Now, if you would please take your Bibles and look in Isaiah, and we are in chapter 53, of course. We're moving a little slower through this chapter than the others, and it'll be a chapter that I'll hate to leave when we finally get to that point. But we are today up to verse 4, and let me read verse 4 for us and then Try to gather a few thoughts. Isaiah said, Isaiah 53 and verse 4, surely he that is the suffering servant hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Pardon me. This last week, Randy and Linda, like many Americans, went to find a place to have a good view of the total eclipse. They were up in Terre Haute, Indiana, which is on the western brink of Indiana's Long State, on the western side. Had a good view. What I've heard about, we watched it on television, which is good. We'll travel to the next one. It'll be 20 years, so we'll be 94. We'll travel to the next one to watch it. But I've heard people talk about this event bringing people to God. Now, what you have here is general revelation. this would fit into the category of God's general revelation. The general revelation we see all around us. We see it in the winter becoming spring and the spring becoming summer. We see it in our flowers growing. General Revelation is, it's all around us. And as powerful and as magnificent as that was, it will not, it cannot bring a person to God. It cannot bring them to the knowledge of salvation. So the question is, what must a person hear? And what they have to hear is the message of substitution. And you know what substitution is. It's not hard. Everybody in America knows what substitution is if they think about it. You're a coach of a basketball team. You have your starting five that goes in, and the first thing you know, you're behind 12-0. So you realize, I've got to get some different players in there. So I'm going to send Ian in, and I'm going to let him be my point guard. And I want Wilson to go in, and he's going to be my shooting guard. And I'm going to send Seth in, and he's going to be my power forward. And we'll get this whole thing straightened out. And what they are is they are substitutes. They're going in and they're getting that straightened out. But one player for another is a substitute. We change pitchers in the middle of ball games. That's a substitute. It doesn't mean really that one is any better than the other, but it is that they are a substitute. Well, substitution is essential to the understanding of the gospel. Substitution. I'm writing a book. I keep talking to you about it because I want you to know about it and I'm working on it. I'm down to the last chapter. The name of the book is Justification by Representation. Representation is just another word for substitution. I thought it sounded a little better, so instead of saying justification by substitution, I thought it might catch the eye a little more to say justification by representation. I might be altogether wrong. But representation, substitution, those are synonyms. They're interchangeable words. When my mother passed away in 2001, There were six kids and one of us had to be the representative for the family, the executor of the estate. And there was a very, very small estate, I can assure you of that, but somebody had to sign documents. So I had several different things that I had to do and documents that I had to sign, and when I would sign those, I was signing them with the authority of my mother, who has already passed, and for the authority of the rest of the family. So my signature represented them. That's substitution. We use substitution all the time in many different affairs in our life. So I want to talk with you this morning about substitution, and I'm not sure we'll even get to verse number four, but I want to go to other places in the Bible and show you this truth of substitution before we come to this, because what we've seen is we've seen him talking about the revelation of Christ here from verse 13 down through verse 1. And then he talked about the condescension of Christ, and that is that he was made low. Now we're to the point of talking about his substitution. So I want you to go with me back to Genesis 43, where we read a few moments ago, and I want you to look at this particular passage. Jacob was the son of Isaac, and Jacob had twelve sons. And the two youngest sons were Joseph and Benjamin. And you remember that the ten older brothers sold Joseph into slavery, and he ended up down in Egypt. And in the providence of God, he was raised up to be the second only to the Pharaoh in the land. And God gave him a vision telling him that there are going to be seven years of good growth, plenty of rain, and there'll be plenty. But then after that, it's going to be followed by seven years of drought and famine. And so those 14 years passed by, and in that second set of seven years with the famine going on, it so happened that Jacob and his family, north of Egypt, could not have enough food. And so they did what they had to do and they went down to Egypt in order to get grain. So you see the providence of God to get Jacob and his family where he wanted them to be. He's working all these things out and providence of God, they come before Joseph. Joseph begins to ask them questions. He realizes who they are, but they don't know who he is. They think he's dead. And at least in bondage somewhere, but they certainly wouldn't think that they're talking to him. And he looks like an Egyptian now. He's got his eyes all dark, and he's dressed like an Egyptian. They have no idea that it's their brother. And so he asked them about, are there other brothers, and what about your father, and so forth. And he tells them, if you want more grain, when you come back, you're going to have to bring your brother with you. And so the grain runs out and Jacob sends them back. And then Judah speaks up and he says, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll step into the place of the family. So here's what he says in verse number nine. This is our verse. I will be a surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee and set him not before thee, then let me bear the blame and bear it forever." Well, this has to do with the surety of the covenant or the agreement. So they're trying to make an agreement and he's going to be the assurance, the surety of that agreement. Now, what does this agreement point to? Well, it's a picture of the everlasting covenant, the everlasting agreement between the three persons of the Godhead. And there was an agreement that the Lord Jesus Christ would become that surety. So we're going to go to Hebrews in a few moments, and I'll show you that, but I want you to keep that in your mind. So Judah agrees to become the surety of the covenant for him. Now I want you to turn a few pages over to the book of Leviticus. So Genesis and then Exodus and then Leviticus. And I want you to see another illustration before we leave here of substitution. In Leviticus, the first chapter, Leviticus is a book of worship. It's telling about their worship. And he's telling them in verse number four that Aaron being the high priest, verse number 4, Leviticus 1, shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering. So let me stop. That is a picture of imputation. So he is imputing, it's a picture of imputing sin to the head of the burnt offering. Not to his foot, not to his side, not to his hand, not to an appendage, but to his head. center of life and it shall be accepted. So this imputation shall be accepted and is going to be accepted for an atonement. An atonement is the covering. The atonement is the Old Testament word for the New Testament word reconciliation. So in the New Testament It doesn't talk about atonement. Only one place is it used, and it should be translated reconciliation, and that's in Romans 5, is it 10, 9 or 10? And he speaks of the atonement there. That's the only place. But the atonement is a covering. But what Jesus did was not a covering, it was a sending away. So it was a full reconciliation, but the word atonement is in the Old Testament. So the putting the hand up on the head of that goat, that goat becoming the substitute to bear their sins, and that goat then was a picture to carry up to the coming of Christ. Then I want you to go a few pages further to 1 Samuel. So you're going to have Leviticus, Then you come to Numbers, and then you're going to come to Judges, and then you're going to come to Ruth, and then you're going to come to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel. And I want you to look in Chapter 17. 1 Samuel 17. And if you'll look please in verse number 10. So these are the Philistines now standing against the children of Israel. They've now gone through the 40 years of wilderness, wandering. They've come into Canaan, and the Philistines do not want them there. So the Philistines are coming against them, and the Philistines have a giant. And this giant is going to challenge them to a duel. And whoever the winner is, is going to be the winner. And so instead of involving the whole armies, he says, I'll be a representative for the Philistines. You find somebody to be a representative for the Israelites and we'll fight. And whoever wins, wins the war. So in verse 10, the Philistine, that's Goliath. said, I defy the armies of Israel this day, now here's the key, give me a man, give me a representative, give me a substitute for the rest of the country. that we may fight together. So I'll represent the Philistines, whoever you send out to me, he will represent you, and that will be the decisive factor of the war." And of course you know that David won the victory. Philistine was killed with just a single shot of a stone up through his forehead, and so David was pretty good with that sling, but that's substitution. Then I want you to look with me into the New Testament. So we're going to leave the old and go to the new, and I want you to go all the way to Romans. Can't do anything in the New Testament without looking at Romans, right? So I want you to look at Romans, and I want you to find chapter 9. I want to show you two things about Paul and his willingness to be a substitute. In Romans chapter 9, I'll read from verse 1, I say the truth in Christ I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren." So there's the key, for my brethren. My kinsmen, he's talking about the other members of the nation. They're not believers, but he said, if I could become a curse for them, I would. for my kinsmen according to the flesh." He says, I'm willing to step in and be a representative for them, to be a substitute for them if that's something That could work. Then I want you to keep going to your right, and I want you to go to the book of Philemon. It's just before Hebrews, if that helps you. So you have 1 and 2 Timothy, and then Titus, and then Philemon. Philemon was a man that Paul had met while he was preaching over in Ephesus. He was apparently a well-to-do man. There was a slave that had escaped from him and found Paul in Rome, so the providence of God again. And Paul talks to Onesimus, the slave. Onesimus becomes a believer and he tells Onesimus that the right thing for you to do is to go back Go back to Philemon where you can make things right with him. So I want you to see what he says in verse number 18. This is Paul speaking. He's talking to Philemon about Onesimus. If he has wronged you or if he owes you anything, alt. Here's the key. Put that to my account. So take what he owes and put that to my account. Now that's not hard to see, is it? That that's exactly what happened with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sin was put to His account. What we owe was put to His account. He did. Paul said he was willing to do it. We don't know if he did or not. He was willing to do it, but we know that Christ actually did become the representative and the substitute. Then I want you to go with me on into Hebrews, the next book, and now we're back to this idea of the surety again that we started with, and I want you to look in verse 22. So this surety goes all the way back to what Judah said. And now in verse 22, by so much, 722 Hebrews, by so much, in other words, infinitely more than I know how to say, by so much, was Jesus made a surety of a better testament, a representative, a substitute. In other words, there was a covenant. This is the everlasting covenant of grace. And he had to become the surety for that covenant. Then I want you to go with me to the 13th chapter, still in Hebrews. I want you to look please in verse number 20. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. He had to shed blood in order for the terms of the covenant to be transacted. The covenant could not be opened. The blessings of it could not come forth until he died as the substitute. So think of this covenant as a contractual agreement between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And in the agreement, the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, It was agreed that he would be appointed the legal representative of all of those who were chosen and then given to him. They were given to him for safekeeping. So he kept them safe from the time of their birth and even from the time of sin all the way until he came to earth. He kept them safe in his hand. Accountability, to satisfy justice, accountability to bear their sins, accountability to bring in righteousness, the kind that was suitable for imputation, was committed totally to Him. the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the satisfaction and the imputation of that sin took place in one place and one place only. And that is while he hung suspended between heaven and earth. So it tells us back earlier here in Hebrews 9, for where a testament is, that is where a covenant is, where a will is, there must by necessity be the death of the testator. So going back to my mother's estate, she had to pass before there was going to be the need for an executor or for any distribution of her estate. Well this testatorship is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to die in order for there to be the opening of the covenant agreements. Not even for a New York minute did God look to the sinner. for satisfaction, none whatsoever. God the Father, the just judge, looked to God the Son, the sinless substitute. He is the covenant surety. He is not the covenant possibility. He didn't make salvation possible. He made it sure. It is sure in all things. Now I'm just going to give you some verses at this point, and I want you to just listen. If you want to write them down, you can. But Jesus for the sheep speaks of his substitution. He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Again, there's our phrase, for the sheep. That is the sheep that were given to him. The sheep are the picture of his chosen people. And Mark 10.45, for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. And what was that ministry? It's to give His life, that's what Jesus said, to give His life a ransom for, in the place of, as a substitute for the many. So the many could not do for themselves, he had to do it for them. Jesus for the sheep. What about Jesus for the ungodly? In Romans 5 and verse 6, it says, for we when we were yet without strength. What does that mean? It means you couldn't do anything about it. It doesn't mean you have a little strength. It doesn't mean you could if you would. You are without strength, strengthless. It would be, it is asthenos, it's the Greek word, and the alpha in the front of that word, stenos, no strength, without strength. For we were yet without strength in due time, at the right time, Christ died for, in the place of, the ungodly. And then he goes on to say in verse 8, same passage, but God commended His love toward us in that while, so a time word, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now, if we were justified, from the foundation of the world, how could we be in the category of the ungodly? If we were justified before righteousness was ever established or a sin ever committed, how could we be in the category of sinners? No, sir, not for one second. Did God even look to Christ before He went to the cross for a satisfaction and a substitution to satisfy for the sinners? Jesus then also, not only for the sheep and not only for the ungodly, but Paul also said, for us. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 9 and 10, for God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't appoint everyone, but He appointed us. That's what He says. Who died for us, that whether we sleep or wake, we will live together with Him. So whether we are alive in this world or we die, or He comes back. Whichever way, because God appointed and he died for us, we are going to live together with him. This is the only place in the Old Testament in Isaiah 53, where it says that one man bore the sins for another man. But in the New Testament, we find it over and over again. Let me give you another one. Jesus not only for the ungodly, Jesus for the sheep, Jesus for us, but Jesus for justification. Why is justification so important? Why is it so central? Because to be justified before God is to be right before God. It is to be accepted before God. It means that God has looked upon us with favor, and he has made us right in his eyes. So we know in Romans 5 and 12, wherefore, as by one man, that's the first Adam, by one man, sin entered into the world. So sin was not in the world, not among humanity until Adam disobeyed God. But when he did, sin entered. And when it entered, what is it going to have to say? So death passed, which means death came to Adam and it passed, sin passed and death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. It's just like we were there and we disobeyed God, we were rebellious to God, just like Adam was. So we're just as guilty as he was. So that passing of sin took place in the first Adam, and then it also took place in the last Adam, and that last Adam was upon the cross. And upon the cross there were two things that passed. the sin of Adam, and our sin passed to Christ, and His righteousness passed to us. So, just as sin was absolute in the imputation to Adam and to his seed, righteousness was absolute in being passed to His seed. So that imputation is total, it is complete, it is absolute. And it's to all of the seed at once, just like all were condemned at once, all were justified at once. So all of God's people were justified in His eyes all at once. So what is the result? Well, the first one was condemnation, and the last one was justification. Now, to be justified in his eyes, we don't know it when we come into this world. We come into this world, we're just as blind as every other man and woman or boy and girl. But in time, God brings his gospel to bear upon our mind, upon our hearts, upon our lives, and he reveals the gospel to us, and those for whom Christ died, they know and believe the gospel. I've talked about Jesus for justification. What about Jesus for remission? It says in Hebrews 7 and verse 18, For there is verily a disannulling of the commandments. Then in Hebrews 9, 26, But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The word disannull And the two words, put away, are the same Greek word. And they mean nullification, abolition, removal, to be stricken from a list. So what he is saying is that the laws, the commandments that were against us, they were disannulled, they were put away. They were nullified. The list that was against us was eradicated. And so the sin that was against us was eradicated. It's used again in Hebrews 10, 4, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take them away. same truth. They can't do it so there had to be someone else's blood and of course that is the blood of Christ. Let me give you one more verse and I'm going to stop. In Ephesians 4 and 32, one of my favorite verses, it tells us to forgive one another Even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. God, for Christ's sake, because of what He did. Because of what He did. Doing something for us, God has forgiven us. so that our sins are remitted and taken away, never to be seen again, so that God does not look upon us in the categories of the ungodly or the category of sinners. He looks upon His people as the category of redeemed and justified in His eyes. That is reason to rejoice and to be encouraged and to rest in that salvation that's altogether outside of us and all together in what took place between God the Father and God the Son in that momentous event upon the cross. Join me in prayer. Father, would you bless these words to our heart. I pray that they are strong and powerful to each of our lives. I pray for those who are listening by live streaming that each one would see their need for the representative and the substitute, Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring one of your sheep to the knowledge of the gospel. I pray you would bless all of those of us who have gathered. May our fellowship be sweet, may it be warm, and may our hearts be filled with gladness in being here today. Hear us through Christ Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen.