Isaiah 52 is our text today,
verses 13 down through verse 15. I'm entitling the message
from the words found in verse 13, where it says, Behold, my
servant shall deal prudently, or my servant shall prosper.
My servant shall prosper. So I'm entitling the message,
and I'm calling it, Christ Shall Prosper. The Lord Jesus Christ
shall prosper. It says that again over in Isaiah
53 verse 10. You see over there the last part
of Isaiah 53 10. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper." Prosperity. Prosperity in His hand. His doing. Whatever He puts His
hand to, prospers. Prosper. The Lord Jesus Christ,
as the Messiah sent of God, as a God-man mediator sent to accomplish
our salvation, and that's what He did. That's why He came. to
seek and to save sinners, his people, and all that he did,
all that he did, all that he accomplished, God says that he
shall prosper. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ will prosper because he will see to it. He will see too. All that He has done, all that
He has accomplished shall prosper to the glory of His name. To
the glory of His name. We had a message on the radio
this morning from Galatians chapter 1 about how the Lord has delivered
us, how the Lord has saved us and redeemed us all to the glory
of His name. Everything God does, He does
to the glory of His name. He does on purpose, and it shall
prosper. What He does, He does on purpose,
and it shall prosper to the glory of His name. We studied Psalm
79 in our midweek service, and there we read this verse. It
says, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name, deliver
us and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. If God, you
can cry out in your heart, Lord, save me for the glory of your
name. Save me to the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's a good prayer. Now I've
told you that chapter divisions have been added by Bible translators
to help us find our way through the Scripture, but originally
the book of Isaiah was just one book. You remember in John chapter
4 when the Lord went to the synagogue on that day to worship? and they
gave him the book of Isaiah. And he found in the place of
Isaiah where it is written about the Spirit of the Lord was upon
him. And he said, This day is the Scripture fulfilled. But
he didn't turn over to Isaiah 61 or Isaiah 63. He just turned
to the place where it was found. Now Bible translators have given
us chapter divisions. And they're helpful, aren't they?
And sometimes they place them in awkward places. And I think
this is one of those places. I think Isaiah 53 really should
begin in Isaiah 52 verse 13 where it talks about, Behold my servant. We see in these few verses here,
verse 13, 14, and 15, the Lord's humiliation and exaltation and
I believe they serve as an introduction to what is so wonderfully told
us in Isaiah 53 about how the Lord Jesus Christ as my substitute. He's my substitute. He's a substitute
of believers. How he was wounded and bruised
for me. how He made atonement for my
sin, how He worked out a perfect righteousness for me, for His
people, for believers. Now I pray as we consider these
three verses today, I pray that God the Holy Spirit will be our
teacher, be our guide, enable me to declare unto you the unsearchable
riches of Christ, enable, I pray God will enable you to hear this
message. Hear it not just with these ears,
but I mean hear it as it's sin of God in your heart, in your
spirit. Now, here's the first thing.
Look at verse 13. Here's the first point. God said,
Behold, behold, he said, you take a good look at this. You
behold with earnest and intent contemplation. You behold my
servant. He shall prosper in all that
he does. Behold my servant. Now, we've
seen this before. Hold your place there. Find Isaiah
42, verse 1. You remember this? Isaiah 42,
1. God said, Behold my servant. Whom I uphold, He's my elect. I want to have eyes of faith
to behold Him, my elect and whom my soul delighteth. I put my
spirit upon Him. He shall bring forth salvation
to sinners. I want to behold Him. I want
you to behold Him in the beauty of His person. Behold Him, behold. Now, think about this. He's God
the Son. He's God manifest in the flesh
when He came in the flesh. But let us never forget that
He is the servant of God. the God-man. He's God the Son,
but He's the Son of Man. The Lord Jesus Christ, we see
here as a servant of God in His mediatorial office, as the mediator
of the covenant of grace. As such, He is the prophet who
reveals God unto us. As such, as in His mediatorial
office, He is the priest of God that represents me before God.
In His meditatorial office as the King, He's the King that
reigns over your heart, your thoughts. He's the King that
reigns in your salvation. If you have salvation, you have
it by the will of the King. He has willed it for you. For
He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Over in Isaiah
53, verse 11, He's called, My righteous servant. You see Him?
You see that? By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity. He's the righteous servant of
God. He had no sin as the God-man mediator. He was tempted and
tested in all points like as we are, yet he was without sin,
the righteous servant of God, working out a perfect, everlasting
salvation for us. He's the obedient son. He is
the servant of God, the righteous servant of God. He's the obedient
son. We read in Philippians 2. You
remember? He became obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross.
He was obedient to God, honoring the law of God in every precept
for us. Remember in Isaiah 42 verse 21? God said, My righteous servant,
he will magnify the law and make it honorable. He said, For his
sake I am well pleased. He will magnify the law for us. He is the obedient son unto the
Father. He is the surety of the covenant.
He is the mediator of that everlasting covenant of grace. Now, God would
have us to behold Him. Behold Him as a servant of God
as He works out our salvation. Salvation is according to His
doing, not mine. His will, not mine. His work,
not mine. Aren't you glad it's that way?
Salvation's always determined, dependent, and accomplished by
Him. Behold my servant. Now let's consider several things
here. The Lord Jesus Christ is a servant of God, of God's choosing,
God's choosing, of God's calling, of God's sending, of God's bringing
forth in the fullness of time. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. and his own supporting. God upheld
him. Remember, a few pages back, turn
a page or two back to Isaiah 50. Isaiah 50. He's a servant
of God, the righteous servant of God, the surety of the covenant,
of God's choosing, calling, sending, bringing, and supporting. Isaiah
50 verse 7, the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not
be confounded? Therefore have I set my face
like a flint? I know I shall not be ashamed.
He is near that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near. Behold, the Lord God will help me." You see, failure
is not an option. As a matter of fact, it says
in Isaiah 42, remember? I told you one of my favorite
verses He shall not fail or be discouraged. Everything he does
shall prosper. You see, this is a servant that
was upheld by God Almighty. Therefore, he cannot fail. As
a servant of God, he worked out perfect redemption for us. As
a servant of God, he worked out redemption by the eternal decree
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, being
the willing servant, delighted to accomplish God's will in saving
sinners by His grace. Now, look at these words here
carefully. Turn to John. Hold your place
here in Isaiah 52. Find John chapter 4. John chapter 4. The willing servant, that delighted
to do the will of God. Remember what we read in Philippians
2, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. A willing
servant to God Almighty. John chapter 4, look what he
says here. The disciples were all hungry
and they came to the Lord and said unto him, In the meanwhile,
verse 31, his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. And
he said unto them, I have meat that you know not of. Therefore
said the disciples one to another, had any man brought him meat
to eat? In verse 34, the Lord said, My
meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his
work. That's his meat, to do the will
of God and to finish that work. Now turn to John chapter 5, verse
30. John chapter 5 verse 30, to do
the Father's will, His will of redemption, His covenant will,
covenant mercy. John chapter 5 verse 30, He said,
I can of myself do nothing, as I hear I judge, my judgment is
just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father
which has sent me. You see, He came to do the Father's
will. Turn another page to John chapter 6, Verse 37, John chapter
six, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. You see,
he's a willing, obedient servant. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me. Of all which he had given me, I lose nothing.
I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Now turn to John 17. He said,
My meat is to do the will of him that sent me. Behold this
obedient servant unto God, the righteous servant of God, coming
at the appointment of God, by the decree of God, to accomplish
our salvation. John 17. John 17 and he says
in verse 4, I've glorified thee on the earth, I've finished the
work you gave me to do. What work is this? Turn to John
19 verse 30. John 19 verse 30, when the Lord
Jesus Christ is about to die, give his last breath as he bears
the weight of the sin of God's people laid on him. He said in
John 19 verse 30, when he received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. He bowed his head and he yielded
up his spirit unto God, having accomplished the will of God.
So behold my servant, behold my servant. He's a willing sent
servant, the one that was supported, called, and sent of God Almighty. Second thing we see in verse
13, back at the text, Isaiah 52, verse 13, the Lord Jesus
Christ shall deal prudently. to deal prudently. Now this phrase,
deal prudently, can be translated three ways. It has the sense
of these three meanings. Three ways. As the text has it
here, he shall deal prudently, which means he shall deal wisely. He shall deal wisely. The Lord
Jesus Christ and His humanity was wise and prudent in all things. Wise in His behavior. How many
times did those Pharisees come upon him with an idea to trick
him with their questioning and how he totally amazed them the
way he answered. He was prudent in all things.
prudent in all of his ways, wise in his behavior, wise in answering
the questions of those who question him, therefore working out for
us a perfect righteousness before God, wise in his behavior, wise
in his conduct, wise in his life in all things. Such a high priest
became us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners. He shall deal wisely. Our Savior, who is a servant
of God, He is most wise. You know what it says in Scripture?
That all the treasures of wisdom are hid in Him. In Him. Now, something else we see here.
This word also means this. He shall cause us to understand. He shall cause us to understand. To understand. Now, what does
He cause us to understand? Let's see if we can find out
in the Word of God. Turn to 1 John chapter 5. He causes us to understand. That is, He gives us an understanding
of the Gospel. You see, the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. He can't know them. He
can't understand them. The carnal mind has enmity against
God. He gives us a spiritual understanding. This wise, holy servant of God,
we're told to behold Him who gives us understanding. 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter
5. And we know the Son of God has
come and He's given us an understanding. He's given us a discernment and
an understanding that we may know Him that is true. We are
in Him that is true. Even in His Son Jesus Christ,
this is the true God. If you've been given an understanding
of God, you know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true God,
and you know that the Lord Jesus Christ, we understand that eternal
life is in Him. You see, in Him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is able to make us wise unto
salvation. He gives us an understanding.
This servant of God shall deal wisely. He shall deal in giving
us understanding of who God is and the way of salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then the third sense of that
phrase is this, as a marginal reference has it, shall prosper. My wise servant shall prosper. Prosper. He prospers over all
things. He prospers in all things. Joseph,
you remember Jacob's son, Joseph, was sold into slavery. But God,
when he was sent down to Egypt, everything that he put his hand
to, the Lord prospered it. So much so that he became king
in Egypt, from the prison to the throne. God made his hand
to prosper. And he is a fit type and picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everything the Lord Jesus
Christ did on our behalf, prospers. He prospers in redemption. He
prospers in righteousness. The gospel shall prosper. He's
the author of all our spiritual prosperity. Now let me show you
scripture on that. Turn back to Psalm 1. Psalm number 1. This is how the
book of Psalms starts. It talks about the man that shall
prosper. And this is talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 1, verse 1. Blessed is
the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and his law doth
he meditate, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water. Who is this blessed man? The
Lord Jesus Christ, bringing forth fruit in his season. His leaf
shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth, it'll prosper." It'll
prosper. Everything the Lord Jesus Christ
put his hand to, Prospers, prospers. His church shall prosper. Turn
to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23. This is a prophecy
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 23 verse 5. Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I'll raise unto David a righteous
branch, a king shall reign, and what's that word? Prosper. He
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. His days shall
Judah be saved, and his days Judah shall be saved. Israel
shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby
he shall be called the Lord, our righteousness. He prospers
in everything he does. And because of that, his church
shall prosper. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. In him we have
spiritual prosperity. We have spiritual prosperity.
Okay, back to the text now. Here's a second point. God said,
Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, prudently, he shall prosper. And then it says, My servant,
the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be exalted, shall be extolled,
and shall be very high. Very high. Now, Three different
words, exalted, extolled, and be very high. But all three words
have the same thought, don't they? His glory, His honor, His
praise unto Him. Now let's look at these three
things. First thing He says here is exalted. Exalted. You remember
from the reading in Philippians 2.9? The Father hath what? Highly, what? Exalted him, and
given him a name which is above every name, that at that name
every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that he
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Highly exalted by God. He's exalted in his resurrection
glory, isn't he? Being raised from the dead, delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. But not
only raised from the dead, exalted as a God-man mediator, but higher
than that. when He by Himself purged our
sin, what happened? He ascended to glory and He sat
down upon the throne, having accomplished all our salvation. Highly exalted of God, His resurrection
glory, His ascension, and as the Mediator, the Father having
put all things in His hand, all salvation and all judgment. It
says in John 3.35, remember? The Father loves the Son and
has given all things into His hand. All things in creation,
all things in providence, all things in salvation. He's highly
exalted. You know, we can't be guilty
of exalting the Lord Jesus Christ too high. Can we? Can you give
Him too much honor, too much glory? God has highly exalted
Him. We worship Him as exalted God
our Savior. And then the second word is this.
It says there, He shall be extolled. Extolled. Now this word has a
sense of honor. He shall be honored. He shall
be worshipped. He shall be esteemed. by His
people. We esteem Him, don't we? We extol
Him in our heart, don't we? We worship Him in our heart now,
we do. And we will eternally as we're
with Him and sing unto Him, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive all honor, glory, and power. We worship Him and esteem
Him by giving Him all the glory for our salvation. In our hearts,
in our thoughts, in our affection, in our love for Him, we extol
Him. Not like we ought to, not like
we should, but we do, don't we? We love Him because He first
loved us. God forbid we should glory save
in the cross the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and that salvation
we have in Him. So He is exalted by the Father.
He is extolled by His people. And then it says there, kind
of a capstone here, it says He's very high. How high is He? How high is the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, He's high as God because He is God. From everlasting to
everlasting thou art God. Higher than the kings of the
earth, higher than the angels of heaven, they bow down and
worship Him. Higher than the heavens themselves,
for He created all things by the word of His power. As I said
a moment ago, you cannot give Him too much honor and glory.
He is very high, very high. We preach Him to be the Most
High God, our Savior. We do extol Him. We do honor
Him. He is exalted by God Almighty. Now look at verse 14. This One
who is a servant of God, this One who is exalted and extolled
and very high, here we see His humiliation. His humiliation. His, as many as were astonied,
astoned, astonished at Thee, His visage, His appearance, as
He hangs on Calvary's tree, was so marred more than any man,
and has formed His body more than the sons of any man ever. The Savior here speaks of His
great humiliation when He suffered the wrath of God on our behalf. You see, the exaltation of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the God-man mediator came by way of His suffering
for us. His exaltation to glory comes
by the way of His humiliation. Now consider three things on
this point. Who is this one that suffers? Ah, he's just another
Jew. Can anything good come out of
Nazareth? Oh, come and see. You see, it's who this man is. It's just not a mere man. This
man is God. He's the God-man, mediator. It's who he is that gives power
and glory to what he did. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who is
this one that suffers so great? From 1 Peter 3, verse 18, Christ
once suffered for our sins. Who is He? He's the Messiah,
the Christ of God, the anointing of God. He once suffered for
our sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God.
He is the Christ of God who suffers for us. No one suffered like
this man ever suffered. And He suffers at the hands of
His Father. Is it nothing to you? Lamentation,
1 12 Jeremiah laments. And we can truly and rightly
take those words of Jeremiah and put them upon the lips of
the Lord Jesus Christ as he hangs on Calvary's tree. And can't
you hear him say, is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me. Who hath afflicted me? The Lord
hath afflicted me. In the day of his fierce anger,
No one suffers like this man. Who is this one who suffers?
He's God in the flesh, suffering like no other. What amazing love
that thou my God should die for me. Secondly, why was he brought
so low? Why was his vision so marred
and his body beaten so? Why was he brought so low? Look
right across the page, Isaiah 53 verse 4. Surely he hath borne
our griefs, our griefs, our sin, carried our sorrow. We did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded
for our transgression, bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement
of our peace was upon him and with his stripes. We are healed
with His blood. Why was He brought so low? He
was made sin for us. Sin. The sin of God's elect was
laid on Him. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, God
made Him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. He was made sin for us. He was
made curse for us. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. Who's this one that suffers? God Almighty. God bought us with
His own blood. Why was He brought so low? Our
sin put Him in the dust. How was He made so low? by the
hands of wicked men. They mistreated him. They beat
him. They placed a crown of thorns
upon his brow. They plucked out his beard. They
spit in his face. They beat him with a whip, lashed
his back so much that his bones were exposed, that his innards
were exposed. He suffers and was made low by
the hand of men, wicked men, Pilate delivered Jesus unto their
will, and they took him outside and crucified him. How was he
made so low by the hands of men? By his own willing obedience.
He submitted himself unto such horrible treatment. He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. But what
I want you to see, look beyond the instrument of the cross to
the author of the cross and see the hand of God. For it says
there in Isaiah 53 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased
the Jews, didn't it? It pleased them Jews to see him
die such a horrible death. It probably even pleased Pilate,
although he tried to wash his hands from it. You can't wash
your hands, Pilate. You're guilty. But what we must
see is it pleased God, Jehovah, to bruise him in our room and
in our city. This is God's sacrificial lamb. This is God. You see, men can't
make him sin. Can they? God laid on him, it
says in Isaiah 53, God laid on him the iniquity of his people,
of us all. By the hand of God, it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He put his soul to grief. Thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin or guilty for sin. Here's the fourth thing. Look
at verse 15. So what does all that mean? His death, His blood being shed,
His resurrection glory, His enthronement. What does all that mean? What's
the fruit? What's the effect of that? Does it have any fruit?
Does it bear any fruit? Oh, yeah. Look at verse 15. Here's the fruit of His effectual
sacrifice proclaimed. So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths,
and bow before Him, And that which had not been told them
shall they see, and that which they had not heard they'll consider."
The Lord Jesus Christ, my friend, was His death in vain? Did His death have no meaning
other than He died? The Lord Jesus Christ did not
die in vain. As a direct result of His atonement
for the sin of God's elect, He brings in an everlasting salvation
that was purchased with His own blood. For it says that God bought
us with His own blood. 1 Corinthians 16 declares, or
rather 1 Corinthians 6.20, says that we're bought with a price.
We're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which belong to Him. We're not redeemed
with corruptible things, are we? But with the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So His death, we can say, is
not in vain, is it? No. It has a tremendous fruit,
a tremendous effect. He paid all the sin of God's
covenant people. We say that he made an atonement,
a payment for sin for all his people. So it says there, he
shall sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouth.
And somebody's going to hear the gospel. Three things, in
closing, three things. He shall sprinkle many nations.
Now this is one thing I know this is not teaching. It's not
teaching sprinkling or baptism. This sprinkling here is the application
of His blood. It's a sprinkling upon our conscience.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Sprinkle many
nations the sprinkling of his blood upon our conscience the
application of the blood of Christ upon our conscience justified
through his blood Hebrews 9 verse 13 For the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean Back under
the law sanctified to the purifying in the flesh in a ceremonial
way Verse 14, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? He sprinkled our conscience.
He made us to know that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ indeed
puts away our sin by the power of His grace, by the power of
the Holy Spirit in calling us in regenerating grace, He makes
us to know that salvation is of the Lord. The second thing
we see is this, kings shall shut their mouths at Him. Kings will
be made to stand before Him with their mouth shut. Kings no longer
shall stand in lasting opposition. None shall stand in lasting opposition
to Him. Every knee will bow. Every tongue
will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
He is King of kings and He is Lord of lords. Turn over to Psalm
2 this time. Psalm 2. They've shut their mouth
at Him. They'll bow before Him. Psalm
2. Look at verse 10. Be wise now
therefore O you kings, be instructed you judges of the earth, serve
the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling, kiss the Son lest
he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled.
But a little blessed are all they that put their trust in
him. Kings will be made to bow before
him. In Psalm 45 we studied the arrows
are sharp in the heart of the king's enemy, whereby they fall
down to fourth eve. Now here's the last thing. It
says there in the last part of verse 15, Isaiah 52, for that
which had not been told them, they'll see, and that which they
had not heard, they'll consider. Now, turn to Romans 15. That's
the reference here. Romans 15. The Apostle Paul,
when declaring that he preached the gospel unto the Gentiles,
applies this scripture here from Isaiah 52 to the preaching of
the gospel to sinners. Isaiah, or rather I want you
to find Romans 15. Look at verse 19. Through mighty
signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that
from Jerusalem round about Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel
of Christ. You see that? Yea, so have I
strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest
I should build upon another man's foundation, but as it is written... Now look at the reference here.
Isaiah 52 verse 15. As it is written, to whom he
was not spoken of, they shall see, and they that have not heard
shall understand." Paul said, I'm going to go preach the gospel
to those people I've never heard, who have no understanding, and
God's going to use the preaching of the Word to teach them the
gospel. It is only by the preaching of
the gospel, that the power of God and the salvation, that sinners
can know and understand the things of God. You cannot believe that
which you have not heard. Any more you can come back from
where you haven't been. they'll be caused to consider
the Lord Jesus Christ in his person and his work. For it has
pleased God through preaching to call out his people. That's
why we spend all our time when we come together and we worship
the Lord here. We come together not to entertain
people. We come together not for the sole purpose of fellowship,
although we do have fellowship. We come together for worship.
And you know how we worship the Lord Jesus Christ? In the preaching
of the gospel. in the preaching of the gospel.
That's why we make much of the preaching. Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth, being born again not of a corruptible
seed, but of an incorruptible by the word of God, whereby the
gospel is preached unto you. So shall he sprinkle many, and
they shall see. This wise servant will deal prudently
He died for sinners. He's exalted and extolled very
high. Now my prayer for you today,
and for myself, that God would give us eyes to behold Him, and
that the Lord Jesus Christ would be exalted in our heart, that
God would exalt Him in our heart, and that He would cause us to
extol Him, that is to worship Him, and to say that He is our
very high God and Savior.