I invite your attention to the
prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 52. My passage is one of the servant
passages. There are four of them in this
prophecy of Isaiah. Jehovah four times speaks of
one whom he calls my servant. The one we will consider now
is beginning in chapter 52, verse 13, and goes to the end of the
53rd chapter, verse 12. I want you to notice as we read
this passage that Isaiah has very vividly described the death
of Jesus Christ perhaps more vividly in this one chapter,
particularly the 53rd chapter than any other passage in the
Old Testament. But notice this, Isaiah speaks of the death of
Jesus Christ in all three tenses. Now I should remind you, he wrote
700 years before Jesus Christ was born. He described the death of Jesus
Christ in the future because he was a prophet. He also described it in the present
tense as though he were a contemporary He even described the death of
Jesus Christ in the past tense as though he were a historian.
Now, you have the synopsis, and I'm going to read from the synopsis,
King James Version in the synopsis. I want you to read along with
me because I'm going to show you the divisions between past,
present, and future, and he goes back and forth between them.
Consider with me. Future tense, chapter 52, verse
13. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently. He shall in the future be exalted
and extolled and be very high. Now he reverts to the past tense. As many were as astonished at
thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form
more than the sons of men. Now back to the future. So shall he sprinkle many nations. The king shall shut their mouths
at him, for that which had not been told them they shall see. and that which they had not heard
shall they consider." Now chapter 53 verse 2, for he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. Now in the present tense Isaiah
writes, he hath no form nor comeliness. Now goes back to the future and
says, And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should
desire him. Back to the present. He is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Now he speaks in the past tense.
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 this stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and Jehovah 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 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
Jehovah to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. Now
speaking in the future tense. When thou shalt make his soul
an orphan for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of Jehovah 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 spoiled with
the strong." Now in the past tense, because He hath poured
out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors,
and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors." Now consider, Isaiah wrote about the year 700
B.C., 700 years before Jesus Christ was born. He wrote as a prophet, describing
the death of Jesus Christ in the future. He wrote as a contemporary,
describing the death of Jesus Christ as a present reality. And he wrote as a historian,
describing Jesus Christ's death as a past event. And he goes
back and forth, back and forth. It's rather remarkable how he
does so, going back and forth between these three tenses. How can Jesus Christ's death
be described by Isaiah as an event occurring in all three
tenses? How can Christ be said to have
died for the salvation of his people more than 700 years before
he was born? How could Old Testament saints
speak of Christ having already in his death been their sin bearer,
their penal substitute, and how could they conclude that by his
stripes we are healed? How could he say that? How could
he say by his stripes, which have not yet been inflicted,
how could he say with his stripes we have been healed? How could
he do that? I'll give you three reasons.
First, Christ's death is not confined to the physical and
visible manifestation of it on Mount Calvary. Second, Christ's
death occurred from eternity. Grasp that point. Christ's death
occurred from eternity. And third, Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever, and forever. You cannot confine
the death of Jesus Christ to one specific event. Cannot be
done. Scripturally, cannot be done.
In Isaiah, 700 years before Messiah is born, can you describe his
death as yet to occur? occurring right
now and already happened. Already happened. Let's consider
these three points one by one. First, Christ's death is not
confined to the physical invisible manifestation of it on Mount
Calvary. Mount Calvary occurred 2,000
years ago when Jesus Christ was physically crucified. That was
700 years before Isaiah wrote and you cannot confine his death
to that one specific event. If we try to confine the death
of Jesus Christ to what happened on Calvary 2,000 years ago, then Old Testament people would
have died unsaved, unforgiven, unjustified, and unsanctified
because all of those things happened at Calvary. And yet, all Old Testament saints died
saved. Saved. Centuries before the act
was done that obtained their salvation, before Jesus Christ
died to obtain salvation, to justify, sanctify, reconcile
his people, they already were saved, reconciled, justified,
and sanctified. How can this be? They knew Jesus Christ as their
sin-bearer. Notice Isaiah says, surely he
hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Jehovah hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He bared the sin of many. Isaiah
could say with as much certainty as you can, my sin was put on
him. He was my sin-bearer. We can
say, Jehovah laid our sin on Jesus Christ and he bore it to
Calvary and there died for it. And Isaiah says, did it for me
too. Did it for me too. Jehovah laid
my sin on Christ, he bore it to Calvary and there died in
my place instead. Furthermore, Old Testament saints
knew Christ as their penal substitute. When we speak of a penal substitute,
we're talking about one who suffers a penalty, who is penalized. We deserve the penalty. The penalty
is death. He became our penal substitute,
dying in our place instead, suffering the penalty that we deserve.
Isaiah says he was numbered with the transgressors, 53 verse 12. numbered with the transgressors. It is as though Jehovah says, all transgressors
stand in that line right there and off we go. Every one of us. Every one of us. And there is
only one man who is not in that line And that is Jesus Christ. He is not numbered with the transgressors
until he comes over and says, most parts, you go stand over
yonder. I'm going to stand in your place.
And he did it for every one of his people. I am no longer standing
with the transgressors. He who was not a transgressor
took my place, and he was numbered with the transgressors." So that
transgressors could be numbered with the righteous. He was numbered
with the transgressors. He took their place. He stood
in their place and in their stead. For the transgressions of Jehovah's
people, he was stricken. And he was stricken. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace
was upon him. If God is to be at peace with
us, if we are to be at peace with God, there must be stripes
laid. There must be chastisement given. and I'm the one who deserved
it. And if it had been me that had
been stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted because of my sin, I could not have lived to tell
it. But because it was Him, Jesus Christ, God's Son, the immaculate,
spotless One, He who is without sin, apart from sin, never touched
by it, He can bear every strife I deserve, all the chastisement
I deserve. He was stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted, but He did it in my place instead. and in the place instead of all
who will believe his gospel. Furthermore, Old Testament saints
knew Christ as their saving interceder. I know him to be that, but so
did Old Testament saints. Isaiah says, he hath poured out
his soul unto death and made intercession for the transgressors. Now there on Calvary, the greatest
intercession ever made was made. Yes, it was made in the high priestly prayer of
Jesus Christ the night before. But there on Calvary, what was
he doing in his death when he was stricken and smitten of God
and afflicted? He was making intercession. He said, Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are
doing. And the Father forgave every
soul for whom Jesus Christ made that intercession. Every one
of them. That included That centurion,
the Roman who was in charge of the detail crucifying him, Jesus
made intercession for him. Father, forgive him, he does
not know what he is doing. And when the intercession is
done, that centurion says, that was a righteous man. That was
a righteous man. That was the Son of God we just
crucified. What have we done? He's forgiven. He was interceding for me on
Calvary. When he was stricken and smitten
of God, his prayer was for me. It was for all who will believe
this gospel. And it was for Isaiah, who had
been dead 700 years, interceding for him as well. It was done. And it was done. Isaiah knew
him as the interceder for him. And furthermore, if you'll read
the 22nd Psalm, verse 24, God heard. Now, that 22nd Psalm is
very important. Jesus Christ on Calvary said,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now you'll find
those words Psalm 22, verse 1. And if you read the entirety
of that 22nd Psalm, you're going to find every detail in it applies
to the death of Jesus Christ. And in the 24th verse, you'll
find, He cried and Jehovah heard. He prayed and made intercession
and Jehovah heard. Such a blessed truth is this,
and Isaiah knew him as his saving interceder. Furthermore, Old
Testament saints were healed with Christ's blood prior to
his physical death. Isaiah writes, with his stripes,
that is, from the scourges he endured as a substitute, with
his stripes we are healed from all physical infirmity and spiritual
infirmity. But the spiritual infirmity first. We are healed from the leprosy
of sin. We are healed from spiritual
deafness, from spiritual mutinous, from spiritual paralysis. We're healed from all of those
things so that we can hear the gospel, so that we can come to
Christ, so that we can proclaim him. Furthermore, we're going to be
healed from all physical infirmity. My beloved and I discussed on
the way over today, and we still do not understand. You know, we just not long ago
said goodbye to our son. And you know, just some things you cannot understand.
I do not question what God has done, what he did was absolutely
right. But sometimes you just cannot
understand why it was that God has done. But I do know this, my son, on his deathbed was riddled with physical infirmity,
pain, suffering. And the very moment he breathed
his last, every physical infirmity he ever knew was gone. Like that man that Peter healed
who could not walk, he was walking and leaping and praising God.
In one moment my son is unable to move on his deathbed and in
the very next moment he wakes up in glory and he's walking
and leaping and praising God. How can that be? The stripes
of Jesus Christ have healed him. the stripes of Jesus Christ.
By his stripes we are healed. Furthermore, Old Testament saints
were justified by Christ's blood prior to his physical death.
Jehovah prophesied to Old Testament saints, my righteous servant
shall justify many. He declared it to be a future
event How were they justified in that future event? In the
epistle to the Romans, chapter 5, verse 9, they were justified
on Calvary by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And when he
said, it is finished, they were justified. He was raised because
of our justification, and yet Isaiah, 700 years before the
fact, can say, I'm justified. I'm righteous. The righteousness
of Jesus Christ has already been imputed to me. Justified before that blood was
shed. How can that be? If you'll go
to Romans chapter 4, you'll find this, that Abraham, our patriarch,
2,000 years before Jesus Christ was
born was justified. He believed God
and was declared to be righteous. And in Romans chapter 4 we read
that if we are justified it will have to be the very same way. God has only one way of justifying
sinners. Only one way. He did it to Abraham
2,000 years before Christ. He did it to me 2,000 years after
Christ. And he did it the same way both
times. Job was justified for God declaring
him to be perfect and upright. Oh yes, he made mistakes. We
read this this morning, our brother Chris. Elihu, yeah, he's the
wisest of the whole bunch, isn't he? The young man. He was polite
enough to let the others make fool of themselves, and then
he spoke. Well, God must be justified,
Elihu says. And this God says Job is perfect
and upright. How could Job be perfect and
righteous before God? Through the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Noah found grace in the eyes
of Jehovah and therefore was a just man and perfect in his
generations. Noah was justified. Think about
it. Furthermore, in Romans chapter
4, verses 6 through 8, in quoting Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2, Paul
the apostle says, blessed are they to whom God does not impute
sin and to whom he imputes righteousness apart from works. Old Testament
saints had the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to them
and God did not impute their sin to them. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. Furthermore, Old Testament
saints were redeemed by Christ's blood prior to his physical death. Now we read this again this morning
in the passage from Job. Job describes a man, and the
application can be made to a man under deep conviction of sin.
He's lost his appetite. Oh, if you've ever come under
deep conviction of sin, the sorrow in your heart, and you realize
that God's justice is behind you, on your trail, and God's
justice demands your death, and you have now come And you're
standing on the very precipice of eternity, standing on the
edge of the abyss. Justice is coming after you.
You've lost all hope of life. You have no hope of living. And
you know that you must die. And just as you come to the very
precipice of eternity, Jehovah calls out, deliver him from going
down into the pit. I have found the ransom. Well,
who's the ransom? There's only one. There's only
one. That was Jesus Christ. Job, speaking
2,000 years, or this is Elihu, actually 2,000 years, speaking
of God, if he is merciful, if he is merciful, he says, deliver
him. I have found a ransom, and that
ransom is Jesus Christ. Christ assured Old Testament
saints, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called
thee by my name, thou art mine. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto
me, for I have redeemed thee. They prayed to him. Now listen
to this in Old Testament times. Remember thy congregation which
thou hast purchased of old." Purchased of old. The congregation is not purchased
until the blood is shed. Yeah, that's right. Well, the blood is not shed until
it's shed on Calvary. Okay, yeah. But you say he purchased it of
old? Yeah. How long ago? From eternity. Remember my congregation which
thou hast purchased from eternity. Job confessed, I know that my
Redeemer liveth, even though the Redeemer had not been born. How could Old Testament saints
know such truths? All God's elect were in Christ
before the foundation of the world and in him we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, Ephesians chapter 1.
Their redemption was from of old. Furthermore, number 7, if
you're following in your synopsis, Old Testament saints were saved
prior to Christ's physical death. In Psalm 85 verses 2 and 3, thou
hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered
all their sin, thou hast taken away all thy wrath, thou hast
turned thyself aside from the fierceness of thine anger. Now,
the point that I'm making to you is this, every blessing of
salvation that we enjoy was enjoyed by Old Testament
saints just as much. just as much. How can this be? It is because
Christ's death occurred from eternity. In men's eyes, the
death of Jesus Christ occurred on Calvary, in time, and at a physical place. In God's eyes, the death of Jesus
Christ was from eternity. And what men saw on Calvary was
what God saw before the foundation of the world. What was manifested there on
Calvary is said by Peter to be foreordained before the foundation
of the world. What men saw happen on Calvary
was just a visible, physical manifestation of what had already
happened in old eternity before the foundation of the world.
When God foreordained from eternity, or what He foreordained from
eternity was by Him considered already done. And we need to
grasp that point. God does not make decisions. He does not make proposals. He makes decrees. A decree! It is more binding than that
of the Medes and Persians. It is a fiat. It must be done. When God decreed something from
eternity to be done, it was by Him considered as done. Already. Already. Known unto
God are all His works from the beginning of the world, even
from eternity. Even from eternity God calleth
those things which be not as though they were. From eternity God knew Jesus
Christ as the Redeemer of His people because God had decreed it and
in God's sight it was done. When God foreordained before
the foundation of the world that his people be redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot, they were redeemed. How were they redeemed? The writer
of the epistle to the Hebrews says, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant. Now this covenant is everlasting.
Everlasting. all the way into the past, before
the foundation of the world, all the way into the future, still effectual when time is
done. By the blood of the eternal covenant,
in old eternity there is a covenant cut and made between the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in this covenant The father
says to the son, he will give him a people, but you must die
for them. You must die in their place instead
and for their sins. And the son says he will. That
covenant must be fulfilled. That covenant, that decree was
fulfilled before the foundation of the world through The Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, even from eternity.
When the world was founded, He was already slain. Already slain! He had already shed the blood
of the eternal covenant. God's people were redeemed when
God foreordained it before the foundation of the world. Alright,
that's the second main point. We'll close with the third one.
How can it be that Isaiah can describe the death of Jesus Christ
as a past event, a present reality, and something to occur in the
future. How can the death of Jesus Christ be described like
that? Here's the third reason. Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13,
verse 8. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. Whatever he is now, he always
has been and always will be. He said the same even in the
Old Testament. Well, we find these words in
Malachi 3.6. This is Jesus Christ speaking.
I am Jehovah. I change not. Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. I am the same yesterday, today,
and forever. I am immutable. I am never changing. Whatever I am, I always was and
always will be. What Jesus Christ is to his people
today is what he was to them in the past and what he will
be to them in the future. He is the author of eternal salvation. Now, is that not a glorious expression,
Hebrews 5 now? He is the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. Eternal salvation! Preacher, does that mean once
you're saved, you're always saved? Well, that's part of it. Once I was saved, I always was
saved. My salvation did not begin at
some point in my life. No, no, no. Once saved, when
was it? Before eternity. He is the author
of eternal salvation. He is therefore their eternal
savior and salvation, their eternal justifier and righteousness,
their eternal redeemer and redemption. Jesus Christ was as much the
Savior and Justifier and Redeemer and Ransom and Forgiver of Old
Testament believers as He is to us believers here in the year of our Lord
2024. Well, that floats my boat. As Scott
Richardson would say, that floats my boat. It's weighty. It's a heavy subject. It is no wonder that Isaiah begins
the 53rd chapter with the question, who has believed our report? When in the first place, who
can believe it? Who has believed our report? Then, having asked the question,
he answers it. To whom has Jehovah laid bare
his arm? To whom is the arm of Jehovah
revealed? If Jehovah ever reveals his arm
to you, you will become a believer. My father, in his youth, was muscle-bound. And even when I was a wee lad,
I can still remember, he was a paratrooper, World War II,
and raised on the south side in a middle town, and he was
muscle-bound. And I can recall, I can recall
when I was just a wee lad, my father would pull his arm up
and flex that muscle and, That's the rock of Gibraltar. Yeah, I believe it is. He had made bare his arm and
I was a believer. When Jehovah made bare his arm,
when he revealed his arm, I believed the gospel. Now I'm going to
ask you something. Do you believe this gospel? Do
you believe that your salvation is in Jesus Christ, who is the
same yesterday, today, and forever? I can trust that Savior, a Savior
who never changes. Oh, I can trust that Savior,
and I pray that you will. And oh God, our Father, to the
glory of your name, And to the honor of your son, Jesus Christ,
we pray. Bless this glorious, everlasting,
eternal gospel. Bless our glorious, everlasting,
and eternal Savior. In his name we pray. Amen.