Isaiah Chapter 53 Verse 6
· Not a man or a woman alive (or that ever has been) that could have saved themselves (well except Adam and Eve – before they sinned). All have gone astray. All need a Savior. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, bad news! But the good news, the gospel, (and here we have it 700 years before Jesus was even born), is that the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
· Here’s the thing about that. It’s not the fact that a person is imperfect or sinful that sends anyone to hell. What sends people to hell is the rejection of Jesus Christ. And I understand that’s technically a sin, in fact that is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, but the point that I’m making is that the blood of Jesus has sufficiently dealt with all sin from all people from all time. So, it’s not sin that keeps people out of heaven, it’s rejection of Jesus.
· Check this out, Jesus said in John 10:7-14, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”
· Jesus said twice in that scripture set this mysterious statement that He is the door. What if you came to church tonight and looked at the building, looked at the door, and just said, “nah.” “I reject that door, I’m getting in through some other way.” You’re not getting in! It’s really that simple. Jesus is THE Way, THE truth and THE life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
· This is wild. Your sin is forgiven. That gift has been signed, sealed, delivered and it was thousands of years ago. Isaiah tells us here even that the Lord has Laid on Him my and your iniquity…, but if we reject the gift, we reject the door and there is no other way… It’s really that simple.
· This is as many have heard and perhaps not fully grasped, what the Bible details as the one single unpardonable sin… Jesus revealed in Matthew 12:31-32, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” Why the Holy Spirit? Because His whole ministry is to testify not of Himself but of Jesus Christ being the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
· We all start out the same way, all we like sheep have gone astray, each one turn naturally to his own way…, but how we end up relies entirely upon what we do with the Door, what we do with Jesus Christ. And, sheep…, well they are stubborn and they are dumb and they are selfish…, can I just say, once you find the Good Shepherd, dumb and stubborn and turning after your own way should go… Jesus said, “I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” Stupidity and stubbornness towards the things of God are echoes of my fallen nature…, and should fall off as I trust in Him! Here’s another why…, those things lead us astray…
Isaiah Chapter 53 Verses 7 - 9
· He was crucified between two thieves, His grave with the wicked. And He was laid in a borrowed tomb. Borrowed from a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea. When questioned/interrogated by Herod, Jesus said not a word to Him, He opened not His mouth. And Pilate said of Him in Luke 23:14-15, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed, nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.”
· There’s a point here that I really like. Jesus was silent, He was not helpless. The people accusing Him and attacking Him, what if He had defended Himself? What if He had pleaded His case? Would they have listened? Would they have had some sort of heart change right there on the spot and begged Him for forgiveness? No way! Why not!? Wouldn’t that have been the right thing to do!? Obviously! So why not!? It’s one of the difficulties of this life…
· It’s not a state of irrationality, a state of stupidity, a case of ignorance or incapacity…., sin, the flesh, evil, cruelty and selfishness, these things blind people and they bind them. These things in some enigmatic spiritual way, control people! These things, especially selfishness, it’s like it turns the lights off and makes completely dark what is right…, and its one of the greatest evils we will all many times encounter in this life. (We are watching this happen to our culture!) No matter what you say, no matter what she hears or the pleading you offer with him, they will in no way, no chance, stop whatever evil they are spewing, stop the harming, listen and just stop…, ask for forgiveness… In some enigmatic spiritual stronghold, they CANNOT.
· So, what do you do? Well here comes the hardship. The more you do verbally, the worse things will become. Why? Because you are fighting a spiritual battle with physical means and that doesn’t work. So, what do you do. He was oppressed and He was afflicted…, in complete control and in perfect wisdom, He opened not His mouth. Every time you are in this hellish happenstance you have two choices. Defend yourself or let God defend you…
· Check this out, Psalm 62:5-6 says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” I know this, have seen this so many times in my own life, this verse, well, the end of this verse, “I shall not be moved,” only happens, that’s only the result IF I remain silent and allow the Lord to be my defense.
· AND, it comes after the altercation, not within…, AND, it’s the only way to walk away with a win… Because selfishness blinds…and it binds… There is NO WAY your opponent is going to snap-change in the moment, even if it is the obvious right thing for them to do. So, Jesus was silent, He was anything but helpless…
Isaiah Chapter 53 Verses 10 – 11
· How important is purpose to you? Is it more important than feelings? Interesting question. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him… That’s only more true than the truth that it destroyed the Lord to bruise Him also. A horrible day for God personally. His only begotten Son being terrorized, harmed, humiliated and ultimately killed. The personal pain no one will ever know but Him alone. And yet, the purpose, agreed upon by the Father and the Son before the dawn of creation. Planned and purposed… the joy of my salvation and yours outweighed in importance anything else…
Isaiah Chapter 53 Verse 12
· He was numbered with the transgressors so that I may be numbered with the great. That’s really what it all comes down to… Without what Jesus has done for me, my life is filled with obstacles, hardships, its tedious, troublesome and certainly a short time…, and then it gets even worse. As God is here, now, forever with all of us in the Person of the Holy Spirit and yet I pass from this world to the next carrying with me my iniquity, and the next life, God is not there…
· But because He has poured out His soul unto death, my soul has been redeemed unto life. So, this life is, as purposed and planned by God from the beginning, glory to glory, growth to growth, upgrade to upgrade as I learn of Him and then enter into what He has secured for me, life eternal in the presence of a God!