Christ's Glory Is Christ Himself

I listen, if you will, most carefully
at the beginning of this message in particular. There's one thing that every
believer, everyone who has a hope for glory, there's one thing
that every believer should know. And there's one thing that every
preacher ought to know and to emphasize in his ministry, and
that is this, that the Heavenly Father fully intends, and he said, have I not spoken
and shall I not do it? Have I not purposed it and shall
I not bring it to pass? He fully intends. whatever happens
to you or me, but he fully intends to honor, glorify, and exalt
Jesus Christ. Now, he fully intends to do that. He said in John 13, if you care
to turn over there, John 13, verse 31 and 32, John 13, 31, Therefore when he
was gone out, Jesus said, Judas had gone out. Jesus said, Now
is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God
shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify
him. This is what our Lord prayed
in John 17, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was. God's full intent to honor, exalt,
glorify his Son. Are you sure of that? And then
if you'll just turn over to John 16, the Holy Spirit of God. And I know there's a whole lot
of preaching about the Holy Spirit. There's a whole lot of ideas
about the Holy Spirit. And there are a whole lot of
things done, according to the preachers, by what they call
the leadership of God's Spirit. Tongues and healings and waving
of the hands and all this sort of thing. But I can tell you
this. The Holy Spirit of God was sent to this earth to glorify
Christ. to glorify Christ. And I see
that here in John 16, verse 13. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit
of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak. And he'll show you things to come, and he shall glorify
me. He shall glorify me. He shall
call attention to me. He shall honor me. He shall glorify
me. He shall focus your attention
on me and your affection and your love on me. And he shall
receive of mine, the things of mine, my deity, my incarnation,
my righteousness, my justification, my death, my intercession. He'll take the things of mine.
And He'll show them to you. He'll show them to you. All things
that the Father hath are mine, Christ said. They're mine. They're
vested in Him. They're turned over to Him. They're
given to Him. All things. Everything the Father hath. Everything
the Father hath. There's nothing outside of Christ
but chaff, dross. You don't want anything outside
of Christ. You don't want anything that
eclipses Christ. You don't want anything that's
not found in Christ, because it's not of God. I hear people
talking about, and this distresses and disturbs me, they were saved. They met Christ. They believed
on Christ. And then later in life, under
some kind of emotional experience or emotional preaching or some
kind of work of the Holy Ghost, They really had an experience. They came to a position that
formerly they didn't have, and an attitude and all formerly
that they didn't know. This is great. This is wonderful.
Now wait a minute. Anything that's better than Christ
is not of God. It's of the flesh. I'll tell
you that. I don't care who has it, who
claims it. Because the scripture says, in him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Christ.
If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his.
He of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And when we're born of God in
Christ Jesus, we are made sufficient and meet for the inheritance
of glory, and we need nothing added, John. That's right. And
anything that eclipses Christ, I guarantee it's not of God.
And you can call it the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and the baptism
of gifts, and the baptism of fire, and the baptism of anything
else you want to. But that's not of God. That's
nothing but an emotional religious experience that's made you a
Pharisee. Because everything's in Christ.
I'm sure of that. Our Lord said, He shall take
the things of mine and show them to you. Now there's a growth
in these things of Christ. Growth in understanding. Grow
in great desire of the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. By the word we grow in grace
and we grow in the knowledge of Christ. And we grow in faith. But the Holy Spirit exalts and
magnifies Christ. Now I'll tell you this, thirdly.
of the Lord Jesus Christ will glorify Christ. Turn to Colossians
1. See if this is not so. Colossians
chapter 1. The church will glorify Christ.
In Colossians 1, it says, beginning with verse 18, and he's the head
of the church. Colossians 1, 18. He, Jesus Christ,
is the head of the church. Creation glorifies Christ. Let's
go back a few verses. Verse 16, creation glorifies
Christ. For by Him were all things created,
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible.
Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him, for Him. And He's
before all these things. And by Him all things are held
together. Creation glorifies Christ. The
birds and the clouds and the I was riding in England a few
days ago, and the full moon was out, and we were riding down
the highway, and I see that moon shining right on Kentucky right
now. Same moon, same moon. That moon was made for my Lord's
glory. I see everything was made for
His glory. He's King of creation, Lord of
creation, and by Him, that moon, by His His nail-scarred hand,
that moon is held in place. That's right. And each star is
put where he wants them to be. And they glorify him. And anything
that can't glorify him, he's going to destroy it. In that
new heaven and new earth. Now he's just going to destroy
it. And I read, look at the church. And it says in verse 18, he's
the head of the body, the church. Who is the beginning. He's the
firstborn from the dead. that in all things, I wish I
could emphasize that, among all things, past, present, and future,
all things, he might have the preeminence. You can't wear that subject out.
I'll tell you this about the Holy Spirit of God, and I just feel like sometimes
I wish I wish that we didn't have all
these religious mementos, cathedrals and buildings and
organizations and biographies and all these things. I think sometimes it might be
better if Under a man's ministry, God just raised up a little temporary
tabernacle, and then when his ministry is finished, just wipe
it out. Somebody's always wanting to write a biography of Brother
Barnard. I guess I knew him better than
anybody. I was with him more than anybody. I knew him, I think
I knew him better than his wife knew him. For this reason, I
think I understood his gospel more than she did. Loved his message more than she
did. But if people say, I mean, I
could write a biography, but I think it'd be a shame. I really
do. I think Ralph Barnett ought to
be remembered for the Christ he preached. I really do. I think any, I think, I think
perhaps, and we, that we, like Spurgeon's Tabernacle, people
go all the way to England, stand up in front of that, God tore
it down three times. Twice, well, three times. At
least twice I know when Spurgeon preached there. He was a mighty
preacher. And they built that huge tabernacle seating 5,000
with triple balconies. And he held forth the word. I
guess he's England's greatest preacher. And eight years after
he died, God burned it to the ground. Burned it to the ground. Except for the front. Just the
front of the building. And they went back and built
it again. Not the same dimension, but built it smarter, but left
that front. Metropolitan Tabernacle on the front. They built it again.
Then World War II, Cecil the bombers wiped it out. God tore
it down again. Well, we just won't let our religious
edifices lie in the dust where he puts them. They built it back
again. Of course, there's nothing there
now. I'm told, but people still go look at the front. I did too. But I can tell you this, now
as I say that to say this, the Holy Spirit of God does not reach
out after anything or anybody, novel, talented, spectacular,
in order to glorify Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit doesn't need
those things to glorify Christ. I know we're impressed with,
here some preacher has a football stadium full of people, and great
choirs, and they have these beautiful robes, and these crescendos,
and the Handel's Messiah, and cantatas, and all these things,
but I can tell you this, the Holy Spirit does not need buildings,
tongues, emotion, great crowds, bodily healing, creature fame,
They get movie stars and mayors of the town and all these fellas
to kick off meetings, you know. Football stars to sit on the
platform with the preacher. Baseball heroes. God doesn't
need, the Holy Spirit doesn't need or use any of those people
or things of importance to bring glory to Christ. Listen to me,
He finds Christ's glory in Christ Himself. Now that's right. Christ's glory is found in Christ. That's where it's found. And
I'll tell you this, if we, personally, maybe we'd be better out in the
woods somewhere, but I can, if we could, but there's no reason
why we can't use these things, there's no, without abusing them,
there's no reason why we can't use the buildings and organizations
or whatever we have at our disposal and recognize those things for
what they are. They're nothing in the world
but means. They're nothing in the world but just something that God has given
us to make us comfortable. But if we would honor Christ,
glorify Christ, and exalt Christ, we must not look for something
outside of Christ to do it. just mustn't do that. But we
must simply preach what is His already and has always been His. Whether it's when Adam and Eve
were naked in the garden or here we stand with our palatial homes
and limousines. Christ's glory has always been
and is now in that which is His. His deity, that was His before
the world was. His deity. his person, his glory, his mediatorial
kingdom. Jesus Christ is most honored
and glorified, and his sheep and church most edified, and
his will and purpose accomplished, and his people perfected in faith,
hope, and love when we preach Christ. Scott Richardson. wrote an article in his bulletin
a few weeks ago, and I had it on my desk, and I really missed
it, and Paul saw it and read it. He said it was one of the
greatest things he ever read, and I asked him tonight if he
brought it with him. He said he did, and I want to read it to
you. Right along the line, as I'm
talking right now, we can only effectually serve Christ as we
enjoy Christ. We love him for who he is. We
trust him for who he is. If I allow my work to get between
my heart and my master, my work's of little value. No man can preach
Christ with power and freshness to others unless he's feeding
on Christ himself in the secret of his soul. It's quite true that a man may
preach a sermon, that's no problem. Deliver a discourse, that's done
every Sunday. Pray long prayers, write a book,
and go through all the outward form of service and yet never
preach Christ, or even minister Christ to his hearers. The man who does, Whatever success or reception,
whatever the success or reception of his ministry, is a satisfied
man, the man who can preach Christ, who can minister Christ, to whom
he preaches and people go out full of Christ, full of Christ,
just my cup runneth over, my cup runneth over. It's like somebody
said one time, we drive by a church and we say, well who preaches
there? Really, that's not very important. The important thing
is who is preached there. What's the message from the pulpit?
It really doesn't matter. It's like when I'm gone and these
other men stand in this pulpit. To me, there's no difference.
There is no difference. They preach Christ. The same
message goes out from this pulpit every time we assemble together,
and that's Christ. I remember one time I was away,
and I called back here on Thursday, I believe it was, and I said,
how's service? He goes, Sunday, wonderful. He
said, Bob Coffey preached on Christ our priest, and that night
Todd Nyberg preached on Christ our Sabbath, and Wednesday night
Tom Harding preached on Christ our hiding place. I said, that's
a pretty good order. You can't beat that, can you?
That's the children's bread. That's the children's bread.
But I tell you, Scott went on, the man who is just feeding upon
the fruits of his ministry, who delights in the gratification
which it gives, or the attention and interest it commands, is
like a pipe that carries water to people and keeps the rust
for himself. Oh, that's something. Terrible condition to be in.
And yet every man who's more concerned with his work and the
results of his work than he is with his master and the glory
of his master is in a terrible condition. Isn't that good? What is my message? What is my
message? My message is Christ Jesus. What
is my gospel? You ask what is my gospel? It's
Christ Jesus. What's your creed? Christ Jesus.
What's your hope of life eternal? Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. My hope. What do you want to
be remembered for? It really doesn't matter if we're
remembered at all, does it? But if we're remembered for anything,
let it be for this. We preach Christ. We preach Christ. I want you to turn to Isaiah
53. And I'm just going to give you
some high points in this message from Isaiah 53. I believe it
just about reveals it all. You know, John, what the Jews
said about this prophecy, said this is a difficult prophecy,
a difficult prophecy. No, no, it's not a difficult
prophecy. Without Christ, it's an impossible
prophecy. There is no clue here. There
is no answer. There is no key without Christ.
Isn't that right, John? It's impossible. But if you have
no see and love Christ, this prophecy is so clear. When Paul read it, it just opened
up to you. But you have to go back to chapter
52, verse 13. That's where you have to go back
to, to see Isaiah 53. You just have to do that. You
see, the Bible was not written in chapters and verses. I like what the dear old lady
said, if the King James Version was good enough for Paul, it's
good enough for me. Well, Paul never had the King
James Version. King James lived in 1600. But it's a good translation,
Ronnie. There are other good ones, too.
This is a good one. But they divided it in chapters and verses
to give us a hand here, and it's helpful. But in Isaiah 52, 13,
it says, Behold my servant. Now, of whom is he speaking?
Well, he's speaking of Christ Jesus. You mean Christ is a servant? He's the servant of the Father.
He's the Father's servant. Just go back to Isaiah 42, and
let me show you that. Isaiah 42. He's the servant.
He said in Isaiah 42, 1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine
elect. Christ be my first elect, God
said, and then he chose all of us in our head. He's my servant.
And in whom my soul delighteth, I put my spirit upon him, and
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Christ is God's
servant as the Messiah. You know, sometimes he said,
I speak not of myself. Well, as God, he did speak of
himself. But as the Messiah, as the servant,
he spoke the things the Father told him to speak. I can't divide
that, I just know it's so, Herman. He said, he said, I come not
to do my will. Christ said I didn't come to
do my will. Well, he's the everlasting Father,
he's the Prince of Peace, he's God. But he's speaking as the
Messiah. He's speaking as the servant
of God. He's speaking as the representative of a people. He
actually never left the bosom of the Father. Talked about the
only begotten who's in the bosom of the Father. But he came down
here, and I tell you this, while born of that woman, inhabiting
that human body. And this great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
That's a mystery. It's a mystery you and I cannot
comprehend. We don't understand, Charlie,
we believe it. But when Jesus Christ came to
this earth, he never left the bosom of the Father because he
said, I and my Father are one. And yet here walking on this
earth is the God-man. It's the same thing, he said,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God forsaking God? In a sense
it was true, in another sense it's an impossibility, because
he's God. On this earth, in human flesh,
God the Father says, He's my servant. He's my servant. He's your representative. He's
your head. He's your friend. He's numbered with you transgressors.
He's fulfilling all that I require of you. He's a man in every respect. He's a man. And he took on himself
the form of a servant. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. Jesus Christ was. That's what
the scripture said. And he's my servant. He's my
servant. And then it says here, my servant
shall deal prudently. The word prudently means successfully. He shall prosper. He shall not
fail. He cannot fail. He will fulfill all that was
laid upon him. That's so. You'll fulfill everything. What
was the first recorded words of Jesus Christ in the Bible?
First, I mean in the flesh. The first recorded words of Jesus
Christ after he became a man. First recorded words were these.
He said to his mother and to his foster father Joseph, I must
be about my father's business. I must be about, I've got something
to do. My father sent me down here as
a servant. The eternal God was robed in
human flesh, born of a woman, made under the law, to perform
a task. I came down here to do this task. What were his last
words? The last words he recorded were,
it's finished. What's finished? That task. I
finished the work you gave me to do. That's right. And the God-man went back to
the Father. I finished the work. Now he says
here, and this is the reason my dear friends, I don't, I'm
not a religious debater, I wouldn't waste time debating. But I can
tell all the religious preachers and all the rest of them, this
Christ cannot fail. Now you can talk about poor little
Jesus, sweet little Jesus boy, Jesus Christ superstar, all this
trash you want to. And Jesus wants you into your
heart, and you won't let Him. Please accept Him. Please give
Him your heart. Please do Him a favor. He said,
My servant shall not fail. My servant shall deal prudently,
successfully, prosperously, and he cannot fail. Look back at
Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, verse 4. It says,
He shall not fail. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. He can't. There's no failure
with God. He shall not fail. He said, all
that my Father giveth me will come to me. He prayed in John 17, Thou hast
given me all power over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given me. And he said, I pray for these. I pray not for the world. Jesus
Christ never prayed for the world because he never died for the
world. It never was his intention of saving every human being.
He said, I pray for them which thou hast given me. Six times
in John 17 he says, those that you gave me. I pray for them. And he said in John 10, other
sheep I have which are not of this particular foal, them also
I must bring and they will hear my voice and they will be one
foal. They will be. Read on Isaiah 52. My servant
shall deal prudently, prosperously, he shall deal successfully, he
shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. He shall be.
The Father said he's going to be exalted above all exaltation. God hath given him a name above
every name, that is the name of Jesus, every knee will bow,
every tongue shall confess that he is Lord to the glory of God
the Father. Every knee. That means the knee of Mohammed
and Buddha and Confucius and all the so-called messiahs and
all the kings and great men and all who cursed Him and denied
Him and all the atheists and agnostics and skeptics and infidels
and everybody is going to acknowledge that He is the Lord. Yes sir,
and every angel in heaven and every fallen angel in hell is
going to acknowledge He's Lord. Every knee is going to bend and
every tongue is confessing one day that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He's going to be exalted. And verse 14 said, as many were
Astoned at thee. He's the subject of astonishment,
amazement. They were stunned when he came
down here to earth. He's stunning. Look at his visage,
his face, his image. His body was so marred, more
than any man. He's far more than the sons of
men. Those soldiers took him. Hard for me to describe this.
I can't imagine it. But the Roman soldiers were the
cruelest of people, the cruelest. They were beasts. They were paid
executioners. They were proud, arrogant, infidels. And Pilate literally turned Jesus
Christ over to these soldiers in the soldiers' hall. And they
scourged him. Now, I've read a little bit about
scourging. Scourging is thirty-nine stripes
save one. They weren't allowed to get a
man forty. Thirty-nine stripes. Or forty stripes save one. Thirty-nine
was scourging. And they tied a man, stripped
him and tied him to a post and took a whip with pieces of metal,
pieces of glass, and all kind of things in the end of of those
leather tongs, and they beat him with that. Beat him to the,
just pulled flesh and threw it against the wall. I've read things
like that. Just scourging. And then they
sat him down and pressed that crown of thorns in his brow.
And then they pulled his beard out. You know what Scripture
says? They plucked out his beard. They literally pulled it out.
You know what that'd do to your face? You realize what that'd
do to your face? And then they stood back and
hit him in the face and blindfolded him and hit him in the face and
said, your prophet tell us who hit you. That cruelty. Spit in his face. When he stood
before, now you see these pictures, Christ on the cross and that
little, that little dainty crown of thorns with that little loincloth. Forget it. His face and body
was so swollen. and beaten. You say, why didn't
he die? No man can take my life. There's nobody could kill him.
He said, I lay it down. The reason he didn't die under
that infection, fever. My tongue cleaver to the roof
of my mouth, he said. My bones are pulled out of joint,
not broken, pulled out of joint. That's what he said. They can
see all my bones. His vision so marred, more than
any man. His form more than the sons of
men. The reason he didn't die under
that terrible ill treatment. No man takes my life. I lay it
down. And they were stunned. They were stunned by everything
about him. His birth stuns men. Why is one
so high stooped so low? Well, we know, I know, to be
identified with this low life. His knowledge stunned them. They
said, how do you know? You haven't learned, studied
under anybody. His miracles, Nicodemus came, the intellectual
theologian, you know, and he said, nobody could do what you're
doing unless God be with you. In what way is God with you? That man born blind that he healed,
he said, has yet ever been heard on this earth that a man who
is blind can see. Stunned, his doctrine stunned
him. Just let me read you something
over here, don't turn to it, let me just read to you, go in
Psalm 2, listen to this. But God said, yet I've set my
king on the holy hill of Zion. I'll declare the decree. The
Lord has said, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
And while over here, Isaiah 52, 14, he was marred more than the
sons of men. But verse 15, he's still a king. And so shall he sprinkle many
nations. You say, what's that referring
to? That's referring to the sprinkling of the blood in the Old Testament.
Moses sprinkled the book, he sprinkled the tabernacle, he
sprinkled the people, he sprinkled the mercy seat. That's the sanctifying,
purifying, justifying, cleansing blood of Christ. And our Lord
will sprinkle many nations, many nations, save many people, every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, and kings shall shut their mouth
at Him. For that which had not been told
them shall they see, and that which they had not heard
shall they consider. All right, let's look at chapter
53 now of Isaiah. Now this is where Paul Edward
paused for a few moments and said, who hath believed this
report, this gospel? That's our gospel
right there, my servant. Now he's going over it again,
you just heard it. You believe it? You believe it? Well, most folks don't. Most
folks don't. Most folks don't. Who hath believed
this report, this gospel of substitution, this gospel? You mean to tell
me that that Jewish boy born to that little maiden in that
stable lived in a carpenter's shop. You mean that's God Almighty?
You want me to believe that that's God Almighty in human flesh?
You want me to believe that that infant is the Ancient of Days?
You want me to believe that that man, that, they said, is that
not just the carpenter? He's a winebibber and a gluttonous
man, don't we know Mary, his mother and brother, we know his
brothers and sisters, he grew up right down the street here,
worked in his carpenter's shop. You mean to tell me that that
man who stood over that saw and that piece of wood and cut it
and plumbed it and measured it and put it together and pegged
it together, you mean that's God? The man standing there building
that table piece by piece, he's the one that spoke the world
into being? You want me to believe that? You want me to believe that that
man who's bound and blood dripping down his face and he's onto the
ground The one who was carrying that cross up to Calvary's Mountain
and stumbled under the weight of it and they had to get somebody
to carry it for him. You mean he's the one on whose
shoulders the government of the universe rests and he can't carry
that wooden cross? You want me to believe that's
God? You want me to believe that man who hangs helplessly on that
cross and finally cries out, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? You want me to believe that that's God? And that my whole
hope of life, salvation, redemption, and going to glory depends solely,
completely, and absolutely on Him and what He did? That's our
report. That's our report. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? It's got to be revealed. It's foolishness to the natural
man. And here are several reasons
why it's foolishness. Look at verse 2. He'll grow up
as a tender plant. Now, you go and plant your corn
in the garden and after a few days you keep looking out there
hoping it'll come up Herman, don't you? After a while you
see sticking through that On that ground, that hard eastern
Kentucky soil comes a little old green plant, just tender
plant, about like, just squeeze it and it's dead. Step on it,
it's gone. So tender. But our Lord Jesus Christ was
born of a Mary, a woman. They cut the cord, tied it, circumcised
him at eight days, and he lay and took nourishment from her
breast. That's the tender plant. Helpless. He was helpless. Nothing's helpless. You can go out here in Lexington,
Kentucky and those colts are born and they get up and run
off. Just about. But not a baby. Not a man child. He lays on his mother's lap for
about a year. Helpless. And that's the reason
nobody believed. Listen. And as a root out of
a dry ground. What's that? That's the Jewish
nation. He came from the root of Jesse. And that root wasn't
worth a plug nickel. Somebody had gone to Caesar and
said, I'm from Jesse's family. Who? Jesse who? Who's Jesse? Father of David. That's who Jesse
is. But the Jewish nation didn't mount a hill of beans. And then
he hath no form or comeliness. He's a peasant in a peasant's
robe. And when we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire
him, no beauty about him, nothing grand, nothing great, nothing
majestic, nothing to suggest a king. But let me tell you something. While he is a king, at this time,
he's us. He's us. He's identified with
us. He's a man. You see, it's not God obeying
the law that gives me a righteousness, it's a man obeying the law. That's what it takes. He did
what we can't do. And that's what people don't
believe. See, like I said, the key to this is Christ. Alright,
read on. And he's despised and rejected
of men. Everybody who was anybody turned
thumbs down on him. All men. He's a man of sorrows.
From the cradle to the grave, he walked the road of sorrows.
He walked our road. He was acquainted with grief.
And in your margin it says, he hid where his face from us. I
think it's we hid where our face from him. I think it's just,
he just didn't amount to nothing. And we just turned our backs
on him. And we esteemed him not. Now watch this. Would you really
know the gospel? Would you really know the gospel?
When I'm reading the next few verses, put your name in here,
Isaiah 53, surely he hath borne Henry's grief. These sorrows
and griefs that he bore were my sorrows and griefs. God caused
all our sins to meet on him. He bore Henry's griefs, he carried
Henry's sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted." You say, those old mean men crucified
Jesus, God decreed it from all eternity. They did what he determined
before to be done. Everything about his crucifixion
is right here in the book of Psalms, the Old Testament. Here
it is, we're reading it right now. His birth in Bethlehem. Even Judas, betraying him for
30 pieces of silvers right here in the Old Testament, and what
he did with the money? He cast it on the floor and it
bought the potter's field. It's all right there. Piercing
his hands and feet. You see, this is substitution. Look at verse 5 now. But he was
wounded far. in the place of, in the stead
of Henry's transgressions. They were my transgressions,
and he was wounded, Herman, for my transgressions, for your transgressions.
He's in your place. And he was bruised for my iniquities. And the chastisement, if I'm
going to have any peace, somebody's going to have to pay the price.
If I'm going to have any relief from the debt, somebody's going
to have to satisfy it. If God's going to smile on me, somebody's
going to have to reconcile me to God. And so the chastisement,
the cost of my peace, was upon Him. And with His stripes, we
will be healed if. Now, sir, we are healed. Henry's
healed. You see that? He had borne my
grief and carried my sorrows. He was wounded for my transgression.
He was bruised for my iniquities. the chastisement of my peace,
and with his stripes I am healed." That's substitution and satisfaction. Now watch this, all we like sheep,
the two all's here, all we like sheep, wandering, nearsighted,
dumb sheep have gone astray. We left our God. We turned every
one of us to what? To the way of the devil, no,
to our own way. It's our way. And the Lord did
it, the Lord. We didn't have anything to do
with it, the Lord literally, he made the iniquity of us all
to meet on Christ. Augustus Toplady said the greatest
unimaginable, incomprehensible mound of sin was met on Christ. on that cross. Every sin. Think
how many sins I have. You have. Think of it. Every
little thought, word, even the thought of foolishness is sin.
Think throughout our lives of all the transgressions, of all
the trespasses, of all the words and sins and thoughts and deeds
and misunderstandings and bad motives and all these things
about us. It all meant, it all literally meant on Christ. Literally. Here I am, and there's my sin,
so black, so many, so heavy between me and God. And Christ came and
laid them, not just mine, but yours too, an ever-believer,
laid on Christ. And he bore the weight of it,
and the guilt of it, and bore the stripes of them. He literally
actually paid the debt. He paid the debt. And listen
to verse 7. And he was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, afflicted by God, smitten of God and afflicted.
and he opened not his mouth." It says that twice. He's brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before a shearer's dung,
and he opened not his mouth. He was falsely accused, he was
lied about, he was smacked in the face, he was spit upon, he
was nailed to a cross, he bore the judgment and wrath of God,
and yet in every, through those hours, those long night hours
when those Soldiers would hit him, and that whip would crash
on his back. And they stood there in front
of Pilate and lied on him. And Pilate ridiculed him. Hey, look at your king! Here's
your king! Opened not his mouth. Never said a word. You ever thought
why? They wanted one. He never replied
against the purpose of God. You never applied against the
charges brought against him, and you never applied against
the suffering of the cross. You know why? Three reasons. Number one, he willingly took
this responsibility upon himself. He willingly became our Sheraton
substitute. That's right. Secondly, he loved
us. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end, even the cross. And he said, greater love hath
no man than this. And he laid down his life for
his family. I think some of you ladies go
through the travail of bringing forth a child. I think about
halfway through sometimes you think, I wish I'd have never
got into this mess. That's right, don't you? I'm lying there, you
say, I wish I was back home. You love your baby, but I tell
you, But he loved his babies, and he never said that. He never
wished he was back home. Isn't that right, John? He never
opened his mouth. And thirdly, he never opened
his mouth because every charge against him was true. It's true. He was guilty as charged. That's right. Why? He bore my
sins. He literally took my place. brought to charges, he never
said a word. He never said a word. And when they put him on that
cross and nailed him there and raised him up between those two
devils, he never said a word because he belonged there by
imputation. That's right. And he was, verse
8 said he was taken from prison, tried, executed from judgment. And nobody declared his holiness,
nobody declared his generation, nobody declared his pedigree.
He was cut off out of the land of the living. But for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. That's why all this took place.
God's law has got to be satisfied and God's justice has got to
be honored. Now you can run around here talking
about, well let's do the best we can. Listen to me, I'll give
you an illustration. There was a fellow called Barabbas
down in prison. And those soldiers came down
and got him that morning out of prison, unshackled his chains,
brought him up the flight of stairs out into the open air. And he thought, well, I'm going
to be crucified. He'd already been found guilty.
And they said, now you're free. And he said, I'm what? You're
free. I'm free? You're free. Go your way. Why? You see over there on that hill?
Yeah, three crosses. One of them's yours. And on your
cross is a man named Jesus of Nazareth. And that's why you're
free. And that's why you're free. It
wasn't traipsing down some church aisle, or going to WMU, or giving
your little tithe. It made God reconcile. It's that
man on that cross. He paid your debt. And you just
don't owe it anymore. And if you're trying to pay it
by your little good deeds and works, you're going to find it's
much too heavy to pay. It takes an eternal, infinite
death to satisfy an infinite, eternal God. He's the only one
that could pay it. Verse 9, he made his grave with
the wicked. He's crucified between two thieves.
With the rich in his death, he's buried in a borrowed tomb of
a wealthy man named Joseph. Because, or though he had done
no violence, there was no deceit in his mouth, he's the perfect
substitute. Yet, it pleased the Lord God
to bruise him. Jesus Christ's death, listen
to me, take it away with you, was no accident. He died the
appointed Savior at the appointed time, in the appointed way, for
the appointed people. And he accomplished his appointed
task. And it's done. Now that's just
fact. Simple fact. Pleased the Lord
to bruise him. God put him to grief. When thou
shalt make his soul. Now watch this. We talk about
bodily suffering because we know so much about that, or know a
little bit about it, but he made his soul an offering for sin.
His soul was in it. See, the soul had sinned. The
soul that sinned shall die. And Christ bore hell in his soul. That's separation from God. That's
hell. And what's this? Now, he shall
see his seed. What's his seed? That's his offspring,
his people. And he shall prolong his days,
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. That's
what I said over and over again. God gave him a task to do, and
he did it. He completed it. He fulfilled it, and he'll deliver
the kingdom up to the Father. Complete, one day. It will prosper. Look at verse 11. He's going
to see the travail, the birth pains of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, now you say,
shall he justify many? Let me help you with that, just
quickly. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify.
Set free, totally redeem many. By his knowledge. Number one,
it's by his knowledge of himself and his purpose. The Lord knoweth
them that are his. And by that knowledge, he's going
to justify us. He said to some, I never knew
you. I never knew you. But he knows us. And by the knowledge
of us, he's going to justify us. Secondly, by the knowledge
of him, he said this is the eternal life that they might know thee
in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. By our knowledge of him,
we're justified. And thirdly, by the knowledge
he imparts to us. By the knowledge he imparts to
us. this very thing that we're reading right here. See, you've
got to believe the gospel to participate in it. He that believeth
hath life. So he imparts to us that knowledge
of himself. For he shall bear their iniquities.
Now the last verse. Therefore, therefore, and Paul
Edward paused on this, this being done, all of this being true
and all of it being accomplished, therefore will I divide him a
portion with the the greatest of the great, exalted above all
exaltation, exalted above the angels of God, exalted above
the cherubims and seraphims, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong." I've never really understood that unless
it's one of these three. He shall divide the spoil of
the strong. When a strong man keeps his house,
his goods are at peace, when one stronger than he comes upon
him and lays spoil, Satan is put out of business. All evil,
all aspects of evil, all influence of evil, he'll divide the spoil
of the strong. Or, he shall divide the strong
as a spoil. Or, he shall have for a spoil
the strong. He shall have for his own. all
things. But because, why is he given
a portion with the greatest? Why is he divided this far? Because he hath poured out his
soul to death, because he was numbered with the transgressors.
You know what would be embarrassing to any of you here? Anybody here? It would be a tragic mistake. To go down to the post office
in the morning and walk by that wall where they still have the
wanted posters like they did years ago on who used to talk
about the post office wall, and you walked by there and saw your
picture up there. That would be embarrassing, wouldn't it?
Numbered with that bunch, and yet, he was numbered with us. The eternal, glorious Son of
God had his picture on the post office wall, one of that crowd. That's right, numbered were the
transgressors, and he bared the sin of many, and he made intercession
for the transgressors. That's the reason Paul, with
a clear understanding of this scripture, said, who can condemn
me? Who can condemn me? It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather, is risen again,
who also, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us. Someone suggested this, that
we read Isaiah 53 every week, read it in a time of meditation
and devotion. I believe, I tell you this, if
we'd read that every week, we'd have a whole lot less of these
doubts and fears, and am I saved or am I not? But if you can turn
your eyes on Christ and look to Him, you can get some confidence
and assurance. It's found there. Alright.

Christ's Glory Is Christ Himself

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Christ's Glory Is Christ Himself

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