Series: Isaiah
Title: Travail of His Soul
Text: Isaiah 53: 11
Date: February 9, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 53: 11: He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied.
What a
statement! Until sinners understand the
glorious truth of this one statement, and bow in faith to the one spoken of
here, they have no gospel and no salvation.
We will
reference the rest of the verse today, as well as the next verse. But our main focus today will be just this
one statement.
Proposition: This one statement declares that Jehovah’s Servant, our
Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the work God sent him to do and
that he shall be satisfied with his finished work.
Divisions: For our divisions, we will simply take each word in the
statement.
I. FIRST, “HE…”
When
Philip came upon the Ethiopian eunach, who was reading this 53rd
chapter, the eunuch asked Philip, “I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this? of himself, or of some other man?” (Acts 8: 34)
The Son of God
The
prophet Isaiah was used to pen these words but it is God speaking. And God is
speaking of his Son, Christ Jesus. “He” refers to the Christ, who is the Son of
God, the second person in the trinity.
Be
sure to get this: in order for God alone to receive all the
glory, all the praise, in the salvation of helpless sinners then God himself
must do the whole work of salvation beginning to end. God says,
Isaiah 42:8: I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isaiah 43:7: Even every one that is called by my name:
for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isaiah 48:11: For mine own sake, even for mine own sake,
will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory
unto another.
Jonah 2: 9:…Salvation is of the LORD.
The
chief purpose for which Christ came is, “To
declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Rom 3: 26)
Since
all men sinned in Adam, no sinner born of Adam can, by our own person and work,
declare the righteousness of God—“For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God.” (Rom 3: 23)
Therefore, God’s Righteousness could only be
declared by one who is righteous--God himself. Notice the second part of verse
11, God calls Christ, “My righteous servant.”
God is just!
Every sinner he saves had to die. God carried
out in full, his justice, upon his Son in their place. So that God can show his
people mercy and yet remain just.
Therefore,
since our Substitute is God himself, God is also the Justifier of all who
believe in Jesus. This is that glory that God will not share with another, which
false religion attempts to steal for vain man.
Ezekiel 39:21: And I will set my glory among the heathen,
and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand
that I have laid upon them.
So
first “HE” refers to God the Son.
The Son of Man
And “HE”
refers to Christ who is also the son of Man. Adam was the first Head, the first
representative man. What Adam did all
those born of Adam also did: we sinned in Adam and died in Adam and being born
of Adam we received his corrupt nature, as well as his sin being imputed to us. But thankfully, God Christ is the last
Adam. What Christ did, his people did!
Hebrews
2: 14: Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15: And deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16: For
verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him
the seed of Abraham. [Ro 9: 8 says the elect—the children of promise—are the
seed of Abraham] 17: Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest
in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people. 18: For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted.
Therefore,
HE-- who came to save his people from our sins is none other than the Son of
God and the Son of Man—the GodMan—in one united glorious person.
John 1: 1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God…14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth.
Someone
will say, “But I can’t comprehend how HE could be both God and Man in one
person.” “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Tim 3: 16)
All these things are a mystery incomprehensible to our fallen nature.
But when
scripture declares “faith is the evidence of things not seen”, it means not
only things not seen with the eye, but things that can’t be comprehended with
our minds. But there is a reason God saves by divine revelation through faith:
1 Corinthians 1: 5: That your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6: Howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect: [born again and given faith] yet not the wisdom of this
world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7: But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before the world unto our glory: 8: Which none of the princes of this world
knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9: But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
him. 10: But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. [That your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.]
Sinner,
believe God! Stop “butting”—goats butt, not sheep.
II. THE SECOND WORD IN OUR TEXT IS “SHALL”
(Is 53: 11)
I will be
brief on this point but it is very important. This is the language of Jehovah. God never speaks in the language of
possibility only the language of unfailing, prevailing certainty.
Sinners Are Not Sovereign
Sinners
cannot speak this way. We have no
absolute power to say anything we purpose “shall” come to pass.
Jeremiah 10:23: O LORD, I know that the way of man is not
in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Especially
when it comes to spiritual things:
Proverbs 16: 1: The preparations of the heart in man, and
the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
2 Corinthians 3:5: Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Therefore,
God says to us…
James 4: 13: Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow
we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and
get gain: 14: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is
your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then
vanisheth away. 15: For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall
live, and do this, or that. 16: But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such
rejoicing is evil.
But God does as he will. (Read Is 46: 8-11)
Isaiah 46: 10: Declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11:…yea, I have spoken it, I will also
bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
False
religion has this backwards. They say,
“God wants to” but the sinner has to “be willing and let God.” But when Christ
walked this earth none could stop him from fulfilling the will of God his
Father! This is why the Holy Spirit told Mary in no uncertain terms, “thou
shalt call his name JESUS: for he
shall save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1: 21) It because our Savior
is God. The LORD God said of Christ, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have
set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” (Is 42: 4) I preach the victorious
Savior who shall not fail! At Calvary, he Conquered! And we are more than
conquerors in him. “He shall see of the travail of his soul and
shall be satisified.”
III. THE NEXT WORD IS: CHRIST SHALL “SEE OF
THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL.”
Travail
The
word ‘travail’ means: Severe labor accompanied with great pain, exhaustion,
vexation, sorrow, grief, and trouble; the pains of childbirth. Christ used an
illustration of childbirth to comfort his disciples concerning his statement,
“A little while and you see no more.”
John
16: 20: Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the
world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned
into joy. 21: A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is
come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the
anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22: And ye now therefore
have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your
joy no man taketh from you.
Worse
than a woman travails in child birth, the work of redemption—required to bring
forth the glorified GodMan from the dead and to bring forth all God’s elect
children in righteousness in him, involved indescribable travail in Christ’s
very soul: v10: Christ made his soul an offering for sin… He said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death.”…v12: he hath poured out his soul unto death
Illustration: Someone said, A child can try to understand the national
debt of our country but can’t begin to do so. So it is with us trying to
comprehend the travail of Christ’s soul. We can see some of what made it
travail, but we can’t begin to measure the degree of his travail.
The Cross
Most of all this travail speaks of his cross work. First,
he bore the sin of his people—v11: for he shall bear their iniquities…v12: he bare the sin of
many,
2 Corinthians 5:
21: He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him.
Galatians 3:13 Christ was made a curse for us: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
In addition, v12: He was numbered with the
transgressors. Though he never did any
sin of his own, by men who were his enemies, by the law and justice of God, and
worst of all, by God his Father, with the sin of his people on him, Christ [personally]
was numbered with the transgressors—counted one with the transgressors. Being made sin for us and being counted with
the transgressors is that “shame” he despised!
Then in accordance with holy justice, Christ travail was
bearing the punishment from God his Father which his people deserved—separation
from God.
Psalm 22: 1: My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
roaring?
Lamentations 1:12: Is it nothing to you, all
ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger….2:3: He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel:
he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against
Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about….3: 5: He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
And lastly, Christ bore death—v12:
he poured out his soul unto death. Brethren,
truly there is no travail like our Savior’s travail; no sorrow like unto his
sorrow! But bless God our text says, “He shall see
the travail of his soul…
V. AND SHALL BE
SATISFIED
Illustration: If anyone pays out some great expense—in time, pain, or
any other cost—usually they have an end in view worthy of those expenses. So it
was with the Lord Jesus Christ, “who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame,” (Heb 12: 2)
Note: If we would ask IN WHAT RESPECTS CHRIST IS SATISFIED, we
can answer in one word: “in every respect.” All the purposes for which He died have
and shall be accomplished. But let’s divide this satisfaction into three
divisions.
Glory of His Father
First, Christ
is satisfied that he glorified God his Father.
He made satisfaction to his own justice, and with that finished work the
triune God is satisfied and Christ is satisfied.
Romans 3:21: But now the righteousness of God without the
law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
He is
just because he satisified divine justice.
He is the Justifier for v11: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant
justify many;
And not
only righteousness, but all the perfections of God’s character—God’s very
glory—is seen in the face of Christ Jesus by this finished work of redemption.
John 17: 4: I have glorified thee on the earth: I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Christ
sees in the travail of his soul that his Father is glorified and Christ Jesus
is satisfied.
Christ’s Own Glory
Secondly,
Christ is satisfied because Christ himself is also glorified.
John 17: 5: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine
own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
God the
Father raised him from the grave to God’s right hand—Hebrews 12: 2:…who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
God
said in v12, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,”…God gave
him a name above every name
Ephesians 1: 20: Which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places, 21: Far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in
that which is to come: 22: And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church,…
The end
chapter 52 tells us that in proportion to his travail so shall he be “exalted,
extolled, and be very high.”
Philippians 2: 9: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10: That at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth; 11: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The fruit of his travail is that Christ is satisfied with
his personal exaltation, his mediatorial authority and his power over all!
Glory of His Elect
Thirdly, by the travail of his soul, Christ is satisfied
with his elect ransomed by His blood and the spoils of victory which he shall
give to each one—v12:…and he shall divide the spoil 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.
Galatians 3: 13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us:
Hebrews 1: 3:…he…by himself purged our sins,…
Hebrews 10:14: For by one offering he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified.
John 17: 22 And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in
me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
As the
reward of his travail, God the Father has given Christ the preeminent glory of
bringing this good news to each of his redeemed children scattered in the world
Isaiah 54: 1: Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear;
break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child:
for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,
saith the LORD…
Jerusalem
above, the mother of us all, the Gospel church, did not do the travailing to
bring forth children, Christ did! (Ga 4:26,27) During Christ’s life the church
appeared as the married wife for Christ was here. But there were not many
converts at that time. She appeared desolate. But after Christ travailed and
arose, though she is like a desolate wife, like a widow, because Christ is not
visible here now, still, more are the children of the desolate than the
children of the married wife, saith the LORD…
Isaiah 54: 5 For
thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the
Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
By
assuring us “Christ shall be satisfied”, God declares not one who Christ
redeemed shall be lost—Christ shall “fill all in all” so that each one is
brought to faith in him! And Christ shall be fully satisfied when he shall one
day stand and say, “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me.”
(Is 8: 18) As he, as Mediator, presents
all his elect to God, since he is God, he
shall “present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be
holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5: 27) Then there will be no need of a Mediator for then God shall “be all in
all!” Then our Redeemer will see
that spiritual holy city made up of all his saints—the foundation laid in His
blood—standing before Him
finished, resplendent in his glory and perfect in his beauty and fully “He
shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied!”
Application:
Sinner, how can you not repent from your sins, from
your vain imagination, your vain self-righteousness and cast all your care into
the hands of so great and victorious a God and Savior as this?
Believer,
we have a word from God exactly how we are to apply to ourselves what we have
seen today in two scriptures:
Hebrews 12: 1:…Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, 2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3: For consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and
faint in your minds.
Romans 8: 17: [For]…if so be that we suffer with him,…we
may be also glorified together. 18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us.
Amen!