I received several good comments
regarding our study on the Trinity last Wednesday night or the Wednesday
before, whenever it was that I taught that message. So I've
determined to bring another study similar to that one on the fifty-third
chapter of Isaiah. 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Now actually,
and I've sung this song before, but I'll probably sing it many
times in the future, the 53rd chapter of Isaiah does not begin
with verse 1. It really begins back in chapter
52 with verse 13. John Gill said, this is where
this chapter ought to begin. Verse 13 of Isaiah 52. Now the Jews say that this portion
of the word of God is a difficult prophecy. A difficult prophecy. That's the way they define it.
A difficult prophecy. And of course it's difficult.
Indeed it is. For when they deny the Lord Jesus
Christ as Messiah, as Redeemer, it's impossible. Not only difficult,
it's an impossible portion of Scripture. But when we see Christ
in every phrase, every word, this prophecy is quite clear
and quite plain. Are you certain that this prophecy
is about Christ? Of course I am. If you want scriptural
proof, the Ethiopian eunuch was journeying from Jerusalem to
Ethiopia. Under divine guidance, Philip
was taken to speak to him. Walking along beside the chariot,
he heard the man reading this portion of scripture right here.
And under divine inspiration, writing about it, Dr. Luke said
that Philip got up in the chariot with him and began at the same
scripture and preached Jesus Christ to him. And the eunuch
asked this question, of whom is the prophet speaking? himself
or some other man, and Philip said, Christ. So let's look at
verse 13 of Isaiah 52. It says, Behold my servant. Now
Christ is referred to as the servant of God, as man and mediator,
a man of his own choosing, calling and sending. He said, As my Father
sent me, even so send I you. And he is sent to do the Father's
will. He said, I came not to do my
own will. A servant does the will of the
one who sends him. And that's the reason Christ
is called here the servant. I came not to do my will, but
the will of him that sent me. And then in Hebrews 10, twice
he said, Lo, I come, O God, to do thy will. Christ is called
here, not in a belittling fashion, But he is called the servant
of God. He is my servant. Behold, my servant, all right?
My servant shall deal prudently. Now, what this means is this.
My servant will deal in a wise manner, prudently. He shall make
men wise to salvation. Now, your center reference says
he shall prosper. I looked this up in the Greek
text, and it says plainly that he shall make men wise unto salvation,
and he shall prosper and be successful in that mission. He shall not
fail. It means all of that. It means
he shall deal prudently, wisely, he shall make men wise unto salvation. And it means he shall prosper,
he shall not fail in his mission. He shall accomplish that which
he came to do. My servant shall deal prudently,
and my servant shall be exalted and extolled. He shall be exalted
by the Father. God hath given him a name which
is above every name. He shall be exalted by raising
him from the dead. and giving him glory, and seating
him on the Father's right hand, and he shall be extolled by angels
and men. And he shall be very high, he
shall be given a name higher above every name. He shall be
exalted, raised from the grave, seated on the right hand of the
Father. He shall be extolled by both men and angels, worthy
as the Lamb. He shall have the preeminence,
and he shall be exalted very high, given a name higher than
any name. All right, verse 14. As many
were astonished. Now, this word means amazed.
They were amazed. It means to stupefy. That's a
better meaning, but literally to stupefy. And where it is located
in this prophecy, it's right between his exaltation and his
humiliation. Read the rest of the verse. His
visage was so marred, that is, his appearance, his body, was
so marred more than any man. Can you imagine the beating that
he took? He was taken into the soldiers' hall. And there he
received the scourging, and the scourging was 39 lashes, 39 stripes,
administered by a huge Roman soldier. And from what I read
about the scourging, men survived them, but men died under the
scourging. They were beaten and whipped
while their hands were tied. Their back was literally lacerated
from the neck clear down to the bottom of the spine. And then
he was seated in the soldier's hall, and they hit him with their
fists. And they slapped him with an open palm, and they literally
plucked out his beard, the scripture said. They plucked out his beard.
Can you imagine what that does to your face? And then they took
a crown of thorns, plaited it, and shoved it down into his brow. And then they took him out and
nailed him to a cross under a burning sun. His face was lacerated,
punished, bruised, beard plucked out. His back was lacerated. His hands were nailed. His visage
was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons
of men. And right in the middle there,
they were astounded. They were stupefied at him. They
were amazed at him. They were astonished at him.
But that's true of every facet of our Lord's life. They were
amazed at His birth. They were amazed at His birth,
born of a virgin. Joseph was amazed. Mary was amazed. Everybody who knew anything about
it was amazed. They were amazed at His beginning. Can anything good come out of
Nazareth? They were amazed at His wisdom. Teachest thou us? They were amazed at his miracles.
They were stupefied. They were stoned. They were put
to silence. The Pharisees, the most learned
men of their day, shut their mouths. The lawyers, the scribes,
at his doctrine, they were stupefied. They were amazed. They were put
back in amazement. They were stupefied at his death.
How can one so high, so high stoop so low? They were amazed
at his disciples. They were nothing. They were
nobody. They were amazed at his resurrection. Behold, all ye
that pass by, is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow, wherewith
the Lord himself hath afflicted me? And yet is there any glory
like my glory? Is there any power like my power?
He knew the thoughts of men. He put to silence the wisest. At 12 years of age, he was lecturing
the doctors and teachers in the seminary. They didn't know how
to take this man. They sent some folks out to arrest
him, and he came back without him. They said, well, where is
he? No man ever spake like that man. Stupefied. Pilate got beside
himself. He said, don't you answer me.
I've got power to crucify you or let you go. Who are you? He took him out there in front
of the people and he said, I don't find any fault with this fellow.
And they said, but he made himself king. They said, he says he's
a son of God. That shook him up. He took Christ
back in and said, who are you and where did you come from? They were stoned. They were stoned. They were stupefied. You see,
the word of stoned is used there, I believe, because they're amazed
it's just not strong enough. Marvel is just not strong enough.
I marvel at Some of the things you fellows did, how intelligent
you are, some of the accomplishments you have. But that's not the
word. It's a stoning. Bill, it's stupefying. They were literally taken back.
All he said in the Garden of Eden was, I am, and it fell backward
like it had been struck in the forehead. Verse 15 says, And
so shall he sprinkle many nations. This nearly has to have to do
with the sprinkling of blood. It nearly has to. Turn to Hebrews
9. It shows that He sprinkled, and
we're talking here about He shall save men of many nations, not
just Jew, but Gentile, the heathen, the pagan. Hebrews 9, verse 13. Or if the blood of bulls and
of goats and ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctify
it through the purifying of the flesh. You remember when the
Old Testament priests would dip the hyssop in blood and sprinkle
the books, sprinkle the tabernacle, sprinkle the people, sprinkle
the altars, sprinkle the vessels. So that's what he's talking about.
Look at the next verse. How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God." He's going to sprinkle many nations with his own blood,
the blood of sprinkling, the blood of purifying, the blood
of justification. He has sprinkled us, and in God's
sight, we're pure, we're pure. And kings, kings of many nations
shall shut their mouths, they shall be amazed, astonished at
His greatness and glory. Listen, for this is kings of
many nations. For that which had not been told
them, they never heard this gospel. Listen to the Ethiopian eunuch.
Of whom does this man speak? They never heard this gospel,
and things which they never heard, they're going to see. They're
going to see. And listen, and that which they
had not heard, they're going to consider, meditate upon it. They're going to lay hold of
it. They're going to do what you said the other day, consider
this apostle and high priest of our profession, the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're going to set their minds on him. Never heard
of these things. It's never been told them. They
didn't have a tabernacle or a priest or a prophet or a mercy seat. The Gentiles out there, The king
shall shut their mouths in him, for that which had not been told
them they're going to literally see. And that which they had
not heard shall they consider." We're a perfect example of it.
The Jews used to send missionaries to our fathers. Did you know
that? We're sending missionaries to
Israel now. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent missionaries from Jerusalem
to our forefathers all over Europe. Paul, Peter, James, and John
were the missionaries. And they went to the pagans,
to the Gentiles, to the heathen. That was us. Now, that's where
he takes that next verse. Verse 1 said, Who hath believed
our report? Someone asked a well-known preacher
one time of the last century. I forget his name. I didn't jot
it down. But they asked him this. They said, Is your creed in print? Most of us would say, yeah, the
Philadelphia Confession or the London. Well, he said, yes, sir,
you'll find my creed in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. It's all there,
right there, a condensed Bible in one chapter. It's all there. The whole gospel of God's glory,
God's grace, and God's mercy in Christ is right here in chapter
53 of Isaiah. Who hath believed our report?
What is the word report? It's a testimony. It's a witness. It's our doctrine. It's our message. It's the testimony of God. It's
the doctrine of the gospel. It's the report of God's eternal,
everlasting love, mercy, and grace to sinners in Christ. It's
the report of Christ's person, office, and work. It's the good
report, and it should be believed, but everywhere it's not believed.
And every prophet has complained of the same thing. Turn to Romans.
Keep Isaiah 53 now, and turn to Romans 10. This is what Paul
is saying here in the 10th chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 10,
he begins Romans 10 with, "...my heart's desire and prayer to
God, to Israel, is that they might be saved." But down here
in verse 16, he says, but they have not all obeyed the gospel.
Romans 10, 16, they have not obeyed the gospel. That's our
report, the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath
believed our report? Who hath believed our message?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? What is the arm of
the Lord? The arm of the Lord is the power of God, the power
of God in Christ. Who hath believed this report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Actually, no one really believes
the gospel except as that gospel is revealed to him by the Spirit
of God. Now, a person may adopt a family
religion. A person may follow in the footsteps
of his parents. A person may want to believe
it. He may want to believe the gospel.
He really may want to. I've had people tell me that.
I had a young man very close to me say one time, well, I wish
I could believe that. I wish I could. So men, they
may adopt the religion of their fathers. They may follow in the
footsteps of their parents. They may even want to believe
this gospel, but the only person who genuinely and truly and sincerely,
John, believes this gospel is a person to whom it's been revealed
by the Holy Spirit to the heart. And that person is committed,
and that person is separated to that gospel. And that person
will never lose it or leave it. And that person will die for
it because he believes it. That's so. He believes it. It
is his life. It is his love. He's obsessed
with it. He believes it above and before
everything. It's been revealed. I've got
friends in the ministry who do not believe this gospel. They preach it in letter. I listen to them preach it in
letter. I've got friends right here in this church who believe
in letter and in doctrine, but not in experience. They're not
sold out yet. That's exactly right. When you
believe, to whom who hath believed our report, it doesn't say who
hath heard it, who hath consented to it. Who hath adopted it? He said, Who hath believed it?
That's different, isn't it different? Who hath believed it? I heard
it a long time before I believed it. And I believed it in my head
before I believed it in my heart. And I gave consent to it before
I experienced it. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? You know what I'm saying? It's
so, whether you understand what I'm saying or not, to believe
this gospel. It's the thing that led Huss
to the flame, believing this gospel. It's that which led,
if you read in Hebrews, how that people suffered, sacrificed. It's that which leads Cary to
the mission field. It's that which led Judson to
Burma to bury his whole family and give his life over there.
He believed it. I never could do certain things
because you don't believe it. You don't believe it. It hasn't
been revealed. When a man has it revealed, he
believes it. He believes it. That's to whom? Who hath believed our report? Believed it. To whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? What is this report? Well, verse
2. He. It's a he. This is a report about
he. Not to report about the Baptist church, it's he. Not to report
about Calvinism, it's he. He shall grow up. The Lord's
going to grow up. He's going to grow up. He's going
to grow up because he starts out as a tender plant. He's going
to grow up before him who sent him, who prepared a body for
him. But he starts out as a tender
plant. A tender plant is a babe. I've
often illustrated when you plant a grain of corn and it comes
up, that little old grain of corn pushes its way through the
soil. And you go out one morning and
there's about a half inch or inch tall, a little old tender. Well, you could just lean on
it and it's gone. You could just touch it and it's gone. You just
roll a cloud of dirt on it and it's gone. It's so tender and
so frail, so dependent. Well, that's the way he started.
as a little bitty baby in a mother's arms, and I'll tell you, a newborn
coat is not as helpless as a baby. A newborn baboon is not as helpless
as a baby. A baby is the most helpless thing
God ever let come into the world. Just leave it alone 24 hours
a day. It's so helpless. And that's
the way he came, as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry
ground. You know what that is? That's
the kingdom of David, the household of David. At one time, the house
of David was the most powerful house on the entire globe. In
the days of David and Solomon, there was no army or kingdom
like David's kingdom. But do you know how that kingdom
and that nation of Israel had degenerated? This little old
mother, this little old woman named Mary, Sitting there beside
that calf trough in which lay her firstborn son, and behind
her this man Joseph, that little old woman and that man Joseph
was the heir to David's throne. Did you know that? That's exactly
right. The heir to David's throne. That's
how far, there's no life left in the kingdom of David. Oh yeah,
yeah there is. You might find a root out there
in the desert and pick it up. There's a root. Take it in the
ground and you pull and dig it up and you say there's not a
green twig on it. There's not any sign of life.
You put it in prepared soil and water it and watch and see if
there's some life in it. And that's the way it was with David's
kingdom. The whole kingdom of Israel and the family of David
had come down so far that when they knocked on the door at the
village inn, Bethlehem, the city of David, that the queen was
sent to the calvary. You see what I'm saying? That's
how low his lineage was. There's nobody been born, heir
to a throne, born as low as Jesus Christ, and under the circumstances. A root out of a dry ground, and
he hath no form. What do they say about him? That's
the carpenter. Well, we know him, he's the carpenter.
We know his daddy, we know his mother, we know his brothers,
we know his sisters. Everybody who was anybody Roth
said turn thumbs down on him. This is Israel's king? Oh no,
we won't have it. This is our Lord? We won't have
it. This is our long-awaited Messiah? This is our emancipator? We won't
have it. What folly! He's no beauty, no
form or comeliness. When we look eyeball to eyeball
with Him, there's no beauty that we should desire Him. None whatsoever. Nothing grand
or majestic about Him. Nothing about Jesus Christ from
the top of His head to the bottom of His feet that He would even
suggest He's a King. Like the old tabernacle in the
wilderness. They stand up on a mountain and look down upon
Israel's encampment, and there were thousands of tents. One
of them, the Lord dwells in it. And it takes a different eye
to see the beauty in that tabernacle. And that man, Jesus Christ, walking
down the street with those twelve disciples, it takes a different
eye to see any beauty in him. Nobody saw any beauty in him.
Verse 3 said he's despised. He's not just disliked, he's
despised. And he's rejected of men. He
was in the world and the world knew him not. He came into his
own nation and they knew him not. His own brothers. Turn to John chapter 7. Look
at this. He had some brothers and sisters.
You know the Catholics can invent the wildest things that any man
ever heard of. The immaculate conception of
Mary, and the ascension of Mary, and
the purity and holiness of Mary, and the fact she never had any
more children, all that Tommy Wright. Look at John 7. Christ
had some brothers and sisters born to Mary and Joseph. And
it says here in verse 7, for neither did his brethren believe
in him. That's his brothers. They told
him, they said, why don't you go on up to the feast? Verse
4 says, there's no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself
seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show
yourself to the world, for neither did his brethren believe in him.
That's not talking about his disciples, that's talking about
his half-brothers, the boys he's raised with. They didn't believe
in him. And let me tell you this, sometimes
when you get down in the dumps and you can't save your own kids,
and the brothers and sisters you were raised with, they don't
believe in your testimony or in your gospel, you can take
a little comfort and consideration in the fact that those that were
raised in the household of the Son of God himself didn't believe
on him. God has to reveal the gospel. I'm going to say that
over and over again. And when he reveals it, a man's
captured. You don't capture him, the Holy
Spirit does. And they don't believe it because you said so. The Samaritans
said, we don't believe him because you said so to the woman. We
heard him ourselves. We heard him ourselves. All right? So despise a man of sorrows and
grief. They were his constant companion.
Take comfort, my friend, when you're going through a deep valley
of sorrow. Your Savior preceded you in that
valley. He was acquainted with grief.
He was well acquainted with it. He wasn't a passing stranger.
He knew grief. He knew grief by name. He was
acquainted with it, Bob. He was acquainted with it. And
we, we, talking about us, we hid, as it were, our faces from
Him. We just turned like this when
he came back. Peter sat down there by the fire
and said, I don't know him. I don't know him. And Judas came
in the hall of the enemies and said, what do you give me to
betray him? All his disciples forsook him and fled. We hid,
as it were, our faces from him. His life was a series of sorrows
from cradle to grave, tempted in all points And all men deserted
him, and none stood with him, and he bore our sorrows all alone."
There's never been a creature on earth as alone as Jesus Christ. No martyr was ever alone as Christ,
because every martyr that's gone to the stake, gone there in the
arms of Christ. But our Lord was deserted even
by the Heavenly Father. All right, verse 4. Surely, surely. The griefs and sorrows he bore
were not his own, they were mine. He hath borne our grief. He carried
our sorrows. There was no sin in him to cause
grief. My grief is every bit the offspring
of sin. My sorrows are the results of
sin. But there was no sin in him to
cause grief or sorrow. All that he suffered, he suffered
on behalf of someone else. He suffered bearing my sins and
my griefs and my sorrows. Now, there are a lot of people
who interpret this as he bore our sicknesses and diseases.
And you'll find that in the New Testament. Is it Matthew 8, 17?
Let me look over there and see if that's it. I'm not certain.
But I'm throwing this in. I didn't intend to. But I hear
people teaching healing in the atonement. See if it's Matthew
8, 17. If it isn't, we'll move on. Yeah,
here it is. Matthew 8, 17. "...that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Himself took our infirmities and there our sicknesses." That's
all right. That's the same thing as grief
and sorrow. But my friends, it means our
spiritual sicknesses and infirmities. and griefs and sorrows and weaknesses.
I know all of the healing of the soul is in the atonement
of Christ. But I'm not prepared to say that
if any believer is sick in this life, it's because he doesn't
have faith strong enough in the atonement, because the healing
is there in the atonement. Don't say that. Because Paul
talked about Epaphroditus being sick unto death, and he talked
about others who were sick and some who died, it didn't mean
that they didn't believe. You see, every believer, and
I'm confident in saying this, every one of us, even believers,
are subject to the same infirmities of the flesh that any other man,
to which any other man is subject, because of sin, because of our
inherited nature from Adam, I'm going to get sick. As I grow
older, I'm going to grow weaker, my eyes will grow weaker, my
hearing will be dimmer, my steps will be slower, I'll be subject
to heart disease and cancer and lung disease and all emotional
disorders and all these things that are plagues of sin upon
the sons of Adam. You're not going to be perfect
in health up to the time God calls you home and walk out of
this world. Our going out may be difficult. It may be under
great stress and sorrow. It may be it will be for our
good, and it'll be for the good of others. But please don't get
the idea that a person who's sick and frail in body doesn't
have faith in the Atonement of Christ. Actually, some people
who are robust and strong and mighty and powerful and rich
and wealthy don't have faith in the Atonement of Christ. But
they got their heaven right now, too. That's what David taught
in Psalm 73. What he's talking about here
in Isaiah 53, verse 4, "...he hath borne our griefs and sorrows,
yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
He was wounded for our transgressions." He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement, the judgment of our peace. was upon him, and
with his stripes we are healed." Now, if you would learn the gospel,
learn the word substitution, this is it right here. Read this
two verses again, put your name in. Everywhere I were, just put
your name, personally. Will you do that? I'll put mine
in. Surely he hath borne Henry's grief, and carried Henry's sorrow
was exceeding him, stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
He was wounded for my transgression, Henry's. He was bruised for Henry's
iniquities. The chastisement of Henry's peace
was upon him, and with his stripes, oh, Henry's healed right now.
Isn't that right? Isn't that what it said? That's
exactly what it said. Now, if you can get a hold of
that, well, I tell you, if you can believe that, you can overcome
this world. You can overcome whatever you're
called on to bear, whatever you're called upon to endure, whatever
you're called upon to do, you can endure it knowing you're
His own, that He paid your debt, that it's paid. He reconciled
us to God. Now let me show you something
that's very important. We are healed. We are healed. We are reconciled. Our debt's
paid, past, present, and future. We belong to God. God's not angry.
Now, he reconciled us to God, but there are sinners who belong
to God, who were redeemed by Christ, who are still not themselves
reconciled to God. I'll give you Saul of Tarsus,
for example. When Christ died on that cross,
he reconciled Saul of Tarsus to God. God was God-loved. He wasn't
angry with Saul of Tarsus. But old Saul was angry. The enmity
was not from heaven to earth, it was from earth to heaven.
Saul hated Christ. Christ loved Saul. Saul was at
war with Christ. There was no war upon the part
of Christ with Saul. He was reconciled. But one day
the Spirit of God reconciled Saul to God. and reconciled God
in the eyes of Saul. He broke down the enmity and
brought peace to the heart of that rebel. And you see, this
is what I'm saying, and I'm saying this clearly, that salvation
is the work of Christ in its entirety. From Alpha to Omega,
from beginning to end, salvation is of the Lord. He justified
us, reconciled us, redeemed us, and sanctified us in his person
and work. And then in time, the Spirit
of God comes, and through the Word of God and the power of
the Spirit, He does a work in us toward God, and brings us
to repent toward God, and to weep over our sins, and to believe
on Christ, and to love the Lord our God with all our hearts.
And that's the work of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel. But the
work of Christ, Bill, is to justify us, and He did it all. He Himself
bare our sins in His body. He Himself purged our iniquities. When He had finished the work,
He sat down. That's all there is to it. And
this is where the primitive Baptists get the idea that whether a man
believes or not, he's saved because Christ has done the work. I can
understand them believing. I can understand the logic, the
human logic of that. It's not spiritual logic. It's
not Bible logic. It's not Bible truth. But if
I'm justified, I'm justified. And they carry that to the extreme.
They say, well, if God chose a man and loved a man and Christ
died for a man, who's going to change it? Well, nobody's going
to change it, but God's going to change that man. God's going
to bring that man to faith. Now, you can go to either extreme
on that you want to. If you want to go to cold fatalism
and that primitive, fabulous logic and eternal justification,
which is logical to the natural mind. If I pay the debt, it's
paid. whether a man accepts it or not.
And that's human logic. That's not divine logic. And
the Bible is not a human illogical book. It's a spiritual book.
And God said, he that believeth not will be damned. That's what
the Bible says. God, the Bible says, who so shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And those that
don't call on Him are going to hell. Isn't that what the Bible
says? And we're just going to have to take it that way and
keep sending our missionaries and preaching calling on God
to awaken the dead and reach sinners. But when he was despised
of men, we were in that gang that esteemed him not. All right,
look at verse 7. Now let's look at verse 6. Verse 6 for a moment. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. But the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. The we and the our and the us
are the same people. All we, that's every believer,
like sheep, went our way, wandered, just wandered. We've turned every
one of us to our own way. That's right, our own way. And
the Lord has laid, literally laid on Christ, or made the,
see that center reference, made the iniquity of us all to meet
on Him. It's all laid on Him. This is
the reason, and I don't mean to wear it out, but this is the
reason I believe in what we call particular redemption. By His
stripes we are healed, all our iniquity is laid on Him, and
by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify me. All right,
verse 8, or verse 7. He was oppressed, He was afflicted,
yet He opened not His mouth. He opened not his mouth. He's
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and they claim that a lamb or
a sheep coming before the shearers, they stand there and the shearers
cut all the wool off of them, and they just stand there. They
don't offer any resistance or fight or scream. And that's the way our Lord went
through all this suffering. Now, He did not open His mouth
against the false charges. They said He's a winebibber,
a gluttonous man. They said he was a devil. I said,
he hath a devil. He didn't open his mouth against
Pilate and the soldiers when they reviled him, when they accused
him of treason, when they mocked him, when they beat him. He didn't
open his mouth against the purpose of the Heavenly Father. He said,
for this cause came I to this hour. There are three reasons
why he didn't open his mouth. Number one, he was willing to
be our substitute. He said, no man takes my life
from me, I lay it down willingly. Herein is love, not that we love
God, He loved us. He loved us and voluntarily,
willingly gave Himself for us. Christ came down here willingly
to be our Savior. No man takes my life. They didn't
take His life. He was willing. You understand?
They didn't take Him forcibly. They didn't take Him unwillingly.
They didn't drag Him before the judgment hall. He came. He was submissive to the Father's
will. He said, Not my will, but thy
will be done. Lo, thou hast prepared me a body,
and I come to do thy will. How in the world could he come
willingly, submissive to the Father's will, and yet plant his feet and say, I won't
go? He couldn't do it. He had to. He went willingly.
Thirdly, and this will shock you a little, but just now hold
on. The reason he didn't open his mouth when they hurled these
accusations against him was because he was guilty as charged. He
was guilty as charged. He said that he knew no sin.
You know who was standing there before Pilate? That was you and
me standing there. He was numbered with a transgressor.
He had his picture on the post office wall with a number on
it just like mine and yours. Wanted. Guilty. Public enemy
number one. And when public enemy number
one stands before the judge and the judge hurls these charges
at him, he doesn't open his mouth. He deserves it. And that's what
I'm saying. Christ was the greatest sinner
who ever lived, judicially. Actually, he knew no sin, had
no sin. He was perfect. But when he stood before... All
our sins met on him. Isn't that what the Scripture
said a moment ago I read? All our sins... Look at verse
6 again, there in the marginal. He made the iniquity of us all
to meet on Christ. Do you know what he's saying?
To meet on Christ. Literally. He bore our sin. I
can't explain that. Just know it's so. He opened
not his mouth. All right, quickly, verse 8.
He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who shall
declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. Alright, listen to me. There's not much
agreement on this verse. Not much. Let me give you two
interpretations. Now look at it. He was taken
from prison and from judgment. Who shall declare his generation? When it says he was taken from
prison, one of our writers said this. He was raised from the
grave. The prison was the grave. He was raised from the grave.
And he arose without judgment, without the sin under which he
died. He was taken from the grave and taken away from the judgment
which he bore. That may be true. That's true
anyway. That may be what that verse means.
That's true, no question about it. He arose without sin. He
arose. He was taken from the prison
and taken from judgment Who shall declare the wickedness of this
generation who despised and rejected him and nailed him to a tree?
Who's going to declare this generation? He was cut off out of the land
of the living. They cast him out. But all of it was for the
transgression of my people. That's why, boy, that's why he
endured it. All right, here's the other interpretation. This may be a little more literal.
He was taken from prison. tried and executed without justice,
without justice. A wrong charge and false witness
stood against him. Now, this is all truth, no question. He was taken from prison, from
the soldiers' hall, his hands bound behind him. He was taken
from any sense of fair play or judgment or justice. His trial
was a mockery. I've read where lawyers have
studied the trial of Christ. I don't put much stock in things
like that. But nevertheless, they point out so many discrepancies. He'd be set free today, totally
set free. And that's what it's saying.
He was taken from prison and tried and executed without any
justice, a wrong charge and false witnesses, and nobody declared
his true generation, his true life, his true glory, his true
self. Who shall declare his generation? his life, his age. He was cut
off as a transgressor without proper justice and righteousness
and a proper hearing and no one to defend him. No one defended
him. No one declared his generation.
But he was cut off for the transgression of my people. Now a little help
on that, Psalm 22, if you want to. Some of you may be challenged
to read that a little more. But do this, remember, the key
to that verse, key of that verse, that was all for the transgression
of my people. This is one of the dangers of getting caught
up in the intellectual part of the scriptures or interpretation,
is you lose the gospel. You lose the point, the emphasis.
Whatever that other means, it was for the transgression of
my people that it was all done. That's the key, and that's what
people need to hear. They don't need to get over in the corner
playing with some play putties and balancing some words against
words. They need to be beholding the
cross. But in Psalm 22, verse 29, listen. All they that be
fed upon earth shall eat and worship. All they that go down
to the dust shall bow before him. None can keep alive his
own soul. For a seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. And they shall come and declare
his righteousness. unto a people that shall be born."
They are going to declare His generation and His righteousness. All right, verse 9, but the key
there is for the transgression of my people. He was strict. Verse 9, He made His grave with
the wicked and with the rich in His death. Some interpret
this as He died between two thieves and being buried in the sepulchre
of Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man. That may be. May be. But it may be this too. Listen. And he made his death, his grave
is his death. I'll go to my grave. You've heard
people say that? You're going to send my old white hairs to
the grave, mom said. I'm going to my grave. He made
his death willingly like a common criminal. He made his death with
the wicked. He died like the wicked die.
He died like the wicked die. His death was like the death
of a worldly rich man with no pity and no compassion. Our transgressions
subjected him to die as we ought to die. That's what he's saying
here. He made his grave, his death, with the wicked, just
like the wicked die under the judgment of God, under the wrath
of God. under the punishment of sin,
and with the worldly rich in his death." And watch this now. And I like this. This appeals
to me. Verse 9, the latter part of 9
and verse 10 run right together. And the word, because, see if
it's not although. Although he had done no violence,
and there was neither any deceit in his mouth, yet It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. See that? It's hard to read it. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich because he'd done no violence. And he'd had
no deceit in his mouth. It seems to be saying it's because
he'd done no violence, no deceit in his mouth, therefore he was
treated like a wicked man. But this is saying this. He was
treated like a wicked man and died like a wicked man and died
like a common worldly. Although there is no violence
in him, and although there was nothing to deserve death in him,
and although there was no deceit in him, yet it pleased the Lord
to treat him this way. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It pleased the Lord to make his soul, his very soul, now
Christ not only suffered in body, but his soul. It pleased God
to make his soul an offering on the altar for our sins. Please God, even though he'd
done no violence, even though there's no deceit yet, please
God to bruise him. Please God to bruise him and
put him to grief. Put him to grief. That's what
made his grief and agony so terrible and so severe is that he didn't
deserve it. He didn't deserve it. You know,
I think about innocent men being sent to prison, that must be
ten times harder to bear than for those that are guilty. Ten
times harder. It's not so. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. Yet he shall
see his seed. He shall see his seed. You know
who that is. That's the believer. He shall
prolong his days. Though he were dead, he'll live
again eternally. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. The Father put all things in
his hand. And it's going to prosper. The
pleasure of the Lord. It pleased God to make you his
people. That's going to prosper in the
hands of Christ. Verse 11, He shall see of the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. That travail is toil and labor
and suffering to redeem his people. The reference is to a woman.
who's bearing a child. And she goes through that nine
months carrying that child, and then that time in the delivery
room, and the ache, and the pain, and the suffering, and the agony,
and she brings forth a child. They bring that child and lay
it in her arms, and all of it's forgotten. All of it's worthwhile. And that's exactly what this
is saying. Our Lord, in all of His suffering, and travail, and
labor, and toil, He sees every son and daughter for whom He
died, and He's satisfied. He's satisfied. He's a satisfied
Savior. And by His knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many. You know what that's saying?
By the knowledge of Him. He says, I know my sheep, I know
that, but I'm known of mine. And those who know Him and who
believe on Him My righteous servant shall justify because he shall
bear their iniquity. That's how he'll justify them.
He'll give them a perfect holiness by his obedience and a perfect
righteousness before God by his sacrifice. He'll see the travail
of his soul and shall be totally satisfied. He'll not lose a one. There's plenty of room in heaven
but no vacancy. And by his knowledge, or by the
knowledge of him, shall my righteous holy servant absolutely, unequivocably,
eternally, without question, justify many, many, not everybody,
for he shall bear their iniquities. All right, the last verse. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great. I'll divide him a
portion with the great. That's what he said in Philippians
2. It's all to Him above every name. And He shall divide the
strong as a spoil, or He shall divide the spoil of the strong,
that is, of Satan and principalities and powers. He's going to take
all their strength away and all their spoils. Or He shall possess
or have for us spoils. Many. Four reasons. I'm going to divide. I'm going
to give Him all preeminence, portion with the great, and he's
going to divide the spoil of the strong. Number one, because
he had poured out his soul to death, he died that he might be Lord.
Because he was numbered with the transgressors, he was ranked
among us, one of us, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh.
He actually literally bare the sin of many, and right now he's
making intercession for the transgressors Paul said, who is he that condemneth? Christ died, yea rather is risen
again, who is seated at the right hand of God, who calls my name. He makes intercession daily for
every transgressor. That's the gospel of God's grace.
About that reason that man said, my creed's in print. It's got
anything you need to pray. From now till eternity. That's
right there in Isaiah 53.