Isaiah chapter 53. I won't keep
you very long. I just want to read one verse
to you. Somebody just read this chapter.
I think it was Mr. Baker a few Sundays ago. But
I just want to read this one verse to you. Verse 11. Being mindful of this chapter
and who it's speaking about. Verse 11, He shall see, God shall
see, the Father shall see of the travail of His soul, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and shall be satisfied. By His knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their
iniquities. He shall see of the travail of
His soul, The sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, what a mystery
these are to us. That He should suffer it all,
that's strange. If anybody deserved to suffer,
it certainly wasn't Him. He came down from heaven and
was born holy and lived holy. And to think about this man that
grew up there in verse 1 as a tender plant, that He should suffer,
but He did. from being born in a stable and
the humiliation of that to His death on the cross, Jesus Christ
suffered. And so many have categorized
His sufferings, the seven sufferings, the seven wounds. Somebody wrote
a book on the seven wounds of Jesus upon the cross and the
sins of Christ from the cross. But we're told here in verse
3 that he's called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And the context of that seems
to be one of the things that caused his sufferings that he
was despised and rejected of men. And because of that, he
was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And that speaks to
his social wounds. You may have never thought about
this, but think of the social wounds. that Jesus Christ suffered. I live in a small community and
almost everybody know each other. If you go out for a walk, people
talk to you and call you by name. And I thought how hurtful that
would be, how grieved I would be if that community turned on
me and began to spread rumors about me and I couldn't walk
out through the community except people was pointing at me or
calling me names or accusing me of something. You know the
Lord Jesus suffered those wounds. The Scripture says there in Luke
chapter 4 that He went back up to Nazareth where He was raised. And He went to preach to them
and He opened the Bible and began to preach. And the Scripture
says they were so angry with Him that they drug Him out to
the brow of the hill to cast Him down. Social wounds. Can you imagine your community
where you were raised up, the folks that knew you and now they
turned on you? He is despised and rejected even
by his own community. And consider this, one of his
own friends betrayed him. Well, you haven't been betrayed
by a dear friend, by an old friend, a close friend. He had a man
that he called his friend, Judas Iscariot. that betrayed him. Judas, do you betray the Son
of God with a kiss? And the Bible says he was exceedingly
grieved in his spirit and said, one of you shall betray me. That's
social wound. And then think that he was forsaken
of almost all of his friends and all of them for a while.
All of you shall forsake me and you shall go to your own homes.
All of you shall forsake me. Man, I can't imagine what it
would be to be forsaken of everybody. Everybody. But he said, God's
with me. Didn't he say that? My Father's
with me. He sent me. But you know, come a time when
the Father forsook him. He didn't have anybody then.
That's the end of his friendship with anybody for a time. And
here's what he said in Psalm 69, 20. Reproach has broken my
heart, I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none. I looked for comforters, but
I found none. They gave me gall for my meat,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." How can you
and I possibly enter into the sufferings of the Son of God?
And then when we go on here to the text, In verse 10 before
it, it says this, Thou hast made His soul an offering for sins. That's a deeper wound there.
And that's the ultimate wound there, an offering for sin. And
I don't know how to describe the Lord Jesus Christ's soul
being made in an offering for sin. I guess the best way we
can picture it is to go back into the Old Testament and see
those sacrifices, those animal sacrifices, and get a picture
of His soul. When they were going to make
an animal sacrifice, they took a live animal, they cut its throat,
they skinned it, and then they parted it out and then they burned
it. Now, if you can look at that picture and imagine and apply
that to the soul of the Lord Jesus Christ. His soul was bruised. His soul was wounded for our
transgression. How can we possibly enter into
this? My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. For men to forsake Him and for
men to smite Him, oh, that's one thing. but for God to do
it. He was smitten of God. He was
wounded by God. But here in the 52nd chapter
in verse 14, not only His soul was made an offering for sin,
but He tells us here about the sufferings of His body. Look
what He says in chapter 52 in verse 14. As many were astounded
at the... they were astonished They came
there to the cross, the Bible says, and saw Him hanging on
the tree, and they smote on their breast. They were astounded. Why? His vestige, His face, was
so marred more than any man, and His form, His body, more
than the sons of man. And when you looked at His body,
He was probably unrecognizable. All of us have seen people that
have been beat up, or been in an awful a car wreck or something,
and you didn't recognize him. You didn't recognize him. You've
heard of people going to the morgue to look at some dear friend
or relative, and they say, no, that's not my relative. And later
on they found out it was, but they didn't recognize him because
they'd been disfigured. He was almost at the point where
you could not have recognized him. He looked more like a sacrificial
animal than a man. You just remember the crown of
thorns that they'd put in his head. The holes were still there
and bleeding. His beard had been plucked from
his face. His jaws were swollen from the
beating. His tongue was swollen that he
could hardly breathe. And then you go down to His hands
that were pierced and outstretched upon the cross. You go down to
His feet, and there you have His feet pierced. The hole in
His side, hanging there limp, you could hardly recognize Him
as a man. His face and His forearm was
more marred, more than any man. The sufferings of the Son of
God. We could dwell a long time upon
this, especially in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament.
Peter said this about him. He once suffered. He once suffered. He once suffered. But let's leave that and go to
this. Secondly, considering our text, not merely that he suffered. That's not enough, is it? We
can't stop there. If we stop there, we would lead
to some sort of a pity. Oh, we pity Jesus. Look how He
had to suffer. We have to go beyond that. We
must consider, first of all, the reason for His suffering. What was the cause of His suffering? And secondly, what was the effect
of His suffering? He suffered for many reasons.
The Scripture says He suffered leaving us an example. What an
example of self-denial! In His suffering He committed
Himself to God who judges faithfully. He never lashed out at those
who caused His suffering. He committed Himself to God.
What a good example for you and me in our suffering. And secondly,
he experienced this suffering to be able to sympathize with
those who suffer. The Scripture says he suffered
being tempted that he might be able to secure them that are
tempted. We haven't a high priest that
can be touched with the feelings of our infirmity. You and I would
probably never believe the high Lord of heaven could know what
we're going through. But you know, we've got to believe
He knows now, because He's experienced it. He's experienced it. There's no temptation taking
you, but what He's already suffered it. He suffered being tempted. Thirdly, He suffered for our
sins. He was wounded for our transgressions,
and He was bruised for Our iniquities. Now dwell upon that. Please don't
pass over that. We read that so much and we just
pass right over it. We're so used to this. But listen
to what it says. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Somebody's got to pay the price
for sin. Somebody has to suffer for sin. That's what this text
is about. Christ suffered for our sins
the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. Christ,
the substitute, is such a mysterious thing and is such a wonderful
truth in the Scripture. And what was pictured in those
old animal sacrifices when they took the sins of Israel and put
it upon the head of that scapegoat? and they sent the scapegoat out
into the wilderness never to return? That was just symbolic. Nobody put any sins on the head
of that goat. He never actually took their
sins away. It was a picture of Him that
was to come. It was a symbol of Him that would
really burn our sins and would really suffer for our sins and
would really put our sins away. He says there in verse 6 that
all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. You and I did the sinning. We
have done the sinning. He did the suffering. Christ
did the suffering. Why did He suffer? For sins. But you know we shouldn't stop
there. We can't stop there, Kevin. We've got to go on to one more
step. What was the effects of Christ's
suffering? What was the effects of His death?
Look at my text again in verse 11. He shall see of the travail
of His soul, and look at this, and shall be satisfied. God was satisfied. It didn't
mean that God got a kick out of it. It didn't mean that God
laughed as Christ suffered, but His justice was satisfied. His
holiness was satisfied. His wrath was satisfied against
sin and had been fully pacified. Justice is fully pacified. John and the sufferings of Christ
for our sins. God is satisfied. The full price
owed to justice was paid there at the cross 2,000 years ago. Boy, that's so easy to come out
of my mouth. But that's one of the most difficult
things for an afflicted conscience to get a hold of. A dead conscience
can lay hold of that in just a minute and never get into a
second thought. Oh, I believe that. Yeah, I believe that and
go on their way. But boy, you let the conscience get in trouble.
You let the conscience apprehend something of the justice of God
and the wrath of God. Let a conscience begin to feel
its sins, and one of the most difficult things to lay hold
of is this very thing, that God is satisfied in the atonement
of His Son. Do you ever have any trouble with
that? When we're wrapped in the self-righteous rags that we're
barned in, it doesn't enter into our mind. We don't feel a need
for this. But boy, I tell you what, when
the conscience gets afflicted, this is the only place that will
give a conscience rest. Old Scott Richardson used to
say, It takes the same thing to satisfy an afflicted conscience,
a guilty conscience, as it took to satisfy God. And what did
it take to satisfy God? The death of His own Son. The
suffering of His own Son. That's the first effects. That's
the first effects upon the death of Jesus Christ. God is satisfied. Boy, when you can get a hold
of that. When you can get a hold of that, when you can know and
believe that. Secondly, there's something else
here you'll notice in the last part of verse 11. Let me read
it to you again. God shall see the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied, there's the first one, by his
knowledge, by knowing him or him knowing them, whichever way
you choose to look at it. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. He shall justify many. That's
the second effect upon the death of Jesus Christ. The justification
of many sinners are secured. They're secured. The debt being
paid was a guarantee that the guilty would go free. If I read
this passage here just as a little child, what conclusion would
I come to? If you just read this as a little
child, just like it's written, "...by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many. For he shall bear their iniquities."
If you just read that, what conclusion would you come to? You'd come
to this conclusion. If he bore a man's iniquities,
then that man was going to be justified. Ain't that the best
way to read that? He shall justify many. Why? Because He shall bear their
iniquities. It seems to be said to me that
it's utterly impossible for Christ to bear a man's iniquities and
then that man die unjustified. Isn't that what it's saying?
If we just read that like the Holy Spirit seems to be writing
it. If Jesus paid the debt then the
debtor must be relieved of any responsibility of paying the
debt himself. He paid the debt so the debtor
is free. Whatever Jesus Christ obtained,
whatever He accomplished by His sufferings and His death, and
I said this morning, I don't know how far reaching that is.
I don't. I know this much. He is Lord
of all. as the man because he died. To
this end, Christ both died, revived, and rose again that He might
be Lord of the dead and the living. He earned the right as a man
to be Lord over everything and everybody. He even bought the
false prophets that deny Him. He owns everything. But when
it comes to redemption, when it comes to justifying sinners,
every one that He died for will be justified. They will be saved
because He paid the price for them. And who is this limited to? As
the Holy Spirit writes it here in verse 11, it's limited to
those that He actually died for in a saving way. Those that He
suffered for. Those who will finally be saved. We could say it like this. The
death of Christ for sins was so real and so satisfying to
God that if Christ died for all men without exception, then all
must be saved without exception. If justice was really satisfied
for the sins of all men without exception, then why do multitudes
perish in their sins? We've got a law in our land,
if you try a man, and you find him guilty, and you put him in
prison, and he gets out, you can't try him again. Justice has already been after
him, it's arrested him, and he served his time, and you cannot
try him again. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
suffered for a man's sins, then God who is just cannot demand
another payment for that sin. What is hell about? I hope nobody here this afternoon
would deny the eternal punishment of the wicked. It's eternal and
it's punishment. What is that about? God punishing
them for their sins. How could God punish His Son
for those in hell and then turn around and punish His Son for
those same sins? It's impossible, isn't it? And
here is the ground for the assurance of every dear child of God. You that are here and you believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, here's the foundation for your assurance. God cannot pay it twice to man. First at your bleeding charity's
hands, and then again at yours. He cannot and he will never do
that. Now that's the grounds for assurance,
isn't it? Old Luther used to tell his congregation, he like
John used to tell me about the guy that used to get out and
walk in the congregation. I knew a guy like that too. And Luther
used to do that. He'd get down out of the pulpit
and he'd just walk in the congregation and talk to them. And he said,
when the devil comes to you and tells you, you're the greatest
sinner that ever walked in this world. Your sins are so awful,
you are to be punished in hell forever. Agree with him. Tell
him you know it. But tell him this, that Jesus
Christ stood as charity for your sin. And since he did that, you
are not charged by heaven's court anymore. God's court is satisfied. Your conscience is satisfied.
You'll never be punished for your sin again. Could I tell
an old story that I've told so many times? I'm getting old,
so I'll repeat these things. Remember the story I've told
you 510 times now about the wagon train going west? And they got
out there on the plains? If you've never been on the plains,
then you could see this happening. when the weeds were high and
the fields were grassy and dry. And they got out there on those
plains and they saw smoke ahead of them. And they knew the fire
was coming in their way. And they took and burned out
a huge area. And the wagon train master says,
circle the wagons in that burned out place. They circled all the
wagons and the fire got closer and they could feel the heat
from it. And one little boy began to tug on his daddy's breeches
leg and says, Daddy, are we going to be burned up? And he said,
No, son, we're safe. And just a few minutes, he began
to feel a little more of the heat. And he said, Daddy, are
you sure we're not going to be burned up? And he said, No, son,
we're safe. And finally he said, Daddy, how
do you know? And he said, Son, we're standing where the fire
has already been. Isn't that our assurance? What's
all this suffering about? The agonies of the soul of the
dear Son of God. What's all the suffering of His
body about? It's not just to glean from us
our pity. That's the fire. That's the burning
of God's judgment upon our sin. And when we're standing in Him,
we cannot fear punishment from God anymore. because we're standing
where the fire has already been. That's the effects of the suffering
of the Son of God. God saw the travail of His soul
and was satisfied in His knowledge, by knowing Him, if you will. He shall justify many, many. I cannot personally see how the
Son of God could suffer for a man's sins, knowing who Christ is,
and knowing the dreadfulness of his sufferings, and yet see
that man perishing and suffering himself. I cannot see that. If
you can't see that, that's fine. I won't argue with you about
that. Good people don't see that. J.C. Ryle never seen that. John
Bunyan never seen that. I can't see it any way else.
Now let me finish with this quickly. Let me answer some questions.
What about those scriptures that says Christ died for all? He tasted death for every man.
He's the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Let
me begin by saying this. When you read the Bible, and
you read such places here, that seems to suggest that He did
it for all without exception. Remember that the Bible is written
to the church. Remember who the Bible is written
to when He says us all. He laid on Him the iniquity of
us all. Remember who He is writing to.
He is writing to us. He is writing to His people.
He's not writing to the ungodly, to the world, to the unbelievers.
If I leave my house on a trip and I write my wife back a letter
telling her how much I love her, and then I come back and I find
out she's taken that letter and been out in the community telling
all these other women, we got a letter from her husband. That
wouldn't work, would it? I say, Wifey, what are you doing?
Isn't this first and foremost to the church? Especially when
you come into the epistles, it's to the church. To the church
up at Corinth. To the church at Coloss. To the
churches. Keep that in mind. John was writing
and he said we love Him because He first loved us. Are you going
to apply that to everybody? Now if we do, we're going to
err, aren't we? Because everybody don't love Him, let's be honest.
We! We! He said we! But He's not
talking about everybody, is He? He's talking about the church.
We who do love Him. Consider alls, and I'm just going
to hint at some of these for you, and just hint at them and
let you, as you read your Bible, you can maybe begin to look at
your Bible another way. The scripture says Christ died
for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him that loved them. All is sometimes used to describe
a large portion of people in the scripture. Listen to Matthew
chapter 3 verse 5. Then went out unto him Jerusalem,
and all Judea, and all the regions about Jordan and were baptized
of him in Jordan confessing their sins all Judea Did all of them go a Large portion
of them did but not all without exception the Pharisees didn't
go did they? The Sadducees didn't go. They
rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized
by John. So all is used in a limited sense. Listen to Matthew 10, 22. You
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. I never hated
them. I never knew them. All men without
exception never hated them. They never heard of them. But
it's used in a limited sense. Most men that know you are going
to hate you. In John 3, 26, John's disciples,
John the Baptist's disciples came to him and said, Rabbi,
he that was baptized in beyond Jordan, to whom thou bar'st witness,
behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to him. And yet Christ stole the multitude.
He will not come to me. So it's used in a limited sense.
And as you go on and read the Scriptures, you can see so many
places. Let me read you one more. In
Jeremiah 31, 34. This is concerning the new covenant. All. And they shall teach no
man, every man, they shall teach no more, every man his neighbor,
saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me. from the least
to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness."
See how all is used in a limited sense. So when Christ died for
all, don't look at that as meaning everybody without exception,
okay? What about the whole world? Well, listen to what a limited
use that is. John often used the world and
the whole world. Listen to 1 John 5, 19. And we
know that we're of God, little children, and the whole world
lies in wickedness. The whole world without exception,
not the children of God, so it is limited, is it? Listen to
Revelations 12 and 9. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth
the whole world. And he was cast out into the
world. He deceives the whole world. John, has he deceived
you? You are not deceived, are you?
He used to have you deceived. There's a bunch of people in
this world that the devil has not deceived. But it said the
whole world. But the whole world is limited
to those who be deceived. Christ said if it was possible,
He'd deceive the very left. But it's not possible. There
are some hints about that. One more. Every man. Hebrews
chapter 2 says He tasted death for every man. Listen to 1 Corinthians
12. The manifestation of the Spirit
is given to every man to profit withal. Is the Spirit given to
every man without exception? It's not, is it? Listen to 1
Peter 4, 10. As every man has received the
gift, so let him minister the same one to another as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God. Has every man received the gift
of ministry? No. It's limited to those who
actually have. And one more, listen to this.
Romans 12 verse 3, For I say through the grace given unto
me, to every man that is among you, not to thank of himself
more highly than he ought to thank, but to thank soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Has God given every man faith?
Paul said some men thought all men have faith, didn't he? So
see what I'm saying. Look at this in that light. When
you see every man in the whole world and all, look at it in
that light. Christ bore the sins of all kinds
of people, and He tasted death for every man who was going to
be saved. And I tell you, He died for the
whole world in this sense. All nations, all people, all
tongues, all families, what nation is it that His death has not
touched and delivered? I bet there's one prayer that
you can't pray. I bet nobody here with any spiritual
understanding can pray this prayer. When you go to the Lord and you
say, Lord, I know that You've done no more for me than You
did Judas. Could you pray that prayer? You
couldn't, could you? Has He not done more for you
than He did Judas? You think Moses ever went to
the Lord and said, Lord, I thank You for what You've done for
me, but I know that You did no more for me than You did Pharaoh.
I bet Peter never went and said, Lord, I thank You for Your grace
to me, but I bet he didn't say You did no more for me than You
did Judas. If you're here this afternoon
and you know, as Paul did, he loved you and gave himself for
you, you know that he's done something for you that he has
not done for multitudes who perished. The death of Christ is particular.
It's effectual. It actually accomplished the
intentions that he had in dying. God bless this Word.