to the glory of God. Now, when the Lord graciously saved me back in 1971, the arguments about the resurrection were more prominent, and they were more intense than they are today. Back in the early 1970s, there was widespread consensus among believers and non-believers alike, especially here in America, that deciding about the biblical claim that Jesus literally and physically and bodily rose from the dead by the glory of the Father really mattered. And back then, you took a stand either way. You either eagerly believed in the resurrection or you eagerly and categorically rejected it. And if you did believe in the resurrection, you generally believed the rest of the Bible and you called yourself a Christian. And if you rejected the resurrection, then generally speaking, you relegated the rest of the Bible to be a myth and nonsense and you were intentionally and proudly not a Christian. So what I'm saying is back then when I was first saved, the resurrection was the line of demarcation when it came to believing or not believing. Either you believed or you didn't, and if you didn't, you're not saved, and you weren't a Christian, and everybody understood that. And if you did believe it, you were saved, and you were a Christian, and everybody understood that. But a strange thing has happened over the last 46 years. Today that question, that debate and that issue, did Jesus literally and physically and bodily rise from the dead is not nearly as prominent and not nearly as intense as it once was because at one level, People feel that the resurrection of a man from the dead 2,000 years ago, way across the ocean, really doesn't have a direct impact on their own lives. Because after all, different people believe in different things. And maybe it happened and maybe it didn't. And if it did and that helped some people to get along in this life, then fine. But it really doesn't make much difference to me. And it really doesn't affect me in my life all that much. So it's kind of been relegated now to a take it or leave it issue. And so many people today really think that they can call themselves a Christian and they can join a church and they think they can be in good standing with God and have a secure place in heaven and either be unsure about the resurrection of Jesus or outright rejected. And sadly, there is very little within many of those religious organizations that would ever do anything to challenge these people about that, even though the Bible categorically teaches that if you do not believe in the resurrection, you cannot be saved. I'm in a discussion with somebody about Genesis, about creation. And they don't believe in creation, they say, because they believe in science. And I said, do you believe in the resurrection? But they say they're Christians, of course. That God used evolution. I said, do you believe in the resurrection? He said, no. I said, well you can't be saved. That's not a give it or take it. That's not a side issue. You see, in our modern American culture where everything today is relative, objective, propositional, and absolute truth is no longer vital. We have elevated personal opinion to be as valuable as truth. And at the same time, we have lowered and devalued divine absolute truth to be nothing more than personal opinion. Therefore, it's common today to hear people say, well, that's just your opinion. When presented with clear biblical truth that they either don't like or don't want to hear. When somebody starts arguing with me about sovereign election or one of those categories, I bring them in my office and I open the Bible up and I give them the Bible and I say, read that verse out loud. And they read it, I said, read it again. And he read it again, I said, read it again, out loud. And he looks up at me, he says, well, that's just your opinion. I said, I didn't say anything. You're getting the same thing out of that verse as I got. That's what it says. Amen to that. or when confronted with things that they really don't want to accept, they will quickly say, well, that's just your opinion. And it's common today for people to honestly believe that what they believe and what they trust in and what they accept is truth, as long as they're sincere about it or agree with it, even if what they believe or trust in contradicts the absolute truth of Scripture. Many very sincere people will say, God knows my heart. which is really just a catch-all phrase that seeks to justify whatever they're believing or doing. And since they honestly believe that deep down they're really nice people, it really doesn't matter if they accept the biblical claim that God physically and literally and bodily raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion. Many take the attitude that I may or may not call myself a Christian, and if the resurrection seems helpful to me, then I may believe it. And if it doesn't, then I won't. But whether I do or I don't, it doesn't affect my relationship with God, and it doesn't change where I'm going to spend eternity. But is that true? Does it matter, as far as our eternity is concerned, whether or not Jesus rose from the dead? And the answer to that question is what I want to explore this morning. Now behind those two different kinds of unbelief, the kind from 46 years ago and the kind from today, is a completely different set of assumptions. For example, back when I was first saved, the assumption among unbelievers then was that there was a body of fixed, closed, natural laws that make the world understandable and scientifically manageable. And those laws simply did not allow for the truth of the claim that someone had risen from the dead to live forever to be believed by intelligent and thinking people. And that was a commonly held assumption back then that the modern world with its scientific understanding of natural laws does not allow for resurrections. So unbelief back then was often rooted in the kind of smug, intellectual self-righteousness disguised as scientific analysis, when in fact it was simply just blind, ignorant disbelief. But today in 2018, that is not the most common working assumption that we face. Today the assumption is not that there are natural laws outside of me that forbid my acceptance of the resurrection of Jesus, but rather, the assumption that we face today is that there is a personal law that is inside of me that says I don't have to accept anything in my life that I don't find personally helpful or personally relevant. Or you could state this modern assumption another way by saying that many people today actually believe that truth for me is not objective or propositional. It's not divine or absolute. Truth is simply whatever I find personally attractive or helpful. And with that new assumption in place and with that new subjective and suppositional inner law in place, it really doesn't matter whether Jesus rose from the dead or not. Because whether he did or didn't is irrelevant to those people. Their only issue is, do I care? Do I personally find that idea helpful? Or do I feel that it helps me flourish as a human being? And if it seems like the resurrection of Jesus from the dead on the third day doesn't, then they will view the resurrection the same way they view UFOs and possible life in some distant galaxy or some special effects in a movie. They really don't need to bother with it. And their false pseudo-humility will also say, but if it helps somebody else to believe or to trust in the resurrection of Jesus, then by all means, that's just peachy keen, but don't you dare try to impose that nonsense on me. And that is increasingly becoming the attitude of more and more people here in America, especially those younger than 46. In fact, some of you sitting here today may actually think that way, even without knowing that that's the way you think. You have simply absorbed this carnal logic from the general culture because that way of thinking is now woven into most television shows and most advertising and most movies and is taught in modern educational curricula from the public school system. So what I'm attempting to do this morning is confront this issue head on and honestly examine how we as human beings sift through the new indoctrination that is coming at us every day from all these various sources. And my hope is that God will empower me to put the resurrection of Jesus Christ before you today, not simply as a religious belief, but as an historical fact. It's not something that might be helpful to some people, but it's something that is required if anyone is to spend eternity in heaven. And if I, by God's grace, am successful this morning, then you will not so easily buy into the bombardment of pagan and humanistic jargon that's out there and just flat-out wrong information concerning this issue. As Christians, we are those that believe and teach that what the Scriptures say about Jesus and about salvation and what the Scriptures say about creation and right and wrong and heaven and hell are historical facts and not merely theological debate points. A biblical Christian believes and teaches that God Almighty humbled Himself not only in taking on flesh in the incarnation, but also in taking on nouns and verbs through the inspiration of Scripture. a manger in an obscure Jewish village in the first century and a bloody cross outside the gates of Jerusalem 33 years later were not sensational events at the time. And neither are pronouns in the various tenses of verbs. But that is how the one true and living God chose to reveal Himself to man. a poor Jewish peasant and a prepositional phrase have something in common. They are both very human and they are both very ordinary. And the fact that a poor peasant was God in human flesh and that prepositional phrases are the Word of God doesn't change that. Therefore, if God so humbled Himself to drape human flesh over perfect deity and to make sure that very common human language was recorded on scrolls, how can any thinking person be so arrogant to ignore either the full humanity of Jesus Christ or the words of Scripture? And so when the Bible tells us that three days after He died on the cross that life from God entered back into Jesus' dead body, and He opened His eyes, and He stood up, and He walked out of that tomb, and He rose from the dead, we believe that. And we confess that. And we teach that. And we defend that. And I will die on that mountain. Because that is what the Bible says. And then it goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 17, and if Christ has not been raised, look what it says, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. I ponder, I have a whole sermon on that verse. That is an amazing verse. When you think of all that Jesus did, all that God did in Christ, becoming flesh, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, a perfect ministry, perfect sermons, miracles, signs, wonders, crucifixion. The wrath of God poured on Him and He became pure sin on our behalf. Paul the Apostle says if he did all of that and did not rise from the dead, you are still lost and your faith is worthless. And that means that if Jesus was and did everything that the Bible says He was and did and did not rise from the dead, the Bible says our faith is absolutely worthless and we are still in our sins. I really do not believe that people believe that Jesus has forgiven them from their sins. I've never gotten over that. I deserve hell. Somebody was praying in my room a while ago. I deserve hell. I've earned it. I've worked hard to go to hell. And I get to go to heaven forever. Based on what? what he did and my faith and my belief in what he did and who he is. Do you realize that that issue is why Islam exists? They don't believe that. Jews don't believe that. They call that the scandal of grace. All you do is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, and you can be forgiven for the worst sins of all? You're going to tell me you believe that? It's exactly what the Bible says. They're called Christians. It is amazing! What did you do to go to heaven? Nothing! Why are you going? Because of Him! And when you stand there and He says, you need to come into heaven? Yes! Please! Why should I let you in here? One reason. I'm looking at Him. Jesus. You can't say, I tried real hard. I gave five dollars to the Red Cross during the hurricane drive. Doesn't count. Not good enough. I really love my mother a lot. Not good enough. Perfect righteousness is required for heaven. Sinlessness. You can't come in. I've got one hope. Jesus Christ. That's it. And here's the point in taking our text from Isaiah 53 this morning. This chapter was not written by Christians after Christ's resurrection. This chapter is not some effort by those in the early church to rewrite history about what really went on that particular Friday and that particular Sunday. This chapter was written by a Jewish prophet about 700 years before Jesus was ever born. And it was copied thousands of times and was published and had been distributed as far west as England and as far east as India 200 years before Jesus Christ was born. And what this prophet saw in the future was not a mere man who taught people some things about God. but God Himself who was born of a virgin and who lived a perfectly sinless life. Isaiah does not record a man who escapes death and thus has no need for a resurrection. He records our Messiah who dies and dies explicitly in the place of sinners and then rises again to make intercession for His redeemed and forgiven and justified people forever. Hallelujah. This sermon is about what really matters. Not just about what your own heart says matters. It is about unshakable, unchangeable, absolute truth and your relation to that truth. And one of the great advantages of having the Old Testament and the New Testament in one book is that they give support to each other. Together they strengthen our faith that both are God's Word. So, if you are Jewish or come from a Jewish background, your confidence in the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures may be strong and with good reason. And so when you see the amazing fulfillments of the Old Testament in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and His teachings, and the movement of Christianity that He unleashed on the world, your confidence in the New Testament is made even stronger. Or if you've never read a syllable of the Old Testament and hear the story of Jesus Christ and His sinless life and perfect teaching and His death and resurrection and the movement that He unleashed, You may be overpowered by the truth and revelance and credibility of Christ and believe that He really is who He says He is, and you will become a Christian. And then, you discover that this Jesus embraces and endorses the entire Old Testament as being true and reliable Scripture. As in, when He said, Do not think that I am come to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. And so your confidence in the Old Testament grows precisely because of the New Testament. And so it works all through the Christian life. The better you know Jesus Christ, the better you know the roots of His life and His ministry that are in the Old Testament where God was at work to prepare for the coming of His Son into history. And the better you know the Old Testament, the better you know the meaning of Jesus Christ and what He came to fulfill that God had been planning for so long. So this morning I thought it would deepen our understanding and strengthen our faith if we fixed our gaze on the resurrection of Jesus as it was described by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before it happened. And here in Isaiah 53 we will see the content and the confirmation of the resurrection of Christ. Content, because the precious meaning of it for our lives is open to us. And confirmation, because it was predicted 700 years before it happened. So let's go to Isaiah 53 and see the prophecy that the servant of the Lord, the Messiah, would die and would rise again and that this death and resurrection are both planned by God and necessary. And as we look at this, keep in mind it has to do with you here and now and for the rest of your life and throughout all eternity. Because what becomes clear from this chapter and from its fulfillment in the New Testament is that your sins can be forgiven and you can be declared righteous before God and you can have eternal life with the risen Christ in everlasting joy. When you're raised in a home like I was raised in a home, you have a big gap in your life. You have a gap in your soul. Because I knew about order, and I knew about discipline, and I knew about procedure, and I knew about accomplishment, and I knew about all those things, but I didn't understand love. I didn't know what it was like. I never saw it demonstrated or modeled before me. And I was starving to death to be loved, and I want to be loved. And the second thing that has driven me all my life is that I want to be happy. And then I read in the Bible that God wants to be glorified. And for many, many years of my Christian experience, I thought that God being glorified and me being happy were opposite things. And in order for God to be glorified, I had to stop trying to be happy. And if I was going to be happy, God couldn't be glorified. And I found out that was false teaching. And I found out I'd been deceived. And I've never been happier in my life than when God is glorified. And I've never been more content and more satisfied and had more peace and had more love and more joy than when I decrease and He increases. And when I am nothing and He is everything. And I am delighting in the fact that God is being glorified. And when He is lifted up, and Jesus becomes the treasure of your lives, and I see Him, I see you being changed, and I see you adoring Jesus Christ, I'm rejoicing! So first let's notice that the promised servant of the Lord was to die, and why He was to die. The death is made explicit in verses 8, 9, and 12. Let's read those verses again. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, so like death to me, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with the rich men in his Death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sins of many and interceded for the transgressors." So after verse 7, it says he was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Verse 8 says that the slaughter was successful. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, why? For or because of the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. They deserved it. They didn't get it. He got what they deserved. Huh? Taken away. Cut off out of the land of the living. This man was killed. And his death was an execution. His death was not accidental or a disease. Then verse 9 makes this death clear by referring to his burial. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. Look at verse 10. But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. I've got a whole sermon on that verse. That's incredible. That's an incredible verse. God took pleasure. Use the different words for the word please. Delight, joy, happiness, pleasure. What was the Lord happy about? Crushing Jesus. So this death is not an historical accident. It is the purpose and the plan and the pleasure of God. So the death of God's redeeming servant is predicted here clearly. One more confirmation from verse 12. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong because he poured out himself to death. Now, why did Jesus die? We are told no less than ten different times in this chapter. Verse 4, surely our griefs He Himself bore. He died for your griefs. You have grief? Something's happened in your life to cause you to grieve? Jesus paid for that. Verse 4, and our sorrows. He carried. Sorrowful? Ever experienced, ever tasted of sorrow? Huh? Jesus paid for that. Verse 5, But He was pierced through for our transgressions. You ever transgressed against the law of God? You ever disobeyed God? He paid for that. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. By His scourging, we are healed. The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was stricken for the transgression of My people. He will bear their iniquities. And then in verse 12, He bore the sin of many. There's nothing you can experience in this life that Jesus did not pay for. Nothing. You are not alone in your struggles. Why would Christians turn to the world for help with these issues? One reason. They do not know or they do not believe that Jesus paid for that. We can fix the do not know part by telling them. We don't have to turn to the wisdom of man to try to fix sorrow, to fix grief, to fix agony, to fix pain. You don't know what you're talking about, Brother Blair. You've never hurt like I've hurt. I've learned a long time ago, when you compare hurts, somebody's always going to hurt worse than you. So that's not the issue. I've hurt. God has allowed me to taste of agony on purpose. He did it on purpose because He loves me. And I'm telling you, Jesus never fails. Jesus never fails. Now if you've ever asked, what is the essence of Christianity? What is at the heart and center of it all? Here's the answer in verse 6. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. There it is. That's the problem. That is your problem. Sigmund Freud was wrong about what's wrong with you. Immanuel Kant was wrong about what's wrong with you. Maslow was wrong about what's wrong with you. Sociology is wrong. Psychiatry is wrong. Psychology is wrong. They're all wrong about two things. The only two things they talk about, what's wrong with people and how to fix them. Other than that, they're real great. They're completely off base about what's wrong with people or how to fix them. Jesus has the answer to your problems. And this going astray and this turning to our own way is called sin. Turning away from God and making ourselves our own master and our own treasure is the rebellion against God that is sin. So sin is looking at the glory of God in all of its magnificence and saying, no thanks, I'd rather have something else. And you simply cannot belittle God's glory any more than that. You cannot insult God any more than that. So our sin insults God. Our sin tramples on the glory of God. Because God is righteous, He rises to defend His glory that has been offended by our sin. God's righteous character compels God to adjudicate the horror of His glory being insulted by the rebellion of creatures from the dust. And that adjudication is the eternal damnation of sinners and everlasting torment. If you want to understand the value of something, then look at the penalty that is adjudicated when something is offended. You murder somebody, we take your life. We stick a needle in your arm and we put something in your body that's going to stop your heart from beating. We can't do anything worse to you than that because we value life. God values His glory. How do you know how much God values His glory? By listening to the screams of those in hell who dishonored God and did not repent. You see, if God didn't defend His glory that has been belittled by our wickedness, God would be agreeing with us that His glory was not worth defending. So this eternal damnation is certain, because we are all guilty. And it is eternal, because the offense must be corrected. Now God could have left it at that. He didn't have to do anything to rescue any of us from our plight. God was not obligated to forgive or save a single soul. And He would have remained perfectly holy had He chosen to leave us in this terrible condition. But He didn't. Hallelujah. He didn't. Before the foundation of the world, God chose to magnify the glory of His grace by rescuing unworthy sinners by what He alone would do for them. So, from ages past, God chose to send a suffering servant, not mainly to give us an example of love for us, but to bear our sins as a substitution for us. Verse 6 finishes by saying, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. And this is the very heart of Christianity. Jesus Christ came into the world to fulfill this prophecy. Now, He also fulfilled many other prophecies, but this one is central and basic. Jesus came to die. And He came to die in our place. And He came to die for our sins. And this is our only hope. And the New Testament is about just how all this happened and how it affects our lives now and in the ages to come. And I beg you this morning to pursue after what the Bible teaches about these things with all of your heart and with all of your mind. But what about the resurrection? Let's look at the resurrection of the redeeming suffering servant of the Lord and these words written 700 years before they happened. At least three times, Isaiah tells us that the sacrifice that the servant made in dying results in a resurrection triumph. He does not use the word resurrection, but the reality of the resurrection is clear. Look again at verse 10. But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a gift of guilt offering, he would see his offspring. Look. He will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. So this is something after death, right? Look closely at what Isaiah said. He, Jesus, would render Himself as a guilt offering. Three things will result from that. He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. In other words, if Jesus dies for others as a guilt offering, or as a perfect scapegoat, or as a substitute, number one, He will live to see His offspring. which are those whom He has saved by dying for them. Number two, He will live for a long time. He will prolong His days, which by implication means forever, because once death is conquered, it can't ever defeat you again. And number three, God's great purposes will triumph in His hand. So by dying as a substitute, Jesus will conquer death itself, and not just for Himself, but for all that put their trust in Him. Look what Romans 6, 1-14 says. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death so that just like, that word as means just like, Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father so we too might walk in newness of life. Number five, for if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Verse six, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. Now let me tell you what that means. You can't ever say again, I can't help it. Never again can you use that as an excuse. It's just in my DNA. I've got this chemical thing going on. I've got this syndrome. I've got this booger bear going on. My daddy wouldn't give me a puppy dog. Whatever. No. It says here, verse 6, that we will no longer be slaves to sin. You'll still sin, but you won't be a slave to it anymore. Hallelujah. For he who has died is free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die. Again, death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, Here's the sum of the matter. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. But, here's what you do. Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Hallelujah! My baby was dying in Jackson, Mississippi. She was dying a very slow and painful death. She had non-lymphocytic leukemia. And we couldn't help her. We couldn't fix her. And she died by inches. Ground her teeth at night. She was hurting so bad. And I'm in the agony of my soul because my baby's dying. And I'm fasting until I can't stand up straight. I've repented to everything back to the Civil War. I've done everything I know to do. I've confessed every sin I've ever committed. And my baby's dying by inches. and I'm in Jackson, Mississippi on a Friday night all by myself. I'm already discouraged. The teaching that I was involved in said if only I had enough faith, God would heal my baby. So it's my fault that my baby's dying. Now what am I supposed to do about that? I'm in the misery of my heart. I don't know what to do. I had about six bucks between me and the poor house. So I said what can I do with six bucks in Jackson, Mississippi on a Friday night In 1988, the Christian bookstore had those little chick tracks, three for a dollar. And I bought six bucks worth, and I'm passing them out on the side of the street on a Friday night by this Circle K. And this nice car drives up, and this guy, he's dressed to the nines. He's looking slick, man. And he goes in there, and he gets him a big old chunk of beer, and he's got him some nasty magazines, and he's fixing to walk out of there. And I walk over and I put a track in his face. And I said, do you know that Jesus Christ died to save you from all that mess you're in right now? And that man busted out crying. He was a youth pastor in a church in Jackson, Mississippi. And he said, you have saved my soul right now. He said, I had gotten discouraged and I was going to sin tonight. And he threw that stuff away and he went away rejoicing because somebody handed him a little track on a Friday night. And I was in the worst position I had ever been in. I was in the greatest defeat of my life. I felt as weak as water. It doesn't matter how you feel. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. If you will open thou your lips, God will open your mouth, and out of your belly will flow rivers of living water, and you can transform the world. So consider yourselves, here's what he said, therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as what kind of people? Those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not Not under law, but under grace. Hallelujah. And then according to the Revelation 5, 5, this same suffering servant who has died in our place and risen again will take the scroll of history and unroll it as the Lord of the universe. So this is a picture of the Messiah who was dead and yet is alive evermore and who is victorious forever as the Lord of all those who receive His salvation. Then Isaiah 53, verse 11 says, As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By His knowledge, the righteous one, My servant, will justify the many, and He will bear their iniquities. Again, we see that eternal triumph comes from the death and resurrection in three ways. Number one, He sees the fruit of His death and is satisfied. And that means that He doesn't stay dead. And He lives and is satisfied. His work is complete. He is glad. He's alive and He's satisfied. Number two, He justifies many. Everyone who trusts in Him, no matter how sinful they have been. If you trust in Jesus and all that Jesus has done, God Himself will declare you just and righteous and He will forgive all of your sins. That's what justify means. A Christ who dies but who does not rise cannot justify anyone. Only a dead and risen Christ justifies. Number three, He will bear their iniquities. Yes, Jesus bore these iniquities when He died, but He goes on making intercession and bears them forever in the sense that as long as He lives, it is plain that His death was utterly sufficient to pay for all of our sins. I would suggest to you that God is satisfied with Jesus. And the result of that is that wicked rebels can be justified. And all of our sins are carried by this other one forever. And He will never bear our sins again. And if you have ever failed, if you have ever sinned, if you have ever committed wicked acts, that is the best news in all the world. And it only comes by believing in and trusting in a Savior, Jesus Christ, who not only lived perfectly, but suffered fully, died completely, and rose victoriously. Finally, verse 12 speaks, Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong, because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He Himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. Now look closely at exactly why God will give Jesus a portion with the great and He will divide the booty with the strong. It is because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He Himself bore the sin of many. This is the third statement that the resurrection existed because of the obedient death for sinners that Jesus carried out. In other words, after Jesus pours out Himself to death, He then lives again. And He then divides the booty with the strong as though His death were a great triumph in war with much booty. Now what this means is that the resurrection of Jesus did not happen for His sake alone. It was for His sake, yes. And we would not have it any other way. Let Him be honored for His great work of salvation on the cross. Verse 11 said, He will see it and be satisfied. So make no mistake about it, Jesus was raised from the dead for His own satisfaction, but what is the Son satisfied with? Verse 10 says, He will see His offspring. So I conclude that part of Jesus' satisfaction in the resurrection is looking out on a great assembly of people from every race and tribe and language and nation who have trusted Him and who have been forgiven and justified. And with tremendous joy, Jesus walks among them now and in the ages to come. And in the words of v. 12, a people great and strong. And Jesus divides the spoil of His triumph with them all. Because that is what He loves to do. And this is His satisfaction. He delights to save. Jesus loves to bring people from death to life so they can enjoy His majesty forever. Now, I purposely preach from a passage that is not normally used to illustrate the resurrection. And I had one goal in mind. If you can see the value and the importance of the literal and physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus from an obscure Old Testament passage, how crystal clear would the resurrection illustrated in the New Testament be to you? So I ask you, are you His? Have you trusted in Jesus and in His finished work? Have you turned from your wicked ways? Because you can. You can belong to that great and strong people even though you feel utterly unworthy. That is the whole point of the death of Jesus Christ. He died in our place. And all who trust Him as the Savior and Lord and treasure of your life will be forgiven and justified and live forever with Him. And that amazing work was forever sealed by the resurrection. So I beg you, Run to Jesus today for forgiveness and the salvation of your souls. And trust in the resurrection as the crowning achievement and God's seal of approval of all that Jesus is and all that Jesus did on our behalf. Amen. Let's pray.