Series:
Isaiah
Title:
By His Knowledge (Part 2)
Text:
Isaiah 53: 11b
Date:
February 16, 2014
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 53: 11:…by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
This is the second part of the message: By His Knowledge.
Proposition: In this hour, I want you to see that by his knowledge,
Christ brings his people to have the knowledge of Christ and gives us faith to
believe on him, through which we receive free justification, because Christ bore
the sins of those he calls to faith. Thus God says “by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
The Righteousness of Faith
All
whom Christ shall justify are sinners in need of justification before God. Everyone
here today is a sinner by birth and by practice. The righteousness which is of
faith does not demand you do anything to justify yourself and put away your
sins.
Romans 10: 8: But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even
in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10:
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. 11: For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12: For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call
upon him. 13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
But There Is A Problem
Romans 10: 14: How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed? [God only saves, only justifies, through faith in
Christ] and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? [God
only saves those who know him. You cannot believe on Christ unless you know
Christ.] and how shall they hear without a preacher? [This knowledge is not a
mere doctrinal understanding of Christ, a man can give that to himself. This is
God knowing you intimately and making you one with him—this is something God is
pleased to do only through the foolishness of preaching.] 15: And how shall
they preach, except they be sent? [But the preacher cannot do this work, he
can’t send himself or make the word effectual if he is sent, Christ must send
him by his knowledge and Christ must be the one who preaches in the heart of
his people, this is by his knowledge] as it is written, How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of
good things!
God
only saves, only justifies, through faith in Christ. And God only saves those
who know him. You cannot believe on Christ unless you know Christ. Yet, this
knowledge is not a mere doctrinal understanding of Christ, a man can give that
to himself. This is God knowing you intimately and making you one with him—this
is something God is pleased to do only through the foolishness of preaching. But
the preacher cannot do this work, he can’t send himself or make the word
effectual if he is sent, Christ must send him by his knowledge and Christ must
be the one who preaches in the heart of his people, this is by his knowledge.
Paul
supports his argument by quoting scripture, “As it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of
good things!” This is taken from Isaiah 52: 6-7. It gives us the very meaning I
just gave to you. Christ is speaking
Isaiah 52: 6: Therefore my people shall know my name:
therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it
is I. 7: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that
publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8: Thy watchmen shall
lift up the voice; with THE VOICE together shall they sing: [this Voice is
Christ’s voice who said, “My sheep hear my voice.” Christ’s watchmen lift up their voice
together with Christ’s Voice and it is Christ’s Voice that makes the word
effectual in the hearts of his sheep] for they shall see eye to eye, when the
LORD shall bring again Zion. 9: Break
forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath
comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
It is
Christ who is God who makes this word effectual in our hearts and comforts us
with the good news; And the good news is that Christ has redeemed us for he has
bore the iniquities of his people.
Romans 10: 17: So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.
Application: Have you heard him?
I am not asking have you learned some doctrine. I am asking has Christ made you know his
name? By his knowledge? God says of Christ, “By his knowledge, shall my
righteous servant justify man; for he calls those of whose iniquities he has
borne away.”
Job
said many things are easily discovered by men:
Job 28: 1: Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a
place for gold where they fine it. 2: Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass
is molten out of the stone…5 As for the
earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 6:
The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold…12: But
where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
By
man’s skill and labor, we are able to find every precious thing hidden deep in
the earth, able to find out things in the letter. But no sinner by his skill
and labor can answer this question, much less have the knowledge to accomplish
it.
Job 14:4: Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
not one.
Job 15:14: What is man, that he should be clean? and he
which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15: Behold, he putteth
no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. 16: How
much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Job 25:4: How then can man be justified with God? or how
can he be clean that is born of a woman? 5: Behold even to the moon, and it
shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. 6: How much less man,
that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?
The
answer is “With man it is impossible.” But “many” shall be justified one way: where
shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? “By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities.” Christ is the only Way God can be just and the Justifier. Christ is the only way God can remain just
and the “many” for whom he died be made clean, made the righteousness of God in
him. This is “the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory.”
Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of
understanding? “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ.” (Col
2: 3)
Application: Now, through Solomon, Christ says, “Bow down thine ear,
and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my
knowledge.” (Pro 22: 17)
John 17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
It is
by Christ giving us the knowledge of him—teaching us who he is and what he has
done and giving us faith to believe on Christ—that many shall be justified.
Isaiah 42:1: Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, the isles shall wait for his law.
Christ
shall bring forth justice to God’s elect Gentiles by what he has done for
us. He was made sin—bore our iniquities;
he was numbered with the transgressors—our sin was imputed to him; he bore our
stripes; and he satisfied justice. And we shall wait for him to bring his word
to us and justify us by applying it to our hearts…he shall not fail!
Matthew 11:27: All things are delivered unto me of my
Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Robert
Hawker—“CHRIST’S travailing pains for his people
are until he is formed in the heart, the hope of glory. And to give us the
assurance that [this shall] be accomplished, the promise of a seed to serve
Christ is beautifully introduced, and declared to be so great, and so finished,
that Jesus shall himself be satisfied, and see of the travail of his soul, in
the multitude of sinners converted to the doctrine of the cross.”
I. FIRST, EACH LOST SHEEP SHALL KNOW CHRIST
BECAUSE CHRIST KNOWS THEM THAT ARE HIS—BY HIS KNOWLEDGE.
By His Knowledge Christ Knows Each Sheep
2 Timothy 2:19:…the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.
John 10:14: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep,
and am known of mine…27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me: 28 And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand.
John 13:18: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have
chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me.
By His Knowledge Christ Knows Where Each Is
John 10: 16: And other sheep I have, which are not of
this fold:[he knew that] them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
John 17:20: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word;
By His Knowledge Christ Sends Them a Preacher
By
Christ’s knowledge he is able to send them a preacher because he came to do the
Father’s will and to save “through the foolishness of preaching” is the
Father’s will.
In
fact, Christ Jesus ministering the everlasting covenant to his lost sheep
through the means of preaching is as much a part of the way Christ is the
Mediator of the new covenant as is his work on the cross. He said, “His pastors
shall feed you “with knowledge and understanding.” But he gives the increase, he filleth all in
all!
2 Corinthians 4:7: But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that [this is the reason, God saves through foolishness of
preaching by clay pots] that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not
of us.
·
Not of the clay pot
·
And not of you who hear the clay pot
2 Corinthians 2:14: Now thanks be unto God, which always
causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his
knowledge by us in every place. [thanks unto God, Christ does it]
1 Corinthians 1:5: That in every thing ye are enriched by
him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
It is
Christ who teaches us knowledge when the gospel is preached to us. Christ said,
Isaiah 50:4: The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the
learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:
he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
God
said to Christ,
Isaiah 49:9: That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go
forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the
ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
II. LET’S SEE SOME EXAMPLES.
The Ethiopian Eunuch
The
Ethiopian eunuch had gone up to Jerusalem. But Christ would not allow him to be
taken in by their false preaching. He begets us again “by the word of truth.” His
church is the “ground and pillar of truth.” The Eunach was on his way home in
the middle of nowhere in the desert, on the old road that nobody travelled
anymore.
Acts 8: 26: And the angel of the Lord [Christ himself] spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth
down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27: And he arose and went: and,
behold, a man of Ethiopia,...28: Was returning, [from Jerusalem] and sitting in
his chariot read Esaias the prophet. [He had the scriptures but Christ still
sent him a preacher because Christ does the Father’s will, not his own—it
pleased God to save through the foolishness of preaching.] 29: Then the Spirit
said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30: And Philip ran
thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? 31: And he said, [don’t forget this is the inspired
word of God. God the Holy Spirit records these next words] How can I, except
some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit
with him….34: And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom
speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35: Then Philip
opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36: And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the
eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37: And
Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God….[so Philip
baptized him. Then Christ sent Philip to another lost sheep]…39: And when they
were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that
the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
Philippian Jailor
By his
knowledge, Christ used rebels against the gospel to put the apostle Paul in
prison. But it was so Paul could preach the gospel to the jailor. At midnight, Christ
caused an earthquake. Opened the door for Paul to preach the gospel to the
jailer. Christ called him out, along with many in his house. Christ did it all
by his knowledge—the knowledge in himself to perform all that. And by his
knowledge in revealing himself within that jailor through the gospel.
Church at Corinth
The
apostle Paul was thinking of leaving Cornith.
Acts 18: 9: Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a
vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on
thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11: And he continued there
a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Lydia
Acts 16: 6: [Paul was] forbidden of the Holy Ghost to
preach the word in Asia, 7: After…they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the
Spirit suffered them not…10: And after he had seen the vision, immediately we
endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us for to preach the gospel unto them….14: And a certain woman named Lydia, a
seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, [she went
through the mere form] heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
In Caesar’s House
Christ
had Paul arrested again carried to Rome. By his knowledge, Christ had Paul
carried by armed guard, paid for by Romans.
Christ made it so Paul could preach in his own hired house. Then by his knowledge, through the gospel,
Christ revealed himself in the hearts of his elect in Caesar’s own house. Later
Paul wrote, “All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s
household.” (Php 4: 22)
Application: God does not lie in his scriptures. Over and over God
tells us this is the means by which he shall save in this gospel age. By his
knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify many. The gospel in its means and
its message is offensive. It brings sinners, who think they are something to
nothing. So that no flesh shall glory in Christ’s presence but all who are
called shall glory only in Christ—for by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. But unto us who are called Christ is the Power and Wisdom
of God.
III. LET’S GET MORE PERSONAL. BY HIS
KNOWLEDGE, WE ARE CREATED ANEW BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, CHRIST REVEALS HIMSELF IN
OUR HEARTS AND WE BELIEVE BY HIM.
Christ Was Raised to Bring His Own to Faith
1 Peter 1: 21: Who by him do believe in God, that raised
him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God….23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24: For all flesh is as
grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away: 25: But the word of the Lord endureth for
ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
2 Corinthians 4:6: For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
When he
has created us anew, by his knowledge he pours out “the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they
shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zech 12:
10)
For the
first time, you see yourself as rotten as you really are and you see Christ as
wonderful as he really is; for the first time, you mourn for Christ, in
bitterness for Christ; and whatever objections you had, by the knowledge of him,
which Christ gives, his power casts, “down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Cor 10: 5)
For the
first time, you really begin to pray: “And in that day there shall be a
fountain opened…for sin and for uncleanness.” (Zech 12: 10; 13: 2) That
fountain is the blood of Christ. Christ
speaks—not audibly—but through his gospel by his scriptures into the heart,
into the conscious. He declares to us personally in our hearts: “I bore YOUR
iniquities on the cross”; “I bore YOUR stripes—wounded for MY transgressions”; “I
took YOUR iniquities away forever, never again to be remembered”; “He declares
now YOU ARE dead to sins and alive unto righteousness.”; “I have brought YOU to
God and shall bring YOU to God fully in the end.”
Then in
the court of your conscious, the Holy Spirit purges your conscious from dead
works to serve the true and living God! You
receive free justification from Christ our Righteousness. Instead of saying,
“Depart, thou cursed, into everlasting fire.” You hear him say, “I have blotted
out thy sins, God remembers them no more. Bring forth the best robe and put it
on my son!”
Then you
find yourself standing, accepted of God, not for anything we have done, or can
be, or shall be, but entirely and wholly through the blood and righteousness of
Jesus Christ. And you are happy!
Psalm 32: 1: Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2: Blessed is the man
unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, AND in whose spirit there is no
guile.
Philippians 3:8: Yea doubtless, and I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ, 9: And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death;
By His Continuing Knowledge
This is
not a one-time experience. It is by his knowledge that grace and peace continue
to be multiplied to us, and we continue to grow in grace and peace.
2 Peter 1:2: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through
the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3: According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
As the
old man dies day by day, the new man, the inward man, is renewed day by day,
how? Notice in Colossians 3 the new man has already been created and they have
already put on the new man by faith. In Colossians
3 Paul is telling us how the new man is grown and strengthened—it is in the
knowledge of Christ.
Colossians 3:10: And have put on the new man, which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
What is
this justification? An old writer said, “You have heard all the definitions of
justification. But let me give you a definition with nine points:”
1.
Christ puts away all our sins and prepares for us a place.
2. He
removes all charges against us—“who can lay anything to the charge of God’s
elect?”
3.
Christ ascends and takes possession of heaven for us as our Forerunner.
4.
Christ appears before God with a suitable
sacrifice, an accepted offering.
5. He
opens the way personally for us to come into the holiest
6. He
presents us, in himself, faultless without sin.
7.
Christ transacts all business between us and God
8. He
everlives to make intercession—not just prayers—but his presence before God
9. He
will return for us then raise our bodies
THAT IS
JUSTFICATION!
Sinner,
what can you possibly accomplish by refusing to believe God? What eternal good can you possibly gain for
your soul by NOT repenting from your sins and believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ? You are guilty of iniquities. You
need to be justified before God. God says only Christ shall, “by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify MANY; for he shall bear THEIR iniquities. Are
you ashamed of Christ? If not, why then will you perish in your sins? God says,
“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye
from your evil ways; for why will ye die…?” (Eze 33: 11)
I am not preaching just to hear myself speak. I pray earnestly to God for you that through
the word I preach to you: you might be born again of the incorruptible seed; that
Christ will create in you a new man; that Christ will be formed in your heart;
that Christ will grant you repentance from your sins and faith in him.
If he
does, you will not be able to resist the word of faith in your heart and in
your mouth. You’ll no longer be ashamed of Christ, you’ll believe on him,
you’ll confess him, you’ll follow him in believer’s baptism. I can assure you,
if he draws you, then you shall be saved because God my Father promises, “By
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities.”
Amen!