannot
fellowship with God or his people. In the humiliation of the Son
of God incarnate, we have him who satisfied the law and established
the only righteousness by which we should be clothed. A lamb
was brought to the slaughter, and his blood bought our redemption. A sheep was brought to the shearer,
and her wool made a perfect garment sufficient to our nakedness.
The lamb and the sheep are one, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
for sin the double cure. He saves from wrath, and he makes
us pure. Both are required to stand before
Holy God. But who is the her? Notice he
said, the lamb before, she before her shearer. Shearer is done. Well, she is the church. Christ
is the head. She is the body, but both one.
We are one in him. His death wrought a righteousness
to satisfy Holy God's wrath against the church and clothe her in
holiness and righteousness. This righteousness residing in
heaven in the person of Christ can be found on earth only in
the church of the redeemed. You will find it in no other
religion today. The righteousness we plead, the
righteousness we look to is in no other religion, no other denomination
today. And Isaiah addressed this in
an earlier part in chapter 1 and verse 18. Look at this verse.
He says, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. What he's talking
about here is the sins of God's people are red with the blood
of Christ. be to God for the justice of
God they have been made like wool. John 1 17 says this the
blood first John 1 17 the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses
us from all sin those who reason together with the Lord and what
is it to reason with the Lord God says come let us reason that's
not two people God and somebody standing arguing with each other
trying to prove their own point. When we reason with God, we agree
with what God's word says. That's how we reason with God. And we're clothed with that perfect
righteous garment made by God. You know, wool is nature's most
perfect fabric. It's cool in the summer, and
it's warm in the winter. It is the perfect garment to
wear. Well, the robe of Christ's righteousness is the choice garment.
for all of us who know God as a just God and a savior. It's
the choice for all seasons. It is much better than the fanciest
or the finest of man's fig leaves garments that we could put on.
So our justice is shown in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ
and that righteousness he established for those of his people. And
the scripture says, he opened not his mouth, Why? Why is a sheep dumb before his
sheriff? Why is he dumb before the slaughter?
I think it's this reason. It's because the sheep sole purpose
in life is to supply food for the hungry and clothes for the
naked. He doesn't have any other purpose in life. That was Christ's
mission, to supply food and clothing for the hungry. That's the mission
of the church. Those who eat lamb chops and wear wool clothing
shall not go hungry or naked. Those who eat the body of Christ
and are clothed in his righteousness stand unchargeable and unchangeable
before God. Christ opened not his mouth to
complain in his suffering, because he said, For this cause came
I into the world, to establish that righteousness. He freely
gave himself to die on that cross for his people. 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. He was taken from prison and
judgment. That means that God raised him from the dead. And
this resurrection, as we've said many times before, declared that
what he did was acceptable to God. It was pleasing to God,
and therefore he raised him from the dead. Well, most in religion
today say that he didn't get the job done. that he left something
for us to do. So, who will declare his generation? The writer asks here in verse
8. Who will take up his ministry? Those who are justified based
on his righteousness. So the question is, will you
stand in the gospel of Christ's righteousness imputed as the
only salvation for a sinner? That's what the mission of Christ
was. That's what our mission is. So
in his humiliation, we see the holiness of God, we see the justice
of God, and thirdly, we see the love of God in verses 9 to 11.
In these 11 verses here in this chapter, we see no less than
12 times this scripture, this term used, him for us. We esteemed
him not, but he was wounded. We esteemed him not, but he was
bruised and so forth. Every charge against his people
was answered and satisfied to the requirement of a holy God
by Christ's death on that cross. The scripture says that God so
loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. The humiliation
of Christ was an open display of God's love for his people. First John 410 says this, herein
is love. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Well, aren't you glad salvation
is not dependent upon your love for God? But that his love for you. It is his love that is the first
cause of our salvation. It was in love he chose us before
the foundation of the world. It was his love that provided
what his holiness and justice demanded of us. It is his love
that sustains us now in the warfare against Satan and self. And it is his love that will
deliver us to final glory in heaven. All of this was certain
because verse nine, 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. God made Christ's grave with
the wicked and in the rich, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
And yet this perfect man, it pleased the Lord to bruise him.
In verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put
him to grief. When he shall make his soul an offering for sin,
he shall see his seed and he shall prolong his days and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. God will justify many because
law and justice has been satisfied for that people. Verse 11 says, it was the love
of God for his people that brought travail of soul to Christ and
justification to the many for whom he bore their iniquities.
God says this in Jeremiah 31 and verse three, to those for
whom Christ was humiliated, God says, I have loved thee. with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee." So we see in the humiliation of Christ
the holiness of God, the justice of God, and the love of God.
Look at Isaiah 52.10 again. The Lord hath made bare his holy
arm in the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth
shall see his salvation. In the humiliation of Christ,
those who have reasoned with God and had heart surgery are
made to see the holiness of God, the justice of God, and the love
of God. What a blessed revelation is
the incarnation and the humiliation of Christ. In another lesson,
we will look at the exaltation of Christ and the glorification
of the Church with him in that.