(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

the Lord revealed. 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. When we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He's 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. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. 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. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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 shears is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? If he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 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. 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 a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled 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. Let's pray. Dear Lord God, just thank you for the book of Isaiah, Lord, and we thank you for these great truths that we find in your word, Lord, and that all point to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Lord. We pray that you bless his service and every aspect of it. Please fill Pastor Mejia with your Holy Spirit, Lord, and pray that you're with us in the congregation tonight, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in Isaiah chapter 53 this evening, and we're continuing tonight with the Servant's Song, and of course this would be the last chapter that falls into that category of being the Servant's Song, and chapter 53 is an amazing chapter. It's probably the chapter that most people are familiar with when it comes to the book of Isaiah, and it's just saturated with prophecies regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Essentially the entire chapter has to do with his suffering. It's a very powerful chapter here, and in fact it's the famous passage that Philip the Evangelist used to win the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ in Acts chapter 8, so it's a powerful passage. Now look back at chapter 52, if you would. Chapter 52 in verse 14, this is really where the context of chapter 53 comes from. It says in verse 14, Of course, verse 14 and on is addressing the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fact that it says that his visage was so marred more than any man is obviously referring to the fact that he was beaten, he was smitten, he was scourged, he was bloodied. Of course, we know that he was crucified, and it's essentially referring to the fact that his beating was so severe that you couldn't really recognize him as just being a human being. That's how severe his punishment that he received for us was this side of eternity. So that is the context of chapter 53. Now look at verse number 1, if you would, of chapter 53. We're going to look at the report about the Savior that's continuing here. It says in verse 1, So again, he's talking about the visage being marred, the fact that he's gonna sprinkle his blood upon the nations, and then it says, who's gonna believe this? Who's gonna believe this report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Now, this should come, this should obviously be familiar to you, because this passage is quoted in the New Testament. And in fact, the New Testament answers this particular question, and the answer is the Gentiles. When it says, who hath believed our report, the answer the New Testament provides for us is that it's the Gentiles, the nations are the ones that are gonna believe the report of the prophet Isaiah. And in fact, he also goes on to say that Israel was the one that didn't obey the gospel, meaning that did not believe the report that Isaiah gave. So what we see here when he says, who hath believed our report, he's referring to the gospel. Because when he talks about the blood being sprinkled upon the nations, that is the good tidings of great joy, that is the gospel that's being preached. And unfortunately, the Israelites of the Old Testament did not believe that. They didn't hold to it as being true. And in fact, the Bible tells us that they did not obey the gospels, but the Gentiles did. Now, hold your place in Isaiah 53, and go to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, if you would. Romans chapter number 10, of course, is the famous passage that we use when we're out soul-winding. It kind of gives a systematic way of explaining salvation. It talks about the fact that we have to believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus. But I want you to notice verse 15, it says, And how shall they preach, except they be sent, as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and that bring glad tidings of good things. But I want you to notice verse 16, But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah, referring to Isaiah, saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now, before I move on here, I want you to notice that verse 17 is telling us that the way you get saved is by faith, right? And it's relating it to what Isaiah has said in the Old Testament, showing us that the salvation of the Old Testament is exactly the same as the salvation in the New Testament. People got saved in the Old Testament by placing their faith in the Christ. People get saved in the New Testament by placing their faith in the Christ, which is Jesus, okay? He goes on to say in verse 18, But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound, referring to the prophets preaching, went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. Verse 18 is essentially showing us that even the prophets of the Old Testament were scattered throughout the nations, preaching the word of God, getting Gentiles saved. So even then, the Gentiles were believing the report, right? Obviously, in a smaller scale than what we have in the New Testament, but nonetheless, the Gentiles of the Old Testament were also believing the report, even more so sometimes than even the nation of Israel. It says in verse 19, But I say, Did not Israel know? For Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation, will I anger you. But as Zias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me, but to Israel, he saith, All day long have I stretched forth mine hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. So what is this telling us? It's telling us the fact that the Gentiles of the New Testament are the ones who had the faith in the gospel, right? The gospel profited them being mixed with faith. They actually believed the report that those who were saved in the nation of Israel were giving of the coming Christ or the one who already came. Whereas Israel didn't believe. They were disobedient to the gospel, and they essentially, you know, went apostate. They weren't willing to listen. And in fact, it says that there were gainsayers and a disobedient people. So when Isaiah talks about who has believed the report, it's essentially saying like, Lord, I've preached the word of God to the Israelites, but who's going to believe this? You know, his visage was marred, and as we're going to see, he's been stricken of God. Who's going to believe this? Well, I'll tell you who won't believe it, and that is the Israelites, okay? And we see in the New Testament that it's the Gentiles who are the believers. And by the way, we got to carry this on to Romans 11, right? Because even though there's chapter breaks in the book, it doesn't mean that the thought, you know, concludes at the end of the chapter. It continues to go on to the following chapter. And in chapter 11 of Romans 11, I don't have it in my notes, he says, you know, what say I then? Had God cast away his people. And then he says, God forbid, for I am also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. And this is the Christian Zionist favorite verse, right? That's like their life verse. That's their salvation verse. That's like their John 3.16. And they're like, you know, God, had God cast away his people because this... But can we stick to the context though? Because of the fact that when he says his people, we got to define what his people means based upon the entire context of the book. And according to Romans chapter 9, his people is referring to the children of the living God. And who are the children of the living God? Those who are saved. Which is why when he says, had God cast away his people, God forbid, he uses himself as an example because even though Paul is of Israel, even though he's of the seed of Abraham, even though he's of the tribe of Benjamin, he's not going to get cast away. Why? Because he believed on Christ. He's part of the people of God that actually were grandfathered in from the Old Testament because he actually believed the report, okay? And so very important there. Go back to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. So already in the book of Isaiah, we already see a foreshadowing of replacement theology. And it's not something, you know, replacement theology isn't something that in the New Testament is just like a brand new thing as if no one knew about it. The prophets of old had already been prophesying about these things long ago. And in fact, Jeremiah specifically said that he was going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah. So if he's saying in the old covenant that he's going to make a new covenant, that would mean that the old covenant at some point or another would be made null and void because you can't have two covenants at the same exact time. One covenant, in order to conclude, there has to be the death of the mediator and in order for...excuse me, yeah, the death of the high priest. And then in order for another covenant to start, there also has to be a death of the mediator, which is Jesus Christ, the testator. So that new covenant brought in better promises and that was something that was already prophesied in the book of Jeremiah. Now, the Jews and the Israelites who were paying attention already knew that. That should be a non-controversial point to them. The only ones who are not paying attention is so-called Christians, okay? But I digress. Look at verse number 2, going on with the prophecy of Jesus Christ, it says, "'For he,' referring to Jesus, "'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.'" Now, this is very powerful if you think about it because what is it saying? Well, it's telling us that Jesus Christ, when he came in the first century AD, was not going to be an attractive person. That's very important. It's literally telling us that he's not going to have any comeliness. What does that mean? He's not going to be good-looking by human standards. He's not going to have any attractiveness. He's not going to be beautiful. What humans would consider to be a standard of being handsome for a man, he wouldn't actually possess those qualities. He wouldn't possess those attributes of a comely, good-looking person. And when it says no form, it means that he didn't have any features that made him distinctly unique or different. When it says he has no form nor comeliness, it's referring to the fact that if you lived in the first century, you know, when he's 30 years of age or whatever, later on, when you saw him, you wouldn't be able to pick him out of a crowd and say, oh, that's Jesus. Why? Because he had no form, meaning that he looked exactly like every other Jew in that time, okay? You know, he looked like a Middle Eastern, dark-skinned Jew. And the proof of that is the fact that when the Pharisees were trying to cast them down headlong, you know, he could just move through the crowd because he pretty much looked like everyone who was around there. And when they came to arrest him, right, you know, Judas had to point out who he was. You know, why didn't the soldiers come and say, oh, it's the long-haired dude. It's the six-foot, long-haired, blue-eyed, the real pretty-looking... Get the pretty-looking one, right? Now, this is important because this actually flies in the face of what the Roman Catholic Church depicts Jesus Christ to look like. You know, the Roman Catholic Church just places a European there for some reason. Just a really light skin, tall, lanky, victim weight, you know, just long hair, brown long hair, you know, just effeminate-looking guy. And that's not what he looked like at all. Now, see, the Roman Catholic Church did that because, you know, they obviously did not like Jews. They didn't like Jews because of the curse that came upon Jews throughout the centuries because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. And so they didn't want to depict Jesus looking as a Jew because they had a bias against the Jews. So that's why they made them look more European, more comely, more handsome, more attractive. And so a lot of Protestants even think that Jesus looks like that. It's crazy. But that is a man-made doctrine. That is a man-made depiction of Jesus Christ. And let me just be honest with you, you know, at the Second Covenant of Christ, I guarantee you a lot of unsaved Christians...I'm saying Christians, not because they're saved, just because they think that they're Christians, they're probably going to be disappointed when they see Jesus. You know, they're going to be like, who's this, you know? But I'm sure they'll be... That's probably one of the reasons why they'll accept the Antichrist, though, because the Antichrist will probably fit this bill of being comely, attractive, having physical prowess, you know, having that form, whereas Jesus Christ will not look like that, physically speaking. Obviously, we know he's going to come with power and great glory. And obviously, we know that to us, he's beautiful because he's God, right? He's wonderful, he's powerful, he's glorious. But from a human standpoint, he did not have those physical attributes. So this teaches us that Jesus Christ humbled himself to become a man in more ways than one, because he humbled himself by being born in Bethlehem's manger. There was no room for him in the inn. He was despised. People did not esteem him. But even in his physical form, he was not attractive. He had a humble disposition, a humble form. He looked like every other person. And the reason that's important is because he could have chosen to just look like, you know, a hunk or something, you know, just like he's like, you know, he's God. He could probably choose whatever features that he wanted, but he chose to forego those comely physical attributes because he was humbling himself to do so. And so, you know, if you have a picture of Jesus at your house, number one, what do you do with idolatry in your house? Amen. Number two, burn it. Isn't that sacrilegious? No, because it's not Jesus. First and foremost, that's Caesar Borgia, some European that the Roman Catholics or the Orthodox came up with, you know. It's not Jesus Christ. It doesn't depict him. And it's causing people to become desensitized and have a standard of what they think Jesus Christ looked like. And look, nowhere in the Bible does it give any descriptions of how he looks like. All it says here is that he wasn't comely. And all we can surmise is that he probably just looked like a Middle Eastern person of the desert, right? The only detailed description that we get of him is of his glorified state in the Book of Revelation that has a lot of symbolic representation. And by the way, you know, Jesus was not black either. What it says is his hair was of wool. It means he had nappy hair and therefore he was black. Hair like unto wool, okay? Like means it looks like that or it has a particular appearance of that, but it doesn't mean that he had nappy hair, okay? You know, obviously it's referring to his wisdom that he has. And so it's very important to note that that, according to the Bible, he was not physically attractive. He was not comely. And let me continue reading here. So he says in verse 2 that he hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. I mean, that's powerful. So essentially when people saw Jesus Christ they were like, oh man, who's this guy, you know? Oh yeah, this has to be...because obviously this is like in stark contrast to David. David is described as being comely, you know, Saul is described as being head, shoulders above everyone else. They are a choice young man. They have those physical attributes, whereas Jesus, when he came, you would just look right through him. You just see him and wouldn't even think, oh this is the Christ. Very powerful. Look at verse 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. Now I don't necessarily know exactly what that means. I can surmise and guess that maybe this is referring to the fact that not only was he not comely, but even by human standards he would be considered quote-unquote ugly. Because it's saying here we hid as it were our faces from him. Like they didn't even want to look upon him. It's one of the reasons they despised and rejected him. We don't know, but this is saying here that people hid their faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. So this kind of lends more veracity to the fact that people literally by faith had to believe that this was the Christ. Right? People literally had to walk by faith and not by sight because he did not have or possess the physical attributes that people would think, oh this is the Christ. It would literally have to be based upon the Word of God, his preaching, like okay this is the Christ. Not because of what he looks like, not because of his height, not because of the color of his skin, but rather because the gracious words that proceed from him, they would have to have faith in that. Okay? And so he was the complete opposite opposite of these prominent kings that we read about in the Old Testament such as David. Not esteemed. The Bible tells us in Philippians chapter 2 verse 7, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And so this might be one of the reasons why the Israelites didn't want to believe on him. Because they placed a heavy emphasis on the outward appearance. Right? You know, you see this commonly throughout the New Testament where even Nathanael, for example, when he was told hey come see the Christ, he's like can there any good thing come out of Nazareth though? You know, and Philip's saying to him come and see. You have, you know, the Pharisees that are saying, you know, no prophet can arise from Galilee. And just people despising him, not esteeming him as being the Word of God that was made flesh. So we see that he's despised, he's rejected. Now one of the reasons it's telling us this obviously is to kind of show the extent of his humility, the extent of his lowliness that he came to this earth with, but it's also showing us that we should not esteem these things as being important either. And we should not be surprised when we are rejected, when we are despised. We should not, it should not come as a surprise when we become a people of sorrow, when we become acquainted with grief. Why? Because our Savior was as well. Okay? So when we are despised, we are not esteemed in this world, when people hate us, hey we are in good company. If they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call they of his household? But we see that this is probably the reason why the Israelites when he first came did not esteem him. They thought that the Messiah should probably possess the physical attributes and prowess that some of these Old Testament monarchs had. And so again, I think a lot of these unsaved Christians of the end times are probably gonna be disappointed, like that can't be the Christ. This is the Christ, this Jew, you know? This guy is the one, I mean he looks like a Savior, he looks like the Christ. Look at verse 4, it says, Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, 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. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. So here we see the prophet is highlighting the propitiation that Jesus Christ was. The Bible tells us, If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sin, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Propitiation meaning that he's the one who received the wrath of God for us. He's receiving, he's being stricken and smitten of God, he's being punished for our transgressions. Now go with me, if you would, to 1st Peter chapter 2. 1st Peter chapter 2, hold your place there in Isaiah, because one of the most famous passages in this particular verse here, or these verses here in Isaiah 53, is when it says that by his stripes we are healed. And you have a lot of prosperity preachers, fake healers, that try to use this to, you know, claim that you can heal individuals. By his stripes we are healed, walk again! You know, they think they have these apostolic gifts, and many of them don't even, they know they don't have them. They're just a bunch of charlatans who are acting like, you know, or trying to portray themselves to be men of God in order to take advantage of the flock of God, to fleece the flock of God, you know. What is this referring to? Well, by his stripes we are healed is actually what's fulfilled when Jesus first came in a physical manner, but it's also fulfilled throughout, you know, from the time that he came all the way up until now through a spiritual manner, which is salvation. Okay, look at Matthew chapter 8. Where did I have your turn? 1st Peter or Matthew? 1st Peter. Okay, you stay in 1st Peter, I'm gonna read to you from Matthew chapter 8 verse 16. It says, When the even was come, they brought into him many that were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were sick. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities and bare our sickness, essentially summarizing or quoting Isaiah chapter 53. So when it says by his stripes we are healed, you know, it's obviously referring to the fact that when he first came he was able to perform these miracles that healed the deaf, the blind, the sick, those who are maimed, those who are hurting, those who had physical ailments, he was able to actually heal them in a physical manner. But here's the thing, many of those instances where he healed people were done with the intention of kind of showing us a symbolic representation of salvation, right? How salvation can heal us. You think about the fact that he healed the blind, right? Physically healing the blind. Well, what's the spiritual significance to that? Well, the Bible tells us that, you know, the unsaved of this world are blinded. Satan had blinded the minds of them which believed not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them. So we're blind, but once we come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it's like Jesus Christ touches those spiritual eyes and we can see now. I once was blind, but now I see, right? Same thing with the fact that he heals people who are deaf. You know, he heals the deaf and they can hear again, and the spiritual significance to that is the fact that prior to salvation we can read the Word of God and hear the Word of God, but if we're not saved, we don't understand it. We can't really discern what's being stated through those verses, but now that we're saved, we understand it. We can hear, our faith can be increased, you know, we can be taught of the Holy Ghost because Jesus Christ took us from being deaf to now hearing. He that hath an ear, let him hear. So obviously these people were physically healed, their miracles were actually performed, but the most important thing is the fact that it pictures salvation, okay? And look, let me just say that I do believe in miracles today. I believe people can be healed, that they can be healed of their being deaf and blind, the sicknesses. What I don't believe is that I can do it. I don't believe that you can do it. You know, I don't believe you can smack someone on the forehead and then boom, it's just, you know, oh I'm healed or whatever. You know, it doesn't exist and namely the people who actually practice this are the Charismatics, right? The Pentecostals. I remember years ago when I was younger, maybe about 11 or 12, I went to a Pentecostal church with that Pentecostal aunt that we all have, right? And you know, she's like, oh you're gonna see some demon exorcisms and some healings and I'm just like, well, and it was a circus, right? It was really scary and she's like, go up there so you can get exercise of your demons or something and I'm just like, excuse me? All right, so I went up there and, you know, the guy puts his palm on my forehead and I'm like 11 or 12 years old, you know, and he's like pushing it and then he's like praying, he's saying all this stuff and then he kind of whispers in my ear like, you need to fall back and I'm just like, I'm not gonna fall back, you know, that's kind of weird and then he's just like, just let yourself, just let yourself, you know, and I'm thinking to myself, I don't feel different, you know, it felt weird, it's felt nonsensical and it didn't feel genuine and a lot of that stuff is like that. Now, I'm not saying that people don't get possessed with demons because there are definitely demon-possessed people out there, but I don't think you can exercise a demon the way these people would or the way the Roman Catholic Church claims to do it, you know, I believe demons are exercised through the gospel because the Holy Spirit and a demon cannot possess the same vessel at the same time, amen. Once you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, he's permanently there, you're sealed until the day of redemption, all demons have to vacate and let me also say that just because a person is demon-possessed doesn't mean they're reprobate, okay, because the Bible teaches that there are certain people like Susanna who's possessed, right, Mary who's possessed with seven demons. When she got saved, she was healed of those seven demons and, you know, that never happened again, but I will say that reprobates are permanently sealed with demons though, just as like we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise for our faith in Christ, there are those who become reprobate who are permanently sealed with that demon until the day of damnation, but I'm not going to continue with that, so physical healing is the first fulfillment, spiritual healing is the second, look at 1 Peter 2 verse 24 quoting Isaiah 53, it says, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, meaning the cross, that we being dead to sins should live into righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed, for ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishops of your soul, the Bible says, so the Bible views unsaved people even as sheep, however, once they get saved, it's almost as if God depicts it as returning unto the bishop of their souls, referring to Jesus Christ, so through the stripes that Jesus Christ received through the scourgings and the beatings, you got to keep in mind that Jesus Christ allowed that upon himself to forgive you of your sins, to take the punishment that you and I deserve, and obviously the scourging, we would say like that's what I deserve, but quite frankly, biblically speaking, we deserve more than that, right, the scourgings that Jesus Christ received would be like an eternal scourging for us in hell, and he took that scourging for us, let me read to you from 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 19, it says 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, now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ said, be ye reconciled to God, 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, essentially referring to that replacement, right, that substitute, Jesus Christ became our substitute, took the punishment that we deserve, so that we would not receive that eternal damnation through his rejection, or the rejection of the gospel should I say, go back to Isaiah 53 if you wouldn't, Isaiah chapter 53, so he bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, and look these are great verses to think about when you're going through a hard time of depression and grief and sorrow, just remember like the Lord carried those griefs for you, remember that he bore those sorrows, he's acquainted, listen to this, with your grief, there's only so much we, there's only so much I or any other Christian can be acquainted with your pain and your sorrow, we can try, we can condescend to men of low estate, we can have apathy and even empathy towards you, we can weep with those that weep, but we're very limited in our acquaintance with your grief, there's certain people in this world that have griefs that some of you, myself included, will never understand, we will never experience, we'll never have that emotion or that pain, we will never go through that trial or tribulation, that difficulty, and we can pray unto the Lord and ask God to help us to be acquainted with that, and maybe he can provide us with some empathy for people like that, but quite frankly, none of us in this world can really empathize with everyone a hundred percent, right, whereas Jesus Christ can't, you know, whatever pain you've experienced, whatever sorrows, trauma that you've had, and you think like no one knows what I'm going through, well Jesus Christ does, he experienced the depths of sorrow and grief, he knows exactly what you've gone through, he knows the pain, he knows the sorrow, he knows the inner recesses of your heart and the pain, and in fact, his pain and his sorrow and his grief exceeds the most grievous pain that you've experienced, because quite frankly, no matter how hard we have at this side of eternity, we'll never be forsaken of God, like he'll never leave us nor forsake us, there will never be a time when God ever turns his face from us, right, there will never be a time where we can say, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me, and have it be true, right, because God will never leave us nor forsake us, oh, but with Jesus Christ, though, he was forsaken of the Father when he died, when he said, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me, he was telling the truth, that actually happened, you know, God the Father turned from Jesus Christ, because he became sin, and so he experienced the lowest depths of pain, sorrow, and grief more than any human being has ever experienced, and so we need to remember that, because sometimes we, you know, we can maybe grow resentful, bitter, and thinking that, you know, man, no one knows what I'm going through, and to a certain degree, that might be true with humans here on this earth, but it's not true with God, he's acquainted with your grief, he's acquainted with your sorrow, and so that's important to remember, don't forget that. Look at verse seven, it says, 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 dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Now, go with me to the New Testament, and let's go to Matthew chapter 26. By the way, this is very timely for us to go through this chapter, of course, because, you know, in a couple weeks we're gonna have Easter, and so it's good to kind of refresh ourselves on some of these things. Now, what is verse seven telling us about Jesus Christ? It's saying that, you know, he was wrongfully punished, he was wrongfully beaten, and oppressed, and afflicted, and really he had every right to defend himself. Like, he could have just opened his mouth, and made the most eloquent argument, and just destroyed everyone, right? But the Bible says he opened not his mouth. As a sheep before shearers is dumb, meaning, you know, mute, not speaking, he opened not his mouth. Look at Matthew 26 and verse 59, it says here, now the chief priests and elders and all the council sought false, excuse me, false witness against Jesus to put him to death, but found none, yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple and to build it in three days. The high priest arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. Now, obviously later on he begins to answer some of these things, but even in spite, you know, I just think about myself. If I was in that position, I'd be like, oh, you're done, because everyone here heard that sermon, and they know that I didn't say that, right? But he held his peace, and partly one of the reasons why he held his peace, it's a twofold reason. One of them is because of the fact that prophecy just needs to be fulfilled, right? He's gonna die. But secondly, he's showing us how to suffer as well. Even when you're justified, there's times when you should hold your peace. He says, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjured thee by the living God. What are you talking about? That is the living God. That thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said. So obviously when false accusations are coming to him, he's not gonna answer that. But when someone testifies of the truth, he's gonna answer that. Are thou the Christ, the Son of God? He's like, Thou hast said. He's bearing witness to the truth that's being spoken. Nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need we, need have we of witness, witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face and buffeted him, meaning they beat him. And others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? What a wicked, wicked trial. After he tells them the truth, they began to beat him. They're smiting him. We see in the other account that they cover his face and beat him and say, Try to prophesy that Christ. Who's the one who hit you? What is it showing us? It's showing us that he undeservedly received these things for us. He suffered shame, sorrow, pain, beatings, buffettings. Spitting in someone's face is probably the most shameful thing that you could ever experience. Getting spit on your face is super disgusting. Having someone spit in your face is probably the most reviling thing another human being can do to a human being in an argument, right? I had a kid spit in my face one time when I was younger. It was a friend of mine, actually. And we're getting in an argument or something, and I won. And he was just like, and he just spit in my face. And I wanted to kill him. Because it's such a disgusting gesture to spit in someone's face. And by the way, they still do that. They just don't do it to his face because he's not present, but they'll do it when his name is said in order to blaspheme him, in order to revile him. So they're still doing this. Go back, if you would, go to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. I'm going to continue reading from Isaiah 53. It says, 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? So it's specifically telling us in Isaiah chapter 53 that he's taken from the prison, he's taken from judgment, referring to that judgment night prior to his crucifixion. He's cut out from the land of the living, meaning that he was killed, he was crucified. And it says that it was for the transgression of my people was he stricken. Now this is very similar to what we see in John chapter 11. You don't have to turn there, verse 49. It says, And one of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. Essentially implying that this one man has to die for the sins of the nation, the transgressions of the nation, just as Isaiah 53 prophesied. It goes on to say in verse 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. Now what does it mean when it says that he made his grave with the wicked? Well obviously he's dying a criminal's death. His crucifixion is implying that he is dying as a criminal, and in fact he was crucified amongst criminals, right? So he, his grave is with the wicked, and it says that with the rich in his death. This is referring to the fact that Joseph of Arimathea, you know, gave his tomb to Jesus Christ, right? He essentially gave it to him so they can bury his body there. So he made his grave with the wicked, meaning he died amongst criminals, and with the rich in his death, meaning that he possessed the tomb of a rich man. It was a borrowed tomb, as the Bible says. Look at 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 20. It says, For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently. But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. So part of the reason why Jesus Christ allowed himself to be buffeted, to hurt, be afflicted, and not do anything about it, we have to see that he's fulfilling prophecy, but it's also to give you and I an example. Why? Because if you're buffeted because it's your fault, there's no glory in that. You know, you have these guys who go to these government buildings with a camera, and they're like, sir, what are you doing? You're like, oh, this is my right, you know, and they start quoting off all these penal codes or whatever, or whatever the law says, and I have the right to do this, my constitutional right, and they're just bringing controversy upon themselves. It's the stupidest thing ever. You know, and all they want to do, and I think we actually had a guy like that one time come here, and this is, I think we were going to Mexico? Barstow is where we were going. Were you with us? So there's like a guy, he was walking around, he had all kinds of cameras, right? He had one on his shoulder, he had his phone out, he had like three or four different cameras on him, right, and he just looked real suspicious, he had a mask on, and we're just kind of like, what's this guy doing? We're already heading out to go sowing in Barstow. So then, you know, he's coming to the building, he's filming, he's just like looking for, I don't know, trouble or whatever. So then we pull out, and he walks right in front of us, and he's like filming us, and he goes around to the driver's seat, I'm the one driving, and I roll down the window, I was like, what's up? And he's not saying it, he just doesn't say anything. So he's just kind of filming me, you know, and you know, hindsight is 20-20, I'm thinking what he wanted was for me to say, hey, you can't be here, or to say like, hey, you can't film me, but bro doesn't know that I'm like always before a camera though. It's just like, you know, and I'm like, what? And he's just like saying, he's just kind of standing there, and I'm like, that was boring. I'm like, I see you, and I just roll up the window, and I leave. So then he goes, and he filmed some more, and we drive around to the seat, and he just doesn't do anything. But what he was probably waiting for is some sort of controversy, where I'm like, oh sir, you can't be filming here? I don't care if people film me. People film me all the time. You know, in fact, what I should have done is just preach the gospel to the camera, and have him upload that. Look, if someone ever does that to you, and they're just like, you're on camera, be like, how's it going? I'm a Christian, let me show you how to be 100% sure that if you die today, you go down and just start preaching the gospel. And be like, yeah, hey, tag me on that one, when you upload that. They'll hate that, because they want people to kind of like lose their mind, lose their temper. I don't care if people film me. It's just another opportunity to preach the Word of God. And so the point that I'm making here is that a lot of people feel like it's glorious to be buffeted, but it's actually their own fault. Oh, I'm being persecuted. Yeah, because you're not working at your job. You're giving the gospel while you're on the clock. You're being buffeted for your fault, and there's no glory in that according to the Bible. The difference is that if you do well, the Bible says, you know, and take it patiently, that's acceptable with God. Look at verse 21, For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, meaning deceit, lies. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. And let's just be honest, you know, if these high priests were saying stuff to Jesus, he could have cooked them like right then and there. He's the Word of God. But the Bible says that he didn't revile. And this is important for me personally. I'm applying this to myself because I like to defend myself, you know, and so do you. We all do. But according to the Bible, the biblical model is that when we are reviled for doing well, we should not revile back. You know, when we suffer, we should threaten, not commit ourselves unto him that judgeth righteously. So we see that he suffered to leave us an example. Jesus Christ being the word of God who's made flesh. He didn't cause the angels to come and destroy them. He didn't send them straight to hell. He actually, as a sheep before shearers is dumb, he opened out his mouth. He allowed himself to be reviled, to be defrauded, to leave us an example. Go back to Isaiah. We're almost done here. Look at verse 10 in Isaiah 53. It says, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 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 iniquity. So this chapter is just saturated with the sufferings of Christ. Because prior to this, we saw the sufferings in that people despised him when they saw him. We see his suffering in the fact that he was lied about, reviled, born false witness against. He suffered in that manner. But we also see that he also suffered in hell. Because it's said that his soul was an offering for sin, pointing to the fact that when he was crucified, his soul went to hell for three days and three nights. And of course, the Bible tells us in Acts chapter two, that his soul was not left in hell, neither that his flesh seek corruption. And we see that Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross and going to hell, to burn in hell for those three days and three nights, he was fulfilling the Old Testament burnt offerings. And a lot of people have a hard time reconciling that in their minds. They think it's like blasphemous to say that. But, you know, they need to just kind of concede and just be humble and read the Bible and, you know, believe the King James Bible and read Acts chapter two and read Jonah chapter two and read the words of Jesus Christ that said, For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the well's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And read Ephesians chapter four that says, What is it that he ascended, but that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth? You know, they need to read Isaiah 53 that his soul was made an offering for sin. He went to hell for three days and three nights. You know, and it's crazy to think that a lot of these people who, by the way, the majority of them are dispensationalists, they hate the fact that we teach that Jesus Christ went to hell and they're willing to say, All men are of evil against us because we teach that what the Bible says. But why don't you go ahead and focus some of that energy on these Christ rejecting Jews who teach that Jesus Christ is currently in hell? That's way more blasphemous. We're teaching that he went to hell for three days and three nights. It's literally coincides with what the Bible says. But then you just turn a blind eye to the fact that their beloved Jews teach that he's currently in hell for practicing sorcery, causing Israel to commit idolatry and all manner of wickedness. And then, you know, he has this Lazarus or should I say, excuse me, rich man moment where, you know, he's given permission to speak out of hell and say, you know, oh, yeah, the Jews are the people of the apple of his eye. And, you know, anybody who curses the Jews is going to suffer the same faith that I have. It's literally what it says in the Talmud. Oh, yeah, but you want to get on us for teaching what Jesus said, that he was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. You know, why don't you go ahead and focus on what the Talmud says and go ahead and remove the star of RAMFEM from your platform there and actually be a Bible believing Christian. Very important. His soul was made an offering for sin. You know, I'm thankful for that. And in fact, when I preach the gospel, I tell people that. You know, I tell them, you know, he was crucified on the cross. He himself borrowed sins on his own body in the tree. And when he died, after I explained that when he died, his soul went to hell for three days and three nights. And the Bible says that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. And on the third day, what happened? They're like, he rose again from the grave. And you say, well, how do they react? When you say that he went to hell for three days and three nights. Let me look. This is what they do. That's what they do. Now, this is what dispensationalists do. The only people who freak out about that are dipsticks. Anybody else who has not been brainwashed or brain dirtied by Zionism and dispensationalism? It's just they don't bat an eye at it. You know why? Because it makes perfect sense. I can't even tell you how many like I've preached the gospel for many years. And of course, within the last maybe 10 years, I've included the fact that Jesus went to hell for three days and three nights because I didn't always believe that. But once I understood that that was what the Bible teaches, I would implement that, integrate that into my gospel presentation. And I'll be honest with you, the vast majority of people don't bat an eye on it. And in fact, it essentially reinforces the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. People appreciate it more. They recognize it. And here's the thing is that you tell them, like, because where would you go if you went, where would you go to pay for your sins if you didn't get? And it'll be like, oh, to hell. So that makes perfect sense. Like, I never get someone who's just like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow your roll there. Soul winner. What do you mean he went to hell for three days? None of them say that. To them, it makes perfect sense. Because it's biblical. So his soul was made an offering for sin, just as the Old Testament sacrifices were as well. Look at verse 12. We're almost done. He says, Therefore, will I divide him a portion with the great? This is his reward that he receives. And he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he has poured out his soul into death and he was numbered with the transgressors. So it's referring to the fact that his name shall be the name above every name. Right. That his name, every knee shall bow in heaven and earth. He's going to divide the spoil with the strong, referring to New Testament believers. Obviously, along with Old Testament believers who are serving God, he's going to he's going to divide the spoils in the millennial reign with the strong. And it says that he was numbered with the transgressors and he bared the sin of many and made intercessions for the transgressors. So here's the last passage we're going to go to. Go with me, if you would, to Luke chapter 23, Luke 23. And we're done there. Because these the latter portion of verse 12 is quoted in the New Testament. Let me read you from Mark Chapter 15 as you're going to look 23. It says in Mark 15, verse 27. And with him, they crucified two thieves, the one in his right hand and the other on those on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which sayeth and he was numbered with the transgressors. So it's essentially referring to the fact that when he was crucified, he was crucified in the midst of two criminals. He was numbered among them, essentially saying that he died a criminal's death. He he died a transgressor's death. But what it says in Luke 23, verse 32, it says, and there were also two other male factors led with him to be put to death. It says that when they were come to the place, which is Calvary, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him in the male factors, one of the right hand, the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. So in Isaiah 53, when it says that he was numbered with the transgressors, it's referring to those thieves. And it says that he bared the sins of many and made intercessions for the transgressors. So as he's dying a transgressor's death, he is likewise praying for the transgressors. How is he doing it? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now, I believe that that prayer was answered. Because look at verse thirty nine. It says in one of the male factors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying if thou be the Christ save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuking rebuked him, saying, Does that not fear God? Seeing thou are in the same condemnation. We indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man had done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto thee, today shall thou be with me in paradise. Man, that guy dodged. He dodged it. Yeah. Because you got to think about this. He's on the cross. What about the thief? His buddy in just a couple of hours is going to go to hell. He's about to go to hell. But in humility. You know, he basically asked the Lord to be a savior. He said, Well, I don't see like the exact wordings. Yeah, but Jesus Christ knew what he meant, though. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He's like, Today thou shall be with me in paradise. Oh, you think people can just get saved at the last moment? Oh, yeah. This guy got saved at the last moment. For sure. And, you know, obviously the stupid example that people give. So someone was just a mass murderer. Well, first of all, back it up here. A mass murder is probably a reprobate, so that's a different category. But you want someone who just made a lot of bad decisions like this thief suffering the earthly consequences of their actions. And has no idea of the gospel, but then sees the gospel, hears the gospel, they get saved. Yeah, they can for sure. They will go to heaven. Well, that's not fair. Well, guess what? You're not God. You know, what's fair is that that guy goes to hell and so do you. That's what's fair. What's fair is that you deserve to split hell wide open. How about that? But, you know, in faith, this man asked to be saved. And he says, Today thou shall be with me in paradise. And you know what? This thief? One of us or someone throughout history is going to rule over him. Probably. Because he didn't do any works. Although there's a possibility that because we use them as an example for so many, you know, thousands for like 2000 years, he might have gotten some good rewards from that, you know. That's a possibility, too. I don't know. But you know, if all he got was salvation, amen to that. So this prayer was definitely answered. When he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. This man ended up coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He got saved. And of course, we know that means that he was forgiven of his sins. Isaiah 53 is a powerful chapter that really delves deep into the sufferings of Christ. You know, and you know, we know we may not be like the thief on the cross, but we've we all share that same salvation, though. We got saved. You know what? The Lord saved us and thank God for that. And so let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for Isaiah 53 and the powerful, powerful imagery that we get here. Thank you for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for everything that he took upon himself to save us, Lord. And it just never gets old and never gets old. The message of the sufferings of Christ never gets old. And I pray that, Lord, you help us as your people to just ruminate upon those things. May you create within us a swelling joy of the fact that we're saved, Lord. Sometimes we just don't think about it enough. The fact that our sins were forgiven. Any one of us could have just slipped into hell. Before we heard the gospel and believed it. Lord, thank you, because many of them, many people today went to hell. There's a lot of people today that just died and went to hell. Maybe they never got a clear presentation of the gospel. Maybe they didn't. They rejected it. But yet here we stand as people who believe the gospel. Someone came to us and I pray that you'd help us as your people out of a heart of gratitude. May we glorify you. But we also take the responsibility to go out there and tell someone else about it. Love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.