Sermon
#15281 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: SIN LAID UPON CHRIST
Text: Isaiah
53:6
Subject: Substitutionary Redemption
Introduction:
"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."
In this passage of Holy Scripture the prophet Isaiah
speaks as the representative of God's elect. And in this one verse of Scripture
he plainly states three gospel truths experienced, believed and confessed by
every person who is born again by God's almighty grace. Here are three doctrines held in common by all true believers.
Original Sin - "All we like sheep have
gone astray." This is the doctrine of original sin. It is called
original sin, because it was the first sin. We all went astray from God in the
sin and fall of our father, Adam.
Psalm 14:3 - "They are all gone
aside, they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no,
not one."
Romans
I
Corinthians 15:21-22 - "By man came death (That’s all! Nothing
else!)...in
Adam all die."
Illustration: "I've seen better
days!"
This
is the doctrine of original sin as it is set forth in the Word of God.
·
Adam was the federal head and representative of all men.
·
Adam's sin was imputed to all men.
·
Adam's depraved nature is imparted to all men by natural generation.
Personal Depravity - In Adam we suffered a great fall and a great
loss. We fell from God's favor into condemnation. We fell from sinlessness into
sinfulness. We lost original righteousness, fellowship with God, access to God,
and all spiritual life. We fell from life into death, from liberty into
bondage, from peace into enmity, and from light into darkness. But that is not
all. We are sinners by imputation, by birth, and by nature (Psa. 51:5; Matt.
This is the doctrine of personal depravity.
"We have turned everyone to his own way." Because the heart
of man, at birth, “is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9; Gen. 6:5), we are all "estranged from the womb" and
go astray as soon as we are born, speaking lies (Psa. 58:3). "We have turned everyone to his own way."
God's elect
are like all other men by nature, ever going astray from God. Like sheep, foolish and
ignorant, we ever stray from the Good Shepherd and the fold of grace, ever
stray from the path of peace and the way of life. Until we were looked up, sought
out, and brought back by the Shepherd, we would never return. We had neither
the will nor the ability to return to our God. Rather, we "turned everyone to his own way," the way of his own
choosing.
We would never turn to the good way, but always to the
dark, crooked, slippery way. Some turn to this way of sin, and some to that,
but all to his own way. Sometimes it is the way of
profligacy, and sometimes the way of morality, and sometimes the way of
self-righteous religion. It is always "a way that seemeth right unto man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death."
Whatever the way is which you choose, "destruction
and misery" are in your way.
None will ever return from "his own way" until Christ, the Good Shepherd, the
Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, by an act of almighty, efficacious grace
causes him to return. Only omnipotent grace will cause a sinner to turn from "his own way" to Christ, "the Way, the Truth, and the
Life." May God be pleased to lay hold of some of his straying ones by
his almighty grace, and cause you to turn to Christ.
This is
original sin
- "All we like sheep have gone
astray." This is personal
depravity - "We have turned
every one to his own way." Yet, there is
hope. There is hope for straying sheep! There is hope for helpless, ignorant
sinners. Our text gives hope to the hopeless, because it reveals the glorious
gospel doctrine of...
Substitutionary Redemption - "And
the Lord hat laid on him the iniquity of us all." Can you grasp this
glorious truth? God the Father, against whom we have sinned, from whom we have
strayed, whose law we have broken, whose justice must be satisfied, has laid
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, his own dear Son, all the sins of all his elect.
The Son of God was made to be sin for us, so that he might be justly punished
for sin in our stead, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (II
Cor. 5:21).
2
Corinthians
PROPOSITION: Our sins have all been
laid upon Christ, by whose death justice has been satisfied and our sins
forever put away.
Now, I want to show you seven things from
this verse of scripture, for the comfort and edification of all who believe and
for the conversion of you who yet believe not. May God the Holy Spirit speak
through these lips of clay to your hearts by his grace.
What do those words teach us: "The
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all"?
I. OUR INIQUITY ITSELF WAS LAID UPON CHRIST.
Not only was the Lord of Glory punished for sin, he
was made to be sin. Not only did Christ bear the wrath and indignation of God
against sin, he was made sin. The Son of God was made to be sin for us because
there was no possible way in the world for God's elect
to be discharged of their sins, but for Christ to be made sin.
A.
God's eternal determination
to redeem was a matter of pure, free, sovereign grace.
1. God did not have to redeem
anyone.
2. There was nothing in us to
compel God's favor.
B.
But once God determined to
redeem and save an elect people, he could do it only by the satisfaction of
justice, only by making Christ to be sin for us.—If righteousness could
come by law, by anything we could do, then Christ died in vain (Gal. 2:21).
Illustration: Darius' Delimma (Dan. 6:4-17).
Proverbs
Be sure you understand this - God almighty could not justify his people
unless he found a way to make them righteous; and he could not punish his Son
unless he made him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.
God the Father looked upon Christ as the Surety of
his elect in the covenant of grace, and said, "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a
ransom" (Job 33:24). And he "Laid
on him the iniquity of us all."
All the sins of all the elect were gathered together
as one huge hideous, obnoxious load, and made to meet upon Christ. He was made
to be sin for us and punished as the sinner in our place (Psa. 40:12; 69:5;
Zech. 13:7).
Illustration: When our Lord made the water
wine (John 2), he did not make the water look like wine, or taste like wine, he
made the water wine.
Psalms 40:12 For innumerable evils have
compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not
able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart
faileth me.
Psalms 69:5 O God, thou knowest my
foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against my
shepherd, and against the man that is my
fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
By this means "the law
and justice of God had full satisfaction and our recovery from ruin and
destruction is procured" (John Gill).
II.
OUR INIQUITY REALLY BECAME
OUR SUBSTITUTE'S INIQUITY BY DIVINE IMPUTATION.
Speaking as our Substitute, the Son of God cried, "Mine iniquities have taken hold upon
me...My sins are not hid from thee" (Psa. 40:12; 69:5). Jesus Christ
never knew sin. Yet, he died as the greatest sinner who ever lived, for he was
made to bear all the sins of all his elect.
Christ really did bear all our sin. Just as a Surety is really the debtor, when he willingly puts
himself in the room of another.
Illustration: Grider's Experience.
Christ gave
his bond as our Surety in the covenant of grace. God the Father, having
accepted Christ as our Surety, cannot look for payment from us. If he will have
payment for sin, he must have it from him upon whom the debt has been laid (II Cor.
2
Corinthians 5:18-21 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled
to God. (21) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Payment God cannot twice
demand,
First at my bleeding
Surety's hand,
And then again at mine!
III.
IT IS THE LORD GOD HIMSELF
THAT MADE CHRIST TO BE SIN FOR US.
"The Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The triune God agreed in covenant love to
lay all our sins, all the sins of all his elect, upon the Son. Sin, the
greatest burden in the world, the most loathsome thing in the universe, the
load that must have crushed our souls into hell's eternal misery, has been laid
upon the God-man by God's own hand! Look at verse 10 of Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:10 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.
This great, mighty transfer
of sin, from the sinner to the sinner's Surety was...
·
Sought By Infinite Love.
·
Conceived By Infinite Wisdom
·
Ordained By Infinite Grace.
·
Executed By Infinite Justice.
IV.
NONE BUT GOD COULD DO IT!
Who but God could lay sin upon God? Who but God
could punish God for sin? Who but God could dispose of sin for the salvation of
his people?
Some think we lay our sins upon Christ! You cannot
even lay your hand upon him, much less your sin! If you imagine that your
prayers, tears, mournings, fastings, and confessions can lay your sins off
yourself and on Christ, you are just beating the air!.
Your wisdom is ignorance! And your religion is blasphemy! To lay iniquity upon
Christ is the work of Jehovah alone.
A.
God the Father laid sin upon
Christ for the satisfaction of his own justice (2
Cor.
2
Corinthians
B.
God the Son laid sin upon
himself for the redemption of his people (1 Pet.
1 Peter
C.
God the Holy Spirit lays sin
upon Christ in the revelation of the gospel (John 16:8-11).
John 16:8-11 And when he is come, he will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) Of sin, because they believe not on
me; (10) Of righteousness, because I
go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
(11) Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
We do not lay our sins upon Christ by faith. We see
our sins laid on him, punished in him, and removed by him by faith; but faith
does not lay anything on Christ.
V.
I want you to see that THIS
IS THE MOST SOUL COMFORTING TRUTH IN ALL THE WORLD.
- "The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all."
Blessed are those people who have this gospel
published to them. Blessed are those who have ears to hear this good news. The transfer of sin from you to Christ
is not something that must be done. It is something already done. The
text does not say, “The Lord shall lay the iniquities of us all upon Christ if
we will meet certain conditions and terms." It says, "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all!" (Read
Rom. 10:6-8!).
Romans 10:6-8 But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into
heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) (7) Or, Who shall descend
into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from
the dead.) (8) But what saith it? The
word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,
and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
The Lord has done it! There is nothing for you to
do! Faith simply receives, believes and rejoices in what the Lord has done. It
adds nothing to it.
Romans 5:10-11 "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
(11) And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."
Illustration: A Prisoner Receiving
Pardon.
When did the Lord do this? It is true,
God applies the pardon of sin at conversion. But our sins were laid upon Christ
and put away by him long before we believe.
A.
God the Father laid our sins
upon his dear Son, our Surety, in his eternal decree (Rev.
13:8; I Pet.
Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
1 Peter
1:18-21 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers; (19) But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot: (20) Who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, (21) Who by him do
believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your
faith and hope might be in God.
B.
God executed his decree, laying
sin upon his Son when he hung upon the cursed tree.
C.
God will never make another transfer
of sin!
Psalms
32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (2) Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose
spirit there is no guile.
Romans 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
There is not a moment in time, or a condition
possible, in which God will transfer sin back from Christ to his people. Sin,
once laid upon the scapegoat, is carried away into the land of forgetfulness,
never to be seen, or brought back, again! Our message is “DONE!” not “DO.”
"Nothing, either great
or small, Nothing, sinner, no;
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago.
Weary, working, plodding one,
Why toil you so?
Cease your doing; all was
done Long, long ago.
Till to Jesus' work you
cling By a simple faith,
"Doing" is a
deadly thing, "Doing" ends in death.
Cast your deadly
"doing" down, Down at Jesus' feet,
Stand in Him, in Him alone, Gloriously complete!"
VI.
CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD, THE
ONE UPON WHOM SIN HAS BEEN LAID, IS MIGHTY TO SAVE.
Read the text once more, laying all the weight and
emphasis of the text on one word. "The Lord hath laid on HIM the
iniquity of us all." This is of infinite importance. That One upon whom sin has been laid must have a back strong
enough and shoulders broad enough to carry the horrible load of iniquity,
without sinking beneath it. Were it possible for our Surety to fail we would be
utterly without hope. The comfort and hope of the gospel depends entirely upon
the ability of Christ to bear our sins, satisfy justice and execute his
gracious will. Therefore, it is written, "The Lord hath laid on HIM the
iniquity of us all."
Psalm 89:19 - Then spakest thou in
vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I
have exalted one chosen out of the people.
And of this mighty One it is written, "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till he have set judgment in the earth" (Isa. 42:4).
Who is this great "HIM" upon
whom iniquity has been laid? He is...
·
Jehovah's
Servant
(52:13).
Isaiah 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
·
The
Root Out of Dry Ground (v. 2).
Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him.
·
The
Despised and Rejected Man of Sorrows (v. 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.
·
The
Innocent, Holy Substitute (vv. 8-9).
Isaiah
53:8-9 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. (9) 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.
·
The
Successful Savior (vv. 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.
·
The
Sovereign Lord (v. 12).
Isaiah
53:12 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.
Here is the most wonderful, astounding, amazing
thing ever performed by our great God. "The Lord hath laid on HIM the
iniquity of us all." Sin is the most hateful thing in the world to
God. It is the only thing in the world God abhors. It is horrible, abominable, hideous in God sight. Yet, God made his lovely Son to be sin
for us! I am amazed to think that God made his Son to be a man, to be a poor
man, to be a suffering man, to be crucified man. But when I read that "he
hath made HIM to be sin for us, who knew no sin," I am
altogether astonished! This is too wonderful, too sublime, too mysterious, too divine for our puny brains to apprehend. Surely, such extraordinary work as this is
designed to accomplish extraordinary things. What are they? Why is it that "the Lord hath laid on HIM the
iniquity of us all”?
I cannot begin to answer such a question. We will, I
am sure, spend eternity discovering the answers to this great question. But
there are a few answers plainly revealed for our comfort, encouragement, faith,
and hope. God made his Son to be sin for us...
A.
That
He Might Be Satisfied!
·
To Satisfy His Purpose Of Grace
·
To Satisfy His Inflexible Justice
B.
That He Might Show The
World The Exceeding Horrid Loathsomeness Of Sin!
C.
That
He Might Commend To Us His Infinite Love!
John
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John
1 John 4:9-10 In this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him.
(10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins.
D.
That
We Might Be Made The Righteousness Of God In Him!
God was determined to have a people as pure, holy,
clear, and righteous as himself, in whom to show forth the glory of his grace
(Eph. 1:3-14; 2:7).
Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
E.
That Believing Sinners
Might Have A Strong Consolation In This World!
·
In The Midst Of Trial.
·
In The Midst Of Temptation.
·
In The Midst Of Sin.
·
In The Prospect Of Eternity.
F.
That
His Elect Might Be Freed From All Fear Of Condemnation!
(Rom. 8:1, 32-39).
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.
Romans
8:32-39 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (33) Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. (34) Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us. (35)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? (36) As it is
written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
(37) Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that
loved us. (38) For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, (39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
G.
That At The Appointed Time
Christ And His People Might Eternally Enjoy The Purchased Possession Of
Heavenly Glory And Bliss!
There is no possession laid up for God's saints in
glory, but by the laying of our iniquity upon Christ.
·
Not By Our Works!
·
Not By Our Faithfulness!
·
Not Even By Our Faith!
Tobias Crisp wrote: "No unclean
thing can enter into the kingdom of heaven. When we attain to the height of
sanctification, we remain yet unclean, for there is pollution in the best of
it. When we die, suppose we are more holy in life than any that went before us;
yet, there is not so much holiness of life in us, but that there remains still
some uncleanness, and unmortification of life in thoughts and practice, some
deadness and indisposition in our hearts and affections to holiness. And with
this unholiness, we lie down in the dust, if all our uncleanness were not laid
upon Christ, that so we might enter into rest, as perfect and complete in
him."
Revelation
Colossians
2:9-10 For in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. (10) And
ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
VII. THIS GREAT TRANSACTION OF WISDOM, JUSTICE, AND GRACE
WAS MADE FOR A SPECIFIC PEOPLE HERE CALLED “US
ALL”!
I must stop, though I have not yet begun to declare
the depths of our text. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all."
·
“Us all,” for whom the Son of God
obtained eternal redemption.
·
"Us all,” to whom it is revealed.
·
"Us all,” who were chosen by grace.
·
"Us all,” who are called by the
Spirit.
·
"Us all,” who believe.
·
"Us all,” who are now made free from
sin and death.
·
“Us all,” whom he calls “MY
PEOPLE”.
“The
Lord hath laid on
him
the iniquity of us all."
AMEN.
1
Date:
(PM 03/30/03)—
Tape # X-45a