I invite you to turn back with
me now to Isaiah chapter 53. I want to talk to you a little
bit about the prophet before we get into the message. He was
a prophet of God whose writings were put down on paper some 760
years before the birth of Christ. 760 years before Christ ever appeared
on this earth. Everything that that man wrote
about Christ, he wrote by divine inspiration. Yes, he'd heard
through Moses who Christ was and through some of the other
prophets. but nothing as particular as what he wrote down in his
writings. These were divinely inspired. Peter tells us prophecy. That's
what Isaiah was, a prophet. His writings were prophecy. And
Peter tells us that prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. He also tells us that the spirit
of Christ, which was in them, in who? In these prophets, testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow those sufferings. Not only that he suffered, not
only in particular why he suffered, but having accomplished his mission,
Though prophets spoke of the glory that should come to pass
afterward, they wrote everything they wrote by divine inspiration.
He further tells us that these prophecies are now made known
to us. They're made known unto them
who have preached the gospel to us with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven. The same spirit who breathed
through them These prophecies, these things unknown and unseen
now comes and with his presence causes a man to stand before
men and tell them the glorious things that that prophesied about. How could a man write and accurately
describe the person and work of Christ nearly 800 years before
Christ ever came to this earth? Well, he spoke of those things
the same way Moses wrote about creation. Moses wasn't around when the
world was created. I don't know how many hundreds
of years after the creation, before Moses ever appeared on
this earth. Long time, long time. He wasn't around, nor was any
other man. Moses didn't find some writings
that went back to Adam, because Adam wasn't around either when God created the world. Yet Moses accurately describes
creation and tales of the fall of man, of the condemnation of
the world, and even records the days before the flood and the
days after the flood. How could he write so accurately
about these things he had no personal knowledge of? He wrote
as he was moved by the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible is not a book
dependent on physical evidence. I'm sorry to say our schools
are needful. You kids, you need an education.
You do. I can't even operate the stove.
It has everything computerized. I don't know where to start.
I'm used to a button that says on and off, you know, or one,
two, three. I can handle that. You need an
education. You need to go there. But I'm
telling you what schools are teaching children about creation
and about the things of God is pitiful. It's pitiful. The Bible is not a book dependent
on physical evidence. The very first man to defy creation
runs up and he starts talking about carbon dating and start
talking about dinosaur bones and start talking about all this
nonsense. The Bible is not a book dependent
on physical evidence. And then think about this. Listen,
let's move on past the Old Testament now to the New. Eleven of the
twelve disciples knew the Lord in person. John writes, he said,
that which was from the beginning which our hands have handled,
we touched Him. Put our arms around Him. We touched
Him. We heard Him. We ate with Him. We were taught by Him. He walked
with us. We knew Him. We saw His physical
person. Eleven of the twelve of them
did. They saw Him die. They saw Him after His resurrection. And they saw Him ascend into
glory on the clouds. One didn't. The Apostle Paul. Paul was one, he said, born out
of due season. He was caught up in the Spirit
to see these things and be taught by the glorified Redeemer. And
he said, whether I was in the body or out of the body, I can't
tell. I don't know. I don't know. Yet God chose this
man who didn't see or touch or hear anything. God chose this
man to write more than half of the New Testament. You think
he's trying to tell us something? This book is divinely inspired. It is the Word of God. If you'll
study this book, you'll come to find out that the evidence
of this book is in this book. It proves itself. I simply cannot put too much
emphasis on the Word of God, on its inspired writings, And
the Holy Ghost who takes of the things of Christ, which those
men wrote, and reveals it unto us. Paul said, I hath not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things. The Spirit is God Himself. God
is Spirit. And the Spirit is God. And He
searcheth all things. There's nothing He don't know.
Yea, even the deep things of God. Now, I want to use the words
of a man who lived nearly 3,000 years ago. to preach the gospel to you this
morning, and I want you to see from the Word of God that His
writings not only accurately set before us the gospel, but
that we're also exhorted to use them for this purpose, for the
purpose of believing on Him and rejoicing in Him and worshiping
Him. In Romans chapter 15, verse 4,
listen to this. Paul said, whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. In John chapter
5, verse 46, Christ said to the Jews, they said, we have Moses
to our father. He said, if you believe Moses,
you believe me, because Moses wrote of me. You studied Moses, and all you
come away with was the law. All you come away with was the
priesthood and a bunch of ceremonies. Moses testified of me. The disciples went even further
than that. The disciples said to him, give
all the prophets witness. But Christ said, if you believe
not his writings, whose writings? Moses. We went all the way through the
book of Genesis, all the way through the book of Exodus, verse
by verse. And here Christ said, if you
don't believe His writings, how can you believe My Word? Men hear the Gospel, and because
it's contrary to their upbringing and contrary to their accepted
interpretations of this world, they reject it. There's only
one basis for the Gospel, and for the things of salvation,
and that's the Word of God. There is no other basis. Don't
run to those things. It's a false refuge. Don't run to your feelings. Don't
run to your experiences. Go to the book. Go to the book. He said if they
speak not according to the Word, it's because there's no light
in them. Didn't say because there's little light in them. Said there's
no light in them. We're built. That is this spiritual
house. These living stones are built
up into a spiritual temple. He's talking here about the house
of faith. We're built upon the foundation
of what? The apostles and prophets. I want to use the words of this
inspired man of God. preach the gospel to you this
morning, and I pray as I do, the author of this book will
be pleased to assist me to preach and to assist you to hear. First of all, this inspired prophet
asked this question. He said, who hath believed our
report? Consider the day in which he
lived, Winston, the day of priesthood and ceremony and love. They thought Christ in that day
was going to be a man like David. And He was going to come and
He was going to set up His kingdom here on this earth and His throne
would be here and His castle would be here and His house would
be here. They looked for a man to come
into this world and set up an earthly kingdom. And here comes Isaiah and God
has given him a message way back yonder in Isaiah chapter 6. He
gave him a message of the exalted, glorified King seated upon the
throne. And gave that message to him.
Laid that lie of coal on his lips and sent him out to preach.
And Isaiah said, who's going to believe this? You know, I
remember saying that the first time the Lord revealed the gospel
to me. Ain't nobody going to believe this. Who hath believed our report?
Several things here to consider. First of all, this is not a question
he proposed to men, but one he proposed to God. Do you ever
think about that? He wasn't talking to men. He
was talking to God. This passage is referred to by
our Lord in John chapter 12, and also by the Apostle Paul
in Romans chapter 10. And both times it's quoted, it
says, Lord, who have believed our report. And then secondly, this is a
question asked by a man whom God called and ordained to preach
the gospel. In Isaiah 53 and John 12 and
Romans 10, the prophet was said to have asked not about his report,
but our report. Our report. It wasn't just his.
It was his along with all the other prophets. And since he
was asking this question of the Lord, I believe he's saying to
him that his report and his testimony
of God were one and the same. They were one and the same. I
know a lot of folks never leave the New Testament when they're
concerning faith. Somebody asks them a question
about faith and they They just pretty much confined over to
the New Testament. And if you go into the Old Testament,
show them something, whoa, wait a minute, that's the old Bible.
Well, I'm going to tell you something. If all you have is the New Testament,
you got half a Bible. That's what you got. You got
half a Bible. And you can't find any basis
in the New Testament to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the
Christ. You got to go to the Old Testament
to prove it. The Old Testament has the, it
sets the groundwork, lays the groundwork for the new. The gifts of the ascended Christ
to his church are said to include prophets and apostles, both of
them. And Paul said his gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ, a great mystery to ages and generations,
was now made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets and
according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known
to all nations for the obedience of faith. These things which
these prophets declared are as relevant right now this morning
as they were 3,000 years ago. This man and his contemporaries
preached the gospel, prophesied of the coming redeemer and his
work and they spoke of how this gospel would be received. They
even talked about that. The revelation of Christ was
a wondrous thing to him. A wondrous thing, a gracious
thing, a merciful thing, a heavenly thing. Our Lord in John chapter
12 referring to our text here in Isaiah 53. He said, these
things said Isaiah when he saw his glory. That's when he said,
who's going to believe our report? When he saw His glory. What did
Isaiah see? He saw the Lord, it says in Isaiah
chapter 6, high and lifted up. He saw the Lord sitting upon
His throne. He saw His Lord, not only King,
but also Priest. Saw His priestly garments. Said
His train, the train. You know what a train is on a
royal person. His gown, as it flows behind
Him, it filled the temple. He's sitting on a throne of a
temple. He's a priest. He's a king priest. Isaiah saw the victorious Christ
glorified, praised by heavenly creatures. He saw the Lord in
His glory, in the glory of His saving character. He didn't just
simply see a glorious ruler, but he saw Him sitting on the
throne of Zion, giving power over all flesh to give eternal
life to as many as the Father had given to Him. The report
of which Isaiah is here talking about is the coming of the Redeemer. It's concerning His person and
work. Well, how do you know that's
what he's talking about? Read the second half of verse
1. in Isaiah 53. He said, Who hath believed our
report? To whom is the what? The arm
of the Lord revealed. What is the arm of the Lord?
Isaiah 40, verse 10, it said, Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand. Strong hand. To give them what? Life. I give them eternal life,
our Lord said, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them is
greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of My Father's hand. The Lord will come with strong
hand, and His arms shall rule for Him. Behold, His reward is
with Him, and His work is before Him. He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom. He's talking about Christ. This is the arm of the Lord. Who hath believed our report?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Well, you'll never
believe God's ambassadors when their report, because their report
is about the revelation of the arm. Mary, the mother of Jesus, prophesied
before Elizabeth and said, he hath shown strength with his
arm. And then the prophets tell us,
he hath made bare his holy arm, revealing in his life and death
the holiness of God. This arm is said to be that of
a shepherd gathering his lambs. He goes after them, finds them
one at a time, picks them up, carries them back to the fold.
His arm rules all things for His glory according to the eternal
counsel of God. His arm is said to bring salvation
to His people, and His arm is said to be a stretched out arm. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how
often would I have gathered you like a hen does her chicks, but
you would not. I have to stretch that arm. In
the book of Proverbs, Solomon says that very thing. He said,
I've stretched out my arm to you all day long. You didn't
listen. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Isaiah said, God has called me. He's equipped me. He sent me
to testify of the coming Redeemer. He gave me the revelation of
His Son and of His greatness and of His sacrifice and of His
suffering. He's given all these things to
me. To whom is He revealed? Who hath believed our report? Here's another evidence. that
I know Isaiah was preaching the gospel in verse 2 of Isaiah 53. For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no
form or comeliness. When we shall see him, there's
no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid
as it were our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed
him not. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
Judah, he was the son of a poor couple who didn't even have enough
money to bring the required sacrifice. There was a required sacrifice.
You was to bring a lamb. You bring a lamb. But for the poor. There was something put in the
law. If they didn't have one, they could bring a dove or a
pigeon. Mary brought a pigeon, brought
a dove. He was a root out of dry ground.
Mankind had fallen in their father Adam and could not redeem themselves
nor produce a savior who could. He was a root out of dry ground.
Jesus Christ was not the product of Joseph or Adam's seed, if
you will. He was virgin born. Back in Isaiah
chapter 7, verse 14, he said, the Lord himself shall give you
a sign. A virgin shall conceive. And
bring forth, and you're going to bear a son, and you shall
call his name Immanuel, God with us. He's not a man of influence and
power and reputation, but despised and rejected. Isaiah 53, 4, surely
he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Israel
looked for an earthly king, not a heavenly savior. They looked
for one of their own, not one from God. They looked for one in agreement
with their ideas about Christ, not him who was set forth by
the prophets and the Spirit of God. And as he suffered and died
as a common criminal, they saw that as God's rejection of him
as the Christ. They did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, taken out of the way. If thou be the Christ,
come down from the cross. Come down. The whole unbelieving
world looked on the suffering Savior, and they considered Him
condemned of God, afflicted of God. They did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. And just as Saul of Tarsus gave
consent to the death of Stephen, Israel gave consent unto the
death of Christ. Verse 5, but here's what they
didn't know. Was he afflicted of God? Had he stricken of God and afflicted? Was he? Was he? Yes, he was. But he was wounded for our transgression
and bruised for our iniquity. God smote him, not for something
he did, but for things which we've done. He didn't smite him because he
was guilty. He smote him because he bore
our guilt. He was made a curse for us. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
were healed. He was stricken of God and afflicted. He was forsaken of God. God did
turn His back on His Son. Not because He was a fraud, or
an imposter, or that God wouldn't even have Him. Verse 6, All we like sheep have
gone astray. We've turned every one to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. Now I want to ask you something
before I go on. He laid on him the iniquity of
us all. Who is the all that he's talking
about there? He's talking about the all there
are those to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed. That's
the all. Those who believe the report,
those to whom the arm of the Lord revealed, that's the all.
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed
and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He brought as
a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep is dumb before her
shearers, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison
and from judgment. 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'd done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He put him to grief. When thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, who shall? God shall. And all those who
receive the testimony of God shall. 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."
Isaiah's report was the revelation of the saving arm of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. The one thing that every natural
man and every false prophet have in common is their denial of
the efficacy of the death of Christ. They all deny it. All deny it. They all deny that
every soul for whom Christ died shall be saved, shall be justified,
shall be called to faith, shall be kept, and shall ultimately
be glorified in Him. Most so-called ministers of God
in our day preach a redemption that does not redeem. They preach
a salvation that does not save. They preach an atonement that
cannot atone. What they preach is the possibility
of redemption, the possibility of atonement, and therefore the
possibility of salvation. Our Lord said, and used the rich
young ruler as an example, with men it's impossible. What would be the point of a
possibility if it was impossible? They call his death a down payment,
a payment for past sins, I heard one man say. They call his coming
the first step. They lay the efficacy of the
death of Christ on man's decision to accept it, his willingness
to receive it, and his determination to keep it. They declare to ignorant
men and women that the blood of Christ and his sufferings
did not secure the salvation of anyone. but made salvation
possible for everyone. That's an abomination before
God. The very idea that man's works or will should rob God
of the glory of Christ's death is contrary to everything revealed
in the Holy Scriptures. It's not just a matter of God's
will or man's will, although twice in the Scripture he said
it's not of him that willeth. But it's a matter of the glory
of God's grace. Salvation is about the glory
of God. These things spake Isaiah when
he saw His glory. Where God shines His light into
those dark hearts, it is to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And the glory
of that grace is seen in the accomplished redemption of Christ. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, that is, by
God's knowledge of what he did, what he accomplished. My righteous
servant shall justify many. God, who alone can plumb the
depths of the suffering and death of Christ who alone has a perfect
knowledge of what took place at Calvary's cross. He both sees
the travail of his soul and sees why he's suffering. He sees his suffering to uphold
the glorious character of God and at the same time, suffer
for the sins of his people. And this, my friend, is exactly
what justification is all about. That's what it is. God looking
upon the death of His Son and being satisfied. And I tell you,
if you ever see that, if God ever reveals that to you, you'll
be satisfied. Huh? I tell you, if He's satisfied,
I am. Being justified freely. Listen
to this Scripture. Being justified freely by His
grace. through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus whom God has set forth, to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sin. That's the report. That's what
men do not believe. That's what they deny with everything
they can muster. The confidence of faith, the
assurance of faith is in the Son of God who come to fulfill
the redemptive will of God. He said, I came that of all which
my Father has given me, I should lose nothing but raise it up
again at the last day. And I'm going to tell you something,
it can't be raised up on the last day if it wasn't raised
up on the first day. Christ was delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. being quickened
with Him by our eternal union with Him, He hath raised us up
together with Him, made us sit together with Him in heavenly
places. And He did that that in the ages
to come He might show to His chosen, He might show to His
elect, to those for whom He died, those who were raised up with
Him and who are now seated with Him in glory, that in ages to
come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace upon such men, for by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God." Where is his workmanship? His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. It is the accomplished redemption
of Christ that guarantees the calling of God's elect. That's
what Isaiah's question is all about. That's what it's all about. God hath saved us and called
us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying that whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. And whom He did predestinate,
those He also called. And whom He called, He justified,
and whom He justified, He glorified. What hope do you have, preacher?
You go out and preach to men a message totally contrary from
everything that's being preached in this world. What hope do you
have? I have hope that the death of
Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. That's what I
have. His death guarantees the calling
of His people. It guarantees the work of the
Holy Spirit be sent and be effectual in the hearts of all those who
hear His gospel. Otherwise, what be the sense
in preaching, huh? What be the use?