Now back to Isaiah 53. When we say that the Lord Jesus
suffered for our sins, by his stripes he suffered for our sins,
what do we mean? What do we believe? Well, he
went to the cross and there they spat upon him, and forced a crown
of thorns into his brow, and threw nails in his hands and
feet, and laughed at him while he died, and was deserted of the Father, suffered
for several hours on that tree. That's true, but if you noticed
carefully while I was reading Isaiah 53, that his sufferings and sorrow
and grief began much earlier than that. He shall grow up as
a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form,
no comeliness, despised of men, rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. And then it gets on into the
cross later. The old confessions of faith
said this, and I tell you, the more that we learn of the sufferings
of our Lord in our room and in our stead and in our place, the
more we learn of his sufferings, the more we'll be grateful and
thankful for his grace, and the more we'll enter into the cost
of redemption, and the more gratitude and confidence and assurance
we'll have. Listen to this. This is from
the old writers. When we say that he suffered
for our sins, we mean that he, our substitute, all the days
of his life on this earth, all the days that he spent on this
earth were days of suffering. in body and soul for our sins. All his life he was a man of
solace. All his life he was acquainted
with grief. All his days he knew reproach
and suffering to deliver us, body and soul, from condemnation
and to purchase for us righteousness, favor with God, and everlasting
life. Hebrews says, God prepared him
a body. You read that. Our Lord said,
in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure,
but a body hast thou prepared me. God prepared for his son
a body, a human body, a human nature, with flesh and bones
and blood, a body that could thirst, and no sorrow and tears
and hunger and pain. Christ had a human body and a
human nature. Now listen carefully. But that
body and that human nature was so strengthened and upheld by
the power of God that that human body and that human nature could
bear the weight of the very wrath of God against all the sins of
all his people of all ages. Now my sins and your sins are
too much for us personally to bear. Our human nature, we know
sorrow and tears and grief over our sins and over our failures
and over our corruption and over our evil thoughts and it just
weights us down. What if in this flesh and this
human nature You had to bear even the sin and the shame and
the grief of the people here this morning. You'd die. You'd
literally actually die. You could not stand it. Can't
hardly stand your own selves. But our Lord had a body like
this body. Believe me. He was born of a
woman. He was made of a woman. He had
a human nature. But I tell you the difference.
God was with him in such unlimited power by his spirit and strength
that he could literally, from the cradle to the cross, bear
all the sins and filth and guilt and weight of the wrath of God
against that sin of all his people. He was a man of solid And I'll
tell you another thing about that body, about that human nature.
God gave it such a dignity, such a dignity, that the short years,
he only suffered for 34 years. He only hung on that cross for
6 hours. The shortness of the years and
the shortness of the hours of his suffering, yet, That person
had such dignity and glory that in that brief time he could satisfy the justice of God for all his
people and bear in his body in that short time the eternal wrath
that we deserve. You see what I'm saying? Who
is he? No wonder Pilate said, Behold,
the man, never one before and never one since, that holy thing,
God in human flesh, the God-man, in person and in work, in life
and in death, in youth and in suffering, in body and in soul,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the sinner's substitute. Every waking
hour, every sleeping hour, every step, every word, every day,
every hour, his vicarious sufferings and sorrows and griefs met all
the needs and wants of his people in every area of their lives,
identified with us. Let me show you from the beginning
to the cross. Turn to Luke 2. how that he was
our substitute, how that he was our substitute, this man, this
man was our substitute. Here in Luke 2 verse 7, when
he was born, it says in Luke 2, 7, And she, Mary, brought
forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger, in a stable, in a castle, because there was no room for
them in the inn. No room for him. This is his
city, Bethlehem. He's the son of David. These are his people. This is his city, this is his
kingdom, and yet there was no room for him. He began his life
as an outcast. An outcast. Men would not even
give the promised Christ, the Messiah, a cradle in which to
lie, or a roof over his head. You see how he was our substitute
to start with, when he was born. No room for him, no recognition,
no form, no comeliness, no beauty that we should desire in an outcast. His vicarious life of suffering
began at his birth. He wasn't even allowed to be
born within the city wall. He wasn't allowed to be born
or die within the city. What does this mean? Suffering. Suffering. Humiliation. Degradation. But he's identifying
with us. Turn to Hebrews 13. Listen to
this. This is from the time he was
born to the time he died. There was no room for him. No
recognition. In Hebrews 13 verse 11. for the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin, they are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the game. It took him outside the city
of Jerusalem. He wasn't allowed to die in Jerusalem.
He wasn't allowed to be born in Bethlehem or die in Jerusalem. go forth therefore unto him without
the camp, bearing his reproach." There's the word, reproach. All right, turn to Matthew 1. He came into the world as our
substitute, outcast, reproach. Now Matthew chapter 1, the angel
appeared to Joseph and told him verse 20, look at Matthew 1,
20. While he thought on these things, behold, the angel of
the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, our
son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus."
Jesus? call his name Jesus, a common,
common name worn by so many others? Oh, I know what it means, Joshua,
Savior, for he shall save his people from their sin. But his
name is wonderful. When he wrestled with Jacob back
there on that eventful night, Jacob said, what's your name?
He said, my name's My name's Secret. Why do you
ask my name?" When he appeared to Manoah to tell them about
the birth of Samson before he went up in the sacrifice, they
said, what's your name? He said, Secret. Wonderful. His name is wonderful, his name
is Counselor, his name is the mighty God, and yet you call
his name Jesus? You're on such familiar terms
with God that you can call him Jesus? I tell you, when that angel said,
Joseph, call his name Jesus, that's more humiliation. That's
more humiliation, because that name means Savior, Joshua, Savior. With that name, he declared his
mission and his work. As the Savior, He came from the
womb. As the Savior, He lay in a manger. As the Savior and substitute,
He wore the name Jesus. Jesus. And that's the reason
some of us insist that we no longer call Him Jesus. Call Him
Lord. Because the work's done. Humiliation's
over. the suffering and humiliation
and reproach, he's exalted. Don't you call him Jesus. You
call him the Lord Jesus. That's right. You call him the
Lord Jesus. Mary said, My soul doth magnify
my Lord, my spirit doth rejoice in God, my Savior. My Savior." Oh, many have warned
that name, Jesus, Jesus. You go to Mexico today and one
out of every 50 little Mexican boys are named Jesus, Jesus. They name their children Maria
and Jose, Joseph, and Jesus. Many have warned the name, but
only one bore the sins. You call his name Jesus. All right. Turn to Luke 2. Luke
chapter 2. I'm telling you that the Lord
Jesus Christ is our substitute, our suffering substitute from
the very hour in which he came forth from the womb. There was
no room for him. He wasn't wanted. They called
him Jesus. And then when he was a few days
old, Luke 2, verse 21. And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus. The
what? The what? Circumcision. Circumcision
deals with guilt. Circumcision deals with sin. Circumcision denotes a need of
cleansing. What are you doing? This is the
Son of God! And you're going to take a stone
knife and shed His blood? He knew no sins, yet He circumcised. He was not born in sin, yet He
circumcised. I'll tell you why. He circumcised
like all the other sons of Abraham. Why was he circumcised? Substitute. Substitute. He was made under
the law. And his humiliation. Wasn't any
room for him. Yeah, but this is the Son of
God. We ain't got no room for the Son of God. But this is David's
son. You can use that manger down
there if you want to. Otherwise, get out of here. There's
no room for him. Reproach. Humiliation. Call his
name, who'd you say his name is gonna be? Jesus. Well, we
got plenty of those. And then they took him and circumcised
him. This is the beginning of that
obedience which he learned by suffering. Hear that little fella cry when
they cut him. Though he were a son, yet he
learned obedience for the things he suffered. By one man's disobedience,
we became sinners. By the obedience of one, we were
made righteous. This is all part of the substance.
I'll take you to the cross, we'll get there. But I don't want you
to lose sight of the fact that everything I needed, He supplied. Everything God required, He fulfilled. Everything. From the time He
came forth from the world. Turn to Matthew 2, and this is
interesting. Matthew chapter 2, verse 13. Matthew 2, 13. Let's begin with
verse 12. Here's Mary and Joseph. Matthew 2, verse 12, Mary and
Joseph and the Christ child, and being warned of God in a
dream that they should not return to Herod, that is, to Jerusalem,
to their own country, they departed into their own country another
way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt." This is the Son
of God? This is a Jewish king, this is
a Messiah. Egypt is a land of bondage and
slavery and evil. That's where Israel suffered
for 400 years and God led them out of Egypt to Jerusalem. Take
the king to Jerusalem, now take him to Egypt. Take the Messiah
to the capital of religion, now take him to Egypt. Capital paganism. take him to Egypt. And be thou
there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young
child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young
child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt. And he
was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet out of Egypt have
I called my son." Out of Egypt. Here Christ the Lord, the King
of Israel, banished into Egypt. Yet, this is all part of his
humiliation, part of his suffering as our substitute. For as the
outcast one and the banished one, he suffered for us. John Flavel
said this about the Scripture, Because the Lord Jesus was standing
in the sinner's place, He passed through earth as an outcast,
exiled from his home, driven from his land into Egypt as a
vagabond, because by the first Adam's sin we were cast out of
the presence of God. The Lord took Adam and Eve and
put them out of the garden and put a flaming sword so they couldn't
get back in. And you and I have been cast
out, but the Lord Jesus was cast out for us, and now He's coming
back. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors." Those gates had been
closed a long time. Those doors had been shut a long
time, because there was never found anyone worthy coming from
Egypt, coming from out yonder, coming from outside paradise,
worthy to come in. But He's worthy. Who is this
king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He's coming
out of Egypt once and for all to stay. Ah, yes. All right, Matthew 3,
look across the page. Our Lord is the substitute all
the way through his life. Matthew 3, verse 13, "...then
cometh Jesus, this Jesus, this substitute, this man, from Galilee
to Jordan unto John to be baptized out of him. But John forbade
him, saying, you want me to baptize you? The Son of God standing in the
water? The Son of God baptized as a sinner? That's
what baptism is. It's a baptism of repentance.
It's a baptism of confession. It's a baptism of saying, I'm
worthy of death. Kill me. Bury me. Why, he said,
I have need to baptize thee, and you come to me. And Jesus
answering said, suffer it to be suffered. Take him to the
manger. That's all right. Suffer it to
be suffered. Call his name Jesus or call me what you will. Suffer
it to be suffered. Circumcise him. Suffer it to
be suffered. Take him to Egypt. Suffer it
to be suffered. Why? To fulfill all righteousness. All that God requires. I'm the
sinner. He took my place. I'm worthy
of death. He died for me. I should be buried
out of sight. He was buried. What does the symbol of death
and cleansing have to do with him? Not anything except that
he stands in my place. What does water have to do with
him that's pure? Only when he became impure for
me. What does the putting away of
the filth of the flesh and the ants of a good conscience toward
God have to do with him? Nothing. He's not there representing
himself. He's there in my place. You see,
our Noah, He's building his art. Our Noah is building his wonderful
art for the salvation of his house. He's putting everything
in it just like the Father told him. Suffer it to be so. We're fulfilling all righteousness. A man of softness, acquainted
with grace. We hear it as it were our faces
from him. He's despised and rejected and
everybody that was anybody said crucify Him. You know what
that meant in the old Roman Empire? Put Him to death. No room for
Him, no place for Him. Matthew 26, we're not through.
I hesitate to even try to comment on these verses, but I told you
a while ago that that body that the Lord God prepared for him
was capable, that human nature, by the strength and power of
God. Our Father, glorify thy Son,
that thy Son may glorify thee. Give me strength, give me help.
That body was capable, that nature of bearing all the sins of all
his people, plus the wrath of God for those sins. Now listen
to it here. In Matthew 26, verse 36, "...and
then cometh Jesus," it's Jesus, it's man, "...with them unto
a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples,
Now you sit here while I go yonder and pray yonder. And he took
with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful
and very heavy." You know something about sorrow with sin? Heaviness
because of sin. This is what's going on. He was
sorrowful, heavy, heavy because of the sins laid on him. Lead on. Then said he unto them,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. What's he saying? I'm on the verge of death right
now. The scripture says his blood
came from his pores. Great drops of blood came from
his pores in that garden. That's the heaviness. That's
the sorrow. All the sins of all the people
of all ages laid on him. He made his soul an offering
for sin. Our soul is sorrowful even unto death. You tarry and
watch with me now. And he went a little further
and fell on his face and prayed, Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as I will. Is he praying to escape the cross? Not for a moment. Not for a moment. He's praying for the strength
and the grace and the power to get through this moment right
there. With this sin, guilt, guilt.
wickedness laid on him. Father, and even then, he says,
thy will be done. If I have to die two or three
times, I'll die two or three times. But I ask you, my soul
is sorrowful unto death. Let this cup pass, if it be your
will. Nevertheless, thy will be done. Thy will be done. Scripture tells
us that turn to Luke. Let me show you what happened
here. We have two accounts of it. Luke
22, what one supplies, the other doesn't. In Luke 22, verse 43,
and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening
him. Back there in verse 42, he said,
Father, if I be willing, remove this cup. Nevertheless, not my
will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed
more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground. When he rose up from prayer and
was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping. And he said,
Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter
into temptation. These bitter cries in Gethsemane
was the agony, soul agony and cries of our substitute who took
our flesh and bore our sin. He said, Is there any sorrow
like my sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the
day of his fierce Well, I come to that place in
John 19, and we'll just read this, John
19. From the cradle to the cross, a man of solace. From the cradle
to the cross, acquainted with grief. From the cradle to the
cross, by his stripes were healed. From the cradle to the cross,
substitute. And now, the final word, John
19, verse 16. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. And they took this Jesus and
led him away. And he bearing his cross, his
cross, my cross, went forth into a place called
the place of the skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha,
where they crucified him and two others with him on the either
side one and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. This title then read, many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near
the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priest, of
the Jews to Pilate, don't write he's the king of the Jews, write
he said he was king of the Jews. And Pilate answered, what I've
written, I've written. Then the soldiers, when they
crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every
soldier a part, also his coat. Now the coat was without seam,
woven from top to throughout. They said therefore among themselves,
let's not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be. that the scripture might be fulfilled,
which saith, They parted my garments among them, and for my vesture
they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers
did. Now there stood by the cross
of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he said to
his mother, Woman, behold thy son, go home with John. Then
he said to John, Behold thy mother. From that hour that disciple
took his mother unto his own home, took care of her. After
this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
this is what I've been preaching about, everything God gave him
to do, he had done. All things were accomplished,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, said I first. Now there was set
a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar
and put it upon Hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, it's finished. The sorrow
is over, the grief is over, the suffering is over, the substitution
is over. It's finished. Bowed his head
and gave up the ghost. Here the wrath of God fell on
him. Here the sword of God smote him.
Here he poured out his soul to death, here he was cut off out
of the land of the living, and here the work was finished. Then
why was he buried? Isn't that further work in our redemption? He was
buried to reveal he died. Indeed, he died. And he was buried
to show the scapegoat bearing our sins away. To what end was
he raised to reveal that God had accepted him? Everything
that he did. From those early moments, we
have a young son, Mary, my wife, is going to bear. There's no
room for him. He's not wanted. From that moment
all the way through his life, sorrow, reproach, agony, outcast,
till he cried on that cross, It is finished. He was performing the work as
Jesus to save his people from their sins. You see that? And
it's finished. It's all done. Nothing left for
us to do. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe, sin left to crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Isn't
that good news? That's the gospel. Come into my life at any point,
from the time I was born to the time I leave here, and Christ
was my substitute at that point. Fulfilled all that the Father
required. My Savior's love, 452. Let's turn over there and sing
that song.