We are the triumphant ones. That's what that means. All the spoils that Christ won at the cross, all that he possesses of the eternal glories of the new heaven and the new earth will be our possession as well. We will reign on earth in the millennial kingdom with him. We will sit on thrones with him in the glories of the new heaven and the new earth.
Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. John Wesley said this. He said, I am soon to drop into eternity and I want to know one thing, the way to heaven. Of course, the way to heaven, through faith alone in Christ alone, is explained in the New Testament, where Jesus Christ is undeniably the focus.
But does that mean the Old Testament says nothing about Christ and the salvation He makes possible? Nothing there to deepen what you understand about what the Lord accomplished for sinners like you and me? Consider that today as John MacArthur continues his look at Isaiah 53, the mountaintop of the Old Testament. The title of John's Study the Gospel According to God. And now here's John with the lesson.
When we began this study, I introduced to you the fact that the truth. In this chapter. would answer The most important Essential vital, critical question that can ever be asked. What is the question? Question is this.
How can a sinner Be forgiven fully. and reconciled to holy God. and thus escape eternal hell. and enter eternal heaven. That is the question of all questions.
It is the supreme religious question. For which No system of morality. No mystical spirituality, and no religion has an answer other than Christianity. And the Bible is written to give that answer. If you take that question and that answer out of the Bible, The Bible is like any other book.
It is for this question and this answer that Holy Scripture was revealed. And as far as the Old Testament is concerned, it is nowhere answered more clearly. Then in Isaiah So here is a word from Yahweh, a word from Jehovah. Declaring the answer to life's supreme question: How can a sinner be forgiven fully and reconciled to God, being delivered therefore from eternal hell to eternal heaven. The answer of God is through the death of the righteous one who dies in the sinner's place, paying in full the penalty for sin.
Let's look more closely at it. God is the speaker. Yahweh, God the Father, is the speaker again. And he introduces his Servant again. My servant, he calls him in verse 11, and that's what he called him when he introduced him back in 52:13.
My servant, the servant of Jehovah. That messianic title we're familiar with. But I want to focus at the righteous one. The righteous one. There is only one who could bear that title.
One in this world, one human. One man who could bear that title, the righteous one. And that is such a marvelous Old Testament designation of the Messiah that it was familiar to the New Testament believers who knew the Old Testament. For example, Peter preaches this great sermon in the third chapter of Acts. And he draws down that title.
He says: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his slave Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. But you disowned the holy and righteous one. The Righteous One. He's the only righteous one. Stephen preached that great sermon before he was crushed beneath the bloody stones.
And he says Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute to the Jews? They kill those who had previously announced the coming of the righteous one. The righteous one. That had become a messianic title. In the 22nd chapter.
Paul reiterates his testimony about the Damascus Road, and he says, I went to the house of Ananias. And Ananias spoke to me about The righteous one. Back then to the 53rd chapter. God also establishes this title here. by calling his servant the Righteous one.
The only one who was wholly, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, in whom there was no sin, of whom he said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am what?
Well pleased.
So here is God speaking of His son His slave The righteous one And he says this. By his knowledge, he will justify the many. The many meaning those who believe. The many meaning The people of God, the many, meaning those for whose sins he died. and atoned He will justify, that is, he will provide righteousness for them.
He by his sacrifice By taking on their sins, will be able to grant them his righteousness. We understand the doctrine of justification, that He dies the righteous one. to justify Many sinners. The phrase that I do want to focus on, because you know those other things, is by his knowledge. Whose knowledge are we talking about there?
It can go either way in Hebrew. It could be by his knowledge, and that's what's kind of implied in the NAS: by his knowledge, meaning the servant, the righteous one, he will justify many. It could be referring to his knowledge of God's plan, his understanding of God's plan, the perfect wisdom that he possessed. Isaiah makes a point in chapter 1 and chapter 5 about the Israelites lacking knowledge. He makes another very strong point in the 44th chapter of Isaiah about the nations lacking knowledge.
So maybe here he's saying, but the righteous one has the knowledge that it takes to do. God's will and to provide justification for the many. Problem with that is, it wasn't by his knowledge that he justifies us, it was by his what? By his death. The Hebrew would allow us to translate it this way.
By The knowledge of Him The righteous one, my servant, will justify the many. Justification will come to those who know him. who know him. It is best to interpret this as our knowledge of Him, of His person, of His work. Of his provision in his death and resurrection.
The gospel, here God validates the great commission. Here God says that he will justify the many who have the knowledge of him. Neither is there salvation in any other name. No man comes to the Father but by me. Listen, in Romans 10, Paul is hovering around Isaiah when he writes.
And even makes reference to several portions of Isaiah. And Paul says this. He says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord, Romans 10, will be saved. But then he says, how will they call on him Whom they Don't believe. They can't.
Then he says, how will they believe on him? whom they have not. Heard. And then he says, How will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they're sent?
And then that wonderful statement: how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. It's only the ones who know him. Who can be saved? And that's what it's saying. Bye.
The knowledge of Him. The righteous one, my servant. He will Justify. The many. That's why we go to the ends of the earth with the gospel.
That's why we preach to every creature. There's no other way for them to be saved. Israel Is not saved because they're Jewish. Because they're monotheistic. They won't be saved until, as individuals now in the age of the church or in the future, at the end of the age, they look on the one they've pierced and mourned for him.
and confess him as Lord. Here is God's testimony to the urgency of proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. The many The people for whom Christ died. Can only be saved when they hear because saving faith comes, Romans 10, by Hearing the message concerning Christ. Faith comes by hearing The word Concerning Christ.
That is our mandate. And that mandate is given to us here by God himself. There is then Placed right in this very chapter, the Great Commission. and the call to faith. Faith based on knowledge of the true revelation of Christ.
And then God says this. Knowing him. In a saving way. Knowing him In penitent faith. will justify The many.
How? How can knowing him Justified because he will bear their iniquities. God believes. in the doctrine of justification. God believes in the doctrine of imputation because God ordained it.
He has more to say. The second half of verse 12. These are the words of Jehovah Yahweh Speaking again of his servant the righteous one, He poured out himself to death. It's always, the verbs are always willing verbs. He poured out himself to death.
Like back in verse 7, he was oppressed and he allowed himself to be afflicted. His willingness is replete through this entire portion of scripture. Literally it means he handed his soul over to death.
So God is echoing the confession that we've read. From the Jews. Yes, he handed himself over to death. Then this wonderful statement. and was numbered with the transgressors.
Literally, in the Hebrew, it means he let himself be included among transgressors. In fact, Jesus quotes this in Luke 22:37 before he got to the cross. Quotes these very words. It is a reference to his incarnation. That he was literally embedded among transgressors.
He lived among transgressors. He mingled in this world. And from a visual standpoint, he didn't look any different than anybody else. There was nothing about him that drew them. to the conclusion that he was supernatural.
That was part of the problem when he did miracles. There was such a disconnect between what he appeared to be and the power that he had that they decided, in their unbelief, that that was the power of Satan somehow operating through him. Here God affirms the Incarnation. Here God Himself, in His own words, Says he came down and let himself be embedded in. The world of fallen men.
This is Philippians chapter 2, that he humbled himself, took upon the form of a man. A servant And took on deaths. Even the death. of the cross.
So, it's not about his death with criminals. It's about the fact that he came to take his place with sinners. And though He became familiar with sinners, though he would be counted as human among the transgressors, yet He himself Was able to do what no human being can do, and that was bear the sin of many. Though he was blended in with sinners in the world. Yet he was the only one qualified to rise above them.
and be the sacrifice for their sins. He is the righteous one. God. Embedded in humanity, the God-man. And he appears to be like all the rest.
But he is capable of lifting up their sins. And, like the scapegoat of the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16, carrying them away. And that reference is made several times, as you know, in this chapter. And A final word from the father about his Death. and his resurrection even.
Last line interceded for the transgressors. interceded for the transgressors. I wish the translators had used in the NAS mediated The word means mediated. It means to mediate, to go between, to stand between. And this is the statement of God that Christ is the one who is between God and men.
1 Timothy 2.5, there is one what? Mediator. Between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Yes, in that mediation he is the intercessor. He is the one who pleads our case.
He is the one who is the bridge to God, the bridge to heaven. He made the required mediation possible through his death. His mediation began for us. Really, in the New Testament, in John 17, before he got to the cross, when he prayed that high priestly prayer the night he was betrayed, and he began to pray for us. He began to pray in that incredible prayer that God would bring us all to heaven, that all that belonged to Him throughout all of human history would be gathered together and that they would all be brought to glory where they could see Him in His glory and see the glory of the Father.
Then he began interceding for those for whom he died. But there's a very important sort of Hebrew note to make about the verb. interceded It's an imperfect verb meaning continuous. Continuous. All the previous verbs are perfect tense, which means a completed action.
If you go back three verbs. He poured out himself to death. That's completed. He did that once. He was numbered with the transgressors.
That's his incarnation. He did that once. He bore the sin of many, that he accomplished on the cross, never to be repeated. Those are completed. Perfected.
But his intercession is imperfect because it goes on. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He's ever our defender. He's ever our intercessor He's ever and always. our mediator until we finally Get to heaven.
Hebrews 7.25, Romans 8.34 celebrate the mediating, interceding work of Christ.
So, God Himself, then, in that section, affirms the vicarious substitutionary sacrifice of Christ as the only offering that can satisfy his justice and provide salvation for sinners and bring to them justification. That is to say, they are declared righteous by God. That only comes to those who know him. To know him, that is how that justification takes place individually. And the knowledge of him is therefore critical.
That then becomes the mandate for us to spread the knowledge of Him to the world. This is a confession the Jews will one day make. This is a confession we have already made. And this is a confession that God himself affirms. That finally brings us to the last word.
Verse 12, We have looked at the startling servant, the scorned servant, we have looked at the substituted servant, the silent servant, the slaughtered servant, and here is the sovereign servant. Beginning of verse 12. Therefore, I'll allot him a portion with the great. And he'll divide the booty with the strong. Resurrection, of course, is implied.
Because he's now going to be rewarded. After the suffering, the satisfaction. After the sorrow, the salvation. After the death, the deliverance. After the gore, the glory.
After the pain, the pleasure. After the thorns, the throne. After the cross, the crown. The first coming in humiliation, the second coming in exaltation.
So the text ends at the second coming. The text ends where it began in 52:13. He will prosper, be high, lifted up, greatly exalted, startling nations, silencing kings. The text ends with a triumphant victory parade as the Lord God Himself sets His servant on the throne. And rewards him with all the spoils of his conquering triumph.
He is exalted. He is all glorious. He is set on a throne. This is Revelation 11, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. This is Revelation 19, when he comes on a ride, a white horse with all the saints to judge and make war against the ungodly and then to establish his glorious kingdom on earth for a thousand years, followed by the eternal new heavens and new earth in which he reigns and is forever exalted.
This is powerful royal imagery. This is the image of a conquering hero who returns with all the spoils of his triumph, having overpowered all the hostile forces. and embarrassed all the petty kings He comes triumphant. And God declares two things about him. I'll allot him a portion with the grate.
And I'll divide. The booty with the strong. This is a magnificent statement. We would expect him to say I will give him everything. That's true.
I will exalt him. As Paul says in Philippians, I'll give him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. And that name, by the way, is not Jesus, it's the name of Jesus, Lord. That's the name that makes us bow. We would understand it if he said, I'll give him everything, and he will give him everything.
But that's not the emphasis here. The emphasis here is about sharing. I will allot him a portion with the great. Divide the spoil with the strong. Who are the great and who are the strong?
What? That's us. How did we become great and strong? When we are um insignificant and weak. Actually, the word for great is harabim.
literally means the many. The many. The many He justified. We've seen that word many already. He will justify the many.
End of verse 12. He bore the sin of the many. Here's the many. Therefore, I'll allot him a portion with the many.
Well, why does the translator take it from the many to great? Because by that time, we will have been made. Great. You say, are we going to be exalted? We are.
We're going to become heirs of God, Romans 8, 17, and joint heirs with. Christ, everything he possesses, we will possess. Is not this the magnanimous grace of God? That we don't sit in eternity. In some sense, impoverished.
Watching Christ enjoy all the rewards. but that everything that He possesses is ours to share. This is the extent of God's massive grace. He divides the spoils with the strong. Who are the strong?
They are the weak made strong. We are the many made great, and we are the weak made strong. We are the triumphant ones, that's what that means. We march in his train. I wish I had time to go to the book of Corinthians, where Paul says, we march in the triumph.
All the spoils that Christ won at the cross, all the redeemed of the ages, will be part of a communion of fellowship everlasting that will enrich our lives. All that He possesses of the eternal glories of the new heaven and the new earth will be our possession as well. We will reign on earth in the millennial kingdom with him. We will sit on thrones with him. And we will reign forever and ever with him in the glories of the world.
of the new heaven and the new earth. And everything that is his will be ours.
So the promise of Isaiah is the future generation of Israel will be saved finally in the end. And this will be their confession. And God Himself affirms that this confession is a true understanding. of the work of Christ on the cross. But this confession must be your confession.
to repent of your sin. to know what Christ has done. to embrace him. in faith As the substitute who took your place, to confess him as risen Lord. is to be saved.
is to be saved. Whoever calls on his name will be saved. and escape eternal hell. and enter eternal heaven. This is the only question.
that has An answer. that effects You. Forever. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. John's current study is called The Gospel According to God.
Well, friend, if there's one thought to leave you with to day, it's this the Gospel is not just a New Testament doctrine. Isaiah fifty three makes that clear. Here's what John had to say about that The gospel is crystal clear. In the Old Testament. If you trace through the Old Testament, you begin to see the Gospel.
But when you come to Isaiah 53, all the threads of the gospel are pulled together in one. prophecy that the Spirit of God gave to the prophet Isaiah. Again, what I'm saying is you can see the threads of the gospel. You can see the fall of man, sin, the curse. You can see that God is going to provide a substitute, an innocent victim in the sacrificial system.
And you can follow all of the flow of those kinds of things. And it's still a little hazy, I think. Boy, when you get to Isaiah fifty three The fog disappears, and it is so systematic, it is so historical, it is so chronological, it is so sequential and so clearly described the details of the sacrifice of Christ and the significance of that sacrifice that it is absolutely unmistakable. I would say this. that no Christian should miss the power of this chapter.
I would suggest that every believer memorize this chapter. Uh if you memorized Isaiah fifty three, you would have the gospel On the edge of your lips all the time to give to anyone. You say, well, how do I share the gospel with someone? Recite Isaiah 53. It's all there.
It's a pretty powerful affirmation of the inspiration of Scripture as well. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the first time I ever heard the gospel. Preached. It was from Isaiah 53. And I remember that night clearly, just realizing that the gospel was so clear in Isaiah erased from my brain any doubt I ever had that the Bible was the Word of God.
Yeah, I've gone far enough to say. I think it is the single greatest proof of the inspiration of the Old Testament. That is to say that God is the author. There's nothing there. That anybody could ever know.
apart from the divine knowledge. If you're at all wavering on whether the the Word of God was written by God, that chapter will take away that doubt for sure. Yes, it will, and I encourage you to strengthen your confidence in God's Word and equip yourself to give the Gospel to others by downloading John's series on the Gospel according to God for free. You'll get every lesson we've aired on the radio and even more teaching that we just didn't have time to air.
So pick up the MP3s and the transcripts of this series from our website today. It's free. Our web address is gty.org. Again, all 10 sermons from the Gospel According to God are available free of charge. Get them today at gty.org.
And an excellent study tool I want to mention, one that can really help you know the scriptures, understand how everything from Genesis to Revelation fits together and can guide you in every part of your life. The MacArthur Study Bible, with its 25,000 footnotes written by John. You'll learn God's Word like never before. We think it's the best Bible study resource in one volume that you can own. Order your copy of the MacArthur Study Bible when you call 855 Grace.
That's our phone number one more time: 800-55 GRACE. Or you can shop online at gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace to U staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Watch Grace TU Television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378. And then be here Monday when John MacArthur launches a study that can fill you with new gratitude over God's work in your life. and that can help draw you close to the Lord if you're feeling distant from Him. Tune in for our great salvation.
It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time on grace to you.
