Isaiah's Vision Concerning Christ

This is Monday evening, April 8th, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given through Brother Stephen Kahn. Will you please turn to Isaiah, chapter 52.

We'll begin with verse 13. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and be lifted up and be very high, as many were astonished at thee.

His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the children of men. So shall he astonish many nations. Kings shall shut their mouth at him, for what has not been told them shall they see, and what they have not heard shall they consider.

Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor lawfulness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and left alone of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their faces, despised and we esteem him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and we, we did regard 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 strength we are healed.

All we like sheep had gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep done before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from oppression 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. And man appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him, he had subjected him to suffering.

When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul, and he shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant instruct many in righteousness, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I assign him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he has poured out his soul unto death, and was reckoned with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Last night we saw the Lord on the throne in his temple, and there you'll find the seraphim crying, holy, holy, holy, he is the Lord of hope. The whole earth is filled with his glory.

How necessary it is for us to catch this vision. How we need to see the Lord, not only in his house, but on the throne of his house. We who are the Lord, we are his house, and we need to see him highly lifted up on the throne of his own house.

Then we will understand the meaning of holiness. Brothers and sisters, I wonder if we know what holiness really is. Or may I put it this way, do we know what righteousness is? To a certain degree I believe we who have been justified reckon as righteous before God.

We know what righteousness is. But as a matter of fact, righteousness is something that we need to continue to learn to know. But what is holiness? Do we see the holiness of the Lord? If we catch a vision of his holiness in his house, dare we to act carelessly? How we will seek his face? How we will be before him on our faith? Because he is holy.

There is none else but him. How we need to surrender our whole being to him and lift him up as the holy one of Israel. We need to have such a vision.

Because only after we have caught such a vision, then if the Lord shall entrust us with anything, we will in no way change it or corrupt it. He is able to manifest himself through us and that is the reason why Isaiah must saw the law before he heard the calling. Now this morning we shared together on another vision of Isaiah.

And it was the vision concerning Judah and Israel. Judah and Jerusalem. God had a controversy with his people.

And the controversy was stated at the very beginning of the book of Isaiah. God said, I have raised you up. I have nurtured you, nourished you as my children.

But you rebel against me. Our relationship with God is a relationship of father and children. And in that relationship, that which God requires is obedience.

And I'm afraid this is the one thing that we do not give him always. We try to give him all kinds of things. Like the children of Israel at that time.

They try to offer sacrifices. They try to burn incense. They try to declare a holy convocation.

But they wearied God with all these things. Why? Because what God demanded of them was just one thing, obedience. Does God have a controversy with us today? Do we know what is it that God does require of us? Are we trying to substitute obedience with many other things? To obey is better than sacrifice.

But thank God, in spite of our conditions, if we only see God's purpose concerning his people, you'll find how glorious it is. Now, this evening, we would like to come to the third vision of Isaiah. And as a matter of fact, this is the vision of Isaiah.

The book of Isaiah has 66 chapters. But of the 66 chapters, 47 chapters are either directly quoted or indirectly alluded to in the New Testament. 21 times the name of Isaiah was mentioned in the New Testament.

There is no prophet more quoted by our Lord and his disciples than the prophet Isaiah. Of all the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah is the most evangelical of all prophets. So sometimes we call him the Paul of the Old Testament.

Why? Because God has given him such a vision of Christ. Now, remember, Isaiah lived about 800 years before Christ. And yet he had received such a vision of Christ.

You can find nowhere in the Old Testament where the vision of Christ is so complete. Our Lord Jesus said, Isaiah saw his glory. Therefore, he spoke of him.

Not our Lord Jesus, John. In John chapter 12. In John chapter 12, verse 41, you find it is recorded there, Isaiah saw the glory of Christ.

And because he saw the glory of Christ, he spoke of him. Of course, physically, he did not see the Lord. Because Christ was born 800 years later.

But in the Spirit, he was shown such a vision of Christ. He saw his glory. And therefore, he spoke.

And you know, in the same way, Abraham looked forward to the day of Christ. Even though he lived so long before. So in Isaiah, we find the fullest vision of Christ.

The whole book of Isaiah is filled with the vision of Christ, the Messiah. The Savior. Sometimes we say the book of Isaiah is divided into two parts.

The first part is from chapter 1 through chapter 39. The second part is from chapter 40 to chapter 66. And we often say the second part is messianic in nature.

Now that is true. And of the second part especially, you find not only a description of the deliverance of the Lord, but a very full description of the Deliverer that is Christ. I would like to go through very briefly, just to give us a kind of background.

Background. How much Isaiah knew of Christ as we find in this book. So I would just very briefly mention several points.

And after that, we would like to concentrate ourselves on that portion that we read in the beginning. Number one. Isaiah was given the vision of God's promise of a son.

In Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder.

And his name is called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom.

To establish it and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of Hope will perform it. Here you'll find Isaiah was given a vision of Christ.

Now who this Christ will be? Unto us a child is born. But this child is the son given. He is the son of God.

And yet the son is given to us. As God gave his son to us, a child was born. And this child is destined to sit on the throne of David.

Upon him, upon his shoulder shall be the government. And his name shall be called Wonderful. You know the name Wonderful is God's name.

His name shall be called Wonderful. He is God, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. Everlasting Father shall be Father of Eternity.

Why? Because this is his title, Father of Eternity. Just like we say Washington is the father of United States of America. This son that is given, this child that is born is called the Father of Eternity.

That is to say he is the beginning, the origin, the giver, the source of eternal life. The Father of Eternity and the Prince of Peace. He shall sit upon the throne of David.

He shall receive his kingdom and there is no end. Now of course, this speaks of God's promise. The promise of a son and this son shall be born as a child.

Now if you refer to the New Testament, for instance Luke chapter 1, verse 31 through 33. Luke chapter 1, 31 through 33. And here you'll find the angel Gabriel appear to Mary.

And the angel said to her, fear not Mary for thou has found favor with God, 31. And behold thou shalt conceive in the womb and bear a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called son of the highest.

And the Lord God shall give him the throne of David, his father. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for the ages and of his kingdom. There shall not be an end.

800 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah prophesied of the son coming as a child. And 800 years later you'll find in the word of Gabriel to Mary that promise was fulfilled. Number two, Isaiah was given an understanding that this Christ shall come out of the stock of Jesse.

That is to say he is to be the son of David. And this is found in Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1. And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse. And the branch out of his roots shall be fruitful.

And the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah, and his delight will be in the fear of Jehovah. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity the meek of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked, and so on and so forth until you see the millennium kingdom.

Christ shall come out of the stock of Jesse. He shall come out from the household of David. He is the son of David and yet he is greater than David.

David called him Lord. The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make all thine enemies thy foes. And of course, if you open the New Testament, the first verse tells us, the genealogy, the generation of our Lord Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

And Isaiah was given that understanding 800 years ahead of time. Number three, how will this Christ be born? This Christ shall be born of a virgin. And this is also found in Isaiah chapter 9, and you know the occasion, chapter 7. The king of Syria and the king of Israel, they were planning a war against the king of Judah.

And Ahaz was frightened because two kings were in ally against him. But the Lord sent Isaiah to king Ahaz and told him that these two kings will all be destroyed. But king Ahaz did not have faith.

He did not believe in God. So God, through Isaiah, gave Ahaz a sign. He allowed Ahaz to choose a sign.

So you find here the Lord spoke again to Ahaz and said, As for thee, a sign from Jehovah thy God. As for in the deep or in the height above, give him a choice. Why does God give signs? Sign is for those who do not believe.

For the sign to make you believe. So here God was going to give a sign to Ahaz so that he might believe in what God said. And here you'll find Ahaz pretended to be very godly.

He said, I will not ask. I will not tempt him of the Lord. Actually, he had no faith in the Lord.

So the Lord said here, house of David, Is it a small thing for you to worry, man, that ye worry also my God? Therefore will the Lord himself give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son and call his name Emmanuel. And of course, when you read Matthew or Luke, the birth of our Lord Jesus, you'll find in Matthew chapter one, verse 22, 23.

Now all this came to pass that might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted God with us. Christ shall be born of a virgin. And this was fulfilled.

Number four, this Christ was given as a great light. Those that sit in darkness shall see great light. And this you'll find in Isaiah chapter nine, verse one.

Nevertheless, the darkness shall not be as when the distress was in the land at the time he at first lightly and afterwards heavily visited the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the land, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light has shown and so on and so forth.

And this you'll find the fulfillment in Matthew chapter four, verses 13 to 16. When the Lord came out to preach the gospel, he traveled in the land of Galilee. And there a great light shone in the land of darkness.

Number five, I think we have to hurry on. Number five, you'll find the spirit of the Lord was upon him. Isaiah 61, verses one to three.

The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me because Jehovah has anointed me to announce glad tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and opening of the prison to them that was bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn. The spirit of the Lord was upon him and he was to declare the glad tidings.

And the fulfillment of that you'll find in Luke chapter four, verses 16 through 19. Number six, the Lord had called him from his womb. In Isaiah 49, listen O Isles unto me and hearken ye people from afar.

Jehovah has called me from the womb. From the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name. And he had made my mouth like a sharp sword.

He has concealed me under the shadow of his hand and he had made me a polished sheath. In his quiver has he hidden me. And he said unto me, thou art my servant Israel in whom I will glorify myself.

And I said, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for not any vain. Nevertheless, my judgment is with Jehovah and my work is with my God.

How powerful is the word of the Lord. When they listened to him, they said they have never heard anyone who has spoken with such authority. And yet people rejected him.

In spite of people's rejection, you remember the Lord lift his eyes to heaven and said, Father, I praise you, I thank you for this is your will. My judgment is with thee. You can find that in the New Testament in many places.

Number seven, he has borne our infirmities and our diseases. Isaiah 53, 4. And according to the New Testament, now in the Old Testament, you'll find the emphasis there. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

And in the New Testament, you'll find he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases. And this, according to the New Testament, is fulfilled in Matthew 8, verses 16 and 17. When the Lord was healing those that were sick.

This was the fulfillment of Isaiah 53, 4. His work. Number eight. His voice was not heard on the street.

A smoking fleck was he not quenched. A druid's wreath was he not broken. Isaiah 42, verses 1 to 4. And you'll find the fulfillment in Matthew 12, from 15 to verse 21.

Now, number nine. Isaiah 42, 19 through 21. Isaiah 42, 19, verse 19.

Who is blind but my servant, and deaf as my messenger, whom I sent? Who is blind as he in whom I have trusted, and blind as Jehovah's servant? Seeing many things, and thou observeth not. With open ears, he heareth not. Jehovah hath delighting him for his righteousness' sake.

He hath magnified the law, and made it honorable. Our Lord Jesus, in one sense, he is blind. He is deaf.

He sees as if he hath seen nothing. How people rejected him. How people persecuted him.

How people spoke evil words against him. And yet, he was blind. He was deaf.

He didn't hear. He didn't see. You'll find that was his attitude.

In spite of all that he had done, and the reaction he received. You'll find he carried on. Nothing affected him.

That was the attitude of our Lord. He set his faith towards Jerusalem. Number 10.

Isaiah 28, 16. God said he had laid a foundation. A stone, a dry stone, a sure foundation.

And of course, in Matthew 21, 42, the Lord quoted this very word. The foundation stone, the cornerstone, was thrown away by the builders. And yet, he was the cornerstone.

Number 11. Of course, in Isaiah 53, the suffering servant. Oh, how he suffered.

In order to accomplish the work of redemption. And we know all. If you read the full gospel.

The end of the full gospel. The story of his judgment. The story of crucifixion, and so forth.

You'll find all fulfilled there. And number 12. He is the coming King.

He shall come. The heaven shall reign. And he shall come forth in judgment.

And he will bring in the millennium kingdom. Where righteousness shall reign. And further into new heaven and the new earth.

And all these shall be fulfilled in Christ. Now, Isaiah 63, Isaiah 64, Isaiah 32. You'll find all these things are mentioned there.

So brothers and sisters, I'm just listing some of the major points. You'll find in these 12 points concerning Christ. How Isaiah was given such a clear vision.

The life. The work. The coming of Christ as a suffering servant.

And then as the one in glory. Everything you'll find concerning Christ seems to be given to Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah.

Such a vision of Christ. So no wonder people call him the Paul of the Old Testament. Now let's concentrate ourselves for a while.

On the passage that we read in the beginning. Isaiah 52. Unfortunately, the way to divide the chapter is arbitrary.

You know, in the original, there is no division of chapters or verses. This division of chapters is made in order to help us for convenience sake. But actually, it is not in the original.

So we cannot take that as inspiration. It is just for convenience sake. Actually, all the students of the Bible agree.

That chapter 33 should begin with chapter 53. Should begin with chapter 52, verse 13. Because in chapter 52, verse 13, 14 and verse 15.

You have a general introduction of chapter 53. So we have to begin with chapter 52, verse 13. Here you'll find a very full vision of Christ.

As Isaiah saw. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and be lifted up and be very high.

Whenever in the Bible you find the word, behold. God is trying to attract your attention. God is trying to tell you that what is going to be seen is of tremendous significance.

He does not want you to lose that vision. So he is trying to gather your attention and say, behold. What is it that God wants us to behold? What is it so beautiful to behold? Behold, my servant.

Our Lord Jesus is the Son's servant. So far as his life relationship with God is concerned, he is the only because of the Son. But so far as his service is concerned, he is the servant of God.

The perfect servant. As a matter of fact, the concept of servanthood in the Bible is the concept of Son's servant. We cannot be good servants of the Lord if we are not sons of God.

We need to have his life first before we can serve him and please him. So here you'll find Christ is the servant of God. God said, my servant shall deal prudently, wisely.

This wisely, this prudently, is not in the sense that he tried to maneuver himself to a favorable position among men. You know, sometimes as you read the Bible, you'll find the Lord says, you have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent. That you have revealed these things to babes.

Because babes have such an open, honest. But as we grow up, we begin to be wise and prudent in ourselves. We know how to maneuver our position.

We know how to get to a favorable position so that we may be seen better than what we really are. That's human prudence, but not so with Christ. The Lord said, my servant shall deal prudently.

That is to say, everything that God has entrusted to him, he has done so wisely, so faithfully, that he is able to carry through the will of the Father. He never does anything rashly. He never does anything carelessly.

He never does anything for himself, considering himself. But you'll find he deals prudently with whatever God has entrusted. There are many occasions when he could think of himself.

You remember when he revealed to Peter how he must go to the disciples, how he must go to Jerusalem and be rejected and be killed. But on the third day, he was raised from the dead. And Peter took hold of him and said, be good to yourself.

That's humanly. And yet the Lord turned around and said, Satan, get me behind. Because you're not thinking of the things of God.

You're thinking of the things of man. He could very well be prudent in himself. When he was on the Mount of Transfiguration, you know, Moses and Elijah came and talked with him about his exit.

So far as he himself was concerned, if he shall exit from the mountain back to heaven, he didn't need to go to the cross and die. He was the perfect man. He had every right to return to heaven as the man at the right hand of God.

But he will be alone there. He refused to ascend at that moment. The way of ascension is by the way of the cross.

He shall deal. Whatever God has entrusted to him, he has done it well. Therefore, he shall be exalted and be lifted up and be very high.

Because he is such a faithful servant. Because he has so wisely accomplished the work of redemption. Therefore, God has exalted him, highly exalted him.

And has given him a name that is above every name. And in that name, every knee shall bow. And every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

Philippians chapter 2. So here you'll find in verse 1, in the introduction, God is showing us what his servant has done. And what glory this servant shall have. Then the second verse.

A contrast. A complete contrast. Verse 14.

As many were astonished at thee, his visage was so mild, more than any man, and his form more than the children. What a contrast. I dare just say that he shall be highly exalted and be lifted up and be very high.

In glory. And suddenly you'll find a contrast. Many shall astonish at him.

Why? We will think of a one who will be so highly exalted. We'll be one who must be so glorious, so beautiful. And yet it is said, his visage was mild, more than any man.

You know, brothers and sisters, I do believe when the Lord was born, he must be a very beautiful baby. As a matter of fact, every baby is beautiful. He must be very beautiful.

And also you'll find the Bible says how he grew up. Not only in wisdom, in the favor of man and God, but he grew up in stature too. Our Lord was not ugly in any sense.

He was not ugly. And yet you'll find here, his visage was more mild than any, and his form more than the children of men. How could it be? It was because, in the first place, of the burden of his life.

Oh, we remember how he was wearied. How he sat by the well of Samaria, under the scorching sun. How he was burdened.

How he said, the fox hath hold. The bird hath net. For the son of man hath nowhere to lay his head.

The weariness, the burden of this life has changed, marred his visage. The suffering, the persecutions. His suffer at the hand of man must have marred his visage.

When he was only 30. People thought he was. He said, your father Abraham saw my days and he was glad.

And they said, you'll not get 50. Actually, he was only in the early 30s. All because of his sympathy with man.

He was a man who has borne our sorrows. That marred his vision. And you'll remember how he was scorched.

Scourged. The thorn crown. The crucifixion.

When he was crucified, you can hardly recognize him as a human being. His visage was marred more than any man. You know, sometimes we think that if a person, say, had a plane crash.

His visage was so marred you cannot recognize that person. But the visage of our Lord was so marred when he was on the cross. You cannot recognize him as a human being.

Think of the sufferings of that. And he did all these for us. No wonder people must acknowledge him.

Surprise the world. You would never think that this one who suffered so much, who was so marred, was the Savior. That was the second verse.

And the third verse. So shall he astonish many nations. Kings shall shut their mouth at him.

For what hath not been told them shall they see. And what they hath not heard shall they tell. But the result of his sufferings, there came the finish word of Christ on the cross.

And the world will marvel. The world began to see what they have never seen and hear what they have never heard. And even the kings shall shut their mouth at him.

We are told that it was said when King Victoria was on the throne. One day she said, she said, if Christ shall come at this moment, she will lay her throne, her crown at their feet. The kings shall shut their mouth.

He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. So these three verses serve as an introduction. As an introduction of the servant of the Lord.

And then after that introduction, you'll find Isaiah began to deliver the message. Verse one is another introduction to the whole chapter. Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? Isaiah was going to report something of tremendous nature.

He had already given us some foretaste in the three verses. He was going to give us in detail a report. Something that he has seen and heard.

But that report was of such tremendous nature that it was, it is almost unbelievable. Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? It is too good. It is too marvelous.

It is completely different from any human concept. And that is the reason why people cannot believe. Who has believed in our report? And you'll find this is quoted in the New Testament.

This is quoted by John in chapter 12 of the Gospel of John. This is quoted by Paul in chapter 10 of the Book of Romans. Who has believed our report? The report is too good.

People find it hard to believe. Only those to whom the Father has revealed are they able to believe such good report. You remember when Peter confessed the Lord, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

The Lord said, Peter, you are blessed because this is not something shown you by flesh and blood. You are being shown by the Father who is in heaven. No one knows the Son but the Father, and to whom the Father is pleased to reveal.

And Paul said, it pleases God to reveal His Son in me. Oh, brothers and sisters, how thankful we are. Naturally speaking, we cannot believe.

We will not believe. It is too good. Unbelievable.

But thank God, by grace, we have believed the report. And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? When we believe in the Savior, we experience His salvation. That's the arm of the Lord.

It is not just believing in a concept. You experience salvation. The arm of the Lord is outstretched to those who believe in Christ.

Whosoever believing in Him and receiving Him, they are given the right to become the children of God. There is the arm of the Lord there. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe.

But to whom the arm of God is revealed? Only to those who have believed. What a privilege, brothers and sisters, to think of that. We have believed the unbelievable.

Not because we can't believe. Even our faith is given. He has not only given us the Savior, He has also given us the faith to believe in the Savior.

It's all a praise. And then you'll find from verses two, two and three. Verses two and three describe the life of Christ.

He shall grow up before Him as a tender sapling and as a root out of dry ground. What a contrast. So far as before God is concerned, He is like a tender sapling growing up.

He draws His nourishment from God. He is fresh. The Bible said He grew in statute, in wisdom, in the favor of God and of man.

Here you'll find He derived all His resources from the Father. He grew up before the Father as a tender sapling. Full of life, fresh, new.

But so far as His relationship with the world is concerned, He is like a root out of a dry ground. The world is very hard and harsh to Him. The world does not give Him much.

He was born in a manger. There was no Rome in the east. No Rome in any house.

He was not real in Jerusalem. He was real in the back country, in the hills. Any good thing comes out of nature.

He was like a root. Have you seen a dry root in a dry ground? That is His relationship. So far as He is in the world is concerned, like a root out of a dry ground.

But He is a fresh, tender sapling before God. This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, says the Father. He has no form, nor loveliness.

And when we see Him, there's no beauty that we should desire in Him. Now brothers and sisters, again I will say, our Lord Jesus as a man is not ugly at all. But nor is He very handsome, I'm afraid.

In other words, when He came to become a man, He was just one as one of us. There was no form, nor loveliness about Him. You know as King Saul, before he was chosen king, he was ahead over other people's other people, you know.

There was that form, that loveliness there. But our Lord Jesus did not have that. That doesn't mean He was ugly, not at all.

But He was not so dynamic, physically, that would draw people's attention to Him. Not at all. He was just like a common person.

When He walked by, you would not even notice. You know, we have our idea of the Lord. But when He came to this world to be a man, He was just one like one of us.

You wouldn't notice at all. No form, no loveliness. There was no arrogance.

There was no such thing as to draw attention physically. Nothing, nothing. And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

And the beauty there, of course, does not refer to His inward beauty. Why? Because we have no eyes to see that. The beauty here is the physical attraction.

There is nothing outwardly that attracts people to Him. Not only in His form, but in His background. He had never been to school, that is, to the rabbinical school, to be trained as a rabbi.

He had never studied in that way. There was nothing in Him and His background that made Him standing out. Nothing.

Oh, you have made passes by many times, and you don't notice at all. Now that was the Lord when He was on earth, just like one of us. And He is disguised and left alone of man, a man of sorrows and painted with grief.

And like one from home, men hide their faces, despised and we esteem Him. When He stepped out to preach the gospel, even though in the very beginning He was welcomed, people flocked to Him. They were hoping that He was the Messiah.

But when He did not fit in with their image, concept of Messiah, they rejected Him. They despised Him. They stood alone of Him.

They were not touched. The Pharisees, the scribes, the elite of society were not touched. As if He was defiled, untouchable.

And you remember the discussion between the Pharisees, the scribes and so forth? When Nicodemus tried to say something, they said, don't you know? Don't you know? No one among us will have any dealing with that person. They left Him alone, despised Him. And He was a man of sorrows and acquainted.

His sorrows came, His grief came from different directions. He came to bring to us the love of the Father and yet we did not understand Him. We rejected Him.

We hurt Him. That sorrow, that grief, more than that, His sympathy with man was so great that added to His sorrow and grief. You remember when He stood before the tomb of Lazarus? He sighed.

He wept. His sympathy with man was so great. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief and yet we did not understand Him.

The world looked down and even said away with Him, away with Him. Crucified Him. We don't want anything to do with that man.

Now that described the life of our Lord Jesus. And Isaiah saw that in His spirit, saw the whole thing. Then from verses 5, 6, 5, 4, 5 and 6, Isaiah was given a deeper insight into outwardly there was nothing to attract man.

Outwardly He labored in vain. Outwardly people did not respect Him but rejected Him. Outwardly His life was a failure.

He was rejected and was crucified. But then Isaiah was given God's estimate of that life. Of that death.

He says surely there is no doubt about it. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows and we did not ask Him. We did regard Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

We thought that it was God that had afflicted Him. He was so bad therefore He was crucified. But He was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His strife. Oh dear brothers and sisters what an insight into the cross of Calvary.

When Christ was crucified on the cross you remember people went by and mocked Him and said now if you are the Son of God come down then we will believe in you. Even the robber that was crucified with Him mocked Him and said why don't you get down. Nobody knew the meaning of the cross unless you are given a spiritual insight by God.

And the spiritual insight was He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. By His stripes we are healed.

Our salvation is in Him. He has borne our sins in His body on the tree. Therefore we who are sinners are made the righteousness of God.

We were all like sheep going astray but He has borne the iniquities of us all. I remember a story about that. One day a man was really concerned about his soul.

So he went to see a servant of the Lord and at that moment that servant of the Lord somehow got so busy he didn't even have the time to talk with that man. So the servant of the Lord just tell that man go and read Isaiah chapter 53 verse 6. Enter in by the first all and come out by the second all. And this man did and he was saved.

The first all was all we are as sheep gone astray. That's the first all. The second all is He has borne iniquities of us all.

So here you'll find the meaning of being revealed to us. Then the third part from verse 7 you'll find a more detailed description of the death of our Lord Jesus and its meaning. He was oppressed and He was afflicted but He opened not His mouth.

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and was as a sheep down before sharers and He opened not His mouth. If you read the last few chapters of the gospel of Matthew, the gospel of Luke then recall how our Lord Jesus was taken when He was in the garden of the family. He was taken to the house of Cephas and how they judge Him.

How they use false witnesses to accuse Him. He was silent. He did not say a word until the high priest swore and said by the name of the Lord, by the name of God, are you really the Son of God? And because of that he said, yes, you shall see the Son of Man coming on the cloud.

But otherwise He didn't say a word. He was brought to Pilate, the Roman governor. And again these men accused Him of many things but He didn't say a word.

When Pilate said, are you the King of the Jews? The Lord said, you said it. He was sent to Herod and Herod was really curious about this man, you know. He was hoping that now he had the chance to see Christ perform some wonders like a magician, you know, but the Lord wouldn't even say a word to him.

And he was so angry, He mocked him and sent him back to Pilate. In other words, he was like a sheep led to the slaughter. Like a sheep under the shearers.

Now, you know, at first I didn't quite understand this until in 1970 I was in New Zealand. And I was there watching them shearing the sheep and it was a contest. The shearers came from different parts of New Zealand and during the contest they tried to see who can shear the sheep the fastest and the best.

It's all electric shearers, you know, sharp electric shearers. And they would have six sheep in a fold to each person and with judges and watch, you know. And they would spot it and then one sheep would come out and this man would grab the sheep, put it, you know, under his hand and think, you know, and then spot the sheep very fast.

And when he finished the shearing, it was one piece. It was one piece. But because it was a contest, and the sheep, they shear so fast.

I saw half of the ear cut off, but no sound. Struggle, no sound. And immediately I remembered the word of the Lord.

As the sheep down under the shearers. You can find when they shear, you know, blood coming out from different parts of the body, but no sound. I haven't heard a sound.

You'll find it jerk a little bit, but no sound. Look at our Lord. He didn't say a word.

He didn't say a word. He was taken from oppression and from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? He was cut off of the land of the living.

He was crucified for the transgression of my people was his strength. That was the reason. And then, of course, you know, as a criminal, when they took on a criminal, they would just throw that criminal into the common grave of the criminals.

And yet he was buried with the rich. Joseph of Arimathea. He was one of the counselors, one of the 70s in the highest court of Judaism, a secret Christian.

And he asked for the body of Christ and buried in a tomb that he had prepared for himself. So our Lord was buried with the rich. Brothers and sisters, 800 years before Christ.

And here you'll find God gave Isaiah this vision of Christ. Why? Because he had done no violence. Neither was there guile in his love.

And after that, from verse nine, you'll find God gave a still deeper insight to Isaiah. A deeper insight of the cross and the consequence of the cross of Christ. After three, he was crucified by man.

But here you'll find something unknown to man. It had to be revealed. Verse nine.

Yet, verse 10. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him. He had subjected him to suffering.

When thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. The first three hours, our Lord was on the cross.

He suffered at the hand of man. During the first three hours, all the power of darkness surrounding him to attack him. But the Father was still with him.

His first word on the cross is, Father, forgive them for they know not what they did. He suffered for three hours on the cross at the hand of man. At the hand of the world.

At the hand of the priest of this world from Satan. But when it was 12 o'clock, the whole land was dark. The sun hit his face.

And then you remember our Lord Jesus cried out. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He does not address God as his Father. Here he was as a creature.

As a man. Under the hand of the Creator. My God, my God, why? Why hast thou forsaken me? He was forsaken by God.

In other words, God's hand was heavy upon him. God crushed him on the cross. During those three hours, he was made a sin offering.

He who knew no sin was made sin for us. That we might be made the righteousness. During those three hours, he literally suffered all the suffering.

Of hell. Of eternal death. Separation from the Father.

Separation from God. He tasted death for everyone. It pleased God to bruise him.

Think of that. Why? Because he was the sin bearer. He bore all sins in his body.

He made himself, he offered himself as an offering for sin. But because of that, he shall see a seed and prolong his days. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands.

It is God's will that there should be a people. A people redeemed. Unto God.

A people as a possession for God. A people who are the seed of Christ. The Lord said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it stands alone.

But if he should die, he will bear much fruit. Brothers and sisters, because of that grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying, here is the harvest. He shall see the travail, the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.

Think of that. The Lord can look upon his own people. The Lord can look upon his church and be satisfied.

And he shall teach many in righteousness. And he shall bear their iniquities. He not only has borne our iniquities, but he shall teach us in righteousness.

Oh, that we may walk righteously and holy before him. And finally, it concludes with, Because of the suffering that he has gone through, now he is given glory. Shall not Christ first suffer and then enter into glory? He shall share the spoils with the strong.

Who is the strong? He shall share the glory of God with the Father. He is raised from the dead. He has risen, ascended, seated at the right hand of the Father to receive honor, glory, dominion and power.

How worthy he is. So, dear brothers and sisters, you find Isaiah. God gave Isaiah such a vision of Christ.

And no wonder, when he saw the glory of Christ, he spoke. Dear brothers and sisters, do we see Christ? Do we have this vision? If we see this vision of Christ, we cannot help but love him. Let us pray.

Lord, thy servant Isaiah, who was shown a vision of thyself even eight years before thou was born, and because of that, he spoke of thee. O Lord, we who have been redeemed, we who have been given to know thee and what thou has done for us, do not allow us to lose that vision of thyself. May thyself be always before us, that we may always walk in that light, that we may always be touched by thy love.

And learn to love thee, and to be a witness, a testimony for thy name. So, Lord, once again, we ask thee to renew our love for thee, throw thy great love to us. And we do worship and thank thee for what thou art and what thou has done for us.

We thank thee, Lord. In thy great name, amen.