Now, if you will, open your Bibles
again to the book of Isaiah, chapter 50. I received an unusual blessing
from studying this chapter this week and preparing this message. I deeply appreciate Brother Scott
and Brother Jay asking God for His blessings upon me as I make
an effort to expound these Scriptures to you. As far as I'm concerned, the
man is wise. I'm not calling myself wise,
but once in a while I do demonstrate a little bit of wisdom. But I
count the man wise who frequently turns to the Old Testament Scriptures. and feast upon their promises
and prophecies and pictures of the Redeemer. I think the man
is wise who finds himself often in the Old Testament, for there
Christ is promised, He is pictured, He is prophesied, He is typified. Now if you'll just hold your
hand there in Isaiah 50, I want you to show you a few examples
of this in the New Testament. Now first of all, in Luke 24,
When the master had died on the cross and had risen from the
tomb and appeared to his disciples, one of the first things he did
was to take them back to the Old Testament and show them how
in his life and death and burial and resurrection, in his redemptive
work, he had fulfilled these Old Testament prophecies. That's
one of the first things he did before he sent them out to preach.
He took them back through Genesis all the way to Malachi and showed
them Himself. Now let me show you that in Luke
24 verse 27. And beginning at Moses, as it
is at Genesis, and all the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
all of them, He expounded unto these disciples in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself. Our Lord is the tabernacle. Our
Lord is the furniture in the tabernacle. Our Lord is the priest,
the great high priest. Our Lord is every sacrifice,
the burning of incense. Our Lord is the atonement. He
is that rock. He is the Passover. He is our
brazen serpent. All the way through the Old Testament.
That's what he's showing them. Now look at verse 44. And he
said to these disciples, these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you. that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, in
the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written. Now remember, the New Testament
at this time was not written. The New Testament was written
by these very men sitting there, receiving from their master instructions
in the Scriptures. And he said unto them, verse
46, Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission
of sins, this is the message of the Old Testament, should
be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Now turn over to the book of
Acts. When Peter was sent down to Cornelius, turn to Acts chapter
10. When Peter went down to the house
of Cornelius, Peter took them to the Old Testament. He took
Cornelius and those who heard him back to the Old Testament.
And he says in Acts 10.43, listen, to him give all the prophets
witness. This is the subject of the prophets.
Our Lord said to the Pharisees, you're busy searching the Scriptures.
And in them you think you have eternal life. But these Scriptures,
the Old Testament Scriptures, testify of me. I'm the subject. To him give all the prophets
witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him should
receive remission of sin. Now back to Acts chapter 8. Acts
the 8th chapter verse 35. When Philip was sent to the Ethiopian
eunuch. Here's the Ethiopian eunuch who
had gone to Jerusalem to worship. Gone there to seek God. Gone
there to try to find the way of life. He had listened to all
the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the lawyers
He'd gone through the ceremonies and all of the rituals of religion. He was on his way back to Ethiopia,
riding in his chariot, reading the Old Testament Scriptures,
reading Isaiah 53. And it says that Philip, verse
35, Acts chapter 8, then Philip opened his mouth and began at
the same Scriptures, at the same Scriptures, that is Isaiah 53,
and preached unto him Jesus. Now, 1 Corinthians 15. The message
I brought this morning from 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1 through 3. Listen
to Paul here. He reminded the Corinthians.
He said, I preached the gospel to you, and you believed it,
and you received it, and you stand in it, by which you're
saved if you keep in memory what I preached to you. For I delivered
unto you, verse 3, I delivered unto you first of all that which
I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, according to the Old Testament Scriptures.
His death, His burial, His resurrection, all that He is, all that He did,
all that He's doing, is written right there in the Old Testament
Scriptures. And then the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. Look
over there just a moment. Hebrews, chapter 10. Now, when
you read the word law in the Scriptures, sometimes it's talking
about the Ten Commandments, sometimes it's talking about the Levitical
law, the ceremonies and so forth. Sometimes he's talking about
the whole scriptures. He says here in Hebrews 10, for the law,
that is the Levitical law, having a shadow of good things to come
and not the very image of those things. In other words, this
law, the Levitical law, all the types and ceremonies and prophecies
and priesthood and everything, is a picture, a shadow, an image,
of that which is to come, all fulfilled in Christ Jesus. So
what I'm saying is this, if you often find your way into the
Old Testament, I believe God has given you wisdom and discernment
if you take the Old Testament and look for Christ. and look
for Christ. Now, I told you the Master said
to these Pharisees, you search the Scriptures, for in them you
think you have life, but they which testify of me. He brought
another charge against these men, if you will turn to Luke
11. He brought another serious charge against these religious
leaders and these scribes and Pharisees in Luke 11. I want you to watch this carefully.
He brought another charge. He's been accusing them of being
guilty of the blood of all the prophets from the blood of Abel
unto the blood of Zacharias. He said, you're like your fathers.
You brag on dead preachers and kill living preachers. You brag
on those who lived in the past and who are dead and gone and
you kill those who preach the very message that they preach.
But then he comes down in verse 52 and he says, Woe unto you.
Now watch this. Woe unto you, lawyers. For you
have taken away the key of knowledge. You have taken away the key of
knowledge. You entered not in yourselves.
You laid not hold upon life yourselves. You laid not hold upon God's
redemptive grace yourselves. And them that were entering in,
you hindered. You took away the key of knowledge.
What do you suppose he's talking about there? Same thing he's
talking about in John chapter 5, verse 39, when he said, you
search the Scriptures. In them you think you have life.
They are they which testify of me. He's the key of knowledge.
These men did not seek Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures.
They did not seek Christ as the fulfillment. And they took away
from the people the very key of knowledge that would open
up the Scripture. Now look at Isaiah chapter 50
with me again. Isaiah chapter 50. And this,
I want you to have that key of knowledge. Christ is that key
of knowledge. I long for you to see the Redeemer
on every page of Scripture. I long for you to seek Christ.
He said to them, if you had believed Moses, you'd have believed me.
Moses wrote of me. Isaiah wrote of me. David wrote
of me. Everything here is Christ. Look here at Isaiah chapter 50
that Scott just read. Now, you say, Preacher, is that
Christ? I can show you the key of knowledge,
how that you can see this is Christ. Now, this is the very,
you got a key is to open a door that's locked. Here's a room
that's shut up. There's all kind of riches in
there. All kind of blessings in there.
But the man who gets in's got to have the key. And the man
who doesn't have the key will never get in the room. And they're
all kind of riches. They're all kind of refreshing,
heart-blessing morsels right here in this chapter. But you've
got to have the key. You'll never open it without
the key, and that key is Christ, and this is the very thing he's
saying to these Pharisees. You won't enter in yourselves.
You won't partake of life yourself, and you hinder folks that will
because you've kept from them the key. It's my business as
a preacher, Scott, Jay, and the rest of these preachers here,
to give to the people the key of knowledge, the key that unlocks
this. Now, how do I know this is Christ in Isaiah 50? How do
I know this is the Messiah speaking? This is Christ speaking. This
is the Messiah describing himself. Let me show you. Look at verse
26 of Isaiah 49. The last verse of chapter 49. You have it there?
The last line. He said, and all flesh shall
know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the
mighty one of Jacob. That's Christ. There's no question
about that's Christ yet. Now, I told my Sunday school
class this morning, the Bible was not originally written in
chapters and verses. That's been added for our aid,
our help. Sometimes it's a help, sometimes
it's not too much of a help. In some cases, there's chapter
divisions where there ought not to be. I'm not trying to be smart
now. I'm not trying to show off any knowledge. I'm just stating
facts. When the Bible was originally
written, it was written in a book with paragraphs. I'm glad we
have the chapters and verses. This helps us to find things.
For example, if tonight I wanted you to read this portion of Scripture
here, I'd have to say, well, let's turn somewhere in the middle
of Isaiah and see if we can find this paragraph. But it's so much
easier to say, turn to Isaiah 49, verse 26. See what I'm saying?
So there shouldn't have been a division here. The same one
is speaking in chapter 50, the same one who's speaking in verse
26 of chapter 49. And he says, I am your Savior,
I am your Redeemer, I am the Mighty One of Jacob. Now look
at another verse. Look at verse 6 of chapter 50.
I gave my back to the smiters. Our Lord was scourged. He said,
I gave my cheeks to them that pluck out the hair. They pull
his beard out. He said, I hid not my face from
shame and spitting. This is, I am your savior. I am your redeemer. I am the
mighty one of Israel. That's who he's saying. I am
the one who parted the Red Sea. I am the one who caused the darkness
to be over the land of Egypt for three days. And I am the
one who gave my back to the smiters. I am the one who gave my cheeks
to those who pluck out the hair, and I am the one who hid not
my face from shame and from spitting. Now verse 7, For the Lord God
will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore
have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be
ashamed. Hold that verse and turn to Luke 9, and let me show
you a verse to compare with this. This is our Lord Jesus Christ
speaking about setting His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem,
knowing that there He would be betrayed, knowing there He would
be tried, knowing there He would be crucified, knowing there He
would suffer death in Luke 9, verse 51. And verse 51 of Luke 9 says,
And it came to pass, when the time was come, that he should
be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Now Hebrews 12, one other verse.
And what I'm showing you is this, that this is a key of knowledge. In Hebrews chapter 12, this is
the key to the Scripture. The Bible is not a book of science.
although it is scientific. The Bible is not a book of proverbs,
although it has proverbs. The Bible is not a book of love,
although it's filled with love. It's not a history book, so you
can find out how man got started. The Bible is a book of redemption.
It's a book about God's mercies in Christ. Now that's the best
way I can describe this book. And if you go to looking through
this book for historical facts and you go to looking through
this book for ammunition to argue, if you go to using this book
as a book of old sayings and good things to remember, you're
going to miss the blessing totally. The key of knowledge of this
book is Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ. And I'm trying
to give you that key. Now Hebrews 12, 2, look at this. And what we're talking about,
he said, I'm showing you how Isaiah 50 is Christ speaking.
It's Christ speaking, and it's convincingly so when you read
verse 26 of the preceding chapter. I am the Savior. I am the Redeemer. I am the Mighty One of Jacob.
And down here in verse 6, he says, I gave my back to the smiters,
my cheeks to those that plucked the hair, I hid not my face from
shame and spitting, verse 7, and I set my face like a flint,
Hebrews 12, verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. I shall not be put to shame.
I have set my face, and I'll not be ashamed." He despised
the shame. He set, for the joy that was
set before Him, He set His face toward that cross, and He said,
I shall not be ashamed. Now let's begin with verse 1
of chapter 50. And let's seek the Lord to be
pleased in His grace and mercy to speak to us in this chapter
and let us see what the Messiah says about himself. Here's the
Messiah describing himself. Thus says the Lord, Where is
the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? And of which of my creditors
is it to whom I have sold you? Now to understand that, you've
got to understand this. The mother here is the nation
Israel. That's who he's talking about,
the mothers in the nation, Israel. The children here are the seeds
of Abraham, the people. The mother is the nation and
the children are the seed of Abraham, these Jews, Israelites. Now when a man put away his wife,
even now, he gives her a bill, an official bill of divorcement. It's official. He made the decision.
He put her away. He gave her a bill. It's an official
bill. She can show it to anyone. She
can show them. She can say, he divorced me.
He forsook me. He put me away. And it's also
true back in these days that sometimes a man got so heavily
in debt that he would be forced to sell his children. He had
a house full of children, couldn't feed them, couldn't pay his bills.
couldn't satisfy his creditors, and people didn't have children,
wanted children. This even happened back 100 years
ago. Back in some of the old European
countries, a woman would sell children in order to satisfy
their debts. And so what he's saying here
is that the debts got so heavy and so high that I sold the children
to pay the debts. Now here's what God's asking
Israel. He's asking them, He said, where's
the bill of your mother, your nation's divorcement? Show it.
Show it. Show the official thing that
I have separated myself from you, that I have divorced you.
You can't show it because I didn't divorce you. And I have no creditors. God has no debts that He must
pay. He has no creditors to whom He's
obligated. He shuts the responsibility up
He shuts them up to full responsibility for their condition. He says,
if you say that I've put you aside, I've cast you aside, show
me the official word that I did it. If you say I sold your children
to satisfy my debt, show me the official paper. But now look
at the next line. Behold, for your iniquities you
sold yourself. You left me, God said. I didn't
leave you. You left me. Your mother left me, for your
transgressions is your mother put away." Our Lord is making
it loud and clear here that He did not put away the nation Israel. He did not sell their children
for their sins and their transgressions. They're in the condition they're
in. He said, I came when I came,
verse 2. There was no man. When I called,
none to answer. Turn to Isaiah 53, back just
over one page. It says here in chapter 53 of
Isaiah, verse 2. Listen to it. For he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant. I came to this world, Christ
said, 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 sorrows, acquainted with grief. He didn't hide his
face from us. We hid our face from him. You
see that? Here's a woman that's been divorced. She's been laid aside, been cast
aside, and she's got an official paper. My husband left me. My
husband left. Or children that are living in
another house. Is this your mother and father? No, I have a mother
and father, but they sold me. Our Lord said, you can't say
that. I didn't part from you, you parted from me. I didn't
leave, you left me. Your mother, your nation has
been deserted and you deserted me." He said, when I came, you
despised and rejected me, you hid your face from me, you esteemed
me not. Turn to John 1. Let me show you
that again. John chapter 1. The responsibility is totally
and completely upon you. John chapter 1, verse 10. Now listen. Verse 10 listen to
this our Lord Jesus Christ. It says he was in the world and
The world was made by him. He said I came and I called I
Came and there was no man. I called and no one answered.
That's what he said. No one answered John 1 10 he
was in this world and the world was made by him and the world
knew him not he came unto his own He came into his own things,
he came into his own temple, he came to his own nation, he
came to his own people, and his own received him. Turn back to
Isaiah 50. The Messiah is describing himself.
He said, I'm the Savior, I'm the Redeemer, but I want you
to understand something first, that your condition is your responsibility. I didn't divorce you and I didn't
put you away. Your iniquities have separated
you and your God. He's speaking that to Israel.
Now read on in verse 2. Here he is declaring his deity,
but he says in verse 2, is my hand shortened at all that I
cannot redeem? In other words, does your unbelief
make the promise of God of non-effect? Does the fact that you have left
me and denied me and rejected me, does that mean, is your idea
that the Lord of glory shall be defeated in His purpose because
of your unbelief? Because this world does not recognize
Him, does not believe Him, does not trust Him, do you figure
that the promise and purpose of God is going to fail? Have
I no power to deliver? Well, let me, He says, set the
record straight. This is the Redeemer speaking
now. I'm your Savior, I'm your Redeemer. I'm the mighty one
of Jacob. Let me set the record straight.
Behold, at my rebuke I dried up the sea. Bill Parker preached
on that last night. He talked about Israel, they'd
left Egypt, and here they were standing in front of that Red
Sea. And Pharaoh's army pursuing them. And the people were so afraid
and so upset. And Moses told him, stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. And he set forth that shepherd
rod he had in his hand, and the Scripture says that Red Sea parted,
the water stood up on both sides, and these people walked through
on dry land. They didn't wade through in the
mud. They didn't wade through in the soggy remains of water
that had covered the ground. They walked through. It says
here, ìI dried up the sea.î Read on. ìI make the rivers a wilderness. Their fish stinketh because there
is no water, and dieth for thirst.î Turn to Joshua. Joshua chapter
3. Listen to this. Joshua the third
chapter. Reading verse 17. Joshua 3, 17.
Listen to it. Here's the people of Israel came
to the River Jordan. And the priests that bear the
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the
midst of the Jordan River. And all the Israelites passed
over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean
over Jordan. Here's what our Master said,
if you've got any doubts about the success of my purpose, If
you've got any question about the doubts of my eternal redemptive
work, I want you to remember this. I'm the one who dried up
the sea. And I'm the one that turned the
river Jordan into a wilderness. Not only that, but he said, I
clothe the heavens with blackness. Turn to Exodus 10. Exodus the
10th chapter and verse 21. Exodus 10, 21. This is one of the plagues that
God sent upon the land of Egypt. In Exodus 10, 21, And the Lord
said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there
may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness that
may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his
hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness. in all
the land of Egypt for three days. They saw not one another, neither
rose any from his place. Nobody moved around for three
days. But the children of Israel had
light in their dwelling. Here's another one. He said in
verse 3 here, and I make sackcloth. He's talking about the sun and
the moon here now. I make sackcloth, their covering. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, and we'll read that in Revelation in a moment, our Lord
Jesus Christ came to this earth. He is the Savior. He grew up
as a tender plant. And that means just this, that
when He came into this world, He didn't come riding in a chariot
of fire and come forth as a conquering general robed in armor. He didn't
come forth like the angel Gabriel descended from the sky and smote
the citizens of Sodom. He came forth from a mother's
womb. He had to have his navel cut
and tied. He had to be swaddled. He had
to be gently handled six or seven pounds of frail, delicate, tender
flesh, so dependent He wasn't able to help himself. This was
God in human flesh, a tender plant, a root out of a dry ground. He came forth from a nation that
was dead, a nation that had no dwelling place, a nation that
was in bondage, a nation that looked like it had no life left,
like a root out there in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
It had life, the life of God, but it was unseen. And that tender
plant was like, you know, you plant your garden and you go
out there and the little corn shoot breaks through the side.
It kind of splits the ground open and just barely pokes its
head out. And that's going to someday be a big stalk of corn
that will withstand the wind and the rain and all kind of
things. But right now, it's a tender
plant. And just step on it and it's
gone. And here our Lord is in the arms of a little 18 or 19-year-old
Jewish girl, and she's nurturing Him with her breast and taking
care of Him and putting diapers on Him and caring for Him. And
that's the way He came. But let me tell you something.
That infant in the hands of that little girl dried up the Red
Sea. That infant in the hands of that
little girl spoke and the River Jordan became a wilderness. That
carpenter standing there over that table when he was 20 or
22 years old, working with his father Joseph, building a table.
They said, we know who you are. You're a carpenter. We know your
mom and daddy. We know your brothers and sisters.
That's all right. That carpenter standing there turned the sun
away from this earth, and it was totally dark for three days.
That's God. If you have any sympathy for
sweet little Jesus, boy, you put it somewhere else. It's respect
for Him and worship for Him and glory for Him, but not your sympathy
He doesn't need. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. If I needed anything, I wouldn't ask you. That's what
He said. And when He was on His way to the cross, here is a beaten
man, staggering. blood running from his back,
and a crown of thorns on his brow, and blood dripping from
his fingers, and sweat pouring out of his pores, and his face
marred so he didn't look like a man, his hair matted with blood,
stripped naked, and people laughing, and he looks helpless, and he's
carrying a heavy wooden cross, and he's staggering under it,
and the women are just crying, oh, what a pitiful, pitiful sight.
He stopped. And he looked at him, he said,
don't weep for me. Wait for yourselves and for your
children. Don't wait for me." And he got
his cross and went on. Set the record straight, my dear
friends. That's what he's saying here. He's declaring his deity,
the Master, the Messiah, is opening his mouth to set the record straight. He sure is. Turn to Revelation
chapter 6. He said, I parted that sea You
think my hand's too short to save? You think I can't redeem?
You think because you've turned your back, you've walked off,
you've divorced me, you wouldn't come to me? I came and nobody,
there was nobody there. I called and nobody answered
me. You think I can't redeem? Do you think I have no power
to save, no power to deliver? Which is easier to say, Thy sins
be forgiven thee, or take up your bed and walk? Huh? That's
what he's saying here, which is easy. Why, he said, I make
sackcloth there covering. Revelation 6 verse 12, look at
it. I beheld when he had opened the
sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun
became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood. My friends, his will shall be
done. This is, it's like Scott said
a while ago in his prayer, Lord we bow, my friends, we'll bow
now or we'll bow in hell. Every knee is going to bow, he
said. Every knee is going to bow. And you've got to start here.
If you're going to start talking about the Lord Jesus Christ,
you better start with who He is. Sovereign, Almighty, Omnipotent,
Majesty. And this thing of salvation is
somehow being brought by the Spirit of God to a submission
to the royal claims of the king. That's right, to the royal claims
of the king. His will shall be done, his purpose
shall be accomplished. I must say unto you, he will
be gracious, but even to whom he will be gracious. He will
be merciful, but to whom he will be merciful. So this is where
we start in this chapter. All right, secondly, the Lord
declares His deity, and then secondly, He declares His prophetic
office. He says in verse 4, talking about
His Father, the Lord God had given me the tongue of the learned,
that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that's
weary. Can you hear Him? Coming to me,
all you that labor in a heavy laden and are weary. And I'll
give you rest. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is not only King, but He's our Prophet. He is our Prophet. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. Turn, if you
will, to John chapter 3. In the third chapter of John,
You can't know God apart from Christ. You can't worship God
apart from Christ. You cannot have communion with
God apart from Christ. He is our prophet. He reveals
the Father to us. In John chapter 3, it says in
verse 31, listen to it, He that cometh from above, this is John
the Baptist talking about Christ, is above all. He that is of the
earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh
from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard,
that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that
hath received his testimony hath sent to his seal that God is
true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God. That's Christ. For God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him, the Father loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand. If you get to God,
you've got to come to Christ. If you receive anything from
the hand of God, it's got to come through Christ. The Father
has given all things, sanctification, redemption, righteousness, wisdom,
truth, forgiveness, pardon, into his hand. Verse 36 says, He that
believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Philip said, Show us the Father.
And our Master said, Have I been so long time with you, and you
don't know me. He that has seen me has seen
my Father. The words that I speak to you,
Philip, are not my words. They're the words of Him that
said. They're the words of the covenant. They're the words of grace. They're
the words of love. They're the words of mercy. They're
the words of the Father. Oh me, verse 4, He's given me
the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a
word, a word of truth, a word of deliverance in season to him
that's weary. Christ is not just one of these
prophets that's in the, He's not just one with Buddha and
Confucius and Mohammed. Christ is God. And the word that
He speaks is the word of truth. I heard, we were coming back
from Missouri the other night, listening to the radio, and there
was some fellas having a religious discussion, well, really it was
having an argument, and the fella that was carrying on the MC,
you know, he was taking the telephone conversations, and he kept saying,
well, that's your opinion, and this is my opinion, that's the
other man's opinion. We don't have any opinion. It's
the Word of Christ. These are the words of truth.
We turn to this book and say, this is what the Lord says. This
is what Christ says. Christ Jesus is the surety of
the everlasting covenant. His blood is the blood of the
everlasting covenant. Men are fallen, depraved, without
ability to come to God. Christ came into this world in
order to be our Redeemer, our righteousness, our sanctifier,
our justifier. He fulfilled the law. He satisfied
justice. He descended to the right hand
of God, where He intercedes for us. That's the gospel. That's
no opinion. That's what Christ said. And
His word's final. Boy, watch him describes himself
as the prophet, and then next in verse 5, he says, The Lord
God hath opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned
away back. Let me tell you something. I
can't explain this. The Lord our God is one God. I know that. I believe in the
Trinity. I can't explain the Trinity.
I like what the little boy said, though, that a long time ago,
years ago, there was one of these educated, intellectual, learned
preachers up preaching on the Trinity, and there was a little
boy in the church that Uh, somebody said he wasn't playing with a
full deck, you know. He was, he was, they called him
Silly Billy. Everybody knew him. They called him Silly Billy.
And he's sitting back there in the back, and that preacher was
up there going on about the Trinity. He was explaining how the Trinity
could be, what the Trinity was, and on and on and on. And, and,
and little Silly Billy was back there in the back writing on
a piece of paper. And they didn't allow that back then. They, the
deacons carried these long poles. They'd come pop you on the head,
you know. I heard this. That what they, I don't know
the truth on this, but that pole had one end was a feather, and
the other end was a stick. Now you told me this or somebody
did the other day on that long pole. And if a lady was nodding,
they'd take the feather. But if a man was nodding, they'd
pop him with a stick. Cecil, is that right? You live
back there. Silly Billy was writing back
there, and they came over and popped him with a stick. And
he kept writing. And the deacon came over and
took his paper and pencil away from him. And he brought his
paper up and put it on the pulpit where the learned doctor was
exhorting. And the learned doctor, in the
middle of his exhortation on the Trinity, looked down and
saw that paper, and it caught his attention. He stopped preaching
and went to read. And he picked it up, and this is what he read. Three in one and one in three.
That's too much for Silly Billy. But this can Silly Billy see,
one of them died for me. That about sums it up. I can't
explain it. I just know Father, Son, Holy
Spirit. And I know there is a sense. in which the son is in subjection
in his redemptive character, Scott, to the father. I don't
know how, I just know it so. He said, as my father sent me,
so send I you. I know he said the words that
I speak are not my words, but the words of my father. I know
in the garden of Gethsemane he said, thy will be done. Not my
will, but thy will be done. And yet he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. I'm not trying to explain these
things. I'm simply saying that when our Lord Jesus assumed the
responsibility, assurity, representative, federal head, savior of his people,
he said, I was not rebellious. I did not turn away. When my
father vested all things in me, when my father laid the responsibility
of bringing many sons and daughters to glory, I took that responsibility. I was not rebelled, I did not
turn back. Whatever it included, whatever it demanded, from eternity
past till as a lad he stood there in the temple and his mother
and father came in, they said, we've sought you sorrowing and
sorrowing. He said, wish you not I'd be about my father's
business. This is my father's business, to redeem my people.
That's why I came. And when he went in the Garden
of Gethsemane to pray, he said, Father, I have finished the work
you gave me to do. Therefore glorify me with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was." That's what he's
saying in verse 5. He's opened my ear. He's spoken
to me words of redemption, a glorious plan and purpose of redemption.
Oh, I'm so glad. I'm so glad he included me. I
believe emphatically. that back yonder was all settled,
signed, and sealed in the Council Halls of Eternity. When our Lord
Jesus Christ assumed the responsibility, surety for His... I know it has
to be carried out. I know He has to die. The Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world has to be the Lamb
slain in time. And has to be the one buried
and rise again, ascend to glory. And I know even those that are
chosen and those that are justified must be called. And they must
believe, and they must come. But I'll tell you what God had
purposed God will accomplish. All right, the next verse. Our
Messiah declares his suffering. I gave my back to the smiters.
I don't want to try to describe that. It's too gruesome. But the scourging in those days
was 40 stripes save one. And the victim was tied to a
post or something, and one of these big burly soldiers would
take a whip, and they said there were leather strips on this whip,
and in the end of the strips were pieces of metal and glass.
And they would strip the person standing there from the nape
of his neck to the bottom of his spine. And that big, burly
soldier would take that whip and put it into the back of that
victim and then snatch it out. And he would throw blood and
flesh against the wall across the room. He was scurred. His back was scurred. That's
what Scripture said. And our Lord sat him down and
mocked him. They slapped his face. The soldiers,
they plucked out his beard. They hit him with their fists,
they blindfolded him and hit him with their fists. You say
you're a prophet, who hit you? And then they put that awful
red robe on him and put a reed in his hand and a crown of thorns
on his head and bowed down mockingly and said, Hail, King of the Jews.
And they took him out and nailed him to that cross, spit in his
face. But I tell you this, now those were the physical agonies
and sufferings of our Lord. But being who He is, bearing
our sin and separation from the Father, that was a picnic compared
to his soul sufferings. I believe that. I believe actually
our Lord Jesus Christ endured whatever hell is on that cross. He made his soul an offering
for sin. Now, if you want to know how
God hates sin, you go to Pilate's hall, you go to the hall of Annas
and Caiaphas, and you go to the soldiers' hall and watch them
and how they treat our Lord in the hands of these wicked men.
You go to Calvary and see him agonizing and suffering. And
all this time he's led as a lamb before her shearers is dumb.
He opened not his mouth. When the false witnesses stood
and accused him, he didn't even answer them. They were lying.
Every one of them were lying in their teeth and didn't even
answer them. When they accused him of blasphemy and sedition
and accused him of being a traitor and accused him of being an idolater
and accused him of all these, he didn't even answer them. And
when he stood before Pilate, this little puppet came. I stood
in front of Pilate's house down in Spain. It's still standing
where Pilate was governor before he went to Jerusalem. His house
is still there. And they took him up to Jerusalem
and made him the puppet under somebody else, you know. Here
the majesty of heaven. Here the ancient of days. Here
the king of kings and lord of lords is standing before this
little peanut, tin horn, little country dictator. And he looks
at him and says, are you a king? And the Lord didn't answer him.
He said, answer me. He said, keep your mouth shut.
I got the power to crucify you and let you go. Oh, my. Oh, my. Our Lord, he said, you
don't have any power over me at all, except it be given you
from above. That's all he said, quietly and
calmly. But he took all that. Even when they drove those nails
in his hands and raised that cross and dropped it in the hole
and the flesh tore and ripped All of his bones were exposed
and he hung there in shame and naked and everybody was dancing
around his cross laughing at him, laughing. I still didn't
say anything to him. Silently suffering, bearing our sin, willingly,
voluntarily. No man takes my life. He said,
I'll lay it down. And they said, let's see if God will help you
now. You said you was his son. Looks like you don't have a daddy,
do you? You don't have a father, do you? They laughed at him. But when that son, when the son
was separated, when God turned his back on his son, that's the only time in all of
this soul agony and flesh agony, he screamed, my God. That cry rang through heaven,
earth, and I believe in hell. They heard his voice. My God!
My God! Why has thou forsaken me? Peter denied him and cussed him.
Judas kissed him and sold him. The other disciples stole away in the darkness. He
was surrounded by thieves, mockers, and persecutors. And then he
looked up to heaven and there was no one there. Someday you'll look up to heaven
and there will be no one there too. And that's going to be the
time the time for gnashing of teeth, weeping and wailing. Verse 8 and 9, he tells about
his success. Somebody said, well, might the
sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in when Christ the
mighty God died for man, the creature said. And then in verse
8, he tells his success. He said, but he's near that justifieth
me. Let me tell you something. I
can't explain this. I'm going to try to. I just know
these things are so. God has shown me the mystery
of His grace and His gospel. And I believe a whole lot of
things I don't understand. You say, what do you mean you
believe things you don't understand? Well, I just do. I accept them
by faith. We walk by faith and not by sight.
Christ Jesus knew no sin, had no sin, and yet He was made sin
for me. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father,
found no fault in him. Men found no fault in him. Satan
could find nothing in him. The prince of this world finds
nothing in me. If he could, he would. But he,
at that time, bearing our sins on that cross, was the greatest
sinner that ever lived. I can't explain that to you.
I just know it's so. Officially, before God's justice, He bore
every sin of every believer of every generation at that one
time. The whole sin of every generation of believer met on
Christ in that you talk about the gas ovens of Germany. You
talk about all of the hate and filth and lust and smut and gory
blood of wars and and persecutions and all of the sins of drunkenness
and blasphemy of all ages. One incident makes you want to
throw up when you read about it in the paper, but it was all
converged on Christ right then. He was made sin. That's so. And when he died, now watch this. I'm telling you the truth. when
the judgment and wrath of God was poured on him. And the reason,
eternity won't let us satisfy God's justice. There's no way
that we could satisfy the infinite wrath and justice of God if we
stayed in hell three eternities. But who He is, He can bear the
sins of all His people in a given time. Who He is. He's God's Son. When our Lord poured out His
wrath upon him, All of our sins on Him, and He was buried and
rose again. He was justified without sin. Just as if He had never born
Him. Just as if it never existed. And all of my sins, now watch
this, in Him, I'm justified. I'm as clean as any cherubim
or seraphim that stands before God's throne right now. That's
so. That's what he's saying here.
Now, he's gone through this. He said, you left me. I didn't
leave you. But I'm not going to fade. I dried up the sea. I clothed the moon with sackcloth
and blood. I want you to know who I am.
And I want you to know I'm that prophet. I'm that surety. And
I'm that suffering Savior. But I'm that successful Savior
too. And he's in there that's justified me. Watch it. Who's
going to contend with me? Come on, Satan. Come on. Who's
going to contend with me? Who's going to charge me? Who's
going to lay any charge to me? Come on, Satan, even Father,
even men, let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come on, let him step out. Oh, I like that. And you know
Paul had that saying, turn to Romans 8, hold that scripture
and turn to Romans 8. Paul had this same assurance. This is the master speaking now,
but he is a representative person. You don't ever view Christ without
his people. You view Adam as a representative
person. By one man's sin entered the
world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. In Adam
we all die, and so forth. You view Christ as a representative
person. And what the Scripture says about
himself, about Christ, it says about everybody in him. And here's
what Paul is saying in Romans, chapter 8, verse 31. What shall
we say then to these things? If God be for us, Who can be
against us? That's what our Lord said. He's
near that justifies me. Who shall contend with me? Where's
my adversary? Let him come out right now. I'll
face him. Read on. Paul says, He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for whom? For us all. How shall he not with Christ
also freely give us what he bought? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? He's near that justified man.
It's God that justifies. Once again, he rises to the occasion
and says, Who is he that condemneth? Christ died. Christ died. Don't you come around here with,
Who is he that condemneth? I made my decision. Who is he
that condemneth? I accepted Jesus. Who is he that
condemneth? I've done the best I could. Who
is he that condemneth? I preached and cast out devils
and did many wonderful works. Who is he that condemneth? Paul's
speaking right here like the Messiah speaks. He is near that
justified me. I gave my face to those that
plucked the hair and spit in my back to the smiters. Nobody's
going to contend with me. Nobody's going to lay anything
to my charge. Nobody. Nobody let him come behold the
Lord God will help me. Who is he that shall condemn
me verse 9? Lord they'll shall all wax old
as a garment and like the mall and the mall shall eat them up
all my adversaries I'm not afraid you see that That's a gospel
as best. I know it's summed up right there
What Christ is I am what Christ has I have what Christ bought
he bought for me And where Christ is right now, I am seated in
Him. And if that sacrifice, you preached on it New Year's, if
that sacrifice is perfect, then we're received. If it's not,
we're all goners anyway, and He's a goner with us. Somebody
said, are you saved? I said, is Christ still at the
right hand of God? He said, yes, I said, I'm still
saved. As long as He's there, I'm saved. If He ever moves,
I'm gone. The old country church can burn down, it won't hurt
me. They can tear up more than nation papers, and that won't
bother them. The church can exclude men. That won't affect them,
as long as he sits. And he's not standing. He's not
worried. He's not wringing his hands. He's not upset. He's sitting,
expecting until his enemies become his successors, just like he
dried up the sea. Well, here's one more point,
and I'll quit. The master's invitation. He said, who is among you that
fears the Lord? Anybody out there that fears
me? Anybody? Anybody that obeyeth the voice
of God's servant? Anybody out there walking in
darkness and has no light? You want light? Trust in the
Lord. The name of the Lord, that's
His name. I am omnipotent, omniscient, the name of Christ, Emmanuel,
God with us. Got to trust the right Christ
now, the right Jesus, not another Jesus. You out there without
any light, you fear God? That's what the thief said to
the other one, don't you fear God? That's where you start. A lady came up to me one time
down in Panama Canal. I was down in a meeting. I preached
on fear of the Lord. She came up and said, we're not
supposed to fear God. I said, if you know Him, you'll fear
Him. No, I wouldn't fear your God, but I fear the God of the
Bible. I fear Him who speaks and men drop dead. I fear Him
who says, bind him hand and foot and cast him into hell. Nobody
questions His Word. I fear Him. I fear Him who holds
men's breath. You fear God? You're walking
in darkness. All right, watch this next verse
now. He said in verse 10, he said,
let him call, let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay
upon his God. Just stay right there. Don't move. Just cast
yourself on Christ and stay there. Just stay there. You're all right.
Oh, the boat may rock, but it's anchored. The wind may blow,
but you're built on a rock. The hail may fall, but your house
won't fall. It's built on a rock. Just stay
upon your God. Don't stay upon your feelings. Don't stay upon
your experience. Don't stay upon the law. Don't
stay upon your faith. Stay upon your God. Now watch
this. Behold all ye that kindle your
own fire. This is those that kindle their
own fire of righteousness. They're going to warm themselves
by their own religion, their own fire, their own works. You
encompass yourself about with the sparks, and that's all they
are, the sparks of self-righteousness. You walk in the light of your
own fire, your own intelligence, your own religion, your own understanding,
and in the sparks that you yourself have kindled, well, this shall
you have of my hands. You'll lie down in sorrow." A man can choose the ground on
which he wishes to stand. That's so. I'm not preaching
freewillism. I'm just saying this. If you're in darkness and
you have no light and no warmth and no fire and no righteousness
and no hope and no ability, and you fear God, then you call on
the name of the Lord. You trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But if you're over here and you're, I'm not as bad as some folks,
you know, and I'm better than some folks you've got out at
the church, and I never have done this, and I never did drink,
smoke, or cuss, and I never did go out, and I never did do all
this. You're lighting your own fire, brother. You're choosing
to stand on your own righteousness. And God Almighty says you'll
have, go on, light your fire, cover yourself with your own
sparks, warm yourself with your own heat, and the time will come
You'll lie down in sorrow because your fire is like a match compared
to the sun. That's what it is, the sun of
righteousness with healing in his wings. Our Father, we thank you for
your word. This book is so precious. These words are so encouraging.
I've found new comfort, new assurance, and new confidence. And I trust
that these who've heard the Word have found new comfort and new
assurance and new confidence in Christ. I've found another
reason not to trust my flesh. I've found another reason not
to rest in my works. I've found another reason not
to light my own fire, but to look to Christ and Christ alone.
Oh, that you might shut our mouths and open our ears and turn us
away from our traditions and turn our hearts to Christ. How
lovely He is, how gracious and good. Bless the message and use
it for your glory, for our good, and for the praise of Him of
whom we speak and whom we love. In His name, amen.