I'm turning for my message today
to the book of Isaiah. Now, I'd like very much if you
would take your Bibles, if you're in a convenient place, like at
your table or in the living room or den, take your Bibles and
open them to Isaiah chapter 50. And here's my subject today.
The Redeemer describes Himself. You say, Preacher, you're going
to talk about Jesus Christ, our Redeemer? Yes, sir. And you're
going to tell how that he describes himself? Yes, sir. Why don't
you turn to the New Testament, the book of John or Matthew,
one of those books? I'd rather turn to the Old Testament.
Because, you know, some people say the book of Isaiah is the
gospel of the Old Testament. And the book of Isaiah is quoted
many, many, many times in the New Testament. For example, in
John 12, 41, it says, When Isaiah saw His glory, the glory of Christ,
he spake of Him. When he saw the glory of Christ.
You know, in Isaiah 6, when he saw the Lord high and lifted
up on a throne, His train filled the temple and the seraphims
cried, Holy, Holy. Do you know that's Christ? Every
Old Testament revelation of God is Jesus Christ. When the angel
of the Lord appeared to Abraham and others, that's Christ. These
men had a pre-incarnation view of Jesus Christ. And Isaiah saw
His glory and spake of Him. And then Matthew 1, 21, when
the angel told Joseph that Mary was with child and would bring
forth a son, he said, You call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. And this is an order that the
Scriptures might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet
Isaiah, who said, A virgin shall be with child, and thou shalt
call his name Emmanuel, God with us." That's Isaiah chapter 7,
verse 14. And then in Luke, the fourth
chapter, when our Lord Jesus Christ came to the town of Nazareth,
where he was brought up, And as his custom was, he went to
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And
they delivered unto him the Scriptures. Now, that's the Old Testament,
39 books of the Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi. They
delivered the Old Testament to the Lord Jesus Christ to read.
That's all the Bible there was at that time. This was before
the cross, before our Lord died. Where did he turn in the Bible
to read? Here he is, the Messiah, who has come home. The whole
synagogue filled with unbelieving religious people questioning
him and so forth. And what did he read? Isaiah. Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor, deliverance to the captive, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, give sight to the blind, and preach the
acceptable year of the Lord. Isaiah 61. When he spoke concerning his
messianic work, he turned to the book of Isaiah. Why shouldn't
I? And then in the eighth chapter
of Acts, there was an Ethiopian eunuch who was a powerful, influential
man with the Ethiopian government under the queen of Ethiopia.
And he'd been to Jerusalem to worship. And on his way home,
he was sitting in his chariot, having received nothing from
those and Pharisees in Jerusalem. On his way home, he was sitting
in his chariot reading the Scriptures. And God sent a preacher by the
name of Philip to him. And where do you suppose he was
reading? Isaiah. Isaiah 53. He shall grow up before
him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. He hath
no form, no comeliness. When we shall see him, there's
no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and rejected
of men, a man of sours, acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it
were, our faces from him, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes
we're healed." What an important lesson that you need to learn,
and I need to learn, and everybody needs to learn, and so difficult
to learn. So difficult. hear people calling
themselves New Testament Christians. That mean you don't read the
Old Testament? You don't believe the Old Testament? All scriptures
reveal, declare, and point to Christ, from Genesis to Revelation. Acts chapter 10, verse 43 says
this, and I'll tell you this, my friends. In the New Testament,
when you read the word scriptures, that the Scriptures might be
fulfilled. He died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He rose according to the Scriptures. That's the Old Testament they're
talking about. And Acts 10, 43 says, to Him, to Christ, give
all the prophets witness. Our Lord, when the Pharisees
said, well, we have Moses, He said, Moses wrote of me. If you'd
have believed Moses, you'd have believed me. He wrote of me.
Oh, they said, Abraham's our father. He said, if you were
the children of Abraham, you'd do the works of Abraham. Abraham
saw my day. He rejoiced to see it and was
glad. Abraham looked to Christ. John
5, 39, our Lord speaking to the religious rulers, and He said,
you search the Scriptures. That's the Old Testament. You
search Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the Psalms. You search
the Scriptures. In them you think you have life,
but they are they which testify, witness of me." When he opened the understanding
of the apostles and taught them the scriptures, he said, all
things which are written in Moses, in the prophets, in the Psalms
concerning me must be fulfilled. Christ is the key of knowledge.
He's the key to and of the Old Testament scriptures. And I'm
going to give you a candid illustration of that now. Turn with me to
Isaiah 50, the 50th chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 50, and
here we have the Redeemer describing Himself. Now, I know that Isaiah
50 is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. You read it, and
you'll see Christ set forth all the way through Isaiah 50 in
His person, in His deity, in His glory, in His success, in
His sufferings, and in His work, all the way through this chapter.
But to show you that the chapter's talking about Christ, I'm going
back to chapter 49, read the last verse. Now, you know the
Bible, when it was originally written in Hebrew and Greek,
wasn't divided into chapters and verses. That was done later
by the translators. The Bible in the original language
was written as the books are, as a book or a letter and paragraphs. And so the last The last sentence
in chapter 49, before we move into chapter 50, this is what
it says in the last verse of chapter 49. I, the Lord, am thy
Savior. I am thy Redeemer. I, Jehovah,
the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Who is that? Well, that's Christ.
We only have one Redeemer. We only have one Savior, and
that's Christ. And he says, that's who I am. And then in verse 6
of chapter 50, he says, I gave my back to the scourge. Our Lord Pilate delivered him
to be scourged, delivered him to the soldiers. I gave my cheeks
to them that plucked out the hair. I hid not my face from
their shame and spitting. In verse 7, read that in the
light of Luke chapter 9. He set his face like a flint. TO GO TO JERUSALEM. HE SAID THE
SON OF MAN MUST GO TO JERUSALEM. HE MUST BE CRUCIFIED, HE MUST
BE LIFTED UP, AND HE MUST BE BURIED AND RISE AGAIN. OUR LORD
DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES. AND MY FRIENDS,
I TAKE THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES AND PREACH CHRIST IN ORDER THAT
YOU MAY TAKE THE OTHER SCRIPTURES THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT
AND FIND CHRIST. THAT'S WHY I'M DOING THIS. I
WANT YOU TO SEE how that Christ is that rock, and Christ is that
brazen serpent lifted up, and Christ is the tabernacle, and
Christ is our Passover, and Christ is that ark which Noah made,
delivered the people from the wrath and judgment of God. And
Christ is that great high priest who goes into the Holy of Holies
and makes atonement all the way through the Old Testament. It's
Christ on every page. Now here in chapter 15, Just
take your Bible and sit comfortably with it and let's look at the
two first two verses and Here our Lord says in the first two
verses the Lord said where is the bill of your mother's? Divorcement
whom I have put away Now in these first two verses what our Lord's
dealing with here. He's talking about his rejection
He is despised and rejected of men Everybody who was anybody
turned thumbs down on him He was in the world and the world
knew him not. He came into his own people and they received
him not. And this is what he's saying. Now he's facing these
religious people and he says, where's the bill of your mother's
divorcement whom I put away? What's he talking about? Well,
when a man divorced his wife, he must give her a paper declaring
that he has forsaken her. It's called a bill of divorcement.
Our Lord referred to it over in the New Testament. And what
he's saying here to these religious people, he says, You have no
such bill. You have no such bill. You have
no such bill at all to declare, I forsook you. I didn't forsake
you. You forsook me. That's what the
Lord's saying. And he says in the next line,
To which of my creditors have I sold you? What does that refer
to, Pastor? Well, when a man back in the
Old Testament got so heavily in debt that he could not pay
his bills, They did this. They could sell their children
into servitude or slavery and discharge their debt. And what
our Lord is saying to these religious people, He said, I don't have
any creditors. I own the cattle on a thousand
hills and the gold and silver, it hasn't been mine. I know I
owe no man. I owe no one. Here's the truth
of the matter. He goes on. He says, for your
sins, you sold yourself. For your transgressions are you
put away." I didn't put you away. You turned your back on Me. That's
what He's saying. Man's ruin lies at his own door. Now, this is an important point
that I'm trying to make here. This is what the Lord Jesus is
saying concerning His rejection, concerning the fact that men
despise Him and reject Him. He's saying, your ruin lies at
your own door. And this is what few people will
acknowledge. They won't acknowledge that we're
guilty. He said, look at the next verse 2, I came and no man
answered, no man believed. He said, I called and no man
answered. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. I called, I came,
no one believed, no one answered. Sinners are to be blamed. My
friends, our ruin and our condemnation is our own fault. God is not
to be blamed for our condemnation. God is not to be blamed for our
condition. And this is a proper setting
for seeking the Lord. Here is where seeking the Lord
begins. Here's a proper attitude for
seeking the Lord. And it's the only basis, a foundation
on which a man can truly seek the Lord. IS ADMITTING THAT HIS
GUILT IS HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY, THAT HIS SIN LIES AT HIS OWN
DOOR, THAT GOD'S NOT OBLIGATED IN ANY SHAPE, FORM, OR FASHION.
YOU SEE, THAT'S WHAT DAVID SAID IN PSALM 51, MY SINS ARE EVER
BEFORE ME AGAINST THEE, AND THEE ONLY HAVE I SINNED AND NONE THIS
EVIL IN THY SIGHT, THAT THOU MIGHTEST BE JUST WHEN THOU CONDEMNEST
AND CLEAR WHEN THOU CHARGEST. YOU SEE, THE CANAANITE WOMAN,
who found mercy with the Lord. She came to him. She said, Lord,
have mercy on me. He said, answered not a word. First, she said, have mercy on
me. And he said, I am not sent, but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. She still didn't leave. She said,
have mercy on me. He said, it's not right to give
the children's bread to dogs. And she made this statement.
That's true, Lord. That's true. But dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. And that's what our Lord's
pointing out right here. You don't have a bill of divorcement.
I don't have any creditors to which I'm so obligated that I
had to desert you. I called and you didn't answer.
I came and you didn't believe. Your ruin and condemnation and
condition is your own fault. And if you receive any help,
it'll be by God's mercy and God's grace. not by merit and not because
you deserve it or earn it. That's where we start. Stripped,
broken, smitten, slain at the back door of mercy as a beggar
seeking the mercy of God. Now, in verse 2 and 3, our Lord
declares His deity in power. Now, He says, look at the next
line there. Is my hand shortened that it
cannot redeem? Have I no power to deliver? In
other words, does the unbelief of man, does that alter the power
and purpose of God? Is anything too hard for me,
he said? When preachers today describe man, they make him to
be more than he is. Did you know that? And when preachers
today describe God, they make him to be less than he is. I
want, when I preach, to make man to be exactly what he is,
a willful, guilty sinner. And I want to preach God as He
describes Himself. He said, Is my hand shortened
that it cannot redeem? Have I no power to deliver? When
the Lord God describes Himself, He declares His majesty, His
power, and His sovereignty. He said to Moses, Moses, I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. So then, it's not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
He said, Hath not the potter power over the clay? Can I not do with my own what
I will? And then in that verse three,
he said, I dried up the Red Sea. When you talk about God, Why don't we talk about Him as
He is? Why do people keep talking about
God wants to do this and God wants to do that and God's trying
to show you this and trying to show you that and God would be
happy if you do? He said, I dried up the Red Sea
and my people walked through on dry land and then I closed
the doors of the sea and drowned the whole army. He said, I made
the River Jordan into a wilderness. He said, I clothed the heaven
with blackness He said, I covered the son with sackcloth. Is my hand shortened that I can't
redeem? If I can dry up a sea, can I
not redeem a sinner? If I can turn a river into a
wilderness, can I not put away a man's guilt? When the Redeemer
describes Himself, He does not speak as men speak of Him. He
declares, I can redeem. I can deliver. I have spoken. I will bring it to pass. I've
purposed it. He said, I'll do it. I'll do
it. He said, my counsel shall stand.
I will do all my pleasure. My friends, the Bible knows nothing
of a doormat named Jesus. The Bible knows nothing of a
pitiful, sad, frustrated, defeated reformer. and fire escape from
hell named Jesus that wants you to do this, that, and the other,
and He has no power to influence you at all. That's, whoa, that's
not our God. That's not the way He describes
Himself. He said, I came, and you didn't believe. I called,
and you didn't answer. But my hand's not shortened that
it can't save, I'll tell you that. Because you didn't answer,
and because you didn't believe, and your condemnation lies at
your door, that doesn't mean that my purpose is defeated.
I can deliver just like I dried up that sea. I can deliver just
like I turned that river into a wilderness. I can deliver just
like I turned that sun off and made the heavens black. And I
can deliver and cover a man's sin just like I covered the sun
with sackcloth. I can do it. And then in verse
4, the Lord Jesus describes his prophetic office. He says in
verse 4, The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned.
No man spake like this man spake, because he's God. That I should
know how to speak a word in season to him that's weary, coming to
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, weary. I'll give
you rest. He has a word for the weary.
He has a message of grace for the miserable. He has good news
for the guilty. Are you familiar with the Scripture
which teaches the threefold office of Christ? Are you familiar with
Christ's office? You know, in the Old Testament,
we have a prophet, priest, and king. And no Old Testament believer
ever held all three of those offices. David was a king, and
Aaron was a priest, and Moses was a prophet. No man ever held
all three of those offices. They're all types of Christ.
But see, our Lord, that's His office threefold. He is king,
typified by David. He is priest, better typified
by Melchizedek, a priest forever, than Aaron. And He is that prophet
like Moses. You know, God said through Moses,
I'll raise up a prophet from among the brethren like unto
you. Him shall you hear. And all that hear Him will be
delivered So watch this now. Here's the threefold office.
As king, our Lord Jesus reigns by decree, by design, and by
death. God has highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name. And by his death,
he died that he might be Lord of the dead and the living, both
by design, decree, and death. As priest, he redeems his elect. It says by one offering. He has
perfected forever them that are sanctified. And our Lord Jesus
entered not the holy place made with hands, but heaven itself
to appear in the presence of God for us and to offer an atonement. But as prophet, now here's what
He's calling Himself here in verse 4 of Isaiah 50. He said,
I'm a prophet. The Father hath given me the
tongue of the prophet, the tongue of the learned. And as a prophet,
He reveals God. Now watch it. No man knoweth
the Father save the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal
Him. Now, brother man, there are a lot of religions on this
earth. Yes, that's right. A lot of cults and sects and
denominations and divisions and religion. Well, now, they all claim to
worship God, Allah, Supreme Being, man upstairs, whatever they call
Him. You're saying that no human being on this earth knows anything
about the God of heaven, the living God, the eternal Creator,
except those who know Jesus Christ and believe Him and have heard
Him? That's exactly what I'm saying. And that's what this
Bible says. That's what the Bible says. You
see, He's that prophet. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. He that heareth
me, heareth my Father. The words that I speak are not
the words of a mere man, but the words of God. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me." Now, a man can have an idea of God. He can have a false
conception of God. He can have a drawing or an idol
or a stature or a thought in his mind about what he thinks
God is like. But your thoughts are not God's thoughts, and your
ways are not God's ways. But there's no way for a man
to know God, and eternal life's to know God. There's no way for
any human being to know God, to commune with God, or to come
to God, or worship God, except as he knows, hears, worships,
and loves, and believes, hears the Lord Jesus Christ. You got
that? That's what the Word of God's
saying. Now, throw your Bible out the door if you don't believe
that. Be an honest man. Don't just take what you want
to take. You've got to take all of what Christ said or nothing.
Look at John 5, 24. Verily I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, shall not
come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
He that heareth me, he that seeth the Son, and believeth on him
hath life. He that believeth not on the
Son, will never see life, will never be resurrected in glory,
will never be in heaven. That's just so. Christ is the
way. Other foundations can no man
lay the slave. When He appeared on this earth,
the Father spoke and said, This is my Son. Hear Him. And God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake to our fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us only in
His Son, only by His Son. That's what He said, only. And you can hear all the voices
you want to hear. But if you don't hear Christ,
you don't hear God. That's so, my friend. Look at
verse 5 through 7, the Redeemer declares His submission to the
Father's will and His suffering for sin. I'm telling you what
Scripture says, and you know I'm telling you what Scripture
says, because you're familiar with these Scriptures. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which was spoken to us first by our Lord,
and then confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, God bearing
them witness by miracles, signs, and wonders? That's the apostles
who brought His message on after He ascended back to the Father. The Lord God hath bored my ear. That's what the prophet said.
I was not rebellious. I didn't turn back. Lo, he said,
I come to do thy will, O God. This boring of the ear is what
they did to a bond slave. When a man had served his seven
years in the Old Testament, he could go free. But if he'd say,
I love my master. I love my master's house. I don't
want to go free. I want to be a slave. Then they
bored his ear. And he became a bond slave, willing,
loving servant. He's there because he wanted
to be there. And that's what our Lord says here. My father
bored my ear. I gave my back to the smiters,
my cheeks to those that pluck out the hair, my face to those
that spit. He willingly took our sins. There's
a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's vein. Sinners
plunge beneath that flood. They lose all their guilty stain.
I set my face like a flint. I shall not be ashamed. I shall
not fail. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in His hand. The Redeemer declares His success.
He said, He's near that justifies me. Behold, the Lord God will
help me. Who is my adversary? Can any stay my hand? Oh, how great is our Redeemer.
How great is our Lord. Now, in the closing two verses,
He said, for two classes of people, He said, you among Who is it
among you that fears God, that obeys the voice of God's servant,
that walks in darkness, has no light? Trust in the name of the
Lord and stay upon your God." And then the other group, but
he said, all ye that kindle your own fire, walk in the light of
your own fire, your own righteousness, you'll lie down in sorrow. Hear
Him, hear Him and live. Now, I have two messages on this
cassette tape, Justified by Faith, and this one from Isaiah 50.
Isaiah 50. You can get this tape by sending
$2. We'll mail it right back to you when we get your letter.
$2. Ask for this message delivered on this date or Isaiah 50 or
Justified by Faith, and let us send them to you. Until next
week, God bless you, everyone.