Now, I'm going to bring you a
message today on the subject substitution, and I'll be using
the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. I'd like very much for you to
take your Bibles and follow along as I read the Scriptures and
comment on each verse, the 12 verses in Isaiah 53, and I'll
be touching each one of them. is quoted in the New Testament
more than any other Old Testament prophet. Some people call Isaiah's
book the gospel according to Isaiah. It's so clear on the
person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then when our Lord
went to Nazareth and spoke in Luke chapter 4 and they delivered
the scriptures to him, he turned to the book of Isaiah chapter
61 and read and spoke from that chapter. Now let's look at Isaiah
53 and start with verse 1. And it says, Who hath believed
our report? What is our report? It's our
message. Who has believed our message,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? You know, there
never has been a prophet or preacher of the gospel who has not grieved
over this fact. that not many people believe
our report and our message. Not many believe the message
that we preach. What is our message? Well, it's
the record that unto us is born a Savior, Christ the Lord. That's what the angels announced
on the hillside of Judea. Unto you is born this day. We
bring you good news. We bring you a great message.
Unto you is born this day. In the city of David, a Savior
who's Christ the Lord. It's the record that God has
given us eternal life. And this life is in His Son.
That's our message. And Isaiah starts off this chapter.
Who believes it? Who believes it? And then he
asks this question. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? His arm. What is the arm of the
Lord? Well, the arm of the Lord is
Christ, who is the power of God. My ear's not heavy that I can't
hear, and my arm's not short that I cannot see. To whom is
the arm the power and wisdom of God revealed? Isaiah chapter
40 identifies this arm. Listen to this scripture, Isaiah
40 verse 10. Behold, the Lord God will come
with a strong hand, and His arm will rule for Him. And his reward
is with him, and his work is before him. Who hath believed
our report, our gospel, our message? To whom is this power of God
unto salvation, this gospel, this arm of the Lord revealed?
And I'll give you a little key to this 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The pronoun he, him, and his. is used in these 12 verses 43
times. We're talking about a person. We're talking about a person,
this arm of the Lord. This report, this message, this
record is talking about a person. He, him, and his, 43 times. Now, following in verse 2 is
a description of his arm, this Savior in the work of redemption.
Now listen to it. You follow. Verse 2. And he,
the arm of the Lord, shall grow up before him as a tender plant."
That is, he'll be born of a woman, a helpless babe, come forth like
all babies come forth, helpless baby, made flesh, nursing from
a mother's breast, dependent totally upon her care, just a
tender plant, just a helpless babe. And he'll grow up. He'll
start as a tender plant. He'll grow up this Redeemer,
this arm of the Lord, this Savior. He'll be a boy in the home, subject
to his parents, grow in stature and wisdom, favored with God
and men. He'll be a man. He'll be a carpenter. That's
what they called him, the carpenter. He'll grow up as a tender plant. Now watch the next line. He is
a root out of a dry ground. What does that mean? Well, that's
Israel. Now, according to the Word of
God, this arm of the Lord, this Redeemer, is a king. He's the son of King David, according
to the flesh. You see, in Romans 1, Paul said,
I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ, separated to the gospel, concerning
his son, who was made of the seed of David, and declared to
be the son of God. So when Jesus Christ came into
the world as a tender plant, He came as a root out of a dry
ground. The kingdom of David was down
to nothing, nothing. The Jewish nation was down to
nothing. It was like a dry ground. It
was a powerless state under the heel of the Roman Empire. And
here the King of Israel, Jesus, Son of Mary, Lion of the tribe
of Judah, is the heir to the throne of David. And here the
heir to the throne of David lies asleep in a cow stall on hay. That's right. The King of kings,
the Lord of lords, the son of David, the rightful heir to the
throne, is in a manger because there's no room for him anywhere
else. Now, that's a root out of a dry,
dry ground. Yes? Who believes our report? To whom is this mighty arm of
the Lord revealed? But I'll tell you, he'll grow
up as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. Now listen,
he was in the world and the world knew him not. Came into his own,
his own received him not. But it says in verse 2, he has
no form, no comeliness, no beauty we should desire him. There's
no royal form. There's no majesty. There's no
great court following Him. There's no army. Our Lord took
upon Himself humanity, the form of a servant, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, a human being, despised
and rejected of men. Everybody that was anybody turned
thumbs down on Jesus of Nazareth. Look at verse 3. He's despised. He's rejected of men. Why? Why
is he despised? Well, I'll give you several reasons.
One is because of the poverty of his parents, the poverty of
his town. They said, when they talked about,
we found the Messiah and he's from Nazareth, they said, could
any good thing come out of Nazareth? Because of his friends, he was
despised. They said he's the friend of
sinners. One time these Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, asked his disciple,
why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? Why does
your master associate with those kind of people? He's despised
because of the truth he preached. He said, I and my father are
one. And they took up stones to stone him. He said, before
Abraham was, I am. One of them said, well, you're
not 50 years old. How did you see Abraham? He said
in John 6, 37, all that my Father giveth me shall come to me. And
him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. And somebody
said, that's a hard saying. Who can hear it? Despised because
of the death he died. When he was hanging on the cross,
this is what they said. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. And then they said, if you be
the Christ, the Son of God, come down from the cross and we'll
believe on you. mocked him while he died, despised
and rejected of men. The next verse says he's a man
of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Man of sorrows. What a name. What a name for the Son of God
who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Well, whose sorrows? Once he
said in Lamentation 1, Behold ye that pass by, and behold my
sorrows, is there any sorrow like unto the sorrow with which
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger?"
Despised, rejected of men, man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
but here's the answer. He hath borne our sorrows. He hath borne our griefs. and
carried our sorrows." He's a substitute. That's what we're talking about.
This is substitution. Our Lord Jesus Christ bore our
griefs and carried our sorrows. Now, what's these next four statements?
You've got the Scripture there. Isaiah 53, verse 4. Now, listen. Surely He hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows, In His life on this earth, here's
the first statement, in His life on this earth and on that cross,
Jesus Christ actually, literally bore our griefs and our sorrows
in His body. He bore our spiritual sicknesses. He bore our spiritual diseases. He bore our iniquities and our
transgressions. This is the picture in the Old
Testament. of Him bearing our sins. When the high priest Aaron
brought the lamb for the atoning sacrifice, he put his hand on
the head of the lamb and confessed the sins of Israel. And those
sins were transferred in type, in picture, to that lamb. And
then the lamb died. And when he brought the scapegoat
in the same manner, He put his hand on the head of the scapegoat
and confessed the sins of Israel. And those sins, in type, were
transferred to that scapegoat. And that scapegoat was taken
off into the wilderness, and they never saw him again. So
Christ, man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, but He bore our griefs
and our sorrows. They were literally laid on Him. Now watch the second statement.
We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, smitten of God, and afflicted. See, the law of God and the justice
of God, because Christ was numbered with the transgressors and bore
our sins, the law of God found him guilty, and the justice of
God executed him. That's right. He was found with
sin. Our sins, our grace, our sorrows,
but they were transferred to Him. And He literally bore them
in His body on the tree, and He died. Justice put Him to death. Now, when a criminal, a man who
commits murder, is arrested and tried and found guilty, and he's
executed, the person who pulls the switch, he doesn't kill him.
The person who puts the gas in the in the chamber, that person
is not killing that man. It's the law that's putting him
to death. It's the law that demands his death. It's justice that
demands his death. And that's what Christ, that's
why he suffered and died. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. And justice of God put him to
death. That's right. He bore our griefs
and carried our sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, the justice of God, the law of God, put him to death.
Now the third statement. He was wounded, wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity,
and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. He was chastened
and purchased peace, and by his stripes We're healed. You see
that? He made peace for us by His death
on the cross. We had no peace with God till
Christ put our sins away. And when He bore our sins and
carried our griefs and our sorrows and paid the penalty, we're set
free. The prison doors opened. He said,
I came to set the captive free. I came to restore you to freedom
and liberty. That's right. When a man pays
the price, justice demands, he's set free. There was a man called
Barabbas who was in prison that day, condemned to die. There were three thieves scheduled
to die. Those who died on the right hand
of Christ, the one who died on the left, and Barabbas was scheduled
to die criminal. And Pilate asked the crowd, Whom
shall I release unto you? Jesus, which is called the Christ,
or Barabbas?" They said, give us Barabbas. And he said, what
shall I do with Jesus, which is called the Christ? Crucify
Him. So they took our Lord out there and nailed Him to that
cross. And Barabbas walked out of that prison a free man. That's a picture of what Christ
did for us. He bore our sins. He died our death. That's substitution. He paid our penalty, and we go
free. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. By His stripes we're healed.
And payment God's justice cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding
shirt, His hand, and then again at mine. He bore our sins, we
don't bear them. He paid the debt, we don't owe
it. Justice is satisfied. Barabbas is free. Barabbas is
free. And it'd do us well to stand
out on that hillside and look towards that cross and realize
that's our cross on which He hangs. That's our death that
He dies. That's our sins and our debt
that He's paying. And we're free. Because He died,
we live. That's substitution. That's what
that said. He was wounded by our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities
and the chastisement of our peace. We have peace with God. Therefore,
being justified by Christ, we have peace with God. Sins are gone. Now, here's the
fourth statement. All we like sheep gone astray. Now, boy, that's a fact, isn't
it? We've turned everyone to his own way. That's the reason
they don't believe our rapport. That's the reason the arm of
the Lord they don't see, because they turn their own way. They
want their way, their way. We do, all of us. But the Lord
laid on him. Who did it? The Lord. This is God's doings. This is
the Lord's doings. The Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And I'll give you two words.
Now, you remember these two words. This sums up the Lord's redemptive
work. The first word is substitution.
Substitution. And I'll tell you what I want
you to do. Isaiah 53, verse 4, 5, and 6. You read that with
me now. And everywhere you see our, you
put your name in. That's right. Whatever your name
is, George, Andrew, Patrick, whatever. But listen to it now. I'm going to put my name in there.
It's a substitution. Surely he hath borne Henry's
grace. He carried Henry's sorrows. He was wounded for Henry's transgressions. The chastisement of Henry's peace
is upon him, and by his stripes old Henry is healed. You see
that? That's substitution. That's what
it is. And the next word, it goes with
substitution. If he's my substitute, the next
word is satisfaction. By his stripes, I'm healed. He
didn't come to attempt to save us. He came to save the lost.
He didn't come to attempt to put away sin. He put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. That's what God said about Him
in Isaiah 42, verse 1, Behold My servant. I wish I could get
people to behold Him. Quit looking at preachers and
churches and all these, and start looking to Christ. Behold My
servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul delights. I put my spirit on him. He'll
bring forth judgment and peace to the Gentiles, and he will
not fail, and he will not be discouraged. Oh, William Russell
wrote this hymn. Because my sins on him by God
were laid, he who never sinned, for me sin was made. Therefore, let all men know that
my God is satisfied, and all who believe on him by God are
justified." That's a promise. The substitute has died, and
those for whom he died are set free. Now look at verse 7. Here's two or three things about
him I want you to see, about our Lord. It says in verse 7,
he was a willing sacrifice. That's what we're saying here.
He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet He opened
not His mouth. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. Opened not His mouth. Not one
word of objection. Not one word of desiring to be
free. He said, I delight to do thy
will, O my God. No man takes my life from me. I lay it down. He's our willing. Sacrifice. He said, I know my
sheep. I love my sheep. I lay down my
life for my sheep. The willing Savior. Or look at
verse 8. He was, and the single Savior who died alone. Now listen
to this. He was taken from prison and
judgment, and there was no one to declare his pedigree, no one
to take his part, no one to declare his generation. He was alone.
Cut off, cut off from the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people, he was stricken. Our Lord by himself, Paul said
in Hebrews, purged our sins. By the sacrifice of himself and
by himself. He had no help. By himself, he
walked the winepress of God's wrath alone. When he cried, Eloi,
Eloi, lama, sabathanai, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He
was alone as no human being has ever been alone because even
God was not with him. He was in the darkness of hell,
bearing our sins in his body alone. And then verse 9, what's
this? He's a willing Savior. He's the
only Savior. He accomplished it by the sacrifice
of himself. Thirdly, he made his grave with
the wicked. What does that mean? He died
between two thieves. He laid in a rich man's tomb.
He made his grave with the rich in his death. Joseph of Arimathea,
a wealthy man, had a grave in which man had never laid, and
he gave it to the disciples, and he helped to bury the Lord. Our Lord was rich, but for our
sakes, He became poor. So poor, can you imagine how
poor? The Son of Man didn't have a place to lay His head. He didn't
own a foot of land. But through His poverty, we might
be made rich. You see, as a babe, He slept
in another man's manger. He sailed on another man's boat.
He rode another man's donkey into Jerusalem. He died on another
man's cross, and he laid in another man's tomb. That, my friend,
is poverty. He laid aside all of his glory
and became a servant, obedient unto death, though he had done
no violence. Look at verse 9. He says, "...though
he had done no violence, There was no deceit found in his mouth,
and yet, yet, verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased
the Lord to put him to grief. It pleased the Lord to make his
soul an offering for sin. You know, our Lord's sufferings
were not just physical sufferings. We're prone to be, we're prone
to get taken up with the physical suffering, the pain and the agony
and the blood and these sort of things. But His greatest sufferings
were, He made His soul an offering for sin, you see. Soul. He cried out, My God, He said,
why have you forsaken me? That's His soul. In the garden
of Gethsemane, he cried, Father, if it be thy will, let this cook
nice for me. My soul is sorrowful unto death. That's before they ever laid
a whip on his back. But it pleased God to bruise him. What does
that mean, it pleased God? Well, let me show you. It pleased
God to bruise him. That's maybe a little difficult
to understand, but you'll see when I explain it to you. It
pleased God. It was God's will. The Father
made him our surety. before the foundations of the
world. He's a lamb slain in the foundations of the world by the
will of God. It pleased God to do that. It pleased God to make
Him your Savior. It pleased God that in Him should
all fullness dwell. Secondly, it pleased the Father
to send Him into the world and have Him made in a virgin's womb
and be born and take this abuse and humiliation and suffering.
It pleased God to put Him here as our substitute and our Savior
to take what we deserve. It pleased God to determine the
death, he would die. You know, it says over there
in Acts 4 that these people who crucified Christ did what God
determined before to be done. And when they had fulfilled everything
that was written about him, they took him down from the tree.
It pleased God. And let me show you this. God
was pleased with his obedience. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm pleased. And my friends, these sacrifices
in the Old Testament never pleased God, never gave Him any satisfaction,
never honored His law of justice, but Christ's death and substitutionary
work and obedience pleased the Father. You have the success
of His work here in verse 10 and 11. Listen. He shall see
His seed, His family, His children the Lord gave Him, and be satisfied. He shall prolong His days, He
shall live forever, and all whom he purchased will live with him.
The pleasure of the Lord shall." Now, these are the shalls. These
are not maybe, perhaps, or might. This is shall. The pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hands. My sheep, hear my voice,
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And
nobody's going to pluck them out of my hand. He shall see
the travail of his soul. What's the travail? Birth pains.
Women know something about that. But when they see that baby,
the pain goes away. He sees the travail of his soul
for his people, and the pain goes away. Nothing but joy. For
the joy set before him, he endured the cross. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many. His knowledge? Yeah, he
knows them, and they know him. That's right. For here's the
way he did it. He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore the Lord God said I
will divide him and inheritance and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong because He poured out his soul unto death He was
numbered with the transgressors He bared the sin of many He made
intercession for the transgressors. That's the reason see that he
shall see his seed He shall prolong his days The pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hands. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be perfectly satisfied. That's the reason he's seated
at the right hand of God instead of standing. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore, God said, I'll divide
him in inheritance, give him a name above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will
confess that he is Lord. Why? He poured out His soul to
death. He was numbered with the transgressors. That's representation. He bared
the sin of many. Substitution. And He maketh intercession. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. All right. Send for the tape.
Here's the address. Two dollars. We'll mail it to
you. Substitution. That's the gospel. Till next
week, God bless you.