Scott Brown's sermon focuses on Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12, exploring the profound prophecy concerning the suffering and exaltation of Jesus Christ as a fulfillment of God's plan for salvation. The text presents the paradox of Christ's marred appearance and His ultimate triumph, emphasizing the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. Brown delves into the 'Arm of the Lord,' a symbol of divine power and revelation, and highlights the misunderstanding and rejection of Christ by humanity. The sermon reflects on the humility and suffering of Jesus, urging believers to recognize His sacrifice and respond with faith. Brown also illustrates how this passage is foundational to the New Testament's explanation of salvation, mentioning its citations throughout the gospels and epistles. The sermon concludes with a call to see beyond superficial appearances, to understand Christ's true beauty and power, and to align one's life with His teachings despite societal rejection.

This morning our sermon text is Isaiah 52 verses 13 down to Isaiah 53 verse 3. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths at him, for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form or comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him." Lord, We praise your name this morning. Lord, we thank you for this text that you have brought us to. Lord, we thank you for this insight into our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Lord, who else could this be, through it all of history, but our Lord and Savior and we thank you for the clarity of your word. We thank you for revealing these words and preserving them in Scripture for us Lord. We ask you today to touch our minds, help us to grasp our suffering. Lord, His visage marred beyond that of any man for our sakes. Oh Lord, help us to see these things.

We pray also Lord for those who have not heard and perceived in their hearts the depths of what Christ has done. And Lord, we pray for you to move upon hearts this morning. We pray that you would enliven, that you would bring understanding. Help, O Lord, those that are cast down as well to see what a great master and captain of salvation that we have today. We ask you today, Lord, to help Mr.

Brown as he comes and preaches your word, that it would be with power, with your Spirit. Lord, that you would give life to his words and bless each and every one in this congregation with a hearing of your word. And for those at home who are not here, we pray also that you would give them attention to your word today. Lord, we ask all these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is always helped along and blessed and improved when it has faithful and energetic and holy elders and deacons. And there's a story of one of those deacons in Acts chapter eight. This deacon by the name of Philip was experiencing revival conditions. And for some reason the Lord called him to go out into the desert. Why would he leave all this?

Marvelous fruitful labor that he's experiencing there and and he goes out into the desert and he encounters an Egyptian official and this Egyptian official was reading the prophet Isaiah. And Philip went up to the chariot and he said, do you understand what you're reading? And the Ethiopian said, how can I understand unless someone explains to me?" And then we read that Philip preached the Lord Jesus Christ to him because he was reading this prophecy that we're in now in Isaiah 53? I'd like to talk just briefly about the significance of this prophecy. As we enter into Isaiah 53 in these next three weeks, we're going to be examining the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, really the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Christ exalted, shedding His blood and saving sinners. And Isaiah 53 presents really a summary of the whole purpose of history. It's the reason for writing the Bible. It's the reason for heaven itself. It's the center of messianic prophecy.

And it happens to answer the most important question that anyone can ever ask. The most important question is the question upon which everything turns for a human being and the answer to this question in your life will determine everything about your life, everything that will happen to you temporarily and also eternally. And the question is how might a sinner be saved? And so Isaiah 53 brings us face to face with a holy God and sinners. It brings us face to face with our sin.

And it shows us our humiliation, our degradation, our futility, and how Christ sacrificed His life to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and our failure and all of our sinfulness. This passage of Scripture is quoted all over the New Testament. You can find it in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, 1 John, and Revelation. And it's alluded to in dozens of other places in the New Testament. You cannot get away from the core theological matter that's explained here in this passage of Scripture.

I also want to acknowledge there's a very unfortunate chapter division. When we speak of Isaiah 53, we really need to speak of Isaiah 52, 13, to the end of chapter 53. So I'm just going to refer to this as Isaiah 53. If I'm in 52 and I say Isaiah 53, I'm doing it intentionally, because we really should have started memorizing back in 52, 13, in order to get the context where we read the words, behold my servant, because that's the beginning of Isaiah 53. And this is, so it's an unfortunate chapter division.

Calvin called it a dismemberment, you know, of the chapter. Now to give you a view of it there are five stanzas in it they that explain the five elements of the suffering that Christ endured to atone for sins. The first stanza explains his exaltation. The last stanza explains also his exaltation. And So the first is in chapter 52 verses 13 through 15.

This is his exaltation and his success. We'll cover that today. And then the next stanza in chapter 53 verses 1 through 3, his misunderstood humiliation We'll cover that today as well. And then in the following weeks we'll cover the third stanza, his suffering in verses 4 through 6, and then his submission in verses 7 through 9, and then finally the fifth stanza, his success and prosperity in verses 10 through 12. Now also we need to recognize this is the fourth and final servant song.

The words behold my servant bring us to this context in Isaiah of the various servant songs. The word behold is here to show us that a door is being opened in the history of redemption and it reveals the details of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament shadows get clearer with Isaiah 53. When you get to the final death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the writings of the apostles, it all becomes very, very clear that this is pointing to Jesus Christ. Now the first servant song, as you see they're listed in your outline, we found in chapter 42 1 through 9 where the Spirit-filled servant builds his kingdom through gentleness.

A bruised reed he shall not break. And then in the second servant song in chapter 49 verses 1 through 12, he's a merciful servant who comforts his people. And here you see the Father and the Son masterminding how they will work to save sinners. And verse 10 is so beautiful, for He has mercy on them and will lead them. For the Lord has comforted His people, verse 13, and will have mercy on his afflicted.

And so in the second servant song, it's focused as the merciful servant who comforts his people. And in the third servant song, it's found in chapter 50 verses 4 through 9, And here we find the servant loving to be at the feet of his father. His ear is attuned to his father. Mourning by mourning, he hears the words of the father and what does he do? He comforts those who are burdened.

This is the work of Jesus Christ and This is the work of the saints that follow Jesus Christ. And then finally we come to the fourth, which we're in today and for the next few weeks, where the focus is the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. The whole context here has been awake, awake, awake and see now behold, see your Savior, see Jesus Christ. And in this section you see him high and lifted up and he's exalted. So here we have, I think most would agree, the most comprehensive explanation of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And so, this presents the whole foundation for the doctrine of salvation. It's the heart of Old Testament prophecy. It's what the writers of the New Testament point to to explain substitutionary atonement. This is the root of the gospel. This is the fruit of the gospel and it's why the Apostle Peter said in in 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 10, of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.

And so this is perhaps the supreme passage of Scripture that explains the mercy of Jesus Christ towards sinners. Now how do you interpret it? I think this is very important. As you read this, you see how he suffered for our sin. And when he suffers, it points to our sin.

You have that? When the Son of God is suffering, He is suffering for your sin and my sin. So as you read Isaiah 53, recognize that. If he was beaten, we should have been beaten. If onlookers were astonished at his terrible appearance, we should be astonished at our ugly selves.

If he is humiliated, we should also have been humiliated. If he was rejected, we should see how we should have been rejected for our sins. If we see his sorrows and his griefs because of the sin that overcame, that was laid upon him, we should see our own sorrows and griefs that we deserve for our sins. Because all of these things were heaped up on Jesus Christ. And how you read this matters.

It is a prophecy that was fulfilled exactly in Jesus Christ, but it's more than that. It points to the innermost being of our hearts. So let's move into the text now. I have these two divisions, two large divisions of this message today, and the first takes up this first section, this first stanza in Isaiah 53, his unexpected exaltation and success, and there are four bullet points underneath that. But the first thing that we see is that the Son of God is prudent in his dealings.

Verse 13 in the first part. Notice that this servant song begins with the end in mind. It begins with Christ's glorification that he will succeed. It speaks of his coronation as king of kings and of Lord of Lords. These verses in 13 through 15 really begin with the exaltation, the victory of Jesus Christ, that he will complete all of his work.

And there are three verbs in verse 13, deal prudently, be exalted and extolled and be very high. Now notice the voice. Whenever you're reading Isaiah or any book you should know who is speaking and who's being spoken to in order to understand it properly. But notice the voice. It's the voice of God speaking of his son, of his servant.

So that's why we read, my servant shall deal prudently. This is God himself speaking about his son. Again, we have another marker in the doctrine of the Trinity. There are two separate persons, the Father and the Son, and one speaks of and to the other. That's what we find in Scripture.

And we find that he'll deal prudently. This has to do with success. It has to do with prosperity. When it says he will deal prudently, and it has to do with the way that his ways will prosper. The same word is used in Joshua 1, 8, when Joshua says, This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night That you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way Prosperous and then you will have good success.

This is the exact same terminology that God is using about his son. Joshua uses this word for success that Isaiah uses for prudent. And this is the doctrine of the prosperity and the success of Jesus Christ through his wisdom. The Lord Jesus Christ will prosper. His prosperity began with his earthly life.

The Lord Jesus Christ increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. And he's wise. His wisdom causes his prosperity. And he's made wise and successful by his Father who speaks to him. And how is he prosperous?

He prospers by his obedience to his Father. This is the source and the ground of all prosperity in this world, its obedience to God. This is the whole point of Deuteronomy chapter 28, blessed shall you be in the city, blessed shall you be in the country, blessed shall be your basket in your in your kneading bowl, blessed shall you be when you come in, and Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. This is the prosperity that comes from obedience and Jesus Christ the Son of God experiences his victory really by his by his obedience And his obedience leads to his exaltation because his exaltation is connected to his finished work. And his work will prosper and every knee shall bow and Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

So He is lifted up on the cross and He is exalted. This is why the writers of the New Testament speak of His exaltation. In Acts chapter 2 verse 33, the preacher says, therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. He's speaking of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 5 verse 31, we read, Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

This is the victory of Jesus Christ. He triumphed over the grave. Then there's this next word extolled. He will be extolled. He will be exalted, But he will also be extolled.

This has to do with being respected and regarded and spoken positively of. This is how a true Christian speaks of Jesus Christ. He cannot get over the goodness and the beauty and the power and the love of Jesus. No matter what he goes through he extols God. And then thirdly he will be very high.

He will be very high. Just think about that for a minute. He will be very high. The word that he uses here has connotations of being uplifted to the point of being haughty, in other words, absolutely high. Nothing at all absolutely high, nothing at all above Him, worthily high.

And Thomas Watson, writing in his book A Body of Divinity, lists five ways that Christ was exalted on high. First in his title, second in his office, third in his ascension, fourth in his session at God's right hand, and last in constituting him judge of the world." And so this is the victory of Jesus Christ. The victory of Jesus Christ is that he did have victory over death. He destroyed the last enemy, which was death, and he did succeed, and he is bringing many sons to glory. He will bring many sons to glory.

And you know, we sang the song today, He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. This is the Lord Jesus Christ in His victory. And then we see His astonishing appearance in verse 14. This also speaks of his victory, but it's misunderstood, it's unanticipated kind of victory.

Just as many were astonished at you, so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So in verse 14 we encounter men who are astonished, they're stunned, they're horrified, they're appalled, they're devastated, they're awestruck. That's the meaning of the word that Isaiah uses there. And I think this takes us back to when Jesus Christ was before Pilate and he'd been beaten and he'd been spat upon. We'll get to more of that later in Isaiah 53.

But his visage or his appearance, what you see was astonishing. Now let's slow down here to make sure we understand what's being said. You have to ask who is you? Just as many were astonished at you. Who is that?

Is it Christ? Well no, it's not Christ at all. It's Israel. Many were astonished at Israel. Do you see the logic?

Just as many were astonished at you Israel, so his visage, the Lord Jesus Christ, was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. So the astonishment was for Israel. And Israel and Christ are compared. And many were astonished at Israel and how they were not beautiful. Isaiah chapter 1 through 3 shows the ugliness of the children of Israel.

How they were not a beautiful people they were a selfish and self-absorbed Idolatrous people they only served themselves. They were not a beautiful people at all and they were a byword actually before the nations And so this is the comparison here. When you see him, when you see his visage marred, when you see his ugly disfigured appearance, Israel, think of yourself. And I think this is the idea that the Lord Jesus Christ has for us today. When you see the ugliness of Israel, you think of yourself.

You know, we've been learning about Israel and her ways. What are we seeing? We're seeing a reflection of ourselves. We're seeing our own ugliness. And it's astonishing.

We should be more astonished about our ugliness than we normally are. In our self-flattering, self-congratulating spirit that we carry with us because of our sin, we often are not astonished enough at our sin and the worldliness that we have embraced. We're not astonished by it. But here, There's an astonishment, an appalling, and a reducing to silence. So when you see the ugliness of Israel, you're seeing a vision of yourself.

You're seeing what sins look like in real people living in cities and in wilderness areas. The beatings that Christ received there during his six trials, the 39 lashes that were afflicted upon him made him bruised and bloody and puffed up and spat upon. He looked horrible. Here it says he could hardly even be Recognized so much so that we hid our faces from him We didn't want to look have you ever seen have you ever seen something that has happened to someone that you just don't want to look at some disfigurement in a face and you turn your face away because you're afraid of how you might actually respond but the response is actually appropriate when we see our sins to to to have this disfigured degraded appearance you know When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? Oh, do you see this beautiful person?

Or do you see yourself as marred? And this is why Jesus Christ died. When you look in the mirror and you know that you're marred, you think of his great sacrifice and how he takes your ugliness, how he takes the marring and the beating up and the disfiguring and the twisted life and Jesus Christ stands in your place. We are ugly and Christ was ugly for us. He was so unbeautiful that He was marred above everyone else.

David pictured this in Psalm 71, 7, I have become a wonder to many, but you are my strong refuge. He reached such lows that people wondered about him. But this marring was not an end. It was the beginning. It was the beginning of life.

And that's why we come to the next verse, verse 15. So he shall sprinkle many nations. His marring was for sprinkling. Now there are different ways that men have interpreted this. One famous commentator takes this as the way that the Lord poured out his word over many nations like he scattered the name he sprinkled the Word of God throughout all the nations and I think we can see how he has done that.

Others others speak of the the focus on his blood that he suffered and died and he sprinkled many nations by his blood and I I rather I rather think he's speaking of that because the terminology here of sprinkling takes us back to a long history of the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins and the sprinkling of it. And what he's saying here is that the blood of Jesus Christ, it will splatter across the centuries, across the four corners of the earth. Link it with verse 14, as many are as astonished, others will be sprinkled. This is what the Apostle Paul was speaking of in Ephesians 1 verse 7, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence." There is much we could say about the blood of Christ, and we'll continue to speak about it, but the first blood that was shed was when God killed animals to make clothing for Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3 verse 21. It required God's intervention.

It required the shedding of blood. It included God seeking out man and finding him and putting clothing upon him. But sprinkling is only possible when there's a death. The blood shed and then scattered requires a death. And here we learn that the blood cleanses.

You know, there's another shedding of blood, and that is the shedding of blood of Cain and Abel. In Hebrews chapter 12 we learn about the blood of sprinkling, the blood that cried out from the ground when Cain killed his brother Abel. Hebrews 12 24, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. So blood speaks.

The blood of Abel speaks and the blood of Jesus Christ speaks. And you have to understand what the blood is crying out. The blood of Abel speaks, But what does it say? His blood was a cry of guilt because of his murder of his brother. It speaks of the guilt from breaking the law of God and the vengeance of God.

Cain hated his brother and he killed him. And the hatred, the hatred of sin cries out. The blood of Cain tells us that sin is going to be punished. And Cain was punished. He was banished from the face of God.

Cain was afraid of man and God. He was a vagabond. It's a story of lawlessness and rebellion against God. Sin makes you a fugitive and a wanderer like Cain. Cain is afraid of life.

He's afraid of death. He's miserable, even though he's building cities and he's working. But Cain killed Abel and what happened? The voice of his brother's blood cried out from the ground because blood always cries out something. But there's another blood.

It's the blood of Jesus Christ. In Hebrews, what I just read, it speaks of better things. And so you always have to listen to the blood. The blood is always speaking. Christ died as our substitute.

He bled for our transgressions. He sprinkles people all over the world. And even though we have been vagabonds, even though we've lived our own ways and disregarding his law. We can come to him. We can be cleansed.

And the question is, are you listening to the blood? Are you ignoring the message of the blood? The blood speaks to you over and over and over again. Blood is always crying out. Sin is always making its statement.

And you're either hearing the voice of the blood of Cain or the blood of Jesus Christ. It's either the blood of condemnation or it's the blood of Jesus Christ. And we hear the voice over and over again, the voice of Cain, and we say I'll listen later. And there are always these competing voices. There's the voice of your conscience, the voice of the world, the voice of your own preferences different from God, the voice of your fears that you might lose.

You can't answer the blood which speaks. The blood condemns. But how do you answer the blood that condemns? By hearing the blood of Jesus Christ. It's blood that speaks of better things.

It's blood that speaks of redemption and forgiveness. You know in the book of Revelation we learn that the saints overcame by the blood of the lamb. The only way you can silence the voice of the blood of Cain is through the blood of Jesus Christ. You have The voice of the blood of Cain is through the blood of Jesus Christ. You have the voice of the blood of Cain upon you.

You know you're a sinner. You know you're unconverted. And the voice of Cain's blood is crying out to you. It's yelling at you. It's telling you to turn and repent.

You say, no, I'll listen to that voice later. But Jesus Christ and His blood cleanses from all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. How do you silence the voice, the blood of Cain? There's only one way—through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul says, For He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all How shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall bring a charge?

Against God's elect it is God who justifies To speak more about this blood we could go to the Passover in Exodus 12. We could go to the consecration of Aaron, the great high priest, to Leviticus 4 for the sprinkling of the priests for their sins. We could go to the prophecy of the cleansing flood, the fountain that will be opened in Zechariah chapter 13 verse 1. But Peter said it so clearly in 1 Peter 1, 1 and 2. He spoke of the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace be multiplied. So here in Hebrews chapter 10 we learn about the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. We learn that it has an effect on the very innermost parts of our being. He says, let us draw near with a full heart and assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." That in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 21 and 22 about this great high priest. So there's this blood that sprinkles the nations, and it means salvation to the Gentiles.

It means all people who trust in Jesus Christ from all nations, every tongue, tribe, and nation. This is the international reach of the blood of Jesus Christ. It's effective everywhere. No matter how degraded your society is, no matter how confused you've become growing up in a wicked and perverse generation, it doesn't matter. The blood speaks.

There are two voices of blood speaking. You're condemned and you're saved. What voice do you hear now? That's the most important question. And then in his victory, he also shuts the mouths of kings here.

Kings shall shut their mouths at him. This is again part of this whole scenario of the exaltation of Jesus Christ of his absolute victory. Kings shall shut their mouths at him. This is quoted in Romans chapter 15 verse 21, and he speaks about preaching the gospel there. He says, but as it is written, to whom he was not announced, yet they shall see, and those who have not heard, they shall understand." He's speaking about the spread of the gospel throughout the earth.

And as the gospel spreads throughout the earth, kings will hear about it, and it'll shut their mouths. It'll take their breath away. And because the gospel is going to spread to every tongue and tribe and nation, the littlest king to the biggest king will know. They will be conscious of Jesus Christ. Even our own king, President Obama, quotes the Word of God.

He knows. He has heard. Don't let it discourage you so much that he takes it so terribly and ridiculously out of context. But he is speaking the words of God. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

This is why we should always pray for kings like the apostle Paul instructed Timothy, don't stop praying for kings, don't give up. It's not hopeless, absolutely it's not. If it were hopeless, we wouldn't be called to pray. But there are stories of God saving kings, Columba preaching to Brutus, the king of the Picts, these filthy, anguished, violent people with their culture so destroyed, and God coming in and saving some of them. There is salvation in Jesus Christ.

He is the King of Kings and he is the Lord of Lords. Now notice as we come to the end of chapter 52 Or as we continue in Isaiah 53, the voice changes in verse 1 of chapter 53. I'd like you to look at that very carefully. The voice changes and Isaiah is speaking for the remnant or it's the remnant speaking. It's either the true church saying these things about Christ or it's Isaiah speaking about Christ and doesn't really matter for the interpretation but this is this is Isaiah and and or the people of God calling sinners to be saved and he's shifting from the first person singular to the second person plural.

And what we find here is, we find his misunderstood humiliation and rejection. It's all detailed here in these first three verses. And the first thing that we encounter is really a question, who will believe the message? Who is going to believe this? Who is going to believe in Jesus Christ, whose face is marred like this?

Who could possibly believe in something like this? And so there are these two questions. Who has believed our report? That's the first one. And this is the same report that we heard in chapter 52.

The report that kings have shut their mouths. There's a report going around the world and the blood of Jesus Christ is cleansing many and there's change And the kings are shutting their mouths. And so in view of the humiliation, who could believe in his success? It's so unlikely that someone like this could have success. After all, look at his appearance.

The Son of God, the creator of the universe, bloodied and beaten like that? Are you serious? How ridiculous is that? That's the whole idea who could possibly believe that And who many it's many Many won't believe it We see that same theme in Scripture. It's a narrow road.

There are few who find it. That's the truth of Scripture. It wouldn't be so invigorating and inspiring if true Christianity was the majority. Whenever the true church got together, it was just an absolute, remarkable, inspiring majority. Something that other people could be interested in.

It's not that way. Christianity is of a remnant and there are few who find it. You know, many have not believed in, many did not believe in Moses, Many didn't believe in Isaiah or Jeremiah. And here Jesus Christ speaks last. But what does he find?

Even his own family rejected him, saying he was insane. The woman at the well had no idea who this was She was speaking with the Lord of Glory who created her And she had no idea who she was talking to John the Baptist when he was in prison even wondered if Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Who has believed our report? Of whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? That's the second question.

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. Now it's been very exciting in Isaiah to continue to hear about the arm of the Lord. It's something we should meditate upon. The arm is a symbol of power and what he's saying here is that the people won't see his strength. It'll go right over their heads.

They can hear somebody say Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory. His majesty, his perfection, his absolute sovereignty rules everything and it'll go right over their heads of whom is the arm of the Lord they won't see they won't see the strength of God it doesn't they hear with their ears but it doesn't move them to worship and they might acknowledge it intellectually they might say I believe in the sovereignty of God, but it doesn't move their hearts and it doesn't make them worship and be thankful. It says, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Notice that. It is revealed.

In other words, it's made known to you. In other words, God has mercy on you. He opens up your ears and He opens up your eyes and it is revealed to you. And if you cannot see the arm of the Lord it's because God hasn't revealed it to you. If you don't see Him in His strength and in His love, it's because God has not revealed.

If you're like that today, cry out to God. Say, oh Lord Jesus Christ, save my soul. Open my eyes, unstop my ears, oh Lord. Help me to see your arm, your power, your might. Help me to see you as you really are.

Have you seen the arm of the Lord do you see him flexing his muscles do you see his might do you see his beauty can you see Can you see through the humiliation? Can you see through the bruised and marred visage? Can you see through the unpopular man? Can you see through that and see his glory? Can you see through the rejection and the belittling of the world for the arm of the Lord.

People ridicule and they slander Christianity. Who will see the arm of the Lord? And you know that really brings us to the problem of mankind. The unbeliever cannot see past the surface of things. They can't see the face of Jesus and have it be an open door flying open to the kingdom of heaven.

They're stuck on appearances. They really only care about appearances anyway. They've only cared about themselves anyway. And so when they see Jesus it's really all about them and so they cannot see Him. That is the problem with humanity.

And so to be identified with Jesus Christ, to be to be connected to one whose face was marred, one who was spat upon, one is so slandered would be so unappetizing. You don't want to be connected with Him. You don't want to be connected with him you don't want to be connected with him and his people especially his goofy weird people you don't want to be connected to him because of your pride And you can't see His beauty and His glory. All you can see is yourself and the loss of your own reputation. This is what happens to the ungodly.

They have spiritual vision problems. Their myopia and cataracts and astigmatism and their eye floaters have gotten in the way of seeing Jesus Christ. They can't see through the marring. They can't see his goodness and his beauty. The arm is the power source behind everything.

And if you cannot see Him in His beauty and in His power. You cannot be saved. Who has believed our report? Who is going to believe this? Only those who see.

Only those who see the arm of the Lord. Only those who see His majestic majesty and His absolute sovereignty, those are the ones who will see Him. And then in verse 2, we have no desire for his beauty. People will see nothing in him, for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness.

And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Now there are various illustrations that were given for what it means not to be able to see him, that he's exalted, that he is very high. There's a tender plant, you know, a tender plant is vulnerable. A tender plant is like a baby, like a little child who's extremely vulnerable to everything around him. And He's a tender plant. Christ does not seem to be strong.

He doesn't seem to be important. He presents himself as a tender plant. And so you can't believe in him because he is so tender. A root out of dry ground doesn't have much of a chance to prosper and to flourish. If your root is in dry ground, what will happen?

What happens to a root in dry ground? The dry ground kills the root. That's what happens. And that's how you see Christ. You look at him and you don't see him.

You can't see his power and his glory. You just you just think he's going to die like a root in dry ground. You know David speaks of the wicked spreading themselves out like a green tree and yet your Savior comes to you like a root out of dry ground. He is the root out of dry ground that you are. You are the root out of dry ground as well.

You have no hope. This world will sap you and suck you and kill you. But Jesus Christ appears, he is a root out of dry ground, but he's victorious. The root of Jesse, Isaiah 11, a nation without spiritual power. He was a baby, he was a human body subject to all the physical constraints and yet he's the Lord of glory.

And Then also there's no beauty. He has no form or comeliness. When we see Him, there's no beauty that we should desire Him. The unbeliever can't see His beauty. Then He's despised and rejected of men, verse 3.

He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Did not esteem Him. Here is the whole matter of how the world rejects Jesus Christ.

The world hates the words of Jesus Christ. He despises the words of Christ. Even the very mention of Christ can get you into great trouble, even our own Christian society, if that's what you want to call it. You know, you can go anywhere in America pretty much and you can mention the name of Confucius. Not a problem.

You can mention the name of Mohammed, not a problem. You can speak graciously about Buddha, not really a problem. People will actually think of you as kind of cool in the society. But if you mention the name of Jesus Christ, you have segregated yourself to the ash heap and you're despised, like he was despised. He was despised and rejected of men.

And the people who are so afraid of being despised find themselves at a crossroads Because with Jesus Christ and being connected to him you will be despised and rejected of men. You know there are many places today where it's been legislated at college campuses and high school campuses to not mention the name of Jesus Christ. The worst thing you can do in the military now is to mention the name of Jesus Christ. He was despised and rejected of men. And this is why every person has to ask themselves, do I want to follow him?

Do I want to lose my life for his sake? Or shall I find my life by following him? That's the ultimate question. To follow the one who is despised. To have views and philosophies and lifestyles that are despised.

To obey God and be despised even by people in the Christian community. To actually try to put some element of scripture into practice and be despised. This is what the followers of Jesus Christ have always gotten and they will always get. He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Think of your sorrows. Think of the things that have caused your sorrows. Think of the times you've entered into ungodly sorrows and sinned as a result, and out of your desperation you sinned. Jesus Christ was the man of sorrows so that every person who has tasted the sorrows, the bitter sorrows of sin, that they would know that Jesus Christ tasted the punishment for it for them. The grief from your sin, Jesus Christ was grieved for your sin.

He took on the grief of his people. We did not esteem him, And we hid as it were our faces from him, and we did not esteem him. He was not special, he was beaten, he is regarded as nothing. Christ became all these things for those for whom He died, think of someone who despises you. Think of someone who thinks very, very poorly of you.

Do you deserve it? Well, Jesus Christ was despised like that. For the ways that you are despised because of the real things that you have done and the real person that you are and you have made people despise you, recognize that Jesus Christ paid the price for all of your despising. Think of someone who looks at you as marred, thinks of someone who looks at you as nothing. Nothing but a tender shoot, nothing but a root out of dry ground.

And really What happened to him should have happened to us But we learn in scripture that the guilt is transferred this was figured prefigured in the Old Testament sacrificial system where the priest was charged to transfer the sin of the people onto the head of the sacrificial lamb. There were two lambs, one was two goats, one was killed and one was let go. The one that was killed has blood sprinkled. The one that was let go went off, went off free. God provided a way so that sins could be transferred and you would not have to suffer under the condemnation of the law for another hour.

Think of that. If you're if you're not a believer today, think of the blood of Cain that just continually cries out to you and convicts you and you have this dull You have this dull uneasiness in your soul because the blood of Cain keeps speaking to you that you are condemned, that you're a vagabond. And Jesus Christ comes with a blood that speaks of better things, where the sins are transferred onto the sacrificial lamb. There's such a pressure on the soul to have the curse of the law upon it. And I think the appeal here is to those who are suffering under the curse of the law and the condemnation.

And just to say you do not have to suffer under the condemnation of the law. Another hour, you can be free. You can follow a good shepherd. You can have the waters of life. You can eat the bread of life.

You can have the light of the world guide your way. He'll never leave you or forsake you. He's the good shepherd. He's the suffering servant that has been spoken of here. Well, let me bring just a few applications.

First of all, Do you believe in his exaltation? Do you see his arm this morning? I'm speaking, I want to speak out of two sides of my mouth here. If you're a Christian, Do you see his arm? Or have the floaters in your vision sort of not allowed, you're not seeing it now.

Because of some worldliness that you've allowed to encroach in your life, Something you've entertained that has dulled your vision of God. This is how it happens. Worldliness will dull the vision of the arm of the Lord and you'll eventually find yourself in despair. But do you believe in his exaltation? Do you see his arm?

Do you believe in the power of his arm? And if you're a Christian and you've let the world and the flesh and the devil to cloud your vision giving you myopia, return to the Lord cry out to God that He would restore to you a vision of His glory and His majesty. That you would see Him as He is, very high, very high as it says in chapter 52. Secondly, do you share in his humiliation? Did the worldly people of this world humiliate you and scorn you like they did Jesus Christ?

Do they think that the ways that you follow Christ are foolishness? Do they think that you're too concerned about holiness? Do you think that you are too concerned about what you do in this world and that you're too discriminating regarding evil? If that, do they think that of you? Or do they just, or are you just sort of part of the old boy network?

Or everybody's such a good person And everything is so smooth with those who hate Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Are you following Him alone? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? I think that's the heart of the matter. Has it been revealed to you?

Do you see him in his glory? Do you see him in his beauty? Do you see his arm flexed for you? Do you see his blood? Do you hear the voice of his blood that says you've been cleansed from all unrighteousness and ungodliness?

Do you hear his blood that speaks of better things than the blood of Cain. Jesus Christ is such a good shepherd. He suffers for his sheep and he gives his life as an atonement for sin. And then, he becomes their arm. I can't think of anything better than to know that.