Tonight we reach out Lord's Day 15, which deals particularly with the suffering, the judgment, and the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord's Day 15 may be found at the back of our Psalter Hymnals on page 22, and it covers questions number 37, 38, and 39 of the Heidelberg Catechism. We turn together to Isaiah 53. a very fitting passage, and we consider its 12 verses as we meditate upon the sufferings, the unrighteous judgment, and the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We continue then in the Lord's Day 15 with the exposition of the creed, and we reach then the article when we confess that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, and dead. Heidelberg Catechism question 37 asks, what do you understand by the word suffered? Answer, that during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the anger of God against the sin of the whole human race. These he did in order that, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, he might set us free, body and soul, from eternal condemnation and gain for us God's grace, righteousness, and eternal life." Question 38 asks, why did he suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge? Answer, so that he, though innocent, might be condemned by a civil judge, and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us. Question 39 asks, is it significant that he was crucified instead of dying some other way? Answer, yes. This death convinces me that he shouldered the curse which lay on me. since death by crucifixion was unaccursed by God. We turn now our attention to the Holy Word of God in Isaiah 53. This is what we read. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form of comeliness. And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not steam him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? For he has cut off, he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgression of my people, he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors." Let's start a reading of God's holy word. Let us pray together. Great God in heaven, as we approach your word this evening, and as we consider the unrighteous and unjust judgment and sufferings and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may we truly have a deep understanding tonight of the high price that was paid because of our sins. O Lord, may we appreciate the sufferings and the death of Christ even more, and may we understand that He can truly sympathize with our sufferings. Help us to understand in the deepest way, by Your Spirit, the sufferings and death of our Savior. In His name, Father, we pray. Amen. There are some things in this life that nobody questions. Nobody questions that there is suffering. Suffering is always around us. In each one of our individual experiences, we know what suffering is. It manifests in different ways. It manifests with a loss of a beloved one. It manifests it with some sort of illness or disease. It manifests it with a material lacking sometimes. Or sometimes it does manifest with deep illnesses of the soul. But one thing that certainly all of us has ever questioned, once at least in our lifetime, is why suffering? We don't question that suffering do exist. We feel it, it's right there. But sometimes we do question why the suffering. Why that is so? Why did I lose this beloved person? Why has this sickness come upon myself? Why my job now is gone? Why I don't have a place to live? Why this solitude and this feeling of loneliness dominate my heart, leading me to the deepest distress and sadness? We frequently question the why of suffering. And as we come this evening to consider the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are blessed because while we consider the questions of our own sufferings, the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ are both true and reasonable. They're both true. It is both true and understandable. We not only know that Christ indeed truly suffered, but we know the why of His sufferings. We are reminded this evening that the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ are indeed true sufferings. And that He suffered all that, all the wrath of God was poured upon Him because of our sins. As we turn then our attention to Lord's Day 15 and to Isaiah 53, we are reminded of this main truth, that the servant Jesus was divinely appointed to suffer many things so that sinners may be saved. While we may question our own sufferings, there's one suffering that we may never question, the sufferings of Christ. And His sufferings were true and for this main reason, so that sinners may be saved. Now, as we turn our attention to Isaiah 53, we consider the first portion of these 12 verses. These 12 verses are known to be divided into four stanzas. We consider the first one in verses 1 through 3, and what we learn in these first three verses, in this first stanza of this text, of this chapter, is that the servant Jesus was indeed appointed to suffer many things. The sufferings of the Messiah were many, many, many sufferings. As we turn our attention to the text, we notice, first of all, that the Messiah had no external glory. Now, that Isaiah 53 is a Messianic text, there is no doubt. It was highly accepted in the first century and even in all Jewish and rabbinic tradition as a Messianic text. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself applies this text to himself, even the very first verse of Isaiah 53 in John chapter 2 pointing to the unbelief of his contemporaries. The Lord Jesus then appropriates this chapter to himself. This chapter is about Christ according to Christ himself. And here is his description. His description is first of all that he has no external glory. There was nothing about his appearance and there was nothing about he himself as a person, as an existing human being or living being that would draw the attention of people. He had no money. He had no connections. He had no external glory whatsoever. He had no place among the Jewish religious leaders of the time. So the very beginning of chapter 53 reminds us of this aspect of the Messiah. His suffering begins with his rejection. For there is no glory clearly shown in him. Look, for example, verse 2, he says, for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant. You see, there's no glory. Again, as a root out of dry ground, he has no form of comeliness. There is no beauty in him. In verse 3 we hear about him being despised, being rejected, and then we come to this striking statement, this is a man of sorrows. Now let me bring your attention to the plural of this rendering that we have here in our translation. Commentators explain that this expression, men of sorrows, is a reference to the variety of sufferings that this suffering servant here is being described to experience. The many, many sufferings and the deep sufferings, one commentator expresses this in the following expression. He says, this is a sufferer who suffered in the fullest sense of the word. This is a man who knows indeed what suffering means. His suffering is unquestionable. It is true. He felt it to his bones, to the most deep inner aspects of his being. That suffering was real and true. As we turn our attention to Heidelberg 37, we notice that the beginning of the answer in question 37 teaches precisely that, the reality, the truthfulness of Christ's suffering. The text tells us that Christ suffered indeed, and he begins to explain, to expand upon the suffering. First, it tells us about the time of the suffering. The text tells us that he suffered through his whole life, exactly what we read here in Isaiah 53. Now, there is a focus as well in this time of suffering in his death, as we can clearly see in the Heidelberg Catechism. The suffering is true. The suffering is real. It extended to the body and soul. Again, that's why Isaiah calls this man a man of sorrows. The sufferings were many. The sufferings were extremely deep. The sorrows and sufferings were expanded and extended to all parts of his human nature. But our catechism expands a little bit and anticipates something that we're going to learn deeply in the second stanza of Isaiah 53. It reminds us that this whole suffering was because of the wrath of God. This suffering is real because the wrath of God is real. Do you see that? He tells that he sustained in both body and soul the anger of God. The cause of suffering is God's anger. We are about to see that in detail in the rest of Isaiah 53. But again, it just makes for the point that the suffering was real. That his human nature truly suffered. And then it has the goal. It explains to us the goal of the suffering. And the goal of the suffering was satisfaction. Look at the text. It says that he suffered the anger of God against the sin of the whole human race. Now, one thing must be explained here by this expression, because it may be a little bit puzzling as we read this. How exactly is the suffering of the Messiah, who is destined for the elect, be suffered for the whole human race? Well, Ursanus explains to us that this expression in the Catechism is not pointing to the efficacy Christ's suffering but it's pointing to the power of the sufficiency of Christ's suffering. Now this distinction is extremely important because when we talk about effectiveness we're talking about the application of the sufferings of Christ. We're talking about redemption being provided through suffering. Now this redemption, this application of the suffering is reserved for the elect alone as we are going to see later on in the Catechism and in Scripture. But when we are talking about the perfectness of this suffering, how perfect it was, how sufficient it was, how effective it was, then our structure decided in harmony with Isaiah 53 to expand, to show the full glory of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is sufficient for the whole world, if that would be the goal. Now, Restainez explains this better than I can. He says, Christ satisfied for all as it respects to the sufficiency of the satisfaction which he made, but not as it respects to the application thereof. And therefore, what we see here in this beginning of chapter 53 is that the sufferings of Christ were real. And that's extremely relevant for us believers because we know indeed, understanding that His sufferings were real, that He can sympathize with us in our sufferings. When it's hurting, when disappointment and and sadness and loneliness and even the pain of the loss of a beloved one or the loss of the pain caused for several or any factor in our lives, when they hit our door, we know indeed we have one who can sympathize with us. For he indeed suffered for real. He suffered terribly because of our sins. Now it also reminds us how evil is our sin, doesn't it? Christian, how frequently do you meditate in the high cost that your salvation has cost the Lord Jesus Christ? How frequently do you meditate upon how terrible was it, the suffering that he received, so that you now may be free from the condemnation that is reserved for unrepentant sinners? You see, as we consider the heavy load that was placed upon the shoulders of our Lord Jesus Christ, the immediate effect of this understanding is a deep appreciation for the salvation that has been conquered for us. As we understand how pricely, how costly it is, shouldn't we treasure it even more? Should that really mean deeply to us more than our own lives? Because this is indeed our own life. The sufferings of the Christ were many and were real. But the servant Jesus also was appointed to suffer for the sin of others. His suffering is vicarious. That's what the word vicarious means. It means to suffer on the place of someone. That's what we see now in verses four through six in this pericope. Now you will notice that both verses 4, 5, and 6 will repeatedly present the particle our. The personal pronoun our is repeated over and over again. Notice in verse 4, for example, He has borne our griefs, carried out our sorrows. He was esteemed, stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But look at verse 5 again. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. So you notice that from verses 4, 5, and 6, we have this very heavily explained vicarious suffering. In other words, the suffering of the Messiah, the sufferings that this servant is experiencing, it's not because of his sins. In fact, that's exactly what someone may think. Again, look at verse 4. The second half of verse 4 deals with this aspect of Christ's suffering. To those who are witnessing the suffering, this is what they esteem. Look at the text. Yet we esteem Him stricken and smitten by God and afflicted. In other words, it's not that we acknowledge that he has been suffering. The acknowledgement as one sees his suffering is the idea that he's suffering because of his own sins, because he did something wrong, just like that huge crowd that surrounded him and followed him through his passion and crucifixion, pointing their fingers, falsely accusing them. But that's not the truth, is it? His suffering, as the text explains to us, is vicarious. He is dying and he's suffering for the sins of others. He's taking upon himself their place. There is a switch of place here. And therefore, the wound, the bruises, the sorrows, the strikes, the afflictions, Christian, these are all yours. But he took upon himself, says the text. And He takes it upon Himself so that healing may be achieved. Look again at the end of verse 5. This vicarious suffering has the result of healing. The text says, and by His stripes we are healed. And now here we have this classic comparison between sin and sickness. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ himself compares him to a physician, and he says, it was not for the well that I came, I came for those who are sick. The Lord Jesus, when he uses this metaphor between sin and disease, he is getting this idea from Isaiah. He himself gave the idea to Isaiah. And therefore, This healing that he's conquering for us is precisely the removal of the curse, the removal of the penalties, the removal of the sufferings that were destined towards us, but now is put upon himself. But lastly, in verse six, we are reminded that this is a divinely appointed suffering. Divinely appointed suffering. It is a vicarious suffering. It replaces ours, but it's also a divinely appointed. It's not a mistake. It's not something that was devised by the mind of man. The Pharisees and Sadducees and the Roman government, they were not victorious. No, look at verse six. Verse six. explains once again how sinful we are. It tells us how sin destroys our communion even with one another. Look at the text, it says, all we like sheep have gone astray and we have turned everyone to his own way. Now there's two interesting aspects of this comparison between us in our state of sin and sheep. The first one is this characteristic of sheep to go astray. But as sheep go astray, they don't go astray each one to its own way. They go astray in groups. But sin is so terrible in us, look again at the text, that as sheep we have gone astray, but differently from sheep, we have not gone astray in groups, but we have gone astray completely, both out our way, away from the Lord, and away from one another. That really points us back to the law, doesn't it? Isn't it precisely the function of the law to bring us back to God and to bring us back to one another? Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and love thy neighbor as yourself. You see, the law is given unto us as a tool to repair this wandering that happened, but all the suffering as we reach the end of verse six is divinely appointed. The consequences of sin are terrible, They are placed upon the suffering servant. He is vicariously taken upon himself, this suffering. But the text says, and the Lord, Yahweh, the God of the covenant, has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And it's precisely in this expression, the iniquity of Eizel, that we find the ground for us expressing the sufficiency of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ as sufficient to the whole world, as we see here in the catechism. Not a reference to its efficacy, but to its sufficiency. However, what we see here precisely in this second pericope, therefore, is that he suffered for others. While He indeed suffered, while His suffering was real in His human nature, while body and soul experienced the excruciating suffering at the cross of Calvary that was destined to us, that is precisely He suffered it, so that we would not suffer that curse. And that's precisely what we read again in the answer in question 37. You see, in the second half of question 37, we are taught that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, His suffering, was an atoning suffering, was an atoning sacrifice. This is what the instructor teaches. This He did in order that by His suffering as the only atoning sacrifice. Well, what is an atoning sacrifice if it is not the replacement of the sinner for the atoning sacrifice? Atoning sacrifice points us to this vicarious aspect of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He replaces us. That suffering was ours, but he takes it upon himself. And therefore, as he does that, he relieves us from the condemnation. That's exactly, again, what question 37 teaches us. He might set us free, body and soul. He suffered in body and soul so that he may set us free as well, body and soul, from that condemnation that he took upon himself and now makes us efficaciously experience grace, innocence or righteousness and life again. In other words, the vicarious work or the vicarious death of the Lord Jesus Christ has granted us freedom from the curse of the covenant works, from the curse that was destined unto us, those who rebelled against God Almighty. And as we meditate upon this replacement that took place in Christ, and as we see here in the Lord's Day 15, let us be grateful this evening. For it is certainly not our experiencing to take place of others who are guilty of their sins, are we? We may indeed, as the Word of God explains, we may indeed perhaps gladly or perhaps forcefully, but we may indeed offer ourselves for those who are just, but to die for the unjust, to die for the guilty, to die for the one who is a criminal, that's not something that any of us would do here tonight. And yet, while we were criminals, while we were lawbreakers, Christ vicariously offer himself, body and soul, so that our body and soul may not express and experience the flames of hell and the judgment of God, but may now enjoy the peace, righteousness, grace, and innocence before God Almighty. Oh, may that be an eternal powerhouse of thankfulness and gratitude in your heart, Christian. As you think about this substitution, As you think about this replacement, even in the midst of the sufferings of this life, may gratitude sprout in your heart as we are taught this blessed truth that the sufferings of the Christ were real and that the sufferings of the Christ were substitutionary. But as we move on in the text, now we consider verses 7 through 9, and we also learn that the sufferings of the Christ, that the servant Jesus, was appointed to suffer through an unjust judgment. It is precisely because of an unjust judgment, reveals to us the prophet, that the sufferings that are here experienced, described to be experienced by the suffering servant, are indeed experienced. Look at verse seven. In verse seven, we again are described, we have this, the nature of the suffering. So that we may understand how deep it was. First of all, it involved oppression and affliction. Look at verse 7, he says, He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Now, these expressions of oppression and affliction are a deep description of a harsh and violent treatment. That's exactly how this suffering servant, the servant Jesus, will experience suffering in his flesh and in his soul. Notice as well that this is described as a sacrifice. Look again at the second half of verse 7 as when he is described as a lamb. Remember how John the Baptist addressed the Lord Jesus Christ as he sees him coming. John the Baptist tells, look, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Where did John the Baptist got that expression? From Isaiah 53. And as this comparison between the suffering servant and the lamb is being made, once again we are reminded that his suffering and death is a sacrifice. He is like a lamb brought for atonement sacrifice. And that sacrifice indeed cleans away sin. But as then we move in verse 8, we notice how is that to happen? How is that to come about? And it explains us, again, with a violent vocabulary, with words that express violence, that he was forcefully taken into prison and taken into judgment. Now, the ideal of judgment is extremely important here. Because while this man is a sacrifice, while this servant sufferer is a sacrifice, he's also considered as a criminal. which may emphasize the idea that he's being killed because of his own sins. But look immediately at verse nine. Although he was unjustly judged, although he was forcefully brought to judgment, dealt with as a condemned one, he was innocent. And we notice that he was innocent because of the way in which he perished and was buried. Look at verse nine again. He says, they made his grave with the wicked, with the rich at his death. Although they have planned and they have indeed assassinated him between two criminals, giving the impression to those who are watching that gruesome scene of the assassination and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the impression that he was indeed a criminal, that he was a traitor, that he was a spy, that he was one indeed who deserved that kind of death, his burial proves the contrary. Although he was indeed crucified and dead between the wicked, at his death he was buried with the rich. And obviously that takes us to the reality that Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea's grave. A grave that belonged to a rich man. And as we deeply analyze the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ, all the details of his burial, not only the place for a traitor, a criminal, would never be given, the body of a criminal would never be given to a family so that they would bury the criminal. The simple fact that Christ was buried, it's already a declaration of his innocence, that his judgment was unjust, that all that was a theater to take away his life. And that's exactly what we read at the end of verse 9. He was buried with the rich because he was innocent, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Although in his death the Lord Jesus was declared to be a criminal, in his burial God Almighty declares to the world, this is my innocent son. He never committed any sin. He never committed any crime, although he suffered an unjust imprisonment and judgment. And precisely this is what we find taught in question 38, isn't it? In question 38, our instructor points us to the fact that we confess that Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate. And notice that the first thing that our instructor teaches is that that condemnation was wrong. It says, so that he, though innocent, might be condemned by a civil judge. So the first thing our catechism teaches us is that that judgment was unjust. He was innocent, although he was condemned by a judge. But he goes even more, he goes even further. And he tells us that that was a picture of the judgment that was destined towards us. Our instructor tells us that he was condemned by a civil judge and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us. Notice that precisely this idea of the suffering experience so that another may be released from the suffering. Judgment is experienced so that judgment may be relieved and placed aside is the same emphasis that we find here in Isaiah 53. The suffering servant, the servant Jesus, therefore suffering really. His suffering is real. Second, his suffering is not for his own sins but for the sins of others. His sufferings are the product of our unjust judgment that pictured the judgment that was reserved for each one of us. Doesn't that once again gives you a heart full of much gratitude? Because indeed we face unrighteous judgment in this world, don't we? Have you ever been unrighteously judged? Have anyone ever raised a wrong judgment against you? Perhaps on something that you did. Perhaps on some specific decision that you made. Or perhaps regarding some words that you said. Someone has unjustly judged you. Doesn't that make you feel terrible? Now think about the Lord Jesus. The Holy One of God. The One that had no sin. Did not that even humiliate more the Lord of glory? Doesn't that give us an idea of what He had to experience so that you would not be judged before the throne of God in that last day? Again, dear brothers and sisters, as we meditate upon the suffering and the death and the unrighteous judgment of the Lord Jesus, let us not only appreciate it, let us not only sympathize with it, but let us indeed feel freed from the condemnation of sin For he has indeed received the unjust sentence on his shoulders so that we would not suffer the just sentence reserved for sinners in the last day. The servant Jesus was divinely appointed to suffer many things so that sinners may be saved. And it's precisely the glorious result of his unjust judgment and terrifying crucifixion that we consider now as we reach the end of this text. In verses 10 through 12, we notice now that he suffered all these things to conquer a glorious victory. To conquer a glorious victory. Again, in verse 10, we are reminded that this is a divine purpose. Look at verse 10. It says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It was the Lord's desire. It means that there is a divine work being worked out behind it. That's exactly what we read. He says, he has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin. In other words, Yahweh is pleased to bruise him so that through his death justification may be achieved. The declaration of innocence, the declaration of innocence that was denied him by the Jews, but a declaration of innocence that he now conquers for us before the Father. Then in verse 10, we see this emphasis on this being a divinely appointed suffering for the sake of divine justification. He's making this so that offering for sin may be offered. But as we look at verse 11, we notice that all this suffering will achieve a glorious end. In verse 11, we notice that as he suffers all these things, at the end, he will look at all his suffering and he will be pleased. Verse 11 tells, he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. There's efficacy now in this death. It really accomplishes what it promises to accomplish. It really achieves the glorious end, which is the lifting up of a curse, which is the lifting up of a terrible judgment. This replacement, this vicarious suffering and death finds its glorious victory in that The Lord acknowledges those who are the target of its blessing as truly innocent. Verse 12 has this beautiful description of the suffering servant sharing the spoils of this conquest with those who are the target, who are the recipients of his suffering. Verse 12 we read, Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the strong. If you do remember the sermon on Ascension Day and Psalm 68, 18, isn't that precisely the description we find in that verse? At the very end, that the Lord, as He ascends unto Zion, He now gathers the spoils. Here you have the illustration all over again. The gifts of salvation, the gifts of this glorious victory are being given unto the suffering servant. And now he's distributing these gifts unto those who are the recipients of this glorious and blessed work. This is a glorious victory. The curse has been lifted. The suffering of the suffering servant paid it all, paid it completely. And that's exactly what we read in question 39, isn't it? when we consider the significance of the death of Christ by crucifixion. It points precisely to the curse that the cross symbolized. It points precisely to the terrible death and to the glory of its result. It tells us that this death convinces us that he shouldered the curse which laid on me. Which curse? The curse of the covenant works, the curse of death. The curse of the fall, the curse of the treason that we committed against our great God. He became the traitor at the sight of man so that we, the real traitors, would be relieved from our accusation. And therefore the curse of the fall, the curse of the death, the curse of our treason was lifted. And now, instead of judgment, we receive the spoils. And that's exactly what we read at the end of the exposition in 39. It says, that he shouldered a curse which lay on me, since death by crucifixion was accursed by God. The curse has been placed upon him, and the glorious victory has been given unto him, as he finished his blessed work. And you see, Christians, that's why we can't go to no other place for salvation. As we reach this climatic ending of Isaiah 53, we are reminded that once for all, indeed, the curse has been lifted. And because the curse has been lifted, a glorious gift, a glorious victory has been achieved, and glorious spoils have been conquered by our suffering servant and are given unto us. No other such blessed spoils can be experienced and found. We sit all here tonight because we are day after day, since we came to Christ, experiencing from these spoils, experiencing from these blessings, experiencing from the lifting up of the curse from upon your shoulders. Doesn't that make you desire to love this Jesus even more? As you meditate upon the deep, excruciating sufferings that he had, It doesn't embarrass you when you're not faithful to Him until the last moment, until the last minute, when you break your word, when you fall in sin. It doesn't bring much grief to know that He suffered so much and we neglect suffering so little so that we may be faithful unto Him who was faithful to us and to His Father to the point of death and suffering and receiving a curse in our place. Dear brothers and sisters, as we meditate upon the death, suffering, and unjust judgment of our Lord Jesus, may we be encouraged to, even in the midst of the sufferings of the present life, to continue to glorify and to honor Him. For indeed, we may not know the reasons why we suffer, Suffering come to our lives and we sometimes can see clearly. Perhaps only later, 10, 15, 20 years later, we may make sense of that specific suffering moment in our lives. But tonight we are reminded that the sufferings of the Christ were real and they have a reason. And the reason is you. The sufferings of the Christ. was so that the curse of the cross, the curse of the fall may be lifted from you, and you may indeed enjoy salvation in Him." Are you in Him? For there is salvation in no other. Oh, make sure tonight you do answer this question. Otherwise, the curse remains upon you. Let us pray together. Great God in heaven, we thank you for this blessed Lord's Day 15. We thank you for reminding us why do we confess to believe in the unrighteous judgment of Christ, in his terrible death and suffering, and particularly in the mode of death that he experienced for us. Thank you, Lord, for reminding us that His sufferings were real. It heightens the seriousness of our sin. Thank you, Lord, for reminding us that He suffered in our place. That reminds us how grateful we ought to be, for we are now free from the curse, for we now are enjoying the spoils. O Lord, we pray that you would bring those who are far from Christ, those who see no comeliness in Him, those who continue not to see the glory that is in Him, may you bring them unto Him with their knees bent, ready to worship and adore Him, ready to confess their sins, and ready now to live in the blessedness that can only be found in Jesus, the suffering servant. In His name, Father, we pray. Amen.