[0:00] Let us worship God, we shall sing to his praise from Psalm 22.
[0:12] Psalm 22, and reading from verse 5. Psalm 22, and reading from verse 5.
[0:50] Psalm 22, and reading from verse 5.
[1:20] Psalm 22, and reading from verse 5. I was cast upon thy care, even from the womb till now, and from thy mother's belly, Lord, my God and guide art thou.
[1:33] We shall sing these verses, 5 to 10. Psalm 22. When unto thee they sent their cry, to them deliverance came. They were all good to shame.
[2:15] But as born in our way, and as gone on Christ, we know, God, I am, and by the people of this time.
[2:45] All that may see love me to scourge and blood in today.
[3:01] They are not ashamed of me. They are not ashamed of me. They are not ashamed of me. God, who is on this onion.
[3:12] This man of mine is mine. This man did trust in God.
[3:25] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[4:27] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS And that we can seek that you would measurefully fill our mouth from on high.
[5:26] So that we would worship in spirit and in truth as we are encouraged to do. That our eyes would be lifted up not with a spirit of pride but rather out of the sense that we are here in this world.
[5:48] And you the God of heaven and earth are high and lifted up. A God who is hidden from us and cannot see you because you are spirit.
[6:05] You are not amongst us in the way that we normally determine presence in a physical sense. And yet there is no place where you are not to be found.
[6:19] You are the God who is ever present. You are all knowing and all seeing. And your presence is something that we are encouraged to believe by reason of what you are able to display to us of your omniscience.
[6:45] We give thanks that there is nothing that goes on in our lives that is unknown to you. Not what goes on that our fellows can see outwardly.
[7:02] They may form an opinion as to what our lives are made up of purely from an external perspective. And they cannot read our minds or our thoughts.
[7:18] This is hidden from them. Whatever ability we have in determining the actions of man what lies behind them.
[7:31] We do not possess that facility that belongs only to God. He knows all things. Even the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end.
[7:44] We give thanks that you are such a God to whom we can come. Even when we are struggling to articulate our needs and declare our intentions and seek your blessing upon them.
[7:59] We know that even before you, before we ask, you have an answer for us. We give thanks that we can come, bringing our burdens and our cares and concerns to you, the God who has made provision for us.
[8:17] As we are to think of today, even the most serious of needs that we have. The most onerous of burdens that we carry.
[8:27] You have made provision for us in the most marvellous way. In the way that no man could conceive of. That owes its origin to the divine breast.
[8:39] And we give thanks that you have chosen to not only articulate that, but bring it to fruition in the fullness of time. Give thanks for the words of this psalm that we were singing.
[8:54] That describes to us the passion of your son Jesus Christ in his humiliation. When he spoke.
[9:06] The psalmist spoke of himself. In such a way as for me, I warm I am. And as no man I'm prized.
[9:19] Reproach of men I am. And by the people I'm despised. It may be that the psalmist embraced such a situation that made him feel like that.
[9:32] But we know that the Lord Jesus Christ in his own experience. Entered into a situation where he was the focus. Not only of the enmity of his fellows in the world.
[9:47] But also the focus of the wrath of the Most High God. We give thanks for the meticulous way in which the psalm continues to go on to unveil his sufferings.
[10:04] In such a way that tells us that nothing that went on in his life, not even in his death, was unbeknown to you, the God. And we give thanks that even though the wickedness of men is set before us there.
[10:24] In the way that they cast lots upon him, upon his vesture. And shared his clothes among them. That even that in the minutiae of detail was something that was in the great plan from eternity.
[10:40] So remember us this day so that we can be assured that there is nothing ongoing in our lives that is hidden from your sight. Even the current situation that has so distracted us and affected our lives in ways that a while ago not one of us would have conceived of.
[11:03] Our lives were going on pretty much the same. Whatever individual disaster we encountered, whatever traumatic occasion, however difficult these things were, we find ourselves embroiled in a situation now that touches every life in equal measure.
[11:27] Some have gone into the experience of grief and sorrow in such a way that they cannot but believe that they are by themselves in that situation.
[11:40] But you have promised never to leave nor forsake any one of your own. We pray for your people, especially those of them who have encountered grief through the effects of COVID-19.
[11:54] We pray that you would remember them and all such. We pray that faith would be strengthened. And those who are without it, that they would know to look to the God who is able to bring such grace into their experience.
[12:10] We pray that you would know to remember in your presence those whose task it is to visit the needy in their time of need.
[12:22] Those who are doctors and nurses and carers, we pray that you would guide them in doing their utmost to ensure that all things are done to the best of their ability.
[12:35] We pray for hospitals and caring institutions. Remembering those who are confined to homes and cared for by their loved ones in the home. We remember the nation, those who govern us, Prime Minister, First Minister, the various parliaments.
[12:54] Remember the nations of the earth and those who govern them. We pray for those who are affected in different ways by reason of their own extra burdens.
[13:08] We think of places in America that are ravaged by fire at the present. We think of other places that are ravaged by war and famine and need of different sorts.
[13:21] Lord, sanctify every visitation in Providence that we would learn to look to the God of heaven to bring to an end all these things.
[13:33] With a view to thy glory. Make glory. Police thatMichel Cure of天真.ゃチanın arisenль that Christ would be magnified. That the 옳als that would come from our heart would be directed to yourself. And that you would hear the cries of the children of men lifted up to yourself.
[13:50] and not believing that they can exercise or that any one of us can exercise the gifts of giftings that are ours without acknowledging the God who is able to bestow them upon us.
[14:05] So remember the preaching of the gospel in such circumstances as we have found that the word of Christ would be heralded and highlighted and Christ himself would be seen as the alone saviour of sinners that men and women would do what others have done throughout the centuries.
[14:27] Lord, what must we do to be saved? May we have the desire to magnify your name even in turning to you with broken penitent hearts.
[14:39] Bless the preaching of the word. Bless those you have sent out with it. Encourage them in their labour. Remember all the congregations within our presbytery and beyond. Especially we commit to you the congregations that are devoid of a steady pastorate.
[14:56] Be with them where they are, we pray, that they may know to look to yourself to supply them not just with gospel ordinances but with one of your own choosing who will come with an unction from on high.
[15:09] So continue with us this day. Blessing your word to us as we consider it and forgiving each one of us in Jesus' precious name.
[15:20] Amen. I'm going to read from the Old Testament scriptures. The book of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah. I'm going to read from chapter 52.
[15:31] Reading from verse 13 into chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 52 at verse 13. Behold, Isaiah.
[16:12] Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah.
[16:23] Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah.
[16:34] Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
[17:20] All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all.
[17:31] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is done, so he openeth not his mouth.
[17:47] He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
[18:03] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
[18:15] Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt 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.
[18:34] He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
[18:47] Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
[19:10] And so on. May the Lord add his blessing to our reading of his word and to his name. Be the praise. I'd like us to turn for a short while to this passage that we have read, and we can read again at verse 5.
[19:28] But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
[19:40] As many of you may know, today as a congregation we would have ordinarily made together on the Lord's Day to worship God with the additional element in our worship, the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
[20:02] And of course it goes without saying that we are commanded to meet and gather together to worship God.
[20:15] The writer to the Hebrews, for example, says, Let us consider one another to provoke unto love unto good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as he sees the day approaching.
[20:35] And as for the Lord's Supper, we also know from the Scripture that the Lord has given this to the Church in order to remember him until he comes.
[20:53] We know from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And of course we can go to references in the New Testament, Book of Acts, and of course what we usually turn to on the Lord's Day, where we celebrate the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians in chapter 11, which we refer to, I suppose, most often.
[21:19] And we're taught there that Jesus requires us to remember him in this particular way. In the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 22, we read, Jesus took bread and gave thanks and break it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me.
[21:42] Now the sacrament is meant to remind us of his death as a substitutionary act by which Jesus secured salvation for his people.
[21:54] It is a reminder to his people of the relationship that he has with them. It is also a communal act whereby those who are members of his body, those who are members of the Church, those who are confessing believers, they join together in order to enjoy fellowship with one another and with the Lord.
[22:20] Now, I mention that because clearly, as a congregation, our present circumstances do not allow us to meet publicly, and we can't worship the Lord as we would normally do together in God's house, and nor can we celebrate the Lord's Supper.
[22:45] But we are still commanded to worship him, and we are still commanded to remember the Lord's Jesus Christ, even if we are not able to do it in a prescribed fashion.
[23:06] The passage before us is familiar, I would imagine, to most of the Lord's people. It is a passage that is descriptive of the sufferings of the servant of the Lord.
[23:20] New Testament accounts of the death of Jesus carry in them striking comparisons to words that we have that predict and that make known in a prophetic form the nature of the nature of his death.
[23:45] An example, the passage that we read here, and the psalm that was sung, Psalm 22. There are words in these passages that you find almost impossible to think of them being of relevance to anyone else.
[24:03] In Psalm 22, verse 17, I, all my bones may tell, they too upon me look and stare, upon my vesture lots they cast, and clothes among them share.
[24:20] Words that are readily able to be understood, for they are applied to the sufferings of Christ on the cross.
[24:32] Words that are readily available to the sufferings of the death of the Lord. Now, the passage before us here is a passage that we are reminded of in the New Testament as well.
[24:46] The prophecy ensures that when it is applied to Christ, it is better understood.
[25:02] And the interpretation that the New Testament gives us ensures that we understand that the suffering servant of which it speaks is none other than the Lord Jesus.
[25:14] Now, I want us to think of two things in particular. We are given a list of the sufferings here. If we can call it that, we are reminded of the things that the Lord Jesus endured on the cross.
[25:30] Even though the prophet lived many years before Christ was in the world, he is describing almost as if he was an eyewitness to it.
[25:40] We are given some of the things that Christ endured. And we can, I think, easily think of them in the experience of Christ.
[25:55] And we are also given an explanation why these sufferings were in his experience. We are told that he is wounded.
[26:07] He is bruised. He is chastised. We are told he suffers the pain inflicted by the lash. If we include the words of verse 3, we see that the sufferings also have a deep psychological effect.
[26:25] For a person to be despised and rejected cannot but impact upon the mind and soul of that individual.
[26:37] As far as Christ is concerned, Principal MacLeod writes that the extent of his sufferings included the physical, emotional, social and spiritual.
[26:50] What is foretold is awful in the extreme. But the reality of the fulfilment is something else. Some 20 years ago, Don Carson was speaking at the Keswick Convention.
[27:05] And he delivered several lectures on the First Epistle General of Peter. And incidentally, within the context of the instruction given, Peter speaks to first century believers about their faith and the prospect of servanthood and the cost of obedience.
[27:34] Don Carson has some very interesting comments about the history of slavery, which given the topical Black Lives Matter may be of interest.
[27:46] So if you ever get a chance to refer to these lectures given by Carson, they're very interesting. But for us, the point is this.
[27:58] In the epistle, Peter the Apostle quotes from Isaiah 53. And he does so in order to encourage the spirit of submission in the life of the believer.
[28:12] And he encourages that by referring to the submissive spirit of the Lord Jesus. Now I want to quote Carson on this point because I think it's important for us.
[28:28] When we look at this verse, that is before us, or the passage as a whole, we need to ask ourselves what the outcome of our reading of that passage is.
[28:43] This is what Carson says. There is an immensely deep connection between salvation and ethics. It is bound up with the cross.
[28:55] It is not just that we are saved by the cross. But this salvation by the cross shapes the foundation of Christian ethics. If you try to get Jesus as an example without seeing why Jesus went to the cross, then of course you end up with an empty sentimentalism.
[29:20] But if on the other hand you have Jesus dying for your sins, and it does not affect the way you live. You have a kind of abstract theological truth and no self-denial.
[29:36] The two are linked massively. Now, I think that's important for us to reflect on.
[29:50] Because we could read through this chapter and see the picture that is drawn for us of the suffering servant.
[30:03] And see that that servant is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that would be correct. And that would be perfectly in order for us to do that.
[30:15] But we must also understand that whatever impact our study of such a description has, surely it has to impact upon our Christian lives in some way.
[30:33] The truth that Carson is teaching has massive implications for the example of Jesus who epitomizes self-denial.
[30:47] But we cannot look at the sufferings without reminding ourselves of what they were for. Just think of it like this. There were many at the cross who were emotionally affected by what they saw.
[31:02] They shook their heads and wondered to themselves about what evil this man had done in order to experience such suffering.
[31:14] And some of them were so aghast at what they saw that they could barely endure to stay there and look upon it, although some did and delighted in it.
[31:27] But the real reasons for the sufferings of Christ passed them die. They did not see it. They were not saved by what they felt or thought.
[31:42] The prophet lifts the sufferings of the Lord and he attributes them to one thing. And just as surely as there are various descriptions of the sufferings, so there are various words to describe the cause.
[32:00] The wounds of Christ may have been physical. He was pierced by the nails and the spear and the crown of thorns. He was beaten by the fists and the rods of his executioners.
[32:14] Abused by the false accusations and even the denials of those closest to him. But these were for our transgressions, our iniquities, for our griefs and our sorrows.
[32:31] There is no easy matter to be presented with the true cause of our Lord's sufferings. We can sit in judgment of a perverse judiciary, of a weak and vacillating judge, of corrupt witnesses and lily-livered friends.
[32:51] But there is no place to hide. Not one of us can look at the Christ of the cross without applying these words to ourselves.
[33:05] He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The personal cannot be ignored.
[33:17] According to A.W. Tozer, all these persons that we named were but accomplices in crime.
[33:30] And every one of us in Adam's race put him on the cross. In fact, Tozer goes on to speak of transgressions and iniquities in this way.
[33:43] The forward, he says, speaks of breaking away. A revolt from a just authority. But the latter, Tozer says, in the following words, The fingerprints of all mankind are plain evidence against us.
[34:04] Against us. The authorities have no trouble finding and apprehending the one who is a burglar, who leaves his fingerprints on tables and doorknobs, for they have his record.
[34:23] So the fingerprints of man are found in every dark cellar and every alley and in every dimly lighted evil place throughout the world.
[34:38] Every man's fingerprints are recorded and God knows man from man. It is impossible to escape our guilt and place our moral responsibility upon someone else.
[34:56] It is a highly personal matter. Our iniquities. As we have said before, Scripture confirms the fact for us.
[35:08] We mentioned Peter the Apostle. But we must also acknowledge the fact that notwithstanding the ignorance of some, the Lord himself knew the words of the prophet and he applied these words to himself.
[35:24] At the end of the chapter, we read he was numbered with the transgressors and he bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Jesus clearly takes these words and applies them to himself.
[35:38] For I say unto you that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, he says, in me, for the things concerning me have an end.
[35:52] He knew that those closest to him did not understand, not the closest disciples or friends, those who were broken and dismayed and downcast and distraught at his death.
[36:08] The Lord, through the prophet, says, the arm of the Lord is being revealed. How mysterious are the words of this chapter. We, from our cozy position of New Testament revelation, where the Spirit of God poured out has enlightened sin, dirt and tarts, which otherwise would have been no different to those who saw him as a root out of a dry ground.
[36:32] No form nor comeliness, no beauty to desire him. Yet here we are reminded this is for your sins, friend, your griefs, your sorrows, because God was displaced with you.
[36:51] As many theologians have said, here we have Christ as a substitute. It describes suffering. It describes death. But it is penal substitution.
[37:04] There are many so-called theologians who are offended by such an idea. But I would put it to you that the offence comes not from knowing God and not believing his word.
[37:16] Christ is what theologians call a vicarius sufferer. The language uses an emphasis that sins that were not his own as the root cause of his sufferings.
[37:33] He carries up our sins. Some of us know in a small measure the weight of our sins. We understand what it is to experience the work of God's Holy Spirit upon our hearts and minds.
[37:50] Perhaps when corruption was exposed by the light of the Spirit, conviction came. We were damned until Christ the Saviour was revealed.
[38:02] It was a terrible burden of guilt. Modern psychiatry does all in its power to drive any feelings of guilt from the breast, whether the cause of it is real or imagined.
[38:16] But the guilt of sin is real. And there is only one escape for it. There can only be one escape. And that is because Christ came and carried the burden.
[38:29] And because of that, peace results and healing comes. The writer to the Hebrews states, Paul writes that he has redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us.
[38:57] Our sins laid upon him, our death becoming his death. This surely is where the believer finds comfort and true consolation.
[39:09] Not in our sinlessness, even though we are required to be holy for God is holy. God does not say your salvation depends upon your holiness. No doubt if you are saved by grace, you aspire to it because you love God and you do not want to offend him.
[39:27] But you offend him if you believe it is because of anything you do or don't do that salvation is yours. If you are a believer, Jesus is precious to you.
[39:39] So the apostle says, why? Because you have tasted of his grace in Christ Jesus. What God has done in him, let me again quote the apostle Peter, for Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
[39:59] May this ever be at the forefront of our minds and may we endeavor to remember him in all that he has done. A passage like this is precious to the believer, precious to every child of God at any time.
[40:16] It is precious to him when they seek to remember him in his death because they remember what his death means. He was wounded for our transgressions.
[40:27] He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. May that be true for each one who hears these words today.
[40:40] Let us pray. Most gracious God, we give thanks for the Saviour who came into this world. He became man and took to himself a body that he might through his life and his work in the world come to the point at which he embraced death on the cross.
[41:03] He did so willingly and he entered into the awful reality of being the sin bearer, meeting a holy God. Lord, we give thanks that he endured the shame and he despised all that was true of it in order that the victory would be his people's.
[41:26] Bless us this day in his name. Cleanse us from sin and we ask all with forgiveness in him and him alone. And now may grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you all never and always.
[41:42] Amen.