The Gospel of Isaiah

[0:00] I'm going to go to the Word of God just now and talking about the Gospel. I urge you today behold Him. Behold Him. See Him there at Calvary. So turn with me to the first gospel. Really you could say it's the gospel of Genesis is the first gospel but we're going to go to the gospel of Isaiah. The gospel of Isaiah.

[0:22] This verse here that we come to in Isaiah 53 it tells us of the coming of our Lord. It was written about 700 years BC before Christ. So it was not one of the eyewitnesses Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but it was the prophet not as an eyewitness but in foreview. He foresaw these events to come.

[0:48] So I'd urge you this morning to experience with me the cross as Isaiah foretells it. We see His sorrows. Behold His sorrows. His compassion for us. Compassion in other words your pain in His heart. Your pain in His heart.

[1:06] We read Isaiah 53 verse 3 it says He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hear as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not.

[1:27] It's saying there we did not regard Him.

[1:57] him see him this man of sorrows as he is in the garden in that bitterness of gethsemane the olive press imagine that press squashing the olives such was the pressure of gethsemane the bitterness of it we see his tears there jesus wept for a world chained by sin we see his breaking heart his yearning love there was a sign on a garage and i know there's some people that work in garages here in the mechanical field and they're pretty good at fixing things well well this garage it had this slogan it says we can mend everything but a broken heart jesus can jesus can amen we see him there this man of sorrows we see him as his mother is there weeping we see our lord treated with contempt treated as worthless unloved unwanted and mankind still spits out his name as if his very name is a swear word using his name so thoughtlessly so blasphemously the horror of the cross this morning think of it that place of humiliation of hatred behold his sorrows secondly behold his sufferings verse 4 isaiah 53 surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of god and afflicted so we see our lord here his bleeding his spasms his pain his sufferings were a grotesque agony the ordeal of the cross the extreme weariness of it the despair he is as a lamb slaughtered as a leper avoided as a victim hurt as a criminal punished think of his sufferings today he carried our sorrows it says our pains our torments and he enjoyed the smitings of men and the striking of god he was smitten by men thumped and pummeled and beaten with rods his beard torn he was smitten of men and he was stricken of god well either way you could put it stricken and smitten of god he was struck by god and my and by men and he was afflicted consider the torment really the torture the terror that gloomy darkness it says and this includes you and me that he should taste death for every man it's for every one of us that he's tasted that death he tasted that death for every man that's hebrews 2 verse 9 and friends it was the cords of love that held him there to the cross it was a shocking sight he was disfigured defaced mutilated he no longer looked human it says marred more than any man and he was made a curse for us galatians 3 13 because we know the very cross was a cursed thing a cursed way to die and we cannot conceive the exhaustion the weight and he bore it all willingly willingly willfully patiently gladly even the horrific humiliation and the shame of it behold his sorrows behold his sufferings also behold his sacrifice his sacrifice again it was a willing sacrifice he freely gave isaiah 53 from verse 5 it reads but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by with his stripes we are healed he was wounded pierced stabbed is the connotation there

[6:00] the iniquity of us all all the guilt our guilt and we are healed yes made whole made absolutely whole because he has become our substitute because he became sin for us someone said this jesus became the greatest liar perjurer thief adulterer and murderer that mankind has ever known not because he committed these sins but because he was actually made sin for us so said luther the greatest liar perjurer adulterer thief murderer christ became all of that for us even though of course himself he was perfect free of sin he became he was made sin for us for you and me amen but while we were yet sinners christ died for us he carried the weight he lifted off us our pollution was laid on him and this great satisfaction his work is complete it's full it's sufficient for all efficient for all who will call so the greatest sacrifice was that sweet smelling savour the strong smell of perfume you know the sacrifices received of god were called a a sweet smelling savour a sweet smelling smell it tells of the travail of his soul now again i think of travail as something that i'll never know the travail as of the pain of childbirth but i know some present have suffered that and think of the travail of his soul though even more than travail of body travail of soul that he was body wracked with this searing pain it was especially painful we think that our salvation is offered here in this act of great love all we like sheep have gone astray all of us gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the lord have laid upon him the iniquity of us all and he cried out it is finished this was a victory cry the cry of victory payment made the transaction done we behold his sorrows we behold his suffering we behold his sacrifice our salvation it evals for us today if we will but receive it and it's our reason for purity is the cross because he's come to purify people unto himself he makes us as clean as clean as clean can be it's house of our lord who gave himself for us that he might redeem us set us free from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good work so the cleansing blood is the reason for our purity yes we can know purity as impure as we know in our hearts we can be he can make us purified a purified people he is the reason for our purity the cleansing blood is the reason for our purity it's also the reason for our peace it says the chastisement the punishment for our peace was upon him and and that peace is shalom shalom we have shalom today and shalom is is a big wide word that encompasses much it encompasses wholeness there's wholeness there this peace of mind of heart of body of soul of spirit and that's the kind of peace that we can know a peace that passes all understanding that keeps our hearts and minds through christ jesus that complete peace so we got reason for purity reason for peace and thirdly reason for praise this is praise this morning this is part of our praise is this time we remember what he has done and this gives us our reason for praise it says behold my

[10:03] servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high we want to do that this morning with our praise with all of our worship that he be exalted that he be extolled that he be lifted up and honored but we want praise today he was the object of dishonor but we will honor him amen that's what we do as a as a church fellowship today as every believer can partake as one body you're welcome one and all who know the lord to come and give him that due praise that he is worthy of today