Would you take a moment and lend me an assist. On Sunday, April 23 and 30, you choose the sermon topics. Go to our websites and vote – I would love to hear from you.
I have had one of the more challenging weeks in recent memory. One of our children had allergic reaction, another needed 25 stitches, and not to be left out, still another broke his arm. It’s been a challenging week in other arenas, as a few opportunities seem to slip right through my fingers that I had hoped would come through. Yet, as I pause to consider the collective lives of those in our church, I wonder if I should even mention my struggles. Since the last time we gathered in this room, a few of us have lost love ones. One family lost their adult child just yesterday. Still another isn’t able make to their house payment. There are a few of you hurting from painful marriages and runaway children. A number of you are praying for a job to come through. While handful of you expressed are wondering, “Does God really loves me.” Fear causes us to quietly ask our hearts hard questions: How will I get through this? What happens if I do score well in this class, on this test? What will happen to us if we lose our home? Will my marriage survive? Will I lose my job if I don’t perform?
This morning is designed for those who need to know that even when life is hard, God’s promises are true. Our faith is in God who has never failed to do what He says. He knows what He has promised, He can’t lie, and He can’t forget. He will deliver on time, every time, and all the time. God is a promise-making, promise-keeping God.
“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 52:13–53:12)
1. The Momentum of Kept Promises
I recent weeks, we’ve been studying how God has made promises and kept promises. Our focus has been Isaiah 53 where God’s Word makes these predictions about Jesus seven centuries before His arrival. But how does that impact you and me? In other words, “So what?”
I want you to feel the hope of a promise-keeping God. What is a promise? A promise is a declaration of what someone will do. But, this morning … I want to make this personal. Again, I want you to feel the hope of a promise-keeping God. I can take a bad day. I can put up with a hard month. I can even endure a lousy year if I have to, as long as I know how it will end up.
This is why the promises of God are so vital to us.
God gives us promises of what He will do for us. God is a Promisor. He’s promised that one of Eve’s offspring would crush the serpent (Genesis 3). He’s promised Noah that He would never again destroy the world by a flood (Genesis 9). He’s promised innumerable descendants to Abram (Genesis 12). He’s promised to deliver the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6). He’s promised an everlasting throne to David’s descendants (2 Samuel 7).
Let’s rehearse three of God’s promises inside Isaiah 53 by way of review. Isaiah 53 is a backstage pass to greatest moment in history, the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s mind-blowing to me that God makes these promises 700 years before Jesus’ arrival.
Let’s see the momentum of God’s kept promises (Quick Review from Last Sunday)…
1.1 He’ll Keep His Mouth Shut
Promise Made: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth…” (Isaiah 53:7a).
Promise Kept: “And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed” (Mark 15:4–5).
1.2 Honorable Burial, Dishonorable Death
“And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). In verse eight we are told that One coming will die or, “cut off out of the land.” So in verse nine, we are told this Servant is to be buried. It also says in verse nine, His grave is with the “wicked” and with the “rich” Again, honorable burial: “they made his grave … with a rich man in his death” but also dishonorable death: “they made his grave with the wicked.” The mysterious Servant is to be given an honorable burial after a dishonorable death. Jesus has a dishonorable death: “Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left” (Matthew 27:38). Jesus has an honorable burial: “And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away” (Matthew 27:59–60).
1.3 A Dead Man Sees
The first part of verse ten tells us the mysterious Servant will be buried. Yet, verse ten continues on to say: “… he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days…” (Isaiah 53:10c). How do dead men see their offspring unless they have been resurrected?
But someone may say this morning, “Pastor, I don’t need historical lessons when I am on life support, here.” In the Old Testament, the Messiah is promised; in the New Testament, He arrives—and then promises to come again!
When the questions of life come crashing in, it’s the not knowing what will happen next that crushes us. Each of these promises build momentum in us. They remind us that God cannot lie. God cannot forget. God doesn’t leave us wondering. We don’t need to be cowered in fear. His promises are great, the outcomes are certain, and we wait for fulfillment in our lives. Again, God is a Promisor.
2. He Promises Your Acquittal
Everybody knows that God punished bad people and rewards good people. Yes, that’s His job. But the gospel disagrees. The gospel tells us that God declares guilty people innocent. God treats bad people as if they were good people.
Let’s dial in on verse eleven: “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). There are two people mentioned in verse 11: Jesus Christ and the many. There’s three items in verse eleven about the Servant: He’s called a “righteous one,” he “make[s] many to be accounted righteous,” and lastly, “he shall bear their iniquities.”
At the heart of this great chapter is Christ serving as your substitute. Let me show you… Here is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:
• Who borne our griefs (verse 4)
• Who carried our sorrows (verse 4)
• Who was wounded for our transgressions (verse 5)
• Who was bruised for our iniquities (verse 5)
• Who was chastised for our peace (verse 5)
• Who heals us by His stripes (verse 5)
• Who borne our iniquities (verses 6, 11)
• Who was oppressed, afflicted (verse 7)
• Who was slaughtered (verse 7)
• Who was cut off (verse 8)
• Who was stricken for our transgressions (verse 8)
• Who was bruised by the Lord (verse 10)
• Who was put to grief (verse 10)
• Whose soul was made a sin offering (verse 10)
• Who poured out His soul unto death (verse 12)
• Who was numbered with the transgressions (verse 12)
• Who bore the sin of many (verse 12)
• Who made intercession for the transgressors (verse 12)
In each of these instances, Christ serves as the substitute. In fact, here in verse eleven, we are told that Jesus will justify the ungodly. Jesus “make[s] many to be accounted righteous” – that is, God declares guilty people innocent. And at the center of God’s promises is the cross of Jesus. The cross of Jesus is a flashing neon sign that says, “God has made you a promise.” I’m amazed as I read this chapter just how much God promises to do for us. This is the best single chapter in the whole Bible to explain what happened on the cross.
3. Receive God’s Promise
God’s promises must become personal for you. You really have three options when it comes to Jesus and His cross.
3.1 You Can Deny the Cross
Some of us would be surprised to learn that Muslims honor Jesus as a prophet. Muslims will join us in celebrating Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. They find Jesus even did miracles such as forming birds from clay and giving them life as the apocryphal Book of Thomas reports as well. Yes, the Jesus of the Qur’an heals the blind and the leper and even raises the dead – always with God’s permission. Yet, the Qur’an teaches that Jesus wasn’t God’s Son. The Qur’an in sura 4:157-158 says this:
“And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise.”
Almost all Muslim commentators agree that these verses deney the crucifixion. A common thought among our Muslim friends is that another person died in Jesus’ place. In fact, according to the Qur’an, Jesus will return to remove all the cross from churches all over the land. Your first option is you can deny the cross. You don’t have to be a Muslim to deny the cross.
3.2 You Can Ignore the Cross
A growing number of Americans greet the milestones of life with no religious framework at all. They are born without being introduced to the stories of the Scripture; they have children without being married; they contract civil marriages instead of religious ones. They darken church doors infrequently, if ever, and upon dying their bodies are incinerated and scattered to the winds, rather than prayed over whole in the ground as Christian often do. For many here today, you effectively ignore the cross of Jesus.
3.3 You Can Embrace the Cross
Consider this: three men died on crosses that day. One died to the right of Jesus and another died to the left of Jesus. Two were there for there for personal crimes, but Jesus was there for the crimes of sinners everywhere. Two were there for there against their wills, but He was there because of His will. Two were there because they could not have escaped, but He could have jumped to heaven with just one word to heaven. Two were held to their crosses by nails, but Jesus was held to His cross by love! Again, the cross of Jesus is a flashing neon sign that says, “God has made you a promise.”
Let’s make it personal. Living by faith is hard. So many of us want to receive God’s check on Monday and cash it in on Tuesday. Look, God doesn’t cook fast food. God loves the crockpot rather than the microwave. God wants you to be so familiar with His character and live so confidently in your faith that you can say, “I know what God’s going to do. I don’t know when or how, but He’s made me some promises and I can walk by faith until I see it.”
Our faith is in God who has never failed to do what He says. He knows what He has promised, He can’t lie, and He can’t forget. He will deliver on time, every time, and all the time.
God is a promise-making, promise-keeping God. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?
