[1]Sermon #1209
Title: THE SUFFERINGS
OF OUR SUBSTITUTE
Text: Isaiah 52:14; 53:3, 10, & 11
Scripture
Reading: Psalm 22:1-23
Subject: The Sufferings of Christ
as our Substitute
Date: Ashland, Kentucky -
December 31, 1996
Tape
# R-97
Introduction:
John
Newton wrote many, many hymns with which I have great affinity. But here is one
that sums up my experience of God’s grace and displays the motive of my life
and ministry in this world for the glory of God.
“In evil long
I took delight,
Unawed by
shame or fear,
‘Til a new
object struck my sight,
And stopped my
wild career.
I saw One
hanging on a tree
In agonies and
blood
Who fixed His
languid eyes on me,
As near His
cross I stood.
Sure never
till my latest breath
Can I forget
that look.
It seemed to
charge me with His death,
Though not a
word He spoke.
A second look
He gave, which said,
‘I freely all
forgive.
This blood is
for thy ransom paid.
I die that
thou mayest live.”
Thus, while
His death my sin displays
In all its
blackest hue,
(Such is the
mystery of His grace),
It seals my
pardon too.
With pleasing
grief and mournful joy
My spirit now
is filled,
That I should
such a life destroy,
Yet live by
Him I killed.”
I
want you to turn with me now to Isaiah 53. I want to talk to you about The Sufferings of Our Substitute. I
want to show you what I can of the sufferings of his body, of his heart, and of
his soul, when he endured the wrath of God for us as our Substitute.
I do not know what hell is, or where hell
is. But I do know this: This Book talks about a place, a state of existence
called hell. In that horrid, horrid place men and women will suffer the
infinite wrath of God forever in their bodies, in their hearts and in their
souls. Your heart is enmity against God. Your body is the instrument by which
you live in defiance of the Almighty. And in your very soul you have despised
him. Therefore, as you have sinned in body, heart, and soul, you must suffer
the wrath of God forever in hell, in your body, in your heart, and in your
soul, unless you repent and trust the Son of God as your only and
all-sufficient Lord and Savior.
However, in order to redeem and save his
people from their sins, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, to suffer all the terror of God’s holy and horrid wrath against us in his
body, in his heart, and in his soul. That is what Isaiah describes for us
in this fifty-third chapter. Isaiah 53 is quoted more often in the New
Testament than any other portion of the Old Testament. Here the Son of God is
set forth as the sinners’ Substitute, making atonement for our sins by the
sacrifice of himself.
It
is hard to believe that this incomparable prophecy was written by a man who
lived 750 years before Christ came into this world. Nothing can explain the existence
of this prophecy, except the words of the apostle Peter, “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” I
defy those infidels who deny the inspiration of Holy Scripture, who deny that
this Book is the very Word of God, to explain the existence of Isaiah 53. As
you read the words of this chapter, you might almost think you are reading the
report of a man who was standing by when the Son of God died upon the cursed
tree. But these are the words of a man who lived almost a millennium beforehand!
Isaiah, the prophet of God, wrote of the sin-atoning death of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and did so with precise detail and accuracy, because God the Holy
Spirit inspired, breathed out, the words as he wrote them. Nothing else can
explain this prophecy.
Proposition: In order to redeem and save his chosen people, the Son of
God had to suffer all the consequences of our sins to the full satisfaction of
divine justice as our Substitute, in his body, in his heart, and in his soul.
That is what I want to talk to you about. May God the Holy Spirit speak by me
through his Word to your hearts for the glory of him of whom I now speak.
I. THE
SUFFERINGS OF HIS BODY (Isa. 52:14)
I
have told you before that the chapter division between Isaiah 52 and 53 is very
unfortunate. Whenever you read Isaiah 53, you should always begin with chapter
52 at verse 13. Read verse 14 with me.
Isaiah 52:14 "As many were astonied at thee; his
visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of
men:"
No
man can read of the sufferings of Christ and not be astonished, astonished that
any man could inflict such cruel barbarity upon another, or that any man could
endure such agony. And when you realize that the One who suffered on that day
of all days was and is the holy, immaculate Son of God in human flesh, you are
all the more astonished!
Ever remember that the sufferer Isaiah here
describes is both God and man. Our Savior had to be a man. Otherwise, his
sufferings would be of no benefit to man. Man had sinned. So man must suffer.
Man had sinned. So man must die.
·
No Animal Sacrifice would
Do.
·
No Angelic Substitute would
Do.
·
Certainly, No Animal
Sacrifice would Do.
·
Only an Innocent, Holy Man
could be our Redeemer.
But
the man who redeems us must also be God. Else his sufferings and death could
not have satisfied the infinite justice of God. God could not suffer, and man
could not satisfy; but the God-man both suffered and satisfied.
Without
question, many place too much emphasis upon the physical, bodily sufferings of
Christ, trying to get people to feel sorry for poor Jesus. Clearly, that is not
my object. Jesus Christ did not die as the helpless victim of circumstances. He
is the God of circumstances. Let us weep for the sins that made his death necessary.
But he does not need or desire our pity. In fact, he plainly said, “Weep not for me, but for yourselves, and
for your children.”
Yet,
it is quite possible for us to place too little importance upon our Lord’s
bodily sufferings. The Word of God records the physical, bodily sufferings of
Christ in great detail in all four gospel narratives, in several of the Psalms,
and here in Isaiah 53, as well as in numerous other passages of the Old and New
Testaments. Here Isaiah tells us what our Savior suffered for us. In Psalm 22
David tells us what he said as he suffered the wrath of God for us. These
things are recorded by divine inspiration for our learning and edification
because it is important for us to know what the Son of God suffered for us at
Calvary.
On
the night of the Passover super, when our Savior instituted what we call The
Lord’s Supper, breaking bread, drinking wine, praying, and singing with his
disciples, an all night vigil began.
·
The Supper was followed by our Lord’s last discourse (John 14, 15, 16).
·
Then came his great high priestly prayer (John 17).
Our
Lord said to his disciples, “Because I
have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart” (John
16:6). “Let not your heart be troubled:
ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you unto
myself, that where I am there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). Then, the
story continues. We piece it together from the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John.
·
The Arrest in Gethsemane
·
The Arraignment before Annas, then before Caiphas, then before
Sanhedrin
·
Next, the Lord Jesus was taken by Roman soldiers to Pontius Pilate.
·
Pilate sent him to Herod, the ruler of Galilee.
·
Herod sent him back to Pilate, the Governor of Judea.
·
At last, Pilate condemned the Son of God to be crucified, and gave him
into the hands of cruel, barbaric Roman soldiers.... “Pilate delivered Jesus to their
will" (Luke 23:25).
·
The Mockery
·
The Beatings
·
The Infamous Parade
·
The Crucifixion at Calvary - The Place of the Skull - Jerusalem’s
Garbage Dump!
The scene at Calvary was so horribly
ignominious and painful that as he hung upon the cross, our Lord said to John, “Take my mother away.” His sufferings
and death were hidden from his mother. The sun refused to shine, hiding the
infamy from the earth. And God the Father refused to look upon the horrid
scene!
·
“I thirst!”
·
The Vinegar and Myrrh
·
The Burning Fever
·
The Excruciating Pain
Let us never speak lightly of the sufferings
of our Savior in his body! But there is much more. Isaiah also talks about...
II. THE
SUFFERINGS OF HIS HEART (Isa. 53:3)
Isaiah 53:3 "He is despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and
we esteemed him not."
Our
Lord was outcast by men, betrayed by his friend, denied by his disciple,
forsaken by his companions, tortured and nailed to the cursed tree; but he
cried “reproach hath broken my heart” (Ps.
69:20), and that heart was broken for me. I want to know something about that
too. I want to know my Savior “in the
fellowship of his sufferings!”
A. “He was despised and rejected of men” (John 1:11).
·
His own countrymen!
·
His own brethren!
There was no room for the Son of God in the
inn, in the streets of this world, in their temple, or in their world. There
was plenty of room for his miracles, but not for him, for his acts of mercy,
but not for his doctrine!
B. “A man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief.”
·
His trials and temptations.
·
The slanders of men.
·
The unbelief of his disciples.
·
The souls of men - “Moved with
compassion.”
·
The sorrows of his friends - “Jesus
wept!”
C. The anticipation,
the heart breaking anticipation of Gethsemane.
“If it be
possible, let this cup pass from me.”
D. The mockery
of the soldiers!
·
The crown of thorns
·
The purple robe
·
The reed scepter
·
The jeering taunts
E. The songs
of the drunkards and harlots - the spit!
Don’t ever imagine that words do not hurt. If
they hurt the Son of God, they hurt us far lesser men!
F. The denial
by Peter and the forsaking disciples!
·
“We hid, as it were, our
faces from him!”
·
The margin reads, “He hid as it were his face from us!”
G. “He was despised, and we esteemed him not!”
The Son of God suffered all
this for us. Yet, we who now believe once esteemed him not. “We esteemed him stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted!” Had he not himself given us faith, we would forever have
esteemed him not!
Illustration: -The
Scarred Mother.
“My Daddy died for me.”
All
these things tormented our Savior’s heart. Yet, even when his heart broke with
reproach and shame for us, his heart was upon us (Psa. 69:6-9; 11-12, 14-20).
Psalms 69:6-9 "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord
GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be
confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
(7) Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. (8) I am become a stranger unto my
brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. (9) For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the
reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me."
Psalms
69:11-12 "I made sackcloth also my garment; and I
became a proverb to them. (12) They
that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards."
Psalms
69:14-20 "Deliver me out of the mire, and let me
not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep
waters. (15) Let not the waterflood
overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her
mouth upon me. (16) Hear me, O LORD;
for thy lovingkindness is good: turn
unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. (17) And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble:
hear me speedily. (18) Draw nigh unto
my soul, and redeem it: deliver me
because of mine enemies. (19) Thou
hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. (20) Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:
and I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none; and for
comforters, but I found none."
Still, there is more. Isaiah
also speaks of...
III. THE
SUFFERINGS OF HIS SOUL (Isa. 53:10-11)
Isaiah 53:10-11 "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. (11) He shall see of the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities."
I
understand the biblical doctrine of the atonement.
·
The sin offering
·
The paschal lamb.
·
The prepared body (Heb. 10:1-14).
“Without the shedding of blood there
is no remission,” not because God is vengeful and cruel, but because he is good,
righteous, and holy.
I
understand the agony of our Savior’s tormented body.
I
can even understand the torments of his broken heart to some degree.
But
here, we have come to something I simply cannot comprehend - The sufferings of
our Savior’s holy soul (Isa. 53:10-11).
Isaiah
53:10-11 "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. (11) He shall see of the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities."
“Much we talk
of Jesus’ blood,
But how
little’s understood!
Of His
sufferings so intense
Angels have o
perfect sense.
Who can
rightly comprehend
Their
beginning or their end?
`Tis to God
and God alone
That their weight
is fully known.
See the
suffering Son of God-
Panting,
groaning, sweating blood!
Boundless
depths of love divine!
Jesus, what a
love was Thine!”
A. The Son of
God was made to be sin for us!
Our sins were imputed to the Son of God! That
fact in itself is overwhelming. But I am certain that there is more to the
sufferings of our Lord for us than the mere legal, or forensic term
“imputation” implies. His heart was not broken simply because he was made to be
legally responsible for the debt of our sins. Our sins were not pasted on him,
or merely placed to his account. The Lord Jesus Christ was “made
to be sin for us!”
B. When he was
made to be sin for us, the Lord God made his soul an offering for sin! -
Substitution!
C. When our
Savior was most perfectly obedient to God as our Representative, his Father
forsook Him!
“God forsaken of God, my God, no man can
understand that!”
Martin Luther
D. “He (God the Father) shall see of the travail of his soul and
shall be satisfied!”
The Father’s justice is
satisfied by the Son’s sufferings unto death for the salvation of his people.
E. “He (The Lord Jesus Christ) shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied.”
The cross of Christ shall
never be discovered a miscarriage!
F. “He shall see his seed.”
·
Justified
·
Sanctified
·
Glorified
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
G. “He shall prolong his days.”
That
is to say, He shall live again!
H. “The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand.”
John 17:2 "As thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him."
Revelation
10:1-3 "And I saw another mighty angel come
down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was
as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (2) And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his
right foot upon the sea, and his left
foot on the earth, (3) And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had
cried, seven thunders uttered their voices."
I. “By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.”
Application:
1. Why did the Son of God suffer all this agony of
body, of heart, and of soul?
·
To satisfy divine justice!
·
To put away our sins!
·
Because he loved us!
2. Will you yet hide your face from him, despise
him, and esteem him not? If you now look to him and trust him, Jesus Christ
suffered all this for you! God help you to trust his darling Son! I wish I
could convince you just how willing God is to save sinners for Christ’s sake.
Illustrations: The Indian Leper - “Help me! Help me! Somebody,
please, help me!”
The Handkerchief
3.
In the light of these things, I have some questions for you, my
brothers and sisters in Christ, and for me...
·
Is anything too much for us to suffer for Christ?
·
Is any sacrifice too great for us to make for him?
·
Is any devotion to the Son of God extreme?
Message Also Preached at Danville, KY 12-12-93 and 11-26-95, Family Radio Conference-Mt. Bethel, PA 8-27-95, Rescue, CA 1-14-94 - Madisonville, KY 10-26-94, Birmingham, AL 11-18-95, Lexington, KY 11-24-95, New Hope Baptist Church - St. Marys, GA 10-25-96; Victory Baptist Chapel 11-29-95; Ball, LA 1-7-96; Ashland, KY 12-31-96, New Caney, TX (Sun. AM 5/16/99), Merrida, MX 3/13/99, Crossville, TN (6/19/98)