The following presentation is brought to you by Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed. Delivering today's message will be Dr. Richard Bacon. Let us bow our heads. Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast indeed granted deliverance to Thy people. And now as we examine Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, we pray that Thou would grant to us a better understanding of the nature of that deliverance as it has been worked out by our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask this in His name. Amen. Please be seated if you will. We continue in our series, a series that I have entitled, The Man of Sorrows, based on early in the chapter. Isaiah refers to the object of this chapter as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we have reached verse 11, and we've seen in the previous 10 verses that Christ's death was an atoning death. It was a death that reconciled us to God. We saw three things about it and if you want preacher talk where you have alliteration, the three things we saw were that His death was voluntary, it was vicarious, and it was victorious. By voluntary we mean that he underwent death and suffering of his own accord. He was not simply the victim of circumstances. It was not because the Romans were more powerful than he was or because Caiaphas the high priest had more political savvy than he did. It was because he voluntarily laid down his life for the sheep. So the first thing to remember in this passage about Christ's death is that it was voluntary. Secondly, it was vicarious. Now vicarious is simply a long theologically packed word that means in the place of someone else. So we refer sometimes to a preacher as a vicar. perhaps not rightly, but nevertheless that word is sometimes used, V-I-C-A-R. Vicarious means for the benefit of or in the place of another. And we call His death vicarious because it was in fact in the place of and for the benefit of others who are referred to in this passage as His seed. other passages as his sheep, other passages as his people, and so forth. And then the third thing that we see, the V, is that it's victorious. Remember that he prolonged his days, that he propagated a seed and he prospered God's will. So three more alliterations there. prolonged his days, he propagated a seed and he prospered God's will. Now in all these things understand that during his own lifetime he underwent contempt. We look at it from this side of the cross as being altogether victorious. But during his lifetime he was subjected to considerable contempt. Let me point out a couple of places for you in the book of Matthew. so that you can see what I'm talking about. Because I'm going to talk to you for just a moment about His three redemptive offices. Christ as our Redeemer executed the office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king. So let's take a look at those three things. As a prophet, He was shown contempt. As a priest-king, He was shown contempt. And as a reigning king, He was shown contempt. First, as a prophet in Matthew chapter 26, We're going to be right here in Matthew for a couple minutes, so you can put a ribbon or a finger back there in Isaiah, but we're going to be in Matthew here for a couple seconds. In Matthew 26, verses 67 and 68, then did they spit in his face and buffeted him, understand buffeted means that they pushed him around they punched him they buffeted him and others smote him with the palms of their hands saying prophesy unto us thou Christ who is it that smote thee now this is the first recorded instance of why are you hitting yourself they basically were hitting Christ they were buffeting him they were punching him they were pushing on him and they were asking him oh tell us who's doing it In other words they are showing contempt for his office as a prophet. Then if you will drop down just a few verses to Matthew 27 verses 39 through 40 and there you see once again contempt being shown and they passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." Now what does this have to do with being a priest? Simply this, who served in the temple? They're talking about His priesthood because if you're going to destroy the temple and rebuild it, well you must be a priest. You must be one who has the authority of a priest to do things in the temple. But they weren't saying that to glorify Him. They weren't saying that to honor Him. They were saying it rather to revile Him. So we see contempt for His office as a prophet. Prophesy who it is that's beating you up. we see their contempt for Him as a priest, you think you can rebuild the temple, let's see you do it from the cross. And then finally as a reigning king or as a ruling king in Matthew 27 verses 29-31, back up just a little bit. And when they had planted a crown of thorns, now who wears a crown? a king. When they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. They bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews." and they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head." Now remember that according to the prophecies of Psalm 110 and elsewhere, He is going to rule over the nations with a rod of iron. Pardon me, Psalm 2 and elsewhere. He is going to rule over the nations with a rod of iron. They take a reed or a stick and not only mock him as though he were a king, but they use it to beat him up. So his suffering was in those offices of prophet, priest, and king. The inner travail is that he knows who he is and yet he takes attacks and rebukes and reviling in all of His redemptive offices. Now with that in mind, look at Isaiah 53.11. He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." We'll come to the latter two-thirds of the verse in time, but for now I want us to look at the fact that Isaiah continues here in verse 11 by talking about Christ being satisfied. Now he will also talk about imputed righteousness and having iniquity placed upon Him. But what He's talking about in verse 11 is the certainty of the atonement. He shall see the travail of His soul, the sorrow that He's undergoing, the humiliation that He's undergoing, the reviling that He's undergoing, even the beating and buffeting that He's undergoing. He shall see all these sorrows. He shall see His travail. Travail is simply another word for labor. He shall see his labor and be satisfied." Now Christ's purpose in doing these things was not so you could be satisfied. Shall I say that again? Because there seems to be some misunderstanding on this subject. Christ's work on the cross was not to satisfy you. It was so He could be satisfied. And He is. And if I were to say to you, if you'll give me an hour's labor or if you'll give me a half hour's labor and I'll give you $10 or I'll give you $20, what would you expect in return at the end of that hour of labor? Whatever it was that was promised to you, am I right? And so when Christ is satisfied with the labor of His soul, that means He got what was coming to Him. what God had promised Him. In redemption, as our prophet, as our priest, and as our king, God the Father promised a people, a flock to Jesus Christ. So here's the doctrine that I want us to take from this first part of Isaiah 53.11. The doctrine is this, Christ will certainly obtain the end or the purpose for which He died. That is to say, He'll be satisfied. So if the purpose or reason that you worked for me, mowing the grass or washing the windows or whatever you may have been doing, if you did that for $10 or if you did it for $100, at the end of that time, you will be satisfied if you get what I promise you. Now, if I promise you my entire bank account, and then at the end of the hour, I give you 10 bucks, well, either I was very, very poor or you won't be satisfied with what I said I was going to give you because I didn't keep my promise. Now when we say that Christ is satisfied with the labor, with the travail of His soul, what we're saying is, what Isaiah is saying here in chapter 53 is that He is getting and will get everything for which He died. Are you with me? If God promised Him every man, woman, and child who ever has lived or who ever will live, then Christ will get them. On the other hand, if Christ is not getting every man, woman, and child, whoever has lived or whoever will live, then in fact God did not promise them to Him because Jesus here will receive satisfaction. He will receive the total purpose, the total end for which He died. Let me cover this in five points. And the last point, for those of you who are still tired from whatever you were doing last night. For those of you who don't want to stay awake, let me tell you the fifth point is we're not splitting hairs. We're talking about the very nature of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. First then, Christ did not lay down His life to find out what we would do about it. It was not His purpose to lay His life down on the cross, in becoming a human being, in His resurrection and ascension, it was not His purpose in laying His life on the line in that fashion, simply to find out what we were going to do about it. This is not simply, Christianity is not simply, a new world of possibilities. Oh, well you know what, we didn't keep the old law, but now Christ has given us an easier way out. It is still impossible for us to keep God's law, and we are still required to keep God's law. A new world of possibilities and a new way to heaven is not what's opened up here. THE way to heaven is opened up here for everyone who ever has gone to heaven. This is not a new world of possibilities. Look at me with a few New Testament interpretations of what Jesus Christ did, starting with Christ's own interpretation in John chapter 10. And we'll be back to Matthew in just a moment, but first John chapter 10 and verse 17. Now, Jesus says, therefore, well therefore, what is the therefore? You know when you see a therefore? You need to realize this is not the beginning of a statement. This is the end of a statement. Jesus is concluding something based upon what He has said previously. What He has said previously is that, I have other sheep and I must bring them. Not I might bring them, I could bring them, it's in my power to bring them. I don't know if I'm going to bring them because I'm a perfect gentleman and they might not want to come. That's not what He says. He says, other sheep I must bring. It's part of the task. It's part of the travail of his soul. Other sheep I have, and I must bring them. Now look what he says at verse 17. Therefore doth my father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. See how it's voluntary, it's vicarious, and it's victorious. All in that one verse, isn't it? It's voluntary. No man takes it from me. And it's vicarious. I'm doing it for my sheep. And it's victorious. I'm surely going to gain the ones that I have died for. I must bring those sheep. It's victorious. In Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 26. I know that in Ephesians chapter 5 we are fond of looking at marriage and saying you know the relationship between Christ and his church is kind of like marriage and that's got it exactly backwards if you look at what Paul is saying what Paul is actually saying is that marriage is a reflection of what Christ is doing for his church or has done for his church and is doing for his church at verse 26 Let's back up to verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. Now don't think of might there as being maybe he will and maybe he won't. That's subjunctive. It's giving us a purpose clause. The purpose of his laying down his life, the purpose of him giving himself for the church is to sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. In other words, the very purpose for which Jesus Christ gave his life was so that you could be sanctified. It's not so that you could wander off your own way. It's not so that you could come to some tent meeting one night and say, okay, I'm glad that's over. The reason that Jesus Christ gave his life was to sanctify you and that you would be washed by the water of his word. And then finally, in other words, he gave himself who? For his church. That's the bottom line. If you're not part of the church, you're not part of those for whom Christ gave his life. It's that simple. Say, well, Pastor, you're saying that outside the church there's no salvation. I'm saying that outside the church there's no ordinary possibility of salvation. I'm not going to say it doesn't happen. We know about desert island scenarios. Bottle washes up with a passage of scripture in it. Maybe it's John 3.16. We open it up. For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. If you place your faith in Jesus Christ, yes, even though you're on a desert island, you will be saved. However, unless you exist on a desert island, get that idea out of your mind. God called us to His church. Now the word church is simply another word for assembly. What does an assembly do? Its very name tells you, doesn't it? It assembles. If we're not assembling, we're not churching. In fact the name of the Old Testament Jewish church, the local body of believers was called synagogue. Synagogue is simply a Greek term that means together coming or together leading or together going or coming together or assembling. Thus today's church is the New Testament synagogue. Say, well, are you saying that the church is a building? No, I'm saying that the church can own a building. What the church does is assemble in some place. And if we have to assemble in a field, we assemble in a field. But we assemble. Say, well, how about when we go our separate ways? We'll talk about that later in 1 Corinthians in our readings. But he'll say that sometimes you go home. Well if you go home that means that you used to be somewhere else. Right? It says women you're supposed to do this in the assembly. But when you go home you can ask your husbands. Right? So what's he doing? He's making a distinction between being at home and being at church. We'll come to that when we come to chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians. For now, understand this, that Jesus died for His church. He did not die willy-nilly for everybody who ever has been. He did not die for everyone the same way He died for His bride. And you've heard me say this before, if you came home and say, don't worry wife, I love you because I love all women, that would mean nothing to her. It would mean nothing to her. In fact, it would probably make her angry. The reason that you are the bride of Christ is because God loved you in a way that He doesn't love those who are outside His bride. He laid down His life for you in a way that He did not lay down His life for those outside His bride. He does not love all women the way He loves His bride. And neither should you. Word of application. And in one other place, Matthew 1.21, I said we'd be back to Matthew. In Matthew 1.21, remember we have an angel who is appearing to announce that Jesus is going to be born. And perhaps his daddy, Joseph, thought, you know, maybe I'll name him little Joe. Or maybe I'll name him young Judah. or maybe I'll give him some other name. And the angel tells him exactly what he's supposed to name him. And what's he supposed to name him? Jesus. And why is he supposed to name him Jesus? Let's take a look at verse 21. Matthew chapter one and verse 21. Have I got that right? And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now who's He going to save? He shall see the travail of His soul and He shall save somebody. He shall be satisfied with somebody and here they're characterized as whom? His people. So, His church, His people, His sheep, other sheep I have, I must bring them. All of these are to designate that there is a difference between sheep and goats. There is a difference between His people and not His people. There is a difference between His church and not His church. Christ will certainly obtain the end or the purpose of His death. Second thing you need to understand is that back in the 18th century, that's the 1700s, back in the 18th century there was a movement that arose among or from the confines of Protestants called Deism. I'll spell it for you. It's not the letter D-ism. It's D-E-I-S-M and it's called that based on the Greek word for God. Deism did not deny that there is a God. They denied the nature of how God works in this world. They basically maintained that God set things in motion. He created things and even in His providence ordered a number of them. For example, the reason that the earth doesn't fly out of orbit from the sun is because God ordained how gravity would work and so forth. He wound up the clock, having designed it perfectly, and kind of threw the universe out there. And the Protestants of that day characterized that view as the absentee landlord view of the universe. That God owns everything, He created everything, He's the God of all that is, but If you want to pray, you might as well go out and do something else because he ain't listening. And so they referred to him as an absentee landlord. Well, there are many today who hold not to deism itself, but to a deistic view of what Jesus Christ did. He made salvation possible. then he stood back to see what would happen. He foresaw that some people would believe, yes. And based on that foreseen faith, he chose this one or this one or this one or this one. If he foresaw that you would not have faith, then he didn't choose you. But if he foresaw that you would have faith, then you're the one he chose. Now what does that do? Does that not place election or choice, if you want to say it that way? based on who you are rather than on who God is. If you're smart enough to know a good deal when you see one then God will choose you. If you're so stupid you can't figure out grace, too bad for you. So this claim of foreseen faith is that God foresees some kind of good action on our part and He's willing to reward that good action. Now very few people affirm this outright. Very few people would just come right out and say, you know what? I'm swell. That's why God chose me. Because, you know, I'm full of faith. And if you were full of faith, God would choose you too. Very few people come out and say that, but it's the presupposition that underlies most modern evangelical theology. presupposition, something that's assumed beforehand, before the argument or the discussion or the debate ever begins. This idea of a deistic approach to the atonement is an unspoken assumption in this evangelical, so-called evangelical view of faith. Men's decision then becomes the determining factor. Christ has done all He can. The rest is all up to you. Now, that is blasphemy. Let me tell you why. Because if it were all up to you, there wouldn't be anybody saved. Now, there's more to it than that. It's because it dishonors the name of God. It indicates that He started something He couldn't finish. But the truth of the matter is that the rest is not all up to you. If it's true that men are depraved, and if it's true that there is none that seeketh after God, no, not one, And if it's true that without faith it's impossible to please Him because He that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of whom? Them that diligently seek Him. But there are none who seek Him. Then who gets the reward? None. It's a null set. Or at least it's an empty set. They call it grace. But it really works. And then a third thing I want to bring out is that in a covenantal view, it is Christ who is satisfied as the Father fulfills His promise to Christ. Christ's satisfaction does not depend upon your response to God's promise to Him. Rather, our response is an answer to Him. Let me remind you of a verse that probably many of you sitting here today, and possibly even many listening, have memorized. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, the faith itself is a gift. Listen to the rest of the passage. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So I say to you, do you have faith? If you have faith, it's because God gave it to you. Have you placed your faith in the object of Jesus Christ? It's because you are among his sheep. It's because you are part of his church. It is because you are those whom God has called together for his son's sake. And then fourth, and here again, I want to just emphasize the mathematics with you. The number of men who seek after God is a known number. It's not an unknown number at all. It's a known number. The number of men who seek after God is zero. I'm calling it a number. It's a placeholder. Nevertheless, the absence of a number is still what we're talking about. there is none that seeketh after God, no, not one." And when Paul says, no, not one, he doesn't mean two, three, or twelve. He means there is none that seeketh after God, not even one. Not even one person in the history of the world has sought after God. But, if salvation depends upon you seeking after God, which Hebrews 11.3, which I just quoted a little bit ago, says, He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. If you seeking after God is a part of your salvation, and if there is none that seeks after God, then I ask you, how can anyone be saved? the only way that anyone can be saved is if God actually gives you the very thing that He requires, namely, faith in Christ. That's seeking after Him. Rather, faith does not arise from the creature. It comes from God. He is, as Hebrews again says, the author and finisher of our faith. He has composed it and He carries it through to its completion. He is the author and finisher. If faith arises, if faith has to arise from the creature, then the number of the saved is not a multitude but zero. But Isaiah 53.11, look at the verse again, says, my righteous servants shall justify not zero, not a few, not one here and there, hit and miss, but my righteous servants shall justify how many? Many. So on the one hand we have a view of faith that says it arises from the creature. If that were true, zero would be saved. No one would be saved. But since many will be saved, then we have to say it does not arise from the creature but is implanted in the creature by God. It is the gift of God. It is given to men at their justification, which we shall talk about more as we look at the second and third parts of Isaiah 53.11. I want to affirm one thing, finally, and that is that we are not simply splitting theological hairs. You know what it means to split a hair? A hair is so thin that it's difficult to split, right? We're not talking about split ends. We're talking about being a picayune. No, this is not a small matter. This is a large matter. This comes down to whether the work of salvation is man's work or God's work. This comes down to whether we believe grace or believe works. This comes down to whether we can save ourselves or we must be saved. It comes down to whether we believe that God has simply thrown us a rope that we now have to climb or if He has actually by Jesus Christ brought us the unjust to the just. Remember 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18? For Christ hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust so that He can make it possible for us to get our own way to God. No, so that He can bring us to God. Am I misquoting the verse? No, I think I'm quoting it exactly correctly. 1 Peter 3.18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just, now see there's the atonement, He suffered for sins, the just, my righteous servant, the just for the unjust, those who don't seek after God, the just for the unjust, for the purpose of or the purpose that He might bring us to God. It's His work to bring us to God. And when He does, His soul shall be satisfied. He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. The inner suffering as well as the outer suffering of Jesus Christ leading up to the cross and on the cross itself, His very death and burial, the travail, the work of His soul was such that when He saw it, when He saw the results of it, when He saw you, He was satisfied. He's going to get everything that He worked for. And beloved, you can call that limited if you want to. The fact of it is that's a powerful atonement. It's not some willy-nilly, weak-willed or weak-kneed atonement that depends for its activation upon your will. Rather it's a powerful atonement that actually does that for which it was intended. That's the atonement that the Bible teaches. Let's stand and call upon the Lord. You have been listening to a sermon by Dr. Richard Bacon of Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed in Mesquite, Texas. For more information on FPCR Ministries, visit our website at www.fpcr.org or contact us by mail at 8301 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 111-164, Rowlett, Texas 75088.