This evening we're gonna take
a brief look at Isaiah 50, and I'm entitling message from this
chapter, Isaiah 50. The Redeemer, that is the Lord
Jesus Christ, I love what it says in verse 26 of Isaiah 49. I the Lord am thy Savior, THE MIGHTY ONE, THE MIGHTY ONE
OF JACOB. HE IS THE REDEEMER THAT'S MIGHTY
TO SAVE. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DESCRIBES
HIMSELF AS GOD OUR SAVIOR. NOW THE LORD IS NOT WHO WE THINK
THAT HE IS, LEFT OUR OWN THOUGHTS. YOU REMEMBER IN PSALM 50 HE SAYS,
THOU THOUGHTEST I WAS ALTOGETHER SUCH A ONE AS THYSELF. GOD IS
NOT WHO WE THINK THAT HE IS. GOD IS WHO HE IS AS HE IS REVEALED
IN THE WORD OF GOD. OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE
ONE WHO REVEALS HIMSELF TO BE THE JUST GOD AND SAVIOR, THE
ONLY ONE WHO IS JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF THE UNGODLY, AND
THAT MESSAGE IS REVEALED IN THE RECORD OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. ALL
THE PROPHETS, ALL THE APOSTLES, Past and present, all the preachers,
past and present, sent of God, taught of God, all have one message. To Him give all the prophets
witness. They all declare that Jesus Christ
is that one true foundation. If we're not preaching and worshiping
the true sovereign Redeemer, the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ,
the Holy One found in and described in God's testimony, the Word
of God, if we're not worshiping the one that's revealed in scripture,
we're nothing more than mere idolaters. NO BETTER THAN THOSE
WHO HAVE NO TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIVING GOD, AND SET UP WOOD
TO A GRAVEN IMAGE, AND PRAY UNTO A GOD, AS IT SAYS IN ISAIAH 45,
REMEMBER, THEY PRAY UNTO A GOD THAT CANNOT SAVE. NOW, WHAT GOOD
IS PRAYER IF YOU PRAY UNTO A GOD THAT CANNOT SAVE? WE CALL UPON
GOD WHO IS ABLE TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST. NOW, ALL SCRIPTURES
In the Word of God, the book we call the Bible, Old Testament
and New Testament, scriptures are given inspired of God, God-given,
and they declare unto us one glorious message, and that is
the message of Christ in His person, who He is, God Almighty,
manifest in the flesh, and His redeeming, successful work. All the Word of God. remember
he told those two men on the road to a maze beginning at Moses
and all the scriptures he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the thing concerning himself. All the word of God is about
Christ. He said to those Jews again you
or they would search the scriptures, but they are they which testify
of me, and you will not come to me, that you might have life."
Now, this chapter in Isaiah 50, as in all the chapters of Isaiah,
we went several years ago, we went through all the chapters
in Isaiah. Well, is there how many chapters
in Isaiah? 66 chapters, 66 chapters in the book of Isaiah. And every
one of them tell us of Christ our Redeemer. The old timers
used to call the book of Isaiah the gospel according to Isaiah. And that could be said of Jeremiah
and Ezekiel and all the prophets. We've studied through the Psalms,
we've studied through Isaiah, we've studied the Book of Ruth,
the Song of Solomon, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Kings and Chronicles,
and they're all about Christ, aren't they? That's the beauty
and glory of this scripture, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with that introduction,
let's look at verse one. Thus saith the Lord, the Lord
is God. the Savior, the Mighty One, Jacob,
God our Savior. He asked, Israel of old, where
is the bill saying that I have forsaken you,
or I have divorced you, or I have put you away? Which of my creditors
is it to whom I've sold you? Does God have any debts as to
sell us into slavery to pay off his debts? Behold, here's the
problem, your iniquities. Your iniquities, you have sold
yourselves and your transgression. Because of your iniquities and
your transgression, that mother nation is put away. GOD SAID, YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT
UNTO YOU DESOLATE. HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN, HIS OWN
RECEIVED HIM NOT. I QUOTED EARLIER, THE LORD SAID
IN MATTHEW 13, I WAS READING IT EARLIER, HOW OFTEN I WOULD
HAVE GATHERED YOU AS A MOTHER HEN would her little chicken,
but you would not come to me that you might have life. And
God said, your house is left unto you desolate, desolate,
desolate. Now here's the problem. The Lord
points this out in the last part of verse one, behold. He said,
you stop and you take a good look at this. your iniquities
you have sold yourselves and your transgressions." Now, we've
studied through the Old Testament the record of first and second
Samuel, first and second Kings. How many times did God send them
prophet after prophet after prophet to tell them the truth? And he
said, you stoned every one of the prophets and you're the children
of those who stoned those prophets I've sent unto you. And he said,
you're nothing but a seed of evil doers. Now we can talk about
Israel and that mother nation who had so many special blessings
given to them through Abraham, God called a people, GOD SENT
THEM PROPHET AFTER PROPHET. HE SENT THEM THE WORD OF THE
LORD, BUT HE SAID, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. YOU'VE SOLD YOURSELVES INTO INIQUITY AND TRANSGRESSION. AND WE'VE SEEN THAT IN THE WORD
OF GOD ABOUT THAT PEOPLE. HERE'S THE PROBLEM. WE'RE NO
DIFFERENT. WE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENT. NOT AT ALL. Here's the problem. Behold your iniquities. God says if we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. Our sin
has sold us into slavery. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Our sin has been the reason of
our separation from God. BORN IN SIN, SHAPEN IN INIQUITY. WE MUST NEVER CHARGE GOD WITH
THAT WHICH IS BROUGHT ABOUT BY OUR OWN SINFUL DOING. TURN TO ISAIAH 59. THE LORD SPELLS
THIS OUT FURTHER ABOUT THEM AND ABOUT US, ABOUT ALL MEN. ALL
HAVE SIN. ISAIAH 59, LOOK AT VERSE 1. BEHOLD,
THE LORD'S HAND IS NOT SHORTENED, God is not a weak-kneed Savior
that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that it cannot
hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your
God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not
hear. Read on. Your hands are defiled
with blood, your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken
lies, Your tongues have murdered perverseness. None calls for
justice. None plead for the truth. They
trust vanity. They speak lies. They conceive
mischief. They bring forth iniquity. Boy,
the Lord just lays it out, doesn't he? That's us. That's you, that's
me by nature. And our sin has separated us
from God. The wicked are strained from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies unto God. You see, it was Adam that sinned against
God. Adam sinned against God and plunged
us all into the pit of sin. Did God forsake Israel? Or did
Israel first forsake God and say, we will not have this man's
reign over us. Remember what they said, away
with him, crucify him. We have no king, we want no king. Just give us Caesar, just give
us Rome. We don't want anything to do
with this man, Jesus of Nazareth. You see, the truth is man's sin
and rebellion against God and spiritual death lies at our own
feet, our own heart. Don't ever blame God for your
failures and your sin. Don't ever blame God for your
lack of zeal and enthusiasm for the new gospel. You're the problem. We're the problem. Not God. Don't even blame the adversary. Say, a lot of people do that
when people mess up. I remember a prominent coach,
high school coach, local here, got in trouble with a student.
And accusations were made. And some of the parents, because
this man was such a good coach, they thought, well, he didn't
really do it, Satan did that through him, trying to justify
that man. Well, they should have put him
in jail for what he did. He did lose his job, and he should
have lost his job. But don't blame Satan for your
own wickedness. YOU ALONE BEAR THE RESPONSIBILITY
UNTO THE LORD AND ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE UNTO GOD. OUR LORD SAID FROM
YOUR HEART PRECEDES EVIL THOUGHTS." Adulteries, thefts, blasphemies,
all these different things, from your own heart. Doesn't the things
you think in your heart just grieve you? It does me. I think, why in the world do
I think such evil, wicked things? This old nature is so rotten
and so sinful, I wish I didn't have any evil, wicked thoughts.
But that's just not reality, is it? A man who says, well,
I'm living above sin, he doesn't know his own deceitful, wicked
heart, does he? I like what that Bible, that
preacher said in that Bible conference there in Ashland, Kentucky, when
we had a Bible conference, and there was a couple old preachers
from Texas, and that motel they were staying in was a two-story
motel. And the preacher above, who had
a room above the preacher below, he said, I'm finally living above
sin. Now, he was making light of it,
but a lot of people think that. The Lord is just to condemn those
that sin against God. You see, the wages of sin is
death. That's what we deserve. If God
sent you to hell, would he be doing right? Exactly, exactly,
that's what I deserve. That's what you deserve. Now,
God spells out the problem. Thank God he gives us a remedy.
What's the remedy for our problem? Well, just clean up and reform.
I was reading on that website about Yom Kippur, and those people
said, well, just in case we messed up, and just in case we have
sinned, we're gonna repent and pray for 16 hours. Boy, they'll never put away sin.
That's a pretty weak, that's no atonement at all. Repentance
never puts away sin. Blood. Blood. Not the blood of bulls and goats,
but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only remedy for our
sin, ruin, and separation is reconciliation by the blood atonement
of Jesus Christ. That's it. THAT'S THE ONLY REMEDY. THAT'S THE ONLY ATONEMENT FOR
SIN IS CHRIST. AND IN CHRIST, WE HAVE AN ATONEMENT.
FULL ATONEMENT, CAN IT BE? YES, WE HAVE ONE. CHRIST AND
HIM CRUCIFIED. WE HAVE A MIGHTY REDEEMER. LOOK
AT VERSE 2 AND 3. WHEREFORE, WHEN I CAME, THERE
WAS NO MAN. NO ONE HELPED HIM ACCOMPLISH
SALVATION. HE DIDN'T NEED ANY HELP. NOT
FROM A MAN. WHEN I CALLED, THERE WAS NONE
TO ANSWER. Now we ask this question, is
my hand shortened? Is my hand shortened at all?
Has God a short-handed savior? Is his hand dropped back? No,
his hand is mighty to save. You remember we read in scripture
that none can take his hand or say unto him, Lord God, what
doest thou? Is my hand shortened at all that
it cannot redeem? Oh, he is the redeemer. HE WAS
SENT TO REDEEM HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SIN. HE REDEEMED US FROM
THE CURSE OF THE LAW BEING MADE A CURSE FOR US. HE OBTAINED FOR
US ETERNAL REDEMPTION WITH HIS OWN BLOOD. OH, HIS HAND IS NOT
SHORTENED. HE HAS ALL POWER TO SAVE. HE
HAS ALL POWER TO REDEEM BY HIS BLOOD. HIS BLOOD WAS NOT SHED
IN VAIN. OR HE SAYS HAVE I NO POWER TO
DELIVER? HOW MUCH POWER DOES IT TAKE TO
RAISE A DEAD MAN? ALL POWER HE SAID IS GIVEN TO
ME IN HEAVEN AND EARTH. GOD HAS GIVEN ME POWER OVER ALL
FLESH THAT I SHOULD GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO AS MANY AS THE FATHER
HATH GIVEN TO ME. NOW HE DESCRIBES HOW HE REDEEMS
BY HIS WORD, HIS HAND, AND HIS POWER. He said, at my rebuke,
I divided the Red Sea and they walked through on dry ground.
Now, try that sometime. Go down there to the Big Sandy
and say, divide the water. Stand there all day, all night,
all week. You have no power to stand there
with a word and speak a word and divide THE RIVER OR THE SEA. I MAKE RIVERS A WILDERNESS. AND THIS WAS REFERRING TO WHEN
THEY ENTERED INTO THE PROMISED LAND. YOU REMEMBER? WE STUDIED
THAT IN THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. HOW WHEN THAT ARK AND THOSE PRIESTS
CARRYING THAT ARK, WHEN THEY TOUCHED THAT BANK OF JORDAN,
THE WATER SEPARATED AND THEY WALKED INTO THE PROMISED LAND
ON DRY GROUND. HE SAID, VERSE 3, I CLOTHED THE
HEAVENS WITH BLACKNESS. He did that in Egypt, one of
those 10 plagues. And I make sackcloth their covering. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified for our sin, there was three hours of darkness over
the land. When all the sin of God's elect
was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, it was such a horrible
sight, God blotted out his son. That's the power we need to save
us because we are so guilty, we are so sinful. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under that law. Let us not imagine that sinners
are lost for lack of power and the Redeemer to call them to
save. HE'S MIGHTY TO SAVE. TURN OVER A FEW PAGES. LOOK AT
ISAIAH 63. TURN OVER THERE. ISAIAH 63, VERSE
1. THANK GOD HE HAS ALL POWER TO
SAVE. HE CAN REDEEM. HE CAN DELIVER. OH, YES. CAN HE SAVE HIS PEOPLE
FROM THEIR SIN? THAT'S WHY HE CAN. TO SEEK AND
TO SAVE THE LOST. WHAT IT SAYS HERE IN ISAIAH 63,
1, WHO IS THIS THAT COMETH FROM EDOM? with dyed garments from
Basra, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in
the greatness of his strength, I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for us. Now the Lord continued to describe
himself. Remember the title of the message,
The Redeemer is Describing Himself. Look at verse four. The Lord
God has given me the tongue of the learned. Remember the Lord
came as the prophet of God, speaking the very truth and revelation
of God. That was the fulfillment of that
prophecy given to Moses. When God said, I'll raise up
a prophet like unto you, and he shall speak my word, and those
who will not hear my word, I'll require it at their hand. The
Lord God had given me the tongue of the learned, yet I should
know how to speak. a word in season to him that
is weary. What does a weary sinner, a vile,
wretched sinner need? He needs the tongue of the learned
to tell us our problem, we're sinners, and to tell us the remedy,
Christ and Him crucified. He knows how to speak a word
in season to him that is weary, And he wakeneth morning by morning,
he wakeneth my ear to hear as I learn. You hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and in sin. Again, the Lord in verse
five, talking about our willing, able servant of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord God hath opened mine ear. I was not rebellious, neither
turned I away back. You remember that bondservant?
He was a willing servant after he served his years, and he wanted
to stay on according to the law of God he could, but he did so
out of love, not out of law, but out of love. The Lord God,
the Lord Jesus Christ is our willing, loving bondservant unto
the Father. I was not, remember they'd take
them to the post of the door and put an awl through their
ear, marking them that they are a willing, loving servant to
the Lord. The Lord God hath opened mine
ear, or bored or digged my ear, as it says in Psalm 40. I was
not rebellious, neither turned I way back. HE SAID, MY MEAT
IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME AND TO FINISH HIS WORK. HE PRAYED IN JOHN 17, FATHER,
I'VE GLORIFIED THEE ON THE EARTH. I'VE FINISHED THE WORK YOU GAVE
ME TO DO. AND HE DID SO PERFECTLY. VERSE
5, THE LORD GOD HATH OPENED MY EAR. I WAS NOT REBELLIOUS, NEITHER
TURNED I AWAY BACK. HE CAME TO DO THE WILL OF GOD
AND HE DID IT PERFECTLY. Verse six, so much so that he
said, I gave my back to the smiters. No one took his life from me.
Remember what he said in John chapter 10, I laid down my life
for the sheep. And then 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
in my father. I gave my back to the smiters. We read the fulfillment of that
in Matthew 27, where Pilate ordered him to be scourged. I gave my
back. They couldn't touch him without
God's decree, command. They tried many times to stone
him, throw him off a cliff. They couldn't lay a hand on him
until God said, okay. He delivered. them piloted to
their will, and he gave his back to their cruelty, their whipping,
their smiting, their scourging. My cheeks to them that plucked
off the hair, they plucked his beard out. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. The Redeemer describes himself
as a suffering servant. The suffering and death of the
Lord Jesus Christ was no accident. It wasn't some unexpected tragedy. He was not the helpless victim
of these ungodly men. He was the appointed sacrifice,
sacrificial lamb of God. was decreed by the father that
he laid down his life, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel for knowledge of God. They did what they wanted to
do. Remember from our study in Acts chapter four, they did only
what God determined before to be done. All the suffering he's enduring
there on Calvary Street is all written in the Word of God. He
was wounded for our transgression, just a few chapters over, Isaiah
53. Bruised for our iniquity. The
chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes.
Thank God we have healing in that atonement. And it's spiritual
healing, it's not the healing of his body. IT PLEASED GOD TO
BRUISE HIM IN OUR ROOM AND IN OUR STEAD. READ ON, THE REDEEMER,
VERSE 7, DESCRIBES THE SUCCESS OF HIS WORK, OF HIS RIGHTEOUS
OBEDIENCE UNTO DEATH. HE SUFFERED ONCE FOR OUR SINS,
THE JUST FOR THE UNJUST, THAT HE MAY BRING US UNTO GOD. NOTICE,
THE LORD GOD WILL HELP ME, THEREFORE SHALL I NOT BE CONFOUNDED, I
SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED, THEREFORE HAVE I SET MY FACE LIKE A FLINT. I KNOW I SHALL NOT BE CONFOUNDED.
I KNOW I SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED. REMEMBER WE READ MANY TIMES IN
MATTHEW 16 WHERE HE SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES, I MUST GO TO JERUSALEM.
REMEMBER? I MUST. I MUST SUFFER MANY THINGS
AS THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES. I MUST BE PUT TO DEATH. I MUST
BE RAISED THE THIRD DAY. PETER SAID, HOLD ON. HOLD ON,
MASTER. I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD GO TO
JERUSALEM. Remember what he said? You get out of my way. You savor
us, not the things that be of God. You see, this is God's sacrifice
for sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
went to Jerusalem for the last time, he was determined. He set his face like a flinty
rock, unchanging. And I know, he says, I shall
not be. I shall not be ashamed. I shall
not be confounded. The Lord our God was in full
control of all the events around his crucifixion, never ashamed
of who he was, who he is, never confounded in accomplishing all
of our salvation. The Lord is not a defeated, Reformer
he's a conquering king. He's a glorious Savior. I love
what it said in Isaiah 42 He cannot fail He cannot fail to fulfill all
scripture, cannot fail to bring in and after everlasting righteousness,
cannot fail to accomplish our salvation by His purpose and
grace. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with His own blood. He is near that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Just let
him come near, and I'll take care of that. Behold, the Lord
God will help me. Who will see that condemns me?
Lo, they shall all whack old as a garment, and the moth shall
eat them up. The victorious Lord of glory
challenges heaven, earth, and hell to dispute any claim that
his redeeming work was a failure. Since God justified and vindicated
the success of His work, how? How did God vindicate His work,
His redeeming work, His priestly work? How did God vindicate the
success of His work? Deliberate for our offenses,
raised again because He justified us. Who can lay anything to the
charge of God's will? They couldn't charge him with
one sin, nor can they charge us with one sin. God's justice
has no claim on the believer. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. God laid help upon
one that is already mighty. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him, saying that he ever lives to
make intercession for us. Now in verses 10 and verses 11,
we see two different groups of people. Those who are brought
by the grace of God to fear the Lord. You see that in verse 10. Now by nature, no man, there's
no fear of God before their eyes. Remember we read in Romans three.
Who is among you that fear the Lord? Those who fear the Lord
are those who have been given a reverence for the Lord in their
heart. They obey the voice of his servant,
that is, they hear the gospel as the word of God, and they
believe it, even though by nature they walk in darkness, and by
nature they have no light. None of us do by nature because
we're dead in sin, but what he does, he commands the light to
shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And those who fear
the Lord are led to trust in the name of the Lord, the name
of the Lord. Now there's a whole lot in that
right there, in the name of the Lord. His name declares who He
is, Lord, God, Savior, Redeemer, Almighty. Now, watch this last
part of verse 10, and stay upon His God. You just stay right
there, fearing the Lord and trusting the Lord, and stay put. Just camp right there. Just stay
put. Abide in Him, and He will abide
in you. Just stay right there, stay upon
his God, stay put, and show forth the praises of him who called
you out of darkness in his marvelous light. Now, here's the flip side
of that. Those who fear the Lord do so by the grace of God, and
they are brought to trust him who is the Lord Jesus Christ. WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE
NAME OF THE LORD, OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. MAKE SURE YOU
CALL ON THE RIGHT JESUS. THERE'S A BUNCH OF COUNTERFEITS
AROUND. MAKE SURE YOU CALL UPON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. NOW HERE'S
THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT. BEHOLD ALL YOU THAT KINDLE A
FIRE. ACCOMPLISH YOURSELF ABOUT WITH
SPARKS. NOW WALK IN THE LIGHT OF YOUR
OWN FIRE. You know what all this is right
here? That's a description of self-righteousness, is it not?
Being ignorant of the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel,
they're going about to establish a righteousness of their own.
They walk by the light of their own fire. What a sad state that
is. And then the sparks that they
have kindled up. We're sparking up a revival next
week. We're gonna walk in the light
of this fire that we have kindled. What does God say? This shall
you have of my hand, you shall lay down in sorrow. Wow, what a warning. To those
that ignore and reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ at the
power of God and salvation, and go about to establish a righteousness
of their own, being ignorant of the righteousness of God revealed
in the gospel, he says to them, well, everything's gonna be okay. You just go your way, I'll go
my way, we'll all end up in heaven. That's what a lot of people think.
He says you'll lay down in sorrow, you'll lay down in death and
be eternally condemned. Our Lord said this in John 8,
I said therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins if
you believe not that I am all those Jews over Jerusalem this day
observing Yom Kippur. The Lord says if you believe
not that I am, you'll die in your sins. They reject the Lord
Jesus Christ to this day as the only atonement for sinners. Our
Lord said in Psalm 2, you remember? Bow and kiss the Son, lest he
be angry and you perish on the way when his wrath is kindled
but a little. The last Old Testament prophet
named John, remember what he said? He that believeth on the
Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God will abide upon him. Thank God for our mighty, glorious,
sovereign Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.