1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,240 Would invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:07,160 Old Testament book of Isaiah. Isaiah, we're going to be 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,520 looking at the end of chapter 52 and all of chapter 53 Today. 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,480 You're using the red Bibles and the chairs around. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,360 You can find the page printed for you in your bulletins, 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:29,800 Isaiah 52, beginning in verse 13 down through the end of chapter 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:36,960 53. It is not an overstatement to 8 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,840 say that what I'm about to read to you is one of the greatest 9 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:45,840 passages in the book of Isaiah or perhaps in all of Scripture. 10 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:54,520 Let's listen to God's Word. Behold, my Servant shall act 11 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,240 wisely. He shall be high and lifted up, 12 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,880 and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you, 13 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,160 His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and His 14 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,480 form beyond that of the children of mankind, so shall He sprinkle 15 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,520 many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths 16 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,280 because of Him. For that which has not been told 17 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,240 them they see, and that which they have not heard, they 18 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,120 understand. Who has believed what He has 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,480 heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the 20 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,000 Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a 21 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,080 young plants and like a root out of dry ground. 22 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,880 He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, no beauty 23 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,400 that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by 24 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,560 men. A man of sorrows and acquainted 25 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,520 with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, He was 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,320 despised, and we esteemed Him not. 27 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,280 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 28 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,480 Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 29 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,600 But He was pierced for our transgressions. 30 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,400 He was crushed for our iniquities. 31 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:09,039 Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with 32 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:13,000 His wounds we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone 33 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,520 astray. We have turned everyone to his 34 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:20,400 own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 35 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,440 He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his 36 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,920 mouth like a lamb that has led to the slaughter, like a sheep 37 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:33,080 that before it shears a silence. So he opened not his mouth. 38 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,080 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. 39 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,320 And As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off 40 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,960 out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression 41 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:48,840 of my people, and they made his grave with the wicked and with a 42 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,320 rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and 43 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,680 there was no deceit in his mouth, yet it was the will of 44 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,560 the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief when his 45 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,320 soul makes an offering for guilt. 46 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,720 He shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days. 47 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,800 The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand out of the 48 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:16,560 anguish of his soul. He shall see and be satisfied by 49 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:18,640 his knowledge. Shall the righteous one, My 50 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:22,560 servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he 51 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,000 shall bear their iniquities? Therefore I will divide him a 52 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the 53 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,280 strong. Because he poured out his soul 54 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,760 to death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore 55 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,120 the sin of many, and makes intercession for the 56 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,280 transgressors. Let's pray together. 57 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,680 Father, we pray that as we come to this part of your word today, 58 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,120 that You indeed would open it to us, that through the work of the 59 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,200 Holy Spirit, you would apply it into our hearts, into our minds, 60 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,760 into our lives. Help us to see what we need to 61 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,920 see from this part of Your Word. But above all, Father, help us 62 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,840 to see our great servant and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 63 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,560 It's in His name we pray. Amen. 64 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:24,320 Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 says, For the word of God is living 65 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,520 and active, sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing to the 66 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,760 division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and 67 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,320 discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 68 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:48,440 The power of the word of God, the power of Isaiah 53. 69 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,440 Many of us know the story. It's recorded for us in Acts 70 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,800 chapter 8, The story of Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch. 71 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,920 Philip was told by the Angel of the Lord to get up and to get 72 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,440 onto the road that runs S from Jerusalem down to Gaza. 73 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,600 And along the way Philip came across an Ethiopian eunuch. 74 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,440 It was a court official of the Queen of The Ethiopians. 75 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,280 The eunuch had been in Jerusalem worshipping, and he was on his 76 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:18,240 way back home. And when Philip came across the 77 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,480 eunuch, he, the eunuch, was sitting in his chariot, and he 78 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,680 was reading an Old Testament passage. 79 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,800 The Holy Spirit prompted Philip to go over and to interact with 80 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,000 the eunuch, and so Philip ran over to him. 81 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,520 And when Philip got there, he realized that the eunuch was 82 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,040 reading a passage out of the book of Isaiah. 83 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,800 In fact, he was reading Isaiah chapter 53, verses 7 and 8. 84 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,520 Philip asked the unit if he understood what he was reading 85 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,520 it, and the eunuch said that he needed some help. 86 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,680 He he asked Philip, who is Isaiah 53 talking about? 87 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,080 We're told that starting with that passage, Philip shared the 88 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:05,200 good news with him about Jesus. The eunuch was converted, Philip 89 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,760 baptized him, and we're told that he went back home 90 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:16,040 rejoicing, perhaps the first witness of Christ in Africa, the 91 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:21,600 power of the word of God, the power of Isaiah 53. 92 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,880 It reminds us that as we read these verses today, as we 93 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:31,160 reflect on them, there is a call for a response to what we read, 94 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,360 a call of response to, to who we are reading about in these 95 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:42,560 verses of, of what he was like. We've, we've talked about 96 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,800 throughout the early part of Isaiah that a promise is given 97 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,520 over and over again to God's people that a great warrior king 98 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,480 would come. He would lead God's people once 99 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,360 again. He would lead them out of exile. 100 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,200 He would take them back home and also be the ruler of the 101 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,680 nations. But then when we got to Isaiah 102 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:05,480 chapter 42, we came to the first of these 4 servant songs and we 103 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,640 heard that the, the promise that the king who would come would 104 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:13,320 also be a servant. Even in that first servant song, 105 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,600 though he would, he would bring justice to the nations, he would 106 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,960 be a servant, but he would have majesty and power and influence. 107 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:24,160 But then we come here to Isaiah 53, the the 4th of the four 108 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,480 servant songs, and we get the full picture of this servant. 109 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,960 And it's meant to be surprising to us, even shocking. 110 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,280 Now, Isaiah and the people that were in exile, they, they surely 111 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,680 didn't understand the full story, exactly how God was going 112 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,200 to fulfill this promise. But Isaiah 53 is what we like to 113 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,440 call a pastor's favorite passage. 114 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,760 We don't have to wonder what Isaiah 53 is about. 115 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,480 I don't have to figure it out. So I can tell you we don't have 116 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:02,360 to extrapolate. There are many places in other 117 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:06,360 places in the Bible that specifically tell us what Isaiah 118 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:12,200 53 is about. Matthew in his Gospel quotes 119 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,400 Isaiah 53 verse four. He says it describes Jesus's 120 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,720 healing ministry. We already saw in Acts chapter 121 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:24,280 8, Philip told the Ethiopian eunuch that Isaiah 53 is about 122 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,760 Jesus. Peter quotes five of the verses 123 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,480 in Isaiah 53 and says they describe the work and the 124 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:36,159 suffering of Jesus and Jesus himself in Luke chapter 22, the 125 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:39,760 night before his crucifixion told the disciples that Isaiah 126 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:44,800 53 was about him. He would be numbered with the 127 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:51,040 transgressors. Spoiler alert, Isaiah 53 is 128 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,240 telling us about our great and ultimate servant, the Lord Jesus 129 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,240 Christ. So let's look at these verses 130 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,800 and reflect on how servant Jesus is described. 131 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:07,640 He's he's described as being astonishing, as being ordinary, 132 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:14,120 as being substitutionary, and as being satisfied. 133 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,640 First of all, he's described as being an astonishing servant. 134 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,360 You can see that at chapter 52, verses 13 to 15, what we're told 135 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,240 there, that the servant would act wise and proper. 136 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,960 He would be high and lifted up and exalted. 137 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,600 And that jives with the other things that we've heard about 138 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,600 the King's servant to come. But that's what made him so 139 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,600 astonishing to those who would see him, because we read in 140 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,800 verse 14 that his appearance would be marred beyond human 141 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:46,400 semblance, his form beyond that of the children of mankind. 142 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:54,200 His appearance wouldn't connect with His Majesty the King, the 143 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,920 servant king. He wouldn't be like the people 144 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,520 would expect. He he won't measure up to the 145 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,680 worldly standard and expectation. 146 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,560 He'd be so astonishing that we read in verse 15. 147 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,960 Kings would shut their mouths because of him. 148 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,200 They would be so amazed at this one to come. 149 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,480 He would be an astonishing servant unlike anything the 150 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:22,480 world had ever seen before. But then notice he would also be 151 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,240 an ordinary servant. You can see that in chapter 53, 152 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,360 verses one to three. Yeah, earlier in Isaiah we were 153 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,880 told that the servant king would be mighty in power. 154 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,240 He would be great in majesty. He would rule over the nations. 155 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,440 But then we come here to the beginning part of chapter 53, 156 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:40,800 and he's described just as being ordinary. 157 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,600 Look at verses 2 and three. He would be like a young plant, 158 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:49,600 like a root out of dry ground. That means unimpressive, unlike 159 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,120 the the grand and the powerful Cedars of Lebanon that we've 160 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:58,600 read about earlier in Isaiah. He would have no form or majesty 161 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,160 that would make us look at him, not particularly good looking or 162 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,560 handsome, no beauty that would cause us to desire him. 163 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,280 People would despise him. People would reject him. 164 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,600 He would be a man full of sorrow, a man who understood 165 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,720 what grief is. People would hide their faces 166 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,000 from him. People would not hold him in 167 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,080 high regard or respect him or admire him or value him. 168 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,160 He would not have any of the things that the world looks to 169 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,160 for success and power and influence. 170 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,560 This would not be one who would be a mover and shaker in 171 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:42,240 leadership circles. People were going to pay 172 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,800 thousands of dollars to go hear him speak at a leadership 173 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,560 conference. He wouldn't be hired by large 174 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:51,440 companies to come in and do consulting work or executive 175 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,960 training. The servant to come would be 176 00:11:54,960 --> 00:12:00,720 ordinary, described as one who would not have a lot of 177 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:06,200 significance and notoriety. But then notice the servant is 178 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,280 also described as living a substitutionary life. 179 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,480 Now the description in these verses, verses 4 through the end 180 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,640 of the chapter of chapter 53, they are nothing less than 181 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:22,400 extraordinary, stunning. Look at, look at all the ways 182 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,760 that we're told that the servant would substitute himself for us. 183 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,680 Verse four, He will bear our grief. 184 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:36,320 He will carry our sorrow. Verse 5, pierced for our 185 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:41,560 transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, taking our 186 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,480 chastisement. And just as a reminder, 187 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,120 transgressions are all the ways that we disobey God's word and 188 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,960 our thoughts and words and deeds and our iniquities is our fallen 189 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,760 nature. It's the inner heart depravity 190 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:59,320 because of the fall. The end of verse 6, our iniquity 191 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,400 would be laid on him. The end of verse 11, He shall 192 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,040 bear our iniquities. The end of verse 12, He was 193 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,400 numbered as one of us, a transgressor, and He would bear 194 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,320 our sin. Yeah. 195 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,600 And not only does the servant live a substitutionary life by 196 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,320 taking all of our grief and our sorrow and our transgressions 197 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,640 and our iniquities and our sin on himself, but look at what he 198 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,120 gives us. The end of verse 5. 199 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,880 He brings us peace. He brings us healing. 200 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:35,680 And then the end of verse 11, he makes us accounted as righteous. 201 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,280 This is what the servant Jesus did for us. 202 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:50,000 He endured violent suffering, stricken, smitten by God, 203 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:57,560 afflicted, pierced, crushed, chastisement from the Lord God 204 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:04,200 Almighty, put upon him wounded, oppressed, afflicted, like a 205 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:10,880 lamb that has led to slaughter, judged, taken away, cut off, 206 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:19,080 stricken for us, crushed by the Lord, put to grief a soul filled 207 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:26,440 with anguish, and eventually he would pour out his soul to death 208 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,680 and be buried as the wicked. And did you notice that even 209 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,240 when he had the chance to defend himself, what do we read at the 210 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:36,920 beginning and the end of verse 7? 211 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:43,360 He opened not his mouth. Why not? 212 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,720 Because he was guilty. Oh yes, he was guilty. 213 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,720 He had nothing to defend. And why was he guilty? 214 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,200 He was guilty because he took our guilt upon himself. 215 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,840 He took our sin and our transgressions and our iniquity 216 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:09,360 upon himself. He didn't defend himself because 217 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:14,160 there was no defending us. We were guilty. 218 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,720 And since he substituted his life for ours, he took our 219 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,760 guilt. And then he poured out his soul 220 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,600 to death to pay for every ounce of that guilt. 221 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:31,360 The servant died to bring, to bring death to death. 222 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,320 Jesus, our great servant, is a substitutionary servant. 223 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:39,760 This is brothers and sisters in Christ. 224 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,320 This is the heart of the gospel. This is the good news of God's 225 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,480 grace. This is what makes Christianity 226 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,560 different from every other religion. 227 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,240 Only in Christianity does God Himself come to the earth and 228 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:57,480 serve as our substitutionary servant, taking our grief and 229 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,560 sorrows and guilt and sin and paying for it with His own life, 230 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:06,320 and substituting it for righteousness and peace and 231 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,840 healing. This is the gospel. 232 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,200 Lastly, notice that the servant is described as being a 233 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,240 satisfied servant. Look at the end of verse 10. 234 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,600 When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his 235 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,440 offspring. That's us by the way. 236 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,400 He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall 237 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,320 prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul. 238 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:41,360 He shall see and be satisfied. The servant was satisfied. 239 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:47,080 Of course he was. Jesus looks at His offspring, He 240 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,400 He looks at His people, He looks at His bride, He looks at the 241 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,520 body of believers, and he is satisfied. 242 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:56,280 Why? Because He accomplished and 243 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,920 finished His work. The righteous one, through His 244 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,600 substitutionary work, made many to be accounted righteous. 245 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:08,480 His work was successful, it was completed, it was finished, it 246 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:14,000 was efficacious, it was accepted by the Father, and so Jesus is 247 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,720 satisfied. Now we're going to come back to 248 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:23,280 that in just a minute, but can you take just a moment and 249 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:28,160 meditate on the fact that if you are in Christ Jesus, Jesus is 250 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:39,160 satisfied with you? Jesus, the long promised great 251 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,640 and ultimate servant that Isaiah describes. 252 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,000 He was astonishing, unlike anything the world had 253 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,520 categories for or had ever seen. But he was also ordinary. 254 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,480 He didn't measure up to what the world thought of as a 255 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,640 successful, powerful, influential, important leader. 256 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,120 He lived a substitutionary life. He he substituted his life for 257 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,800 the lives of his people, taking their guilt and their grief and 258 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,800 their sin and giving them his righteousness. 259 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,360 He's also a satisfied servant, looking at his offspring, his 260 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:20,040 people, the work that he did, and he's satisfied. 261 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:26,600 So what do we do with this for us today? 262 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:35,360 Three things. First is this God's power in our 263 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:41,160 lives comes to us from ordinary things. 264 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,280 As we have seen, Jesus was ordinary. 265 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,800 And yet look at what we read in verse 1 of chapter 53. 266 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,240 Who has believed what he has heard from us? 267 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,800 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 268 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,800 Jesus, it was ordinary and yet through him the arm of the Lord 269 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:11,000 and notice, notices in all caps, the arm of Yahweh is revealed. 270 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,200 Now we've seen this phrase that the arm of the Lord earlier in 271 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:19,600 Isaiah we saw that it refers to the power that the might of God. 272 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,360 And what we're being told here is through the ordinary servant 273 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,840 Jesus, the power of God is displayed. 274 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:32,200 The power of God is at work, and that's still how God works in 275 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,400 our lives today. His power, his might at work in 276 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,520 our lives through ordinary things. 277 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:45,280 Ordinary means. The power of God at work in our 278 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,160 lives through the ways and things that look unimportant and 279 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,720 unimpressive to the world. Things like reading the Word of 280 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:57,280 God, thinking about it, meditating upon it, listening to 281 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,840 it. Things like prayer, spending 282 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,920 time talking to the Lord, praising Him, and sharing our 283 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:04,760 pain and our sorrows and our needs. 284 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:09,160 Things like participating in corporate worship with our 285 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:14,560 brothers and sisters in Christ. Things like participating things 286 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:16,240 like baptism in the Lord's Supper. 287 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,840 Things like hanging out with and spending time with other 288 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,040 Christians, getting to know them, sharing time with them, 289 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,400 having meals together. Growing in the unity that we 290 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,480 have because of the gospel, right? 291 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:31,520 These are these are ordinary things. 292 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,960 These, these are the ordinary means of grace. 293 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,960 And yet through the ordinary means of grace, the power of God 294 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,600 is at work in our lives. It seems like there should be 295 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,120 something more extraordinary, doesn't it? 296 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,720 It feels like there should be something more spectacular, 297 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,200 extravagant, like we somehow plug ourselves into the power of 298 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,040 God and download his power into our lives. 299 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,720 But God has chosen to display and to work his power into our 300 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:07,480 lives through an ordinary Jesus, an ordinary means. 301 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,640 What a blessing it is that He has given us these tools, these, 302 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,720 these means of grace. The question we have to ask is, 303 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:21,480 are we making use of them or are we taking them from granted and 304 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,520 disregarding them? Make use of the means of grace, 305 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,400 not with a sense of drudgery or obligation or punishment, but 306 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,560 out of a sense of gratitude and Thanksgiving and joyful 307 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,840 expectation that as we participate in the means of 308 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:40,480 grace, the power of God is at work in our lives. 309 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:51,400 Secondly, our suffering does not mean that God does not love us 310 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,280 or care for us, right? It's a question that many of us 311 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,760 wrestle with. How can, how can God love us? 312 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,920 How can God care for us and allow or even bring suffering 313 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:06,440 into our lives? Right? 314 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,080 That's a that is a real and honest and understandable and 315 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:15,080 vulnerable question. But our passage today helps us 316 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,320 to see that our suffering doesn't mean that God doesn't 317 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,280 love us or care for us. We're told clearly in these 318 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:27,400 verses, Jesus suffered. He was smitten by God. 319 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:36,600 It tells us that it was the will of the Lord to crush him, to put 320 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:41,280 the Lord to for the Lord to put him to grief, that he bore our 321 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:47,160 griefs and was a man of sorrows. Jesus suffered greatly. 322 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,960 And yet we are told over and over again in the Scripture that 323 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:59,520 the Father loves the Son. The first person of the Trinity 324 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,680 loves the second person of the Trinity. 325 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,960 In Matthew chapter 3, at the baptism of Jesus, a voice from 326 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,720 heaven was heard saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am 327 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,120 well pleased. John chapter 3 verse 35. 328 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:20,720 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 329 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,320 John chapter 5 verse 20. For the Father loves the Son and 330 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,120 shows him all that he is. He Himself is doing. 331 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,440 John 15 verse 9. Jesus speaking says, as the 332 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,080 Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 333 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,120 Abide in my love. Jesus suffered more greatly than 334 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,400 anyone ever will. He even suffered at the hands of 335 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,000 His Father. And yet we're told over and over 336 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,520 again that the Father loves the Son. 337 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,240 Brothers and sisters in Christ, that's true for us as well. 338 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,920 Our suffering doesn't mean that God doesn't love us. 339 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:00,960 It's often the case that we don't understand why we are 340 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,840 suffering when we are in the midst of it, or even ever 341 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,160 sometimes. But what we can know for certain 342 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,040 is that the Lord loves us and cares for us, that He is at work 343 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,080 in our lives, and that our suffering is not meaningless, 344 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:19,840 but that God is at work through it and loves us in the midst of 345 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:30,520 it as He brings us through it. Thirdly and lastly, remember the 346 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:36,000 gospel. Isaiah 53 is one of the greatest 347 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,840 passages in all of Scripture explaining the gospel 348 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,640 substitutionary atonement of Jesus for His people. 349 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:49,120 He takes our grief, our guilt, and our sin, and then He goes to 350 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:52,680 the cross and has the wrath, the punishment, and the judgement of 351 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,800 God poured out on Him for our sin. 352 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,040 He pours out his soul to death to pay for our transgressions 353 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,960 and our iniquities, and in exchange we get his 354 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,400 righteousness. We get peace with God, 355 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,560 reconciliation of the relationship with the Lord that 356 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,360 was ruptured at the fall. We get adopted into God's 357 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:18,040 family, made a child of God and heir of the promise. 358 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,520 We get eternal inheritance that's being kept in heaven for 359 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,640 us. All of this is ours simply by 360 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:30,880 receiving it by faith in Jesus, by being in a relationship with 361 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,240 Jesus. This is the gospel. 362 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,960 Now let me get the attention for just a minute of our young 363 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,120 people, especially our young people who have not yet made a 364 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,520 profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or for that 365 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,240 matter, anybody that's here who hasn't made a profession of 366 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,280 faith in Christ. This is the gospel that must be 367 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:57,800 believed to go to heaven, to understand and to believe that 368 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,440 Jesus became a substitute for us, that he took our sin, He 369 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,920 took our guilt, and he put them on himself. 370 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,160 And then he died on the cross and paid for it all. 371 00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:11,600 And in exchange, when we believe in Jesus, he puts his 372 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,640 righteousness on us and he gives us peace with God. 373 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,680 He makes us his children and gives us eternal life. 374 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:26,400 This is God's grace. This is the gospel. 375 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,480 This is what we are to believe to go to heaven. 376 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:37,680 But this gospel, this good news of God's grace, it's not just 377 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,040 for those who haven't yet made a profession of faith. 378 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,280 The gospel is for believers in Christ as well. 379 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,200 As we've been talking about and seeing in our study of Galatians 380 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,600 in in the adult Sunday School class, the human heart is 381 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,520 utterly prone to wander from the truth of the gospel. 382 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,480 The human heart, even the Christian human heart, is prone 383 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:05,200 to slip into thinking that contradicts the gospel, that we 384 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,640 have to earn God's love and acceptance and satisfaction. 385 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,400 That if we're not reading our Bibles enough or praying enough 386 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,760 or fellowshipping enough with God's people, then God is angry 387 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,520 with us That he is dissatisfied with us. 388 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,040 That if I give into that besetting sin one more time, the 389 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,400 Lord will love me just a little bit less. 390 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:29,480 And that is not what the Bible tells us. 391 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:37,160 Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus looks at his offspring. 392 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:42,160 He looks at you and me, and he is satisfied. 393 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:50,280 Zephaniah chapter 3, verse 17. Listen to these words. 394 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,400 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will 395 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,080 save. He will rejoice over you with 396 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,680 gladness. He will quiet you by His love. 397 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:07,440 He will exalt over you with loud singing, and that was being said 398 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,040 to Judah just before they went into exile. 399 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,040 Now I don't know what it means for Yahweh to exalt over us with 400 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,160 loud singing, but it has to be pretty cool. 401 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:26,800 Psalm 149 verse 4 says the Lord takes pleasure in His people. 402 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,720 He adorns the humble with salvation. 403 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,240 Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you believe this? 404 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:48,080 The Lord is satisfied with you. The Lord does rejoice over you 405 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,520 with gladness. He does quiet you by His love. 406 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,920 He does exult over you with loud singing. 407 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:04,240 The Lord takes pleasure in you. So as God's people, when we 408 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:09,560 forget, when we forget and start acting and living like this 409 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:16,240 isn't true, what are we to do? We come back to these verses and 410 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,720 the many more that are like it throughout the Scriptures and we 411 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,920 remind ourselves what is true. We remember the gospel. 412 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:28,280 We say to ourselves that the way that I'm feeling, the way that 413 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:33,960 I'm thinking, it's not true. God's Word is true. 414 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,680 And then we choose to believe what God has said in His Word, 415 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,600 choose to put off the wrong feelings and thinking and put on 416 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,960 the truth of God's Word. That reminds us of the gospel. 417 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,360 It reminds us of what has been accomplished. 418 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,320 It reminds us of how our Father in heaven sees us, how He thinks 419 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,720 of us, how He is satisfied with us, how He rejoices over us, how 420 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,720 He takes pleasure in US. Let's pray together.