Okay, now this evening, we want
to take a look at Isaiah 50. I'm entitling the message from
Isaiah 50, Our Redeemer, as it says in chapter 49, verse 26. that the Lord said, I am thy
Savior. There's just one Savior. There
is salvation in no other but the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
Lord here in Isaiah chapter 50 describes Himself. He tells us
the problem, our sin, And then He gives us the remedy. He is
the Redeemer from our sin. He said, I am thy Savior, I am
thy Redeemer, I am the Mighty One. He's Almighty. The Almighty One. Notice that. Capital O-N-E. He's the Mighty One. He said
in Isaiah many times, I am the Lord beside me, there is no other.
He's the only Mighty One. Almighty. He's the Almighty One
and He's the God of Jacob. Now that's interesting that He's
the God of Jacob because Jacob was a notorious sinner and the
Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Fear not, He said in
Isaiah 41, thou worm Jacob, you men of Israel, I will help thee,
saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He is
the only one, that's the Holy One of Israel. So I'm taking
the title or the message, the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord God, our Savior, describes Himself to us. Now our Lord is
not who we think that He is. A lot of people have the wrong,
wrong idea of who God is. They have the idea from their
own mind, their own thoughts. You remember from Psalm 50, Verse
21, where the Lord said, you thought, thou thoughtest that
I was altogether such a one as thyself. God is not who we think
that he is, he's who he is as he's revealed in this book. We
don't know anything about God apart from the way He reveals
Himself in His Word and in His Book. By nature we think too
highly of ourselves and we have low thoughts of God. Man by nature
thinks highly of himself and he has low thoughts about God. Our Lord Jesus Christ As He's
revealed Himself in the record of Holy Scripture, He's revealed
as the only Lord God Almighty. All of His prophets, all of His
apostles, and all of His preachers all have one message. That one
message is salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. In His person
and through His redeeming priestly work, He obtained for us eternal
redemption with His own blood. If we're not preaching the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and worshiping the true, sovereign
Lord as He's revealed in Scripture, the Holy One that's described
in testimony, we are nothing more than mere idolaters. If we're not worshiping God,
the true and living God, as He describes Himself in Scripture,
we're nothing but mere idolaters. And no better off than those
who have no true knowledge of God, and set up the wood of their
graven image and pray unto a God Remember that cannot save. Turn
back just a few pages. Remember where that's written?
Isaiah 45, when He described that I'm the only just God and
Savior. But right before that, Isaiah
45 verse 20 says, Assemble yourselves, come drawn near together. Ye
that are escaped in the nations, they have no knowledge that set
up wood of their graven imagination, their graven image. And they
pray unto a God that cannot save. Now look over here at the last
part of verse 21 of Isaiah 45. I'm the only just God. Beside
me, he said, there is no God else. A just God and Savior. There is none beside me. Now
look unto me. and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth. I am God, and there is none else. I want to look where salvation's
found. It won't do us any good to look where it's not found.
Salvation's not in the law. Salvation's not in ceremonial
tradition. Our Lord said, look to me and
be saved. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
All scripture, all scripture, Old Testament and New, all scriptures
are God-inspired, God-given, and they declare one glorious,
glorious message about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. All
the way from Genesis to the Revelation, it's all about the Lord Jesus
Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. They all talk about the Lord
Jesus Christ. His person who He is and His
redeeming work. Remember when our Lord met those
two men on the road to Emmaus, the risen Lord? And he began
to preach the gospel to them. Remember, beginning with Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. Isaiah tells us about the Lord
Jesus Christ, but so does every other prophet of God. So does
every other scripture of God. Our Lord said, you search the
scriptures to the Pharisees, you are they And they are they
which testify of me, but you will not come to me that you
might have life." They searched the Scriptures, and they did
diligently describe the Pharisees and Sadducees, but they missed
the message. They missed the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Lord died for our sins according
to the Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
key of knowledge of the Scripture. Now that's what this chapter
is all about, and all of Isaiah. We've seen that in our studies
in Isaiah, haven't we? The old timers called Isaiah
the gospel according to Isaiah. Isaiah 53 is a good example of
that. He was wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity. We have learned in all of our
studies in the Old Testament, it's all about the Lord Jesus
Christ. All the Psalms, the Psalms that
we've studied, 150 Psalms. There are 66 books, 66 chapters
rather. There are 66 books in the Bible,
but there are 66 chapters in the book of Isaiah, and every
one of them is about Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
from Romans 15, whatsoever things were written aforetime are written
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope. We have a good hope through grace.
What tells us about our good hope? It's not our feelings,
it's not our experience, it's the word of the Lord. That is
the foundation of faith. Thus saith the Lord. Now in verse
one, we learn the cause of our separation from God. Behold your
iniquities have you sold yourselves and your transgression is your
mother and for your transgression is your mother put away. Let's
go back to the beginning of verse 1. Isaiah 50, Thus saith the
Lord, Where is the bill? The Lord asked this question
of national Israel. Where is the bill of your mother's
divorcement? They were the children of Abraham,
the natural seed of Abraham. He's asking the question, you
show me the paper where I forsook you, where I put you away. They
couldn't produce such a paper. They forsook the Lord. You remember
when he came into his own, his own nation, his own people, John
chapter one, his own people, his own nation, they received
him not. What did they say when Pilate
said, behold your king? Away with that man. We don't
want anything to do with that man. Give us Barabbas. What about
the Christ? Oh, you kill him. You kill him. He came into his own nation.
Where is that paper you can produce saying that I divorced you? Or
which of my creditors is it to whom I've sold you? God doesn't
have any creditors. He didn't sell out his people.
Back under the law, if a man had much, much debt and he couldn't
pay his debt off, oftentimes he would sell his children into
slavery to pay off that debt. The Lord said, I don't have any
creditors. I don't owe anybody any money.
You can't charge me with not paying what is due. I have no
creditors. I have no debt. To whom have
I sold you? No. They sold themselves. He didn't
sell them out. They sold him out. Behold, for
your iniquities." Now here's the problem. Not only with national
Israel, but all of God's spiritual people as well, His spiritual
Israel, we all have the same problem. You know what that problem
is? Three, three, one, two, three, three letters. S-I-N. That's the problem. Now you talk
about, when people talk about sin or people being a sinner,
They think about different things. They do. Sin is not something
we do. Sin is what we are. We do what
we are. We do what we are. I have sold.
Have I sold you? No. They sold him out. Give us
Barabbas. Crucify the Lord. Behold, here's
a problem. He said, for your iniquities,
behold, for your iniquities have you sold yourselves. And for
your transgression is your mother put away. Sin is a terrible,
separating, separating thing. Turn over here, I believe it
is Isaiah 59. Let's turn there and see if this is the right
scripture. Isaiah 59, a little verse 1. Behold, the Lord's hand
is not shortened. Isaiah 59, 1. You got it? The Lord's hand is not shortened
that He cannot save. His hand's not drawn back. His hand's almighty. None can
stay His hand, neither is it ear heavy, that He cannot hear.
Call upon the name of the Lord, and you shall be saved, but your
iniquities have separated between you and your God. Now that's
the problem. God is holy, we are sinners.
and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with
blood, your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken lies, your
tongues have muttered perverseness, none calls for justice, no one
pleads for the truth, they trust in vanity, they speak lies, they
conceive mischief, they bring forth iniquity." What a horrible
list! That's a good description, that's
God's description of us. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. I thought about when I was reading it, I thought about
this Scripture here. Remember how Isaiah 1, Isaiah,
the book of Isaiah starts out, a sinful nation, Isaiah 1 verse
4, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children
that are corrupt, they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked
the Holy One to anger, they have gone backward, the whole head
is sick, the whole heart is faint. That's the Lord's estimation
from the sole of your foot, even to your head. There's no soundness,
there's no goodness. Wound, bruises, putrefying sword
that have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with
ointment. We have a terrible problem. And
we can't do anything about it. I cannot put away my sin. I can't
stop sinning against God. And left to ourselves, we'll
surely perish in our sin, for the wage of sin is death. an
eternal condemnation before God. Now that's the problem. He states
the problem. Thank God that he gives us the
answer. Wherefore, he says, when I came,
verse 2, when I came, there was no man. Turn one page over here
to Isaiah 53. Who had believed our report?
Isaiah 53-1. When I came there was no man.
When I called there was none to answer. Now that's man's estimation. of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
none. When I came, there was no man.
There was none that called out for mercy. There was none to
answer. Now, he asked this question.
After asking those questions, he said, is my hand shortened? at all that it cannot redeem? No, He has all power in heaven
and earth to redeem. His hand is not short, none can
stay His hand, or say unto Him, Lord God, what doest Thou? Remember
over here in Isaiah 63, He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Isaiah 63 verse 1. Who is this
that cometh from Eden with dyed garments from Basra? This is
as glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. His hand not
shortened. Is the Lord able to save to the
uttermost? Oh yeah. That's why he came. He came to seek and to save the
lost. He didn't come to call the righteous
sinners. This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. And Paul says he's the chief
one. Don't you think that about yourself? Oh, you do. I'm the chief sinner. Is my hand shortened at all?
No, thank God it's not. His hand is the Almighty hand.
He reaches down in the pit of sin. The pit from which we were
digged, remember from last week? The hole of the pit from which
you were digged? His hand is not shortened that it cannot
redeem. He is the Redeemer. He obtained
for us eternal redemption with His own blood, didn't He? None for whom He died can perish. His blood was not shed in vain.
His blood cleanses us from all our sin. Have I no power to deliver? Oh, He has all power to deliver.
He is called the Deliverer. He is the Savior who saves, really,
truly, forever. It says in Isaiah 45, 17, He
saves us with an everlasting salvation. I have all power to
deliver. He's the Almighty Deliverer.
He's the Almighty Redeemer. He is the Savior that saves. He is Redeemer that redeems.
And He has power to deliver. Now how much power does it take
to raise a dead man and give him life? If we don't have an
Almighty Savior, we're in big trouble. Because we're dead in
sin. You hath He quickened who were
dead. The Lord has all power to deliver. Deliver. He is the
Deliverer. And He obtains for us eternal
redemption. And He gives us here in verse
2 some examples of His power. Behold, He said, at My rebuke
I dry up the sea. Now that refers to, many times
we see this in Scripture, it goes back to that miraculous
parting of the Red Sea when Israel walked across on dry ground.
And God said, behold, salvations of the Lord. At my rebuke, I
dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness.
When Israel of old traveled around in the wilderness for 40 years,
When they finally crossed over into Jordan, and it was the time
of the year when Jordan's bank was overflowing, and when the
priest of God with the ark of God stood on the edge of that
river, the water stopped flowing, and they walked over on dry ground. I won't have to cross over Jordan
alone. We cross in Him and through Him
and by Him. I dry up the sea. I make the
rivers a wilderness." So much so that they walked across on
dry ground. He stopped the water. Verse 3
says, I clothe the heavens. He's describing His power. He's
describing the mighty one of Jacob. I clothe the heavens with
blackness. I make sackcloth their covering.
All them plagues. You can go back and read it in
the book of Exodus. All those plagues of different
bugs and different things. But one of those plagues was
darkness. Three days of darkness. The Lord just shut out the sun. That's almighty power, isn't
it? The Lord has almighty power. Now look at verse 4. The Lord
God, the Lord God, here He's talking about the Lord God had
given me the tongue of the learned. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
prophet that God told Moses, I'll raise up a prophet from
among the brethren, and I'll give him my word to speak, and
he'll speak my word, and the man that will not hear those
words, I'll require of him, I'll hold him to account, As our God
and as our Savior, Redeemer of the Lord Jesus Christ, he had
the tongue of the learned. He had all wisdom. He not only
had all power and might, but he had all knowledge, all wisdom. You remember they said when they
went to arrest him, Pharisee sent those soldiers out to arrest
him. When they came back, they said, where is he? Remember what
they said? Ah, no man spake like that man.
He had the tongue of the learned because he spoke the absolute
truth of God. That I should know how to speak.
Now what, this is sweet. The almighty God, he has all
wisdom, all knowledge. His tongue always speaks the
absolute truth. It's impossible for God to lie.
that I should know how to speak a word in season, a word seasoned
to him that is weary. Remember what he said in Matthew
28, all you labor, heavy laden, all you who are weary, come unto
me and I'll give you eternal rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest
to your soul. What a blessing we have in our
Savior to rest in Him. To rest and to cease from our
labor and to rest in Him. He is our Sabbath. We don't observe
a Sabbath day. We're not under the law. Christ is our Sabbath rest. We
rest in Him. He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth my ear to hear as
learned. As God, as the God-man mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ was always listening. Listening for the
word of His Father, what He should speak, where He should go, and
the work to accomplish that the Father gave Him to do. Now look
at verse 5. Let's look at verse 5. The Lord
God hath opened my ear. I was not rebellious, neither
turned I away back. Now this goes back to that bond
slave. That bond slave, the reference
is given there to, what is that reference there? Well, I'm not seeing the reference. I don't think I wrote it down.
Exodus 21, that's what it is. The Lord Jesus Christ was a willing,
loving bond slave. Exodus 21. He was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. The Lord God hath opened
my ear. I was not rebellious. That bond
slave, when he served his master those seven years, remember on
that seventh year, he could go out. But if he loved his master
and wanted to continue to serve his master, he served him out
of love. And they would bring that man,
somehow they would mark his ear, they would put a piercing ring
or something through his ear to show that he was the master's
servant out of love. He served out of love. And that's
what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He served His Father's purpose,
His redemptive purpose, and He did so out of love. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself in the
form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Our Lord said, you remember when
they came to arrest Him? They said, whom do you seek?
They said, Jesus. He said, I am. You remember what
happened? They all fell backward. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
willing servant of God out of love for us and for his father. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. He's a willing, willing substitute. He came to do the Father's will,
the Father's work for us. Now look at verse 6. I gave my
back. I gave my back to the smiters. Now this is the one who is almighty.
This is the almighty God. God in human flesh. You remember
when they came to arrest him and Peter, who was a fisherman,
he wasn't a swordsman, but for some reason he was carrying a
sword. When they came to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ, Simon
Peter pulled out that sword and he wanted to take the head off
of one of those servants. And that servant ducked and he
cut his ear. And the Lord restored that ear
and He told Peter, you put up your sword. I could call twelve
legions of angels to wipe out these guys. You remember what
one angel did? 250,000 Syrians killed. Twelve legions is 60,000 angels. Put up your sword, Peter. I must
go to Jerusalem. I must die. He gave himself for
us. Think about that. He gave Himself. He gave His life. He gave His
blood. He gave everything for us. You
remember Isaiah 53 verse 4, Surely He hath borne our griefs, carried
our sorrows. We did esteem Him, stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquities, Isaiah 53 verse 5. The chastisement of our peace
was upon it, and with his strife we are healed. He gave himself
for our sin. Think about it. Think about it.
He gave himself to the smiters. They lashed his back, scourged
him with a whip. He gave his cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair. They smote him on the face. They
planted a crown of thorns and crushed it down on his brow and
hit him on the face. They blindfolded him and slapped
him and said, you're a prophet? Tell us. Tell us who hit you.
How cruel. Our Lord submitted Himself to
all the cruel deeds of wicked men. But more than that, He submitted
himself to Almighty God as the Lamb of God, sacrificing himself
for our sin. I hid not my face from shame
and from spitting. Now, look at verse 7. Again,
the Lord here is describing himself and the shame and humility that
he endured dying for our sin, crucified for us. The Lord God
will help me. Therefore shall I not be confounded. He knew exactly, remember he
told Peter and the disciples, he knew exactly why he came,
he knew exactly what was going to happen when he walked into
Jerusalem. You remember he told Peter and
the other men, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be betrayed. I must die. I must suffer. I must die. I must be raised
again the third day. It's a must. There's no other
way. There's no other way for him
to accomplish our salvation than to die for our sin according
to Scripture. And Peter said to him, O Lord,
be it far from thee. Let's not go to Jerusalem if
that's going to happen. Remember what the Lord said to
him? Get out of my way. Get out of my way. Thou sabrest
not the things that be of God, but of men. And then he said,
you're trying to do Satan's business, Satan's job. Get out of my way.
I've got to go to Jerusalem. But he's not confounded. He's
not ashamed. He knows exactly what he's doing.
Many times when they came to arrest him, he said, my hour
has not yet come. And they couldn't lay a hand on him. And finally
he said, Father, the hour has come. The hour has come. This is the hour. Him being delivered
by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. The death
of the Lord Jesus Christ was not an accident. His death was
not accidental. He died on purpose. God's purpose. But he's not confounded as to
why he came and what he is doing, verse 7. Therefore have I set
my face like a flint. I know that I shall not be ashamed. They couldn't turn him from his
purpose, could they? Peter tried and the other disciples
tried. They couldn't turn him. You know,
a flinty rock is something real hard, isn't it? They made those... The old Indians made those arrowheads
out of flint because it's so hard. The Lord Jesus Christ was
steadfast in his purpose, always doing the will and work of God. He said his heart, his face,
determined to lay down his life for us, and he knows that I shall
not be ashamed. He cannot be ashamed. He was
stripped naked. nailed to the tree, and they
sat down and watched him die and mocked him there. If you'd
be the king, come on down, we'll believe you. Would they? They
would have believed him. But he's not ashamed of what
he's doing. He knows exactly why he came. He knows exactly
why he's dying. He's not ashamed. Look at verse
8. He is near. He is near that justifies
me. Delivered for our offenses, raised
again for our justification. He is near that justifies me.
Who will contend? Who will contend with him? Who
will wrangle, is the word, wrestle with him? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? You step
forward. You step forward. Let him come
near. We know from our study in the
Revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ is a mighty conqueror. All his
enemies will bow before him and confess that he is Lord. Verse
9, Behold, the Lord God will help me. He laid help upon one
that is mighty. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ
is a real man, but God in the flesh. But the Lord God will
help me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? Though they shall all wax old
as a garment, The moth shall eat them up. There is, therefore,
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. He was condemned
for our sin. Therefore, He took all of our
wrath. Therefore, there is no wrath
for us to endure. No condemnation to those who
are in Christ. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is condemned as Christ had died. The Lord shall eat them up as
a moth eats up a garment. You remember he said, sit here
on my right hand till I make all thy enemies thy footstool. Now look at verse 10. Here's the Lord's gracious promise.
Who is among you that feareth the Lord? By nature, none. Who is among you that obeyeth
the voice of a servant? Well, by nature, none of us do.
That walk in darkness, that's us. We love darkness. This is
condemnation. Remember John 3? This is condemnation. Light is coming to this world.
And men love darkness rather than the light. By nature, we
don't fear the Lord. By nature, we don't obey the
voice of a servant. By nature, we walk in darkness.
By nature, we have no light. He must turn on the light. He
must command the light to shine. That man who's in such sinful,
guilty condition that walks in darkness, that does not fear
the Lord, that does not obey the Lord, God says, you trust
Me. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. He is the light. He is our life. He is light and life unto us,
is he not? He said, I'm the light of the
world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. Let him trust. When should we
trust the Lord? Well, a lot of people, when they
get in trouble, they trust the Lord. But the Scriptures teach
us, remember Psalm 62, trust the Lord at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Let him trust in the Lord. In the name of the Lord, and let
us stay right there. Let's don't ever graduate above
being a sinner saved by the grace of God. Let's stay right there.
Let's abide right there, trusting Him and Him only. And then He
gives this warning. In another, behold, in verse
11. Are you that kindle a fire? He's talking here about the self-righteous.
Remember what He said in Isaiah 64 about the self-righteous? He said, all of your righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. are all you that kindle your
own fire, who work up your own righteousness by your doing,
your morality, that surround yourself with the own sparks
of your goodness, that walk in the light of your own fire, in
the spark that you've kindled. You see what he's saying here?
This shall you have of my hand, you shall lie down in sorrow. Those that trust the Lord stay
upon Him. But those who go about to establish
a righteousness of their own, who are ignorant of God, and
going about to establish their own righteousness, He said, this
you'll have of My own hand, you shall lie down in sorrow. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. What's the
flip side? He that believeth not the Son
shall the wrath of God abide on him. Our Lord said to those
Pharisees, for if you believe not that I am, you'll die in
your sins. Oh, for grace to trust Him and
to stay right there. Stay upon Him. Don't move an
inch. Look to Christ. Now and always
look to him and be saved.