My text this morning is Isaiah
53 and verse 6. I am almost reluctant to give
you the title of my message for fear of failing to say it with the kind
of emphasis and depth of astonishment and lack of reverence with which
it ought to be spoken. But here's my subject. Sin laid
upon Christ. Sin laid upon Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. All we like sheep have gone astray. we have turned every one to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. The text plainly declares man's
original sin, all we like sheep have gone astray. Now, this is
the doctrine of original sin. We call it original sin because
it was the first one. We went astray from God in the
sin and fall of our father Adam. They are all gone aside. They
are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. By one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin. And so death has passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned." Now, this is the doctrine of
original sin as it's set forth in the Word of God. Let men debate
and argue as they will. Our father Adam was created by
God in the garden. and set up by God in the garden
as the federal head and representative of all men and women, of all
his physical seed. That is all the sons and daughters
of Adam, all who were born of earthly parents, were represented
by Adam in the garden. So that whatever Adam did before
God, he did as our representative. And God would charge that to
us so that when Adam transgressed in the garden, when Adam, with
his eyes fully open, realizing what he was doing, rebelled against
the authority of God, he not only plunged himself under the
curse of God's holy law and plunged himself into spiritual death,
and brought himself into banishment from the presence of God. But
he plunged all men into spiritual death under the curse of the
law, banished from God, and made them all subject to a just eternal
death in hell. Now that's what happened in the
garden. Adam's transgression, Adam's
sin, Adam's iniquity, Adam's disobedience has been imputed
to all of us so that we all 6,000 years ago became at one time
sinners. We all at one time in our federal
head Adam went astray from God. and I'm thankful it's so. I'm
thankful it's so. I thank God that he made Adam
to be our representative, that he made Adam to be our substitute,
because by the fact that we fell in one man, there's hope we might
rise through another, even Jesus Christ the second Adam, God's
glorious son. Not only was Adam's sin imputed
to us, But Adam's depraved nature, his corrupt heart, that heart
that's dead in sin, that nature that's opposed to God, that nature
that's the result of Adam's rebellion, that corruption and defilement
of mind and of soul and of heart has been imparted to every son
of Adam by natural generation. We are all our father's children.
We speak a little bit in jest. Child begins to misbehave. Child whines when there's nothing
to cry about. The child acts a little contrary
to what parents wish he would. And I say, or you say, others
will say, well, that's Adam in it. That's exactly right. That's
Adam in it. This woman who went on a rampage
and shot up the kids in Chicago last week, They said she's sick,
that's Adam in her, that's all. And that's Adam in you and Adam
in me. If you think that's not in us,
you don't yet know yourself. We look at these things and we
say, well, that's a horrible thing. It's a horrible thing
indeed, but that's Adam in us. And unless God in his providence
restrains Adam, we would all do the same thing. We like to
think of ourselves and our haughty self-righteousness as being above
such atrocities, but it's not so. It's just not so. Not only
does this passage of scripture show us the original sin of man,
but it declares the personal depravity of all men as well.
In Adam, we suffered a great fall and a great loss. We fell
from God's favor into condemnation. We fell from sinlessness into
sinfulness. We lost original righteousness,
fellowship with God, access to God, and all spiritual life. We fell from life to death, from
liberty to bondage, from peace to enmity, from light to darkness. But that's not all. We are sinners
by imputation, by birth, and by nature. But we are also sinners
by personal deliberate choice. This is the doctrine of personal
depravity. We have turned everyone to his
own way. Because the heart of man at birth
is desperately wicked. We are all estranged from the
womb. And we all go astray as soon
as we are born speaking lies. Did you ever observe how natural,
how completely natural, how completely unassuming, how completely common
it is for all men to be deceivers? for all men to lie, for all men
to cheat, for all men to go astray speaking lies. That's our nature. Our hearts are corrupt. And the
child, as soon as it is born, begins to speak lies and continues
to speak lies all the days of its life. We are all liars, every
one of us. Preacher, you don't dare call
a man a liar. Every man born of Adam is a liar. Every woman
born of Adam is a liar. You don't trust any of them.
You dare not trust any of them and you dare not trust yourself.
You dare not. Man goes astray as soon as he
is born speaking lies. It's natural to it. Ask a child
a question, he'd rather lie than tell the, he'd work at telling
a lie rather than tell the truth. Just his nature. We had some
friends visiting recently, they won't mind me telling you, had
their baby, and that little fella just squalled. Oh, he'd squall
and holler and holler and squall and whine and cry. You'd think the poor thing was
dying. Not a tear in its eye. Wasn't wet, wasn't hungry, wasn't
hurting. It just wanted somebody to hold
him, that's all. They want somebody to hold. Lying to mama, lying
to daddy. It's in the nature of man. And
that just is a reflection and a bit of a humorous and cute
reflection of the reality of deceit in man. We have all turned
everyone to his own way. God's elect, like other men by
nature, are ever going astray from God. Like sheep, foolish
and ignorant, ever we stray from the good shepherd, from the fold
of his grace, and from the way of life. Until we are looked
up, sought out, and brought back by the shepherd, we would never
return. We had neither the will nor the
ability to return to God. I preached to you, I sat here
just a little while ago while we were singing that last hymn,
I looked around this congregation, my, so many of you. Still going astray. You know there's a shepherd.
And you know there's a way of life. And you know there's a
path of peace. And you know there's a fold for
all who believe. You know there's heaven to gain
and hell to shun. You know there's life and death
and judgment and eternity to face. You know it, but you won't
come. You won't come. Plead as I may,
weep as I may, sing as we may, reason as we may, you won't come. You won't come. You don't have
it in you to come to Christ. Just don't have it. Oh, great
glorious shepherd, will you be pleased to seek him out? and to lay hold of them and cause
them to come. That's the only way any man will
ever come. It's the only way you'll ever come. You will not
come to me, our Savior said, that you might have life. Why?
Because we all turn aside everyone to his own way. Some turn aside
to the way of profligacy and rebellion and corruption and
vile, vile manner of life and live as the offscouring of society. That's his way, but it seems
right in his own eyes. Somebody else looks at that and
they say, well, I don't want to be seen with that crowd. I
don't want anybody to think I'm like them. That's good, and I
wouldn't either. I wouldn't either. So we turn
aside to the way of morality. And we walk with our proud morality
and our self-respect. It's still a way of death and
destruction. And another turns aside to the
way of self-righteous religion, and he thinks that by his deeds
and by his manner of life, he somehow will find his way back
to God. It's not so. Oh, every man turns
aside to his own way, and your way seems right in your eyes.
But the ends in your way are the ways of death. Destruction
and misery are in your way. The way of peace you'll never
know unless the God of peace comes and brings you peace. Whatever
the way is that you choose, it's the way of death. Until Christ,
the good shepherd, the shepherd and bishop of our souls, by an
act of his almighty effectual grace, causes us to return, none
will ever turn to his way. Only omnipotent grace can cause
a sinner to turn from his way to Christ, the way, the truth,
and the life. May God be pleased to do it today. This is original sin. All we
like sheep have gone astray. This is personal depravity. We've
turned everyone to his own way. Yet there is hope. There's hope
for straying sheep. There's hope for helpless, ignorant
sinners. Our text gives us hope, even
hope to the hopeless, because it reveals the glorious doctrine
of substitutionary redemption. And the Lord had laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Can you grasp this glorious truth? Can you get hold of it? Listen
up. Listen up. Oh, sinner, hear me. God help you to hear me. The
Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. God, the Father, against
whom we have sinned, from whom we have strayed, whose law we
have broken, whose justice must be satisfied, has laid upon the
Lord Jesus Christ, his dear Son, all the sins of all his elect. The Son of God was made to be
sin for us, so that we might be justly punished, so that he
might be justly punished for sin in our stead, and that we
might be made the very righteousness of God in him. Our sins have
all been laid upon Christ by whose death justice has been
satisfied and our sins forever put away. Now, what do these
words teach us? The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. I hope you'll jot down what I
believe God has given me from the text. I believe you'll find
it profitable to your soul. Here's the first thing. Our iniquity
itself was laid upon Christ. Our iniquity itself was laid
upon Christ. Not only was the Lord of glory
punished for sin, but he was made to be sin. Christ did not only bear the
wrath and indignation of God against sin, he was made sin. The Son of God was made to be
sin because there was no way possible in all the world for
God's elect to be discharged of sin and set free from sin
except for Christ to be made sin. Pastor, are you saying this
is the only way God could save sinners? Yes, ma'am, that's what
I'm saying. Yes, sir, that's what I'm saying. There's no other
way for God to save sinners. Now understand me well. God's
eternal determination to redeem was altogether a matter of pure,
free, sovereign grace. God did not have to redeem anyone. There was nothing in us that
had any claim upon God. It was not necessary. It was
not essential to God's glory. It was not essential to God's
happiness. It was not essential to God's
essential being as God that he save anyone. But Once God made
the determination to save, once he made the determination to
redeem, once he made the determination to save guilty fallen sinners,
that redemption must be made in a manner that is altogether
just and right in the sight of God's law. There's no other way
for God to save. The only way by which God could
save sinners is by the satisfaction of justice, by making Jesus Christ
his son to be sin for us. I stress this point because in
our day, men, for the most part, don't
believe it. When I was in college, our theology
professor illustrated on the blackboard,
how that God could have saved sinners in many, many, many ways. He could have sent down an angel
to die for our sins, or he could have simply declared sin as pardon. He could have saved sinners any
way he chose, but he chose to save sinners by the death of
his son. Oh, no, no, no, a thousand times
no. God's not a monster. God would
not needlessly punish his son. God would not needlessly cause
his son to suffer. The only way that a holy God
can justify the ungodly, can make the unclean clean, is by
making that unclean person clean in consistency with his righteousness,
his justice, and his truth. The law of God must be satisfied. The justice of God must be satisfied. The righteousness of God must
be satisfied. How then can God be just and
justify the ungodly? How can God be just and take
one like you or me into his presence in everlasting glory? Only one
way. There must be one come from heaven
who is himself both God and man and one glorious person. And
that one man by infinite merit must bear in his body the sins
of all his people and pay the penalty of justice for their
sins until justice itself says that's enough. God can be just
and yet justify the ungodly. I hope you see that. The prophet
says here, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. When I read that,
I told you the word please means it satisfied. It satisfied God
to bruise his son. God did not take delight in the
death of his son in the sense of humor, in the sense of something
that would simply humor him. but rather God took delight in
the death of His Son because the Son of God satisfied Him
in His death, satisfied His law, and satisfied His justice. And
there's no other way that could be done. You're familiar with
the scripture in Ezekiel 33 and Ezekiel chapter 11 and other
passages where the prophet records the words of the Lord, I have
no pleasure in the death of the wicked. No pleasure in the death
of the wicked. Well, who on earth ever imagined
that God just had some kind of a warped disposition so that
he just laughed and had a big party whenever men were perishing
in hell? Oh, no, no, no, a thousand times
no. What God is saying is that though
the whole world of the wicked perish, all men in hell forever
cannot satisfy my justice. But here's one man. because he
is God. By suffering the infinite wrath
of God with one stroke is able to completely satisfy God's justice. He made him to be sin. God looked
upon Christ as the surety of his elect in the covenant of
grace and he said deliver him from going down to the pit where
I have found a ransom. And he laid help upon one that
was mighty. He said, I have laid on him the
iniquity of my people. All the sins of all the elect
were gathered together as one huge, hideous, obnoxious load
and made to meet upon Jesus Christ, God's son. He was made to be
sin for us and punished as the sinner in our place. By this
means, the law and the justice of God had full satisfaction,
and our recovery from ruin and destruction was perfectly procured. But secondly, now hear this,
our iniquity really became our substitute's iniquity by divine
imputation. Now, I have just declared to
you a statement infinitely beyond my comprehension. But I know
beyond a shadow of a doubt it's true. Our iniquity really became
Christ's iniquity. Turn over to Psalm 40. Psalm
40. I want you to read this for yourself. Psalm 40. Verse 7, the Son of God speaks. Paul says it's Christ speaking,
Hebrews 10. Then said I, lo, I come, and
the volume of the book it is written to me. I delight to do
thy will, O my God. That's Jesus Christ, the Son.
Verse 10, I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart.
I have declared thy faithfulness, thy salvation. I've not concealed
it. I've not concealed thy lovingkindness,
thy truth from the great congregation. That's Christ speaking. Look
in verse 12, this is Jesus Christ speaking too. For innumerable
evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities. My soul, what astonishing words. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. That is, therefore, my heart
is weak or sick within me. Now in Psalm 65, 69, rather in
verse five. In verse four, they that hate
me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. Our Lord
himself says, that's talking about me. In verse five, the
Lord Jesus is speaking. As our substitute, as our surety,
please understand me. In and of himself, as man and
as God, he knew no sin. As man and as God, he never did
anything corrupt, defiled, or evil. As man and as God, he was
holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. But when
he was made to be sin for us, our sins really became his sins. O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from thee." Jesus Christ never knew sin,
yet Martin Luther said, and he was right when he said it, the
Lord Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, died as the greatest sinner
who ever lived. under the wrath of God, for he
was made to bear all the sins of all his people at one time
on the cursed tree. Christ really did bear all our
sins, just as a surety is really the debtor when he willingly
puts himself in the room of another Christ really was made to be
sin for us. Let me try to illustrate it if
I can. George Greider, the man who owns a furniture store over
in Junction City, told me a few years ago, we were discussing
the perversity of law in our society, but the illustration
served my purpose. There was a man who did business
with him for years. And he had credit, had credit,
always paid off his notes and had good credit. George just
didn't have any reluctancy at all in letting this man have
anything he wanted to. And after a few years, his son
got grown and married and they built a house and the man came
in with his son and he said, George, I'd like for you to give
my son a line of credit here, let him have whatever he wants,
I'll stand good for it." George knowing the man, he said, well,
okay, we'll open your son up an account. And they charged
thousands of dollars worth of furniture, just brand new furniture. And he made two or three payments
on it. And the father came back in and he said, you know, I'd
like for you, if you would, to take my son's bills and transfer
them over to my account. He's run on hard times and and
I'll stand good for him. I'll take care of it. George
said, well, that's all right. So he took all the thousands
of dollars this boy owed him and transferred it over to his
father's account. You never guess what he got in
the mail next day. He got a letter of bankruptcy. The father had
filed bankruptcy. I mean, that day, went in and
filed bankruptcy. But you know, in the eyes of
the law, George could not go to the son and even ask him for
a dime. Couldn't go to the son. Why?
Because the father had become surety and it was all written
down on paper. And the law says that boy is
not responsible. Do you follow what I'm saying?
The Lord God made his son to be sin for us. He made his son
to be our surety, and now God looks on Christ for all satisfaction,
and he can't look to us. Christ gave his bond as our surety
in the covenant of grace. His word was his bond. And God,
having accepted his son as our surety, cannot look for payment
from us. If he will have payment for sin,
he must have it from him upon whom the debt has been laid.
He must have it from the surety. And he can't have it anywhere
else. He can't have it anywhere else. Payment God cannot twice
demand, first at my bleeding surety's hand and then again
at mine. This is Paul's whole doctrine
in 2 Corinthians 5. Turn over there. 2 Corinthians
5, this is Paul's whole doctrine here. In verse 18, the apostle
Paul says, all things are of God. All things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us, that is, he's given to us who preach the ministry of
reconciliation, the word of reconciliation. I'm here declaring to you the
word, the message of reconciliation. What is it? To wit that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Now look at these
next words. Not imputing their trespasses unto them. God would
not have sent Christ into this world if he would impute our
trespasses to us, but he sent his son to reconcile his elect
to himself scattered throughout all the world because he would
not impute sin to his people. Christ is their surety and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we
are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Thirdly, it is the Lord God himself
that made Christ to be sin. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. The triune God in covenant love
was pleased to lay all our sin upon the Son. Sin, the greatest
burden in the world, the most loathsome thing in the universe,
the load that must have sunk a world to hell, has been laid
upon the God-man by God's own hand. This great mighty transfer
of sin from the sinner to the sinner's surety was altogether
the work of God. It was God, in eternal, infinite
love, that sought this means of redemption and devised it.
It was God, in infinite wisdom, who conceived and found a way
to ransom man. It was God, who in infinite grace
ordained Christ to be the surety. And it was God, who in infinite
justice, in flexible justice, executed His will in the crucifixion
of His Son. Now, fourthly, None but God could
do it. None but God could do it. Who
else? Who but God could lay sin upon
God? Who but God could punish God
for iniquity? Who but God could dispose of
sin for the salvation of His people? And in order for God
to save His people, sin must be disposed of. It must be disposed
of, totally, absolutely, completely, perfectly disposed of forever. Who could do it but God? Some
think that we lay our sins upon Christ ourselves. Stop and think for a minute.
You can't even lay your hand on Him, much less lay sin on
Him. Who's going to lay sin on the Son of God? If you imagine
that by your prayers and tears and mournings and fastings and
confessions and sacrifices and doings, you lay sins off of yourself
on to Jesus Christ, you're just beating the air. To lay iniquity
upon Christ is the work of Jehovah alone, God the Father. laid our sin upon His Son in
the satisfaction of His own justice when He made Him to be sin upon
the cursed tree. God the Son, willingly, deliberately,
voluntarily, of His own accord, by the desire and design of His
own heart, picked up the enormous load of human guilt, picked up
the horrible load of our iniquity, and laid it on Himself going
up to the cursed tree. And God the Holy Spirit lays
sin upon Christ in the revelation of the gospel to every one of
His elect. When the Spirit of God comes,
He reproves His people of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He reproves men of their sin,
of Christ's righteousness, and of the satisfaction of justice
by sin being judged in Jesus Christ the Substitute. We do
not lay our sins upon Christ by our faith. We see our sins
laid on Him. We see our sins punished in Him.
And we see our sins removed by Him. But faith does not lay sin
upon Him. Fifthly, I want you to see that
this is the most soul comforting truth in all the world. The Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquity of us all. Blessed are they who have this
gospel published to them. Blessed are those who have ears
to hear this good news and eyes to see the glory of God in redemption. The transfer of sin from you
to Christ is not something that must be
done. It's something already done.
Already done. That's the comfort of the gospel.
That's the good news of the gospel. The text does not say the Lord
shall lay iniquities upon Christ if we will meet certain terms
and certain conditions. The text says the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. Turn over to Romans 10, Romans
chapter 10. The question comes, well, what
do I have to do to be saved? It's a mighty poor question to
ask. Mighty poor question to ask. There's nothing for you
to do to be saved. Nothing for you to do. Romans
chapter 10 verse 6, the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on
this wise. Now, if you would be made righteous
in the sight of God, faith says this, say not in thine heart,
who shall ascend into heaven? Who's going to go up to heaven
on my behalf? How can I get up to God and please the holy God? That is to bring Christ down
from heaven, bring Christ down from above. Or who shall descend
into the deep? That is to bring up Christ again
from the dead. Why, there's no need for that.
Christ already came down and dwelt among us in human flesh.
Christ already suffered the wrath of God. Christ already descended
into the deep and made satisfaction for sin. Christ already arose
for our justification. But what saith it? What does
faith say? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which
we believe, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus
is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That's what I'm saying.
The work is already done. There's nothing for you to do.
Faith simply receives, believes, and rejoices in what Christ the
Lord has done. it adds nothing to his work. Suppose you were a prisoner.
Let's suppose you were a prisoner in one of those ancient kingdoms
where the king had absolute authority as sovereign of the land. And
you're a prisoner awaiting execution because you're guilty of murder. And your closest friend comes
to you, and it brings you an envelope stamped with the king's
insignia. And you open the envelope up,
and you pray and it says, I've been to the king's palace, and
this is what it gave me for you. It's a full heart, and it's written
out in the king's hand, signed by his hand, sealed with his
seal. The prisoner takes that, looks
at his friend, and looks at the open door in the prison, and
he says, you're lying to me. I'm not sure of this. No, no. Maybe the king won't live up
to his word. That seal could have been faked.
Somebody could have forged that pardon. You could be lying to
me. That's how men act. That's just how they act. Not
this prisoner. My friend has come, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he comes bearing in his hand. He comes bearing in his gospel. He comes with a word written
by God the King himself to my guilty soul. And he declares,
your sins are gone. You're pardoned. Oh, I'm going
to get down in the prison. He sends the prisoner. That's
what happens when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. That's
what happens when He reveals the gospel to us. It adds nothing
to His work. He entered in once into the holy
place and obtained eternal redemption for us. Now He comes by His Spirit
and declares the pardon. And we, believing it, rejoice
in it. Unbelief questions it. Unbelief doubts it. Unbelief
hesitates. Unbelief fears. Unbelief goes
on looking to self. Unbelief goes on looking to circumstances. Faith looks to him, the wounded,
risen, glorified Christ, and says, that's enough. That's enough. Pardon is mine. When did the
Lord do this? It's true. God applies the pardon
of sin at conversion. But our sins were laid upon Christ
and put away by Him long before we believe. God laid our sin
upon our surety in His eternal decree. He was verily the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world, the Lamb foreordained
of God from old eternity, but now made manifest unto us. God
executed His decree laying sin upon His Son when He hung His
Son upon the cursed tree. But I want you to get this. Oh, I've got to let you get hold
of this. It'll do your soul good. Oscar
Bailey, there will never be another transfer of sin. There will never
be another transfer of sin. God transferred our sin from
us to his son. He'll never transfer our sin
from his son back to us. Never. Can you grasp that? Never. There is not a moment
in time, there is not a condition possible in which God will transfer
sin back from Christ to his people. Sand, once it is laid upon the
scapegoat, is carried away, not into some reservoir where it
can be called back again, but it's carried into the land of
forgetfulness, never to be seen, never to be mentioned, never
to be remembered, never to be brought up again. That's Christ,
our Lord. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity
of us all, and He carried it with Him into the tomb. And there he lost. He lost. He lost. I mean, he's gone. Oh, my soul. Gone forever. Gone. Disposed of. He got rid of it. It's no more. God forgets our sin. God can't
forget anything. He can forget what ain't. Pardon
my language. No, don't pardon it. I meant
said that way. He can forget what ain't. He remembers our
iniquities no more, but God knows everything. He doesn't know what
is not. It's cast behind him as far as the east is from the
west. Find out that and you'll find sin. It's put behind his
back. Now you try to find me his back.
Where is your sin? It's gone. It's gone. I mean the blood of Christ has
expunged sin. from the record of heaven insofar
as his people are concerned, completely disposed of it. Therefore, it is written, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. He can't do it. God Almighty
can't do it. And in that last day, when The books are open and every
man is judged according to his works. There'll be no sin found. I mean, no sin. When was this
done? Is it done when a man believes?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was done a long time before
that. It was done when Jesus Christ cried, it is finished. It is finished. Somebody says,
well, that's talking about past sins. Doesn't apply to future sin. When it was done, all my sins
were future. When it was done, I hadn't yet been born. No, the
blood of Christ has expunged all the sins of all his elect,
past, present, and future. for all of eternity, so that
those for whom Jesus was made to be sin cannot hear me, hear
me, hear me, they cannot Not as long as God is just, not as
long as righteousness reigns, not as long as God is true, not
as long as God is faithful, those for whom Christ was made to be
sin can never be charged with sin. Never. Listen to what God
says. In those days, and at that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for. Go ahead and look. Look, all my enemies in this
world. Look, all the demons of hell. Look, Satan, my accuser. Look, look within with infinite
discerning, omniscient eye, inflexible justice of God my Father. Look! Look! Look! What shall you find? And there shall be none. None! None! Ever! Oh my soul, can you believe
Can you grasp it? He hath made him to be sin. He'll never make me sin again. Never. Never. That's the comfort,
the joy, the peace, and the security of the gospel. Now learn this
one thing more. Christ Jesus, our Lord, The one
upon whom sin has been laid is mighty to save. Read the text one more time,
laying all the weight and emphasis of the text on one word. The Lord hath laid on him. Laid on him. Him, Him, the iniquity
of us all. Now, this is of infinite importance.
That one upon whom sin was laid must have a back strong enough
and shoulders broad enough to carry the horrible load of iniquity
without sinking beneath it. Were it possible for our surety
to fail, we would be utterly without hope. The comfort and
hope of the gospel depends entirely upon the ability of Christ, our
surety, to bear our sins, to make satisfaction for justice,
and to execute his gracious will to save. Therefore it is written,
the Lord hath laid on him, him, the iniquity of us all. Then
spakest thou in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have
laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people, who is able to save to the uttermost them that
come to God by him. And of this mighty one it is
written, he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set
judgment or justice in the earth. Who is this great hymn upon whom
iniquity has been laid? Who is it? Everything rests here. This him, whoever he is, he's
the pillar upon which the house of faith stands. This him, he's
the foundation supporting the pillar. This him, he's the basis
upon which the whole structure is built. Who is it? If the pillar
falls, the whole house falls. If the foundation's weak, everything
crumbles. Who is he then? Him. Behold my servant. He's God's
anointed, appointed, ordained servant, Jesus Christ the Messiah. Who is this Him? It is Him, the
root out of dry ground, one who came into this world as a man,
a real man, just like us. Who is He? This is Him, the despised
and rejected man of sorrows. Who is he? This is him, the innocent,
holy substitute who lived in innocence for men. Who is he? This is him, the successful Savior. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see nothing left to
doubt, nothing of question. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By knowledge of him he'll justify
many, for he has borne their transgression. Who is he? He's the sovereign Lord seated
upon the throne of glory. As a result of his intercession,
as a result of his mediatorial work, therefore will I divide
him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong. He bear the sin of many and he
made intercession for the transgressors. This is the most wondrous, amazing,
astounding thing The most profound thing performed in all the world,
or in heaven itself, by our great God. The Lord hath laid on him, him,
him, the iniquity of us all. Sin is the most hateful thing
in the world to God. It's the only thing in the world
God abhors for itself. The only thing in the world. It's horrible, abominable, and
hideous in God's sight. Yet God made his lovely son to
be sin. I'm amazed. I'm amazed to think
that God should make his son to be a man for us. I'm amazed to imagine that God's
son should live in this world as a man of sorrows for us. I'm astonished when I think that
God's son was made to suffer and die for us. But when I read, he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, I'm altogether astonished. This is too wonderful, too sublime,
too mysterious. too divine for our puny minds
to comprehend it. Better that you should meditate
on it than that you should hear me talk about it. And my purpose in preaching to
you is simply somehow to stir up your hearts to a holy meditation
upon this glorious fact. Surely such an extraordinary
work is designed to accomplish extraordinary things. Why did
the Lord lay on him the iniquity of us all? I can't begin to answer
that question. I'm sure we'll spend eternity
discovering the answers. And we'll never tire of it. Then
our teacher will be a whole lot better teacher than the one you
had this morning. And we'll never tired of hearing him declare
why the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. But I know
this. God did it. He made his son to
be sin for us. that he might be satisfied, that he might be satisfied in
the purpose of his grace. He couldn't be satisfied without
it. The Holy God, the Holy God could
never rest. He could never be at ease. He
could never be satisfied until he made his son to be sin for
us, because from old eternity, he said, I'll be their father,
and they shall be my children. He made his son to be sin for
us to satisfy himself, his purpose of grace, and his inflexible
justice. He laid on him the iniquity of
us all that he might show the world the exceeding horrid loathsomeness
of sin. Sin. How do we view it? What is it? How do we judge it? See him hanging on the tree and cry, my God, my God, why
has thou forsaken me? Now just sit down and meditate
a little while. That's what sin is. He laid on Him the iniquity of
us all, that He might commend to us His infinite love. God
commendeth His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners,
what He hated, Christ died for us. He made His Son to be sin for
us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
He made his son to be sin for us that sinners might have a
strong consolation in this world. Here we are. Some of you going
through some trials. I know you are. Real trials. And you wonder. If you're going to conquer the
trial, the trial is going to conquer you. Some of you are facing real temptations. Real temptations. Temptations that seem to have
a death grip on your soul. And some of you are struggling
hard with sin, a horrible corruption of your heart. Well, in the midst of your trial,
and in the midst of your temptations, and in the teeth of all your
sins, hear me hear me no hear God hear God would to God you
could forget this man who's talking to you and hear him speak the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all that's good enough for me that's
good enough for me In the teeth of my trials, in the teeth of
my temptations, in the teeth of my sins, I have an everlasting
consolation and a good hope through grace. My sin's not on me. God laid it on his son. God laid sin on Christ so that
his elect might be freed from all fear of condemnation. so
that they could say with Paul, there's therefore now, right
now, not now, not forever, there is right now, no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? Nothing! He hath made him. to be sin for
us. He made him to be sin for us
so that at the appointed time Christ and his people might eternally
enjoy the purchased possession of heavenly bliss and eternal
glory. Now listen to me. There is no possession laid up
for God's saints in heaven but by the laying of iniquity upon
God's son at Calvary. There is no possession laid up
for God's saints in heaven, but by the laying of our iniquity
upon God's son at Calvary. Can you trust him? For whom was
he made to be sin? Us all. us all whom he's chosen,
us all whom he's called, us all whom he's given faith, us all
whom he preserves, us all whom he brings to glory, us all who
believe. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Amen.