Jesus Christ -- Saviour of Sinners

I'm asking you to turn with me
to the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, verse 12. My message today
will be on the subject, Jesus Christ, Savior of sinners. Jesus Christ, Savior of sinners. Now if you listen to most preachers
preach, and most religious people talk, you'll come to the conclusion
that Jesus Christ came into this world to save good people, moral
people, righteous people. If you listen to most preachers
preach and most religious people talk, you'll come to the conclusion
that Jesus Christ came into the world to call good people to
himself and to heal those who were never really very sick. Now I'm going to use some plain
language and you who are honest will admit with me that this
is true. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of being
a hospital for sick sinners, it's become a social club for
religious people. Instead of the church being a
wayside rest for weary souls, it has become a place to brag
about how well we're making the journey. Instead of the pulpit
rejoicing in what great things God has done for us, We must
listen to preachers brag about what great things they're doing
for God. Instead of hearing from the pulpit
what great things God has done for us and how great is our Redeemer,
we hear men talk about what great things they've done for God and
how great is their denomination and their particular church.
But the word of God plainly declares in 1st Timothy 1.15, this is
a faithful saying, a certain saying, a sure saying, that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And the angel who announced to
Joseph the birth of the Son of God said, thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Then
the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5.6, when we were without strength
In due time, Christ died for whom? For good people? For moral
people? For religious people? Is that
the people for whom he died? For whom he suffered? For whom
he agonized on that tree? That's not what the Bible says.
It says Christ died for the ungodly. What did the Master say himself?
He said, I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save the lost. My friend, the grace of God is
for the guilty. The mercy of God is for the undeserving. That's what mercy is. It's grace
for the undeserving. The atonement of Christ is to
put away sin. That's why Christ died, to save
his people from their sins. They called him the friend of
sinners. Moses said, You look at the book
of Exodus, chapter 33, verse 18. Moses said, Lord, show me
your glory. Moses had seen the parting of
the sea. Moses had seen the river turn
to blood. Moses had seen the plague of
lice and frogs and all these things in Egypt. Moses had seen
the giving of the law written by the finger of God in the Mount
of Sinai, but he still wanted to see God's glory. God, show
me your glory. And you know what the Lord said?
I will cause my goodness to pass before you. My glory is my goodness. I will cause my goodness to pass
before you. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. My friends, it is only when we
see Christ acting in forgiving grace, when we see Christ acting
in redeeming mercy to sinners, It is only then that we get a
glimpse of God's greatest glory. God's glory, God's chief glory,
is saving the lost. Let me illustrate that. Now when
does the chief shepherd appear most lovely, huh? Think with
me now. When does the good shepherd, he calls himself the good shepherd,
I'm the good shepherd. He calls himself the great shepherd
and the chief shepherd. When does the great shepherd
appear most lovely? Is it when he's walking in green
pastures beside still waters, cradling in his arms a tender
lamb? Is that when he appears most
lovely? Or is it when he returns from the wilderness of sin, his
clothes tattered and ragged and torn, his face scarred with the
plucking of the beard and the print of the thorns, his hands
bearing the print of the nails and dripping with blood? His
side torn with a spear, when he returns from the wilderness
of sin, carrying in his arms the rescued sheep. Isn't that
when the shepherd appears most lovely? Isn't that his greatest
glory? That's what God said. Moses,
I'll show you my glory. My glory is my goodness. My glory
is my mercy. My glory is my grace to the guilty. I will be gracious. Let me ask
you this. When does the Father appear most
lovely? Is it when he is dividing his
wealth among his sons at home? Is it when he is giving out his
gifts to the multitude? Is that when the Father appears
most lovely, most beautiful, most glorious? No, sir. You know
when it is? When he's standing by that window,
looking off yonder into the distance, where that far country is, where
his wandering son has gone and wasted his living on rapturous
living and seeing, and finally, after all these months and weeks
and days, he sees a familiar figure coming across that field. It is the thin, weary body of
his lost son. And the father runs out the door
and down the hill and meets that son and throws his arms around
him and welcomes him home in forgiving grace and says, come
and rejoice to me, with me. My son was lost and now he's
found. He was dead. Now he's alive. That's when God is most glorified,
in forgiving sinners. You just open one eye, you'll
see that. That's true. And let me ask you this, when
does the great high priest appear most glorious, huh? I'll tell
you when it is, it's when he takes that blood atonement and
goes through the holy place, under the veil, into the holy
of holies, and there on the mercy seat of gold, covering over that
broken law, he puts that blood as an atonement, as a sacrifice,
as a sin offering, as a covering for our guilt. It's when he enters
heaven itself, to appear before the Father himself, to obtain
eternal redemption for us, that's when he receives most glory. That's when he's most lovely.
That's when you and I are accepted in the Beloved. That's what the
hymn writer said, in the Beloved, God's marvelous grace calls me
to dwell in that wonderful place. God sees my Savior, then he sees
me, in the Beloved, accepted and free. My friend, if you'll
just look, you'll find out that God's greatest glory is in redeeming
sinners, in saving the lost. Now, I want to show you that
from our text, Isaiah 53, 12. Now, look at it. This is what
it says. Christ Jesus is exalted. He's despised no more. He's rejected
no more. He's a dying lamb no more. He
is rejected no more. He is now exalted. God has highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, King
of kings and Lord of lords. That's what it says here in Isaiah
53, 12. Read it. Therefore will I divide
him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong at this moment. The Lord Jesus Christ is enjoying
the reward and the glory which the Father gave him in covenant
mercies and which he purchased by his death on Calvary's cross,
for he died that he might be Lord both of the dead and the
living. He is now at the right hand,
exalted in all the heavenly hosts. adored him, and all the majesty
of glory surrounds him, and all the redeemed of all ages praise
him, saying unto him who loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own precious blood, all hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall, bring
forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all, Lord of all. That's the gateway to the kingdom
of God. It's the Lordship of Christ.
That's what the Bible declares. That thief on the cross had the
key word, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
That leper who came down from the mountain and met the Lord
Jesus had the key word, Lord, if you will, you can make me
whole. Thomas the doubter found the
key word when he said, my Lord and my God. And Paul wrote in
Romans chapter 10, if you will confess with your mouth Jesus
to be Lord, and believe in your heart God raised him from the
dead, you'll be saved. But the key is the Lordship of
Christ. He's not a doormat named Jesus. He's not a fire escape
named Jesus. He's not superstar Jesus. He's
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that's the gateway into the
Kingdom of God. He'll be Lord of all or he won't
be Lord at all. Now why is he exalted above all? Why is he given a portion with
a great? Why is he king of kings? Why
does he have this majesty? The word of God tells us right
here. Four reasons are given in our text. Isaiah 53, 12. I want you to open your Bible
and look at it. It says, God the Father says, I'm going to
divide him a portion with the grave. He shall divide the spoil
with the straw. Why? Number one, he poured out
his soul unto them. Number two, because he was numbered
with the transgressors. Number three, because he bare
the sin of many. Number four, because he makes
intercession for the transgressors. That's why he's exalted. That's
why he has the victory. That's why he's surrounded by
all the pomp and glory and majesty of heaven. That's why the cherubims
and seraphims sing his praise. That's why all the redeemed of
all ages cast their crowns at his feet, because first of all,
he poured out his soul unto death. Now, my friends, the penalty
of sin is death. You can deny it, you can hate
it, you can refuse to hear it, you can refuse to believe it,
but this is what the scripture says. The soul that sinned, it
shall surely die. That's what sin is. The word
of God says sin, when it's finished, when it's all over, bring it
forth, death. The word of God says the wages
of sin is death. God said, In the day you eat
of the tree, you die. Now this is not talking about
physical death. This is talking about the death
of the soul. This is talking about eternal
death. This is talking about eternal
condemnation. This is talking about eternal
separation from God. This is talking about eternal
punishment. For the word says these shall
go away into what? Eternal punishment. Now that's
the death that Christ died. If you look back two verses in
Isaiah 53 there, we're using verse 12, go back to verse 10,
and it says, he made his soul an offering for sin. And when
we talk about the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus, we talk
about the wounds in his hands, and they were there. What are
these wounds in thy hand? These are wounds I received in
the house of my friends. What are these wounds in thy
feet and in thy side? Those wounds were real, and that
agony was real, and that death was real. If that's all you see,
you miss the true sin offering. He made his soul an offering
for sin. It began there in Gethsemane's
garden when he cried, My God, my soul is exceeding sorrowful,
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. My soul. And then on that
cross of Calvary, when God the Father turned his back on Christ
because he was made sin, because he became sin, because he was
identified with sin, because God cannot look upon sin, because
Christ bore our sins, when the Father turned his back, that
was eternal separation, infinite separation, eternal condemnation. That was hell. What is hell?
About all the average preacher knows about hell is something
about F-I-R-E-F-I-R. That's the least of my worries.
That ought to be the least of yours. You know what hell is?
Hell is separation from God. Hell is summed up right under
on Calvary when Christ cried. The only time he ever cried.
The only time he ever screamed in his whole life. The only time
he ever cried out. My God, why has thou forsaken
me? While they could spit upon him,
they could drive nails in his hands and in his feet, they could
press a crown of thorns in his brow, they could pluck out his
beard, they could hit him with their fists and slap him with
their palms, he never opened his mouth. They could lie on
him, they could accuse him of false things, they could bring
him before Pilate and the powers of the whole Roman government,
he opened not his mouth. But when his father turned his
back, he screamed loud enough to be heard in hell, Why hast
thou forsaken me? You know what hell is? When Abraham
talked to that rich man in hell, you know what he said? He said,
son, remember. Hell is memory. Hell is memory. Men in hell are going to be haunted
eternally by memory. What could have been, what ought
to have been, what might have been. Memory of every sermon
they ever heard. Memory of every message they
ever heard. Memory of every hymn they ever sung. Memory of every
prayer they ever witnessed. They are going to remember. Son,
remember, in your lifetime you had good things, and now you're
tormented. What is hell? Hell's truth realized too late.
I tell you, hindsight and foresight, people talk about it all the
time. The people in hell, there's nobody in hell who doesn't believe
the Bible's the Word of God. There's nobody in hell rejecting
the truth of the Bible. They found it out. They found
out there's a hell. They found out there's a heaven.
They found out there's a salvation. They found out there's a Holy
Spirit. They found out there's a Redeemer. Too late. It's too
late. As Abraham said, between you
and us is a great gulf fixed, and nobody can come over here
from you and nobody's going to you from over here. Hell is truth
realized too late. Tell you something else hell
is. Hell is unfulfilled lust and desire. That's right. Let him that is holy be holy
still. Let him that is filthy be filthy
still. Here on this earth the drunk's
got his whiskey to satisfy his desire and his thirst. Here on
this earth, the adulterous and the adulteresses have their lusts
satisfied. Here on this earth, men have
their gluttony satisfied and their greed satisfied. In hell,
there's no satisfaction, just the need, just the desire. What is hell? It's eternal darkness. It's eternal separation from
God, and add to that the fires of torment, and you've got hell.
But the chief suffering of hell is to be separated from God,
and that's what Christ bore. He bore the sin of many. And he went to hell for us. Not
the lake of fire. He was separated from the Father.
That's hell. What does the second thing say?
That's the reason he's exalted. That's the reason he has a name
above every name. That's the reason he has the
portion with the great. He deserves it. He went to hell
for his people. You say, well how could one man
satisfy the sin Satisfy the justice of God for the sins of so many,
because of who he was, who he was. He's an infinite Savior,
an infinite Redeemer, therefore he can satisfy infinite justice. It's not how much blood he shed,
it's who shed it. It's not how long he suffered,
it's who suffered. And then here's the second thing,
he was numbered with the transgressors. Now you listen just a moment.
There isn't a sentence in the Bible anywhere more important
than this sentence right here. He was numbered with the transgressors. What does that mean? What does
it mean to me? Well, what would you feel if you saw a government
list tomorrow, the United States government, the Senate, put out
a list of traitors, people who are traitors to this nation.
An undesirable, dishonorable list of traitors. Your name was
on the list. You'd be shamed, you'd be horrified. What if tomorrow, you women,
you saw a list of the harlots and prostitutes and call girls
of the tri-state area, and your name was on the list? What would
you feel, numbered with those kind of people? What would you
feel? What if tomorrow you men, one of you went down to the post
office and there on the wall with all the murderers and kidnappers
and thieves, and you saw your picture. numbered with them,
the innocent numbered with the guilty, one of them, part of
them, what would you think? You'd be shamed, you'd be horrified. Well, that's what Christ Jesus
did. He came down here, the Holy of Holy Ones, the matchless,
immaculate One, the infinite, immutable One, came down here
and wrapped His soul in human flesh, identified with the murderers
and haters and and thieves and liars and God-haters and law-breakers
and rebels like you and me. He became one of us. He was numbered
with the transgression. He became one with us in the
transgression. He became our representative.
He was numbered with us from the day he was born in the Roman
census. That's why Mary and Joseph went
to Bethlehem. A decree went out from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed, the known world, the
Roman world. And Mary and Joseph had to go
to Bethlehem and be put on the Roman census. Jesus Christ was
put there the day he was born. He was numbered with us in public
opinion. They said, there he goes, the
friend of sinners. Look at him, the associate of
harlots and publicans. There he goes. He's a winebibber. He's a gluttonous man. He was
numbered with us in public opinion. He was numbered with us in earthly
courts. He stood before the tribunal of Rome. Pilate was his judge. And he was numbered with us before
heaven's courts. He was treated as we should have
been treated. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God because of him. The sinless
came down here and became sinful, that sinners like you and me
and the hog waller and the cesspool and the mire and the pit and
the mud of sin might be made righteous in him. He took our
place to give us his place. He was numbered with us. That's
why he didn't open his mouth in front of Pilate. He was guilty.
He was guilty by association. That's why he opened not his
mouth when they drove those nails. He was taking what we deserved,
and he was one of us. Now here's the third thing. Stay
with me. Why is he exalted? Why is he magnified? He bared
the sin of many. Now, my friends, Jesus Christ
did not die as a martyr. The disciples did. All of them,
with the exception of one, John, who was exiled to the Isle of
Patmos. They all died as martyrs. There have been many martyrs.
John Huss, Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley. These men all died as
martyrs, but Christ didn't die as a martyr. He died as a substitute. Christ didn't die as an example.
He certainly set an example for us, how we ought to be submissive
to the will of the Father. That's not why he died. The Scripture
said he was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid upon him. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. He died in our place. That's
what he died as a substitute. Now, if he did not die as a substitute,
if he did not actually bear my sins, then I'm going to have
to bear them. Because somebody's got to pay for my sins. Either
I've got to pay for them, or he's got to pay for them. But
now, the reverse is true. If Christ bore my sins, then
I don't bear them. If Christ died for my sins, then
I won't die for them. If Christ went to judgment and
went to prison and went to death, then I go not. If Christ paid
my debt, I don't owe a debt any longer. It's paid. Jesus paid
it all, all the debt I owed. Sin left a crimson stain. He
washed it. White as snow. And there is therefore
now no judgment to them who are in Christ, no condemnation. Isn't
that what the Bible says? Paul said, who can lay anything
to the charge of God's election? Who is he that condemns? Christ
has died. Yea, rather, is risen again.
Who is he but at the right hand of God? Who can condemn me? I
challenge heaven, earth, and hell. If Christ took my place,
and if he didn't, I don't have a prayer. If he didn't, I don't
have a hope. If he didn't, I don't have a
refuge. But if he did, then I dine up. I bathe. He bore the sin
of many. Did he? Or didn't he? On him, almighty vengeance fell
that would have sunk my soul to hell. He bore it for my sinful
race, and he became my hiding place. Should storms of thundering
vengeance roll, and they will, And shake this globe from pole
to pole, they will, No flaming bolt shall daunt my face, Because
I have a hiding place." Now last of all, and this is one of my
most important points, and I want you to listen to it. He is exalted
and given a name above every name. He deserves it. that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should
confess that he's Lord to the glory of God the Father. He deserves
it. Why? Why? Well, he bore the sin of
many. He was numbered with the transgressors.
Our Lord Jesus Christ made his soul an offering for sin. And
then last of all, he made intercession for the transgressors. I have
a friend in prison serving a life sentence. Used to be one of the
heavyweight champions of the state of West Virginia, but he's
now in prison. I visited there one Sunday and
preached, and he was present. The week before he had heard
me on the radio bring a message on the subject, there's one God
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
And my subject was Christ my advocate. That's a big word,
it just means lawyer, it means one who pleads my case. And when
I went up to the prison to preach and I met Tom, He took my hand
in both of his, and he said, Brother Henry, I thank God for
that sermon. Christ my lawyer. Christ pleads
my case. I need someone to plead my case.
I need someone to plead for me. And my friend, I do too. I do
too. I need someone, someone acceptable. Someone appointed. Someone ordained. Someone who has access to the
Father's throne. You don't. I don't. The priest
doesn't. The preacher doesn't. The evangelist
doesn't. Don't let them kid you. There's only one who can go to
the Father for a sinner. There's one mediator between
God and man. It's not Mary. It's not the priest. It's not your pastor. It's Jesus
Christ. He maketh intercession for the
transgressors. And he doesn't plead my righteousness
either, because that's filthy rags. And he doesn't plead my
works either, because those people stood at the judgment and said,
we built buildings and cast out devils and priests, and he said,
you're workers of iniquity. He doesn't plead my faithfulness.
I don't have any. I may fail tomorrow. I will.
But he pleads his righteousness, his obedience. He pleads his
works. He said, it's finished. It's
finished. I finished the work you gave
me to do, therefore glorify thy son. with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was, and he pleads his faithfulness.
I always do those things that please my Father. Thank God I
have a lawyer." Tom, I'm with you, buddy. Thank God I have
a lawyer. I have one to plead my case who
always, who is always heard. I hope you'll join us next Lord's
Day for the broadcast. Until then, Henry Mahan, bidding
you a very pleasant good day.

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Jesus Christ -- Saviour of Sinners

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