All women, including pre-born baby girls, are created in the image of God. Discover the true war on women. www.godloveswomen.com That is www.godloveswomen.com Our Father, our God, Oh Lord, praise awaits you in Zion. We believe that the elect from all the nations, those who fear your name, will be gathered and they will come and praise you in Zion. And it will be so glorious. Lord, we are grieving in our hearts, not only because it's very lonely to be your children in this day and age, but We're grieved even more because the glory of your son is not honored the way he should be honored. And your glory, oh Father, is not honored the way your glory should be honored. We are deeply grieved and we pray that you would turn the hearts of people back to you with great repentance and they would turn away from their idols to serve the living and true God. O Lord, please pour out your Holy Spirit upon your churches so that we could bear witness boldly to the gospel, because our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy, because you, our God, are worthy. In Jesus' name, amen. So this is a second week focusing on the doctrine of resurrection. And again, a slightly different Bible translation, but very close to the New King James, which we normally use. Isaiah chapter 53, verses 10 through 12. This is the word of the Lord. Yet it pleased the Lord to crush him, He has put him to sickness. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days, and the Lord's pleasure will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he shall see light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore will I give him a portion with the great and he will divide the plunder 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 made intercession for the transgressors. Thus far the reading of God's holy word. God's holy servant shall see light. Many English translations of the Bible miss this in verse 11. They typically read, this is how the ESV, for example, reads, he shall see and be satisfied, but they lack the word light. Yet the witness from antiquity says that the right reading of verse 11, a reading which is found in the translation notes, footnotes of most Bibles, actually includes the word light in this precious verse. So most likely the right reading is something like this. After the suffering of his soul, he shall see light. be satisfied so again the suffering servant of isaiah 53 shall see light this is resurrection first he shall pour out his soul unto death but then afterwards he shall see light that is the servant firstly shall be placed in a dark sealed tomb then subsequently shall be raised into the blazing daylight of resurrection. First comes the dark night of death on a cross and also of burial within the tomb. Yet afterwards comes the victorious light of bodily resurrection from the grave. This is why the prophet says that he shall prolong his day. Isaiah 53 10 yet it pleased the Lord to crush him. He has put him to sickness When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days That's resurrection and The Lord's pleasure will prosper in his hand Jesus died while being still relatively young of age His days were, according to the prophecy, cut short, even though the law says that those who obey God's commandments shall prolong their days. If you're obedient to the covenant, you shall prolong your days. You can find that at least five places in the book of Deuteronomy. And Jesus obeyed the commandments flawlessly and sinlessly. Even so, his own days were cut short. At a relatively young age, he was cut off from the land of the living. Yet the prophet Isaiah, speaking of his resurrection, says that he shall prolong his days. This is God's glorious gift to his beloved Christ, namely, a resurrection unto an eternal length of days. So as it says in the Psalms, Psalm 21, 3 through 4, For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of you. You gave it to him even length of days forever and ever. Therefore, dear brethren, we do not grieve in the same manner as unbelievers do. Christ is risen from the dead and so has prolonged his days in turn he the firstfruits shall raise all of those who have fallen asleep in him in specific we hurt deeply over our loved ones in Christ who have fallen asleep their days have been cut short And we have wept and wept over them. Yet on the great day of Christ Jesus, they shall be raised and our Lord shall prolong their days. The current separation from them is excruciating. but very soon we shall see their glad faces. And our days with them in the kingdom of heaven shall be prolonged, even everlastingly. God's servant, the Christ, shall see light. He shall see the light of resurrection. In that light, then, what shall he see? Once he sees the light of resurrection, what shall he see in that light? Isaiah 53, verse 10, again. Yet it pleased the Lord to crush him. He has put him to sickness. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days and the Lord's pleasure will prosper in his hand. Once Christ sees the light of resurrection, then he shall also see his seed. He died relatively young of age. Who then can speak of his descendants? Since he was cut off from the land of the living, how can we speak of him as having any children? Yet this is exactly why he died, that in the light of resurrection he might see his seed. Isaiah 61 verse 9, their seed, literally, their seed will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed. This is the seed for which Christ died. Christ Jesus himself in the Bible is the seed, singular, of Abraham. When the Bible speaks of the seed singular, it speaks of Christ. Genesis 12, verse 7, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your seed singular. He built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. Yet Christ Jesus, the seed of Abraham, shall see his own seed. He shall have his own spiritual offspring. In the light of his resurrection, he shall see them. This is the joy of Jacob upon seeing his own grandsons. Having been deceived by his other sons into thinking that his son Joseph had been slain by a wild beast, Jacob never thought that he would be allowed to see Joseph's face again. Yet near the end of his life, Jacob not only saw Joseph face to face, but also was allowed to see Joseph's two sons, his grandsons. He saw the promised seed of Israel in the faces of his two grandsons. Genesis 48, 11, Israel said to Joseph, I did not think I would see face and behold God has let me see your seed also Moses saw the land that the Lord had sworn to give to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and and when God swore he said in Exodus 33 1 I will give it to your seed I will give it to your seed and But Moses was not allowed to witness the seed of Israel actually entering into that promised land. Yet Christ Jesus, in the light of resurrection, shall see his seed. He shall see his seed inherit the promised land of the kingdom of heaven. Christ shall see it. How is this possible? If Christ is cut off from the land of the living at a relatively young age, how can we speak of his seed? Well, of course, the seed of Christ is a seed of spiritual generation. We're not speaking of physical offspring, we're speaking of spiritual generation. We're saying that Christ, who is God's righteous servant, has borne the iniquities of his elect such that his righteousness has made them to be righteous." That's what we're saying. The just servant of God has justified a people for himself by bearing their iniquities in his own body upon the cross. Isaiah 53 verse 11 after the suffering of his soul he shall see light and be satisfied my righteous servant will justify many that's his seed by the knowledge of himself and he will bear their iniquities so who are the true seed of Christ well they are those who have been made righteous and through faith in Christ's own righteousness. Romans 5 verse 19, For as through the one man's disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many, that's the seed, will be made righteous. This is the seed of Christ. It is not the seed of charlatan hypocritical Israel the hypocrites of Israel who profess God with their lips but their hearts are far from him are a fake seed an evil seed and thus very much a spiritually dead seed Isaiah verse 1 I'm chapter 1 verse 4 all the way back in the first chapter Isaiah 1 verse 4 ah sinful nation a people loaded with iniquity a seed literally a seed of evildoers children who deal corruptly they have forsaken the Lord they have despised the Holy One of Israel they are estranged and backward rather so that's not the seed of Christ rather the true seed of Christ is a holy seed the true children of Christ have been made righteous through the righteousness of Christ Isaiah 6 verse 13 there is a tenth left in it so there's a remnant a seed that also will in turn be consumed as a terebinth and as an oak whose stock remains when they are felled so the holy seed the holy seed is its stock and yet death must come first the cross must come first. Jesus says in John 12, 24, Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat, here's the seed, falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. So the cross must come first. He must be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. We who seek to be justified before God, and yet cannot be so justified due to the condemning nature of our sins, must be justified only by faith in Jesus, the just, who was crucified for our sins. Then, and only then, only after his death, which brings life to us, and only after his condemnation, which is our justification, will he see his seed. So the cross comes first, and then he will see his seed in the light of resurrection. Psalm 22, verse 30, a seed shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord. And Romans 9, verse 8, that is, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but it is the children of the promise who are, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. Do you see it, dear Christian? Does the illumination of the Holy Spirit now reveal to you how it is that the Christ of God, the seed had to die? Before he could see the light of resurrection. And in that light. See his seed. First, the seed itself must die. It must be sown into the ground, and thus before bearing fruit it must die. Only then can the fruitful plant rise up and spread its seed. So if then we are the seed of Christ, shall he not also sow us in the same manner? Shall we not continually be sown as the seed that dies? Shall we not carry in our own bodies the death of Christ? Shall we not die daily? And in our dying shall not Christ raise up more fruitful plants that are able to sow more fruitful seed, and all for his glory alone, so that when he sees his offspring at the final harvest, he shall see a countless multitude of godly seed? And also should we not then be a holy seed? If he died, in order to rise and see the light of resurrection and in that light see his seed. What kind of seed ought we to be? Should we be a mixed seed such that our sons and daughters intermarry with the sons and daughters of the world? Is this not detestable to Christ who desires a pure and godly seed for himself? And if Christ is raised to see light and in that light to see his seed, should we not grant him the satisfaction of seeing godly offspring and a most holy seed? Dear Christian, the resurrection of our Lord is not freedom to sin. It is rather freedom not to sin. Let Christ then being risen, look upon his church and see a holy seed. Let the church come out of the darkness, forsaking all of the unfruitful deeds of darkness and live in the in the resurrection light of holiness. So that Christ may find us to be a holy seed. his resurrection he shall see light in that light then what shall he see well the Prophet says that he shall see his seed and then once he has seen his seed the Prophet says that he shall be satisfied Isaiah 53 11 after the suffering of his soul he shall see light in and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself, and he will bear their iniquities." This is covenantal language. Namely, that when Christ rises from the dead and sees light, he shall be satisfied. That's the language of covenant. for according to the covenant that God made with Israel, her obedience to his holy commandments through her love, through her act of loving the Lord her God with all of her heart and with all of her soul, would prompt God to give her the rain for her land in its season, such that her grain, her new wine, and her oil could be gathered in. And then the blessing of the early rain and the blessing of the latter rain would send grass in her fields for her livestock. And in all of those covenantal blessings, Israel would eat and the covenant says and be satisfied Leviticus 26 you can find that in Leviticus 26 3 through 5 Christ Jesus then fulfills the law of the covenant the law which Israel broke and thus Christ is the king of the true Israel of God He receives the covenant blessings in perfection because of course he obeyed the covenant with sinless perfection. And so he shall see light and he shall inherit the blessings of the covenant and that means he shall be satisfied. Yet this satisfaction does not come until after his death. As it goes then, it is the wicked who are oftentimes satisfied in this mortal life, while the righteous have to wait until after death in order to be satisfied. Psalm 17, 13 through 15. Arise, O Lord, confront him, cast him down, delivered my life from the wicked with your sword and with your hand from men, O Lord, from men of the world who have their portion in this life and whose belly you fill with your hidden treasure. They being the wicked. Are satisfied. With children and leave the rest of their possessions for their babes. As for me, I will see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when? Only after death, when I awake in your likeness. Up until the empty tomb, all is suffering for Christ Jesus. In this mortal life, there is much trouble and hardship for the righteous. Yet in the midst of the trouble and hardship, our souls are taught by God's Spirit to yearn for the coming future day of Christ Jesus, on which day we shall be satisfied. Psalm 63 verse 5 this is prayed in the midst of intense suffering when you read the psalm Psalm 63 verse 5 my soul shall be future shall be satisfied as with the richest food my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips the Lord gives us great promises in the midst of our troubles that if we persevere by faith through the tribulations, he will, in the future, satisfy our longing souls and fill our hungry souls with goodness. Thus God promises the righteous man that after his troubles are finally over, a great satisfaction of soul awaits him. Psalm 91 verse 16, I will satisfy him with long life and show him my salvation. So first come the temporal days of trouble and only afterwards the eternal days of satisfaction. First, Christ must suffer the terrible, unutterable darkness of the cross. Then, once he has finished his atoning work on the cross, He shall see light and be satisfied. Psalm 22, 16, this is the trouble of the cross which must come first. Psalm 22, 16, for dogs have surrounded me, a company of evildoers have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and feet. But then, Psalm 22, 25 to 26, This is the satisfaction that comes after the trouble is passed. Psalm 22, 25 to 26 of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever. How then is Christ able to endure the incalculable torment of the cross. He knows his father's promises. He clings to the promises of scripture that say that after the great trouble is past, an even greater satisfaction will follow it. That is, after being engulfed by the darkness of the cross, he shall see light and in that light he shall see his seed and in seeing his seed he shall be satisfied it is therefore the promise from the father that of his coming future satisfaction which enables him to endure the drinking of the bitter cup the cup of the fury of the wrath of the Lord against all human sin at Golgotha Hebrews 12 verse 2 looking unto Jesus the beginner and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God how did he do it for the joy that was set before him What would have happened if John Bunyan, upon becoming a Christian, since Bunyan was not converted until after the birth of his first child, had been warned far in advance? What would have happened if he had been warned far in advance about the troubles he would have to face in order to follow Christ faithfully? What if someone had warned him about the future? If the Lord Himself had warned Bunyan that in the future he would have to watch his beloved first wife die. And then face horrible slanders and false charges from those who hated his evangelistic preaching. And then be cast into a dark, unsanitary prison for 12 long years. Such that the horrific prison conditions would destroy his health and shorten his lifespan. and then lose a baby through his second wife's miscarriage as a result of the trauma of his imprisonment. She lost the baby because her husband was imprisoned. And then worst of all, to hear while in prison the news of the death of his precious blind daughter, Mary. He's in prison. He can't go to her while she's dying. What would Bunyan have said in response to all of these warnings about his future? In the face of such foreboding trouble and anguish, would Bunyan have renounced his newly gained faith? Would he have promised never to become a preacher if such a promise could release him from such future sufferings? Not at all. In no way could any warning from the Lord about future events have persuaded Bunyan not to travel the pilgrim road that he chose to travel. For Bunyan knew by way of prayer in the Spirit and by way of searching the Holy Scriptures, he knew that many troubles must come first. He knew it. He was braced for them by his strong love for the Holy Scriptures And at the same time, he also knew the secret that would sustain him and give him endurance in all of his coming tribulations. That is, he knew that on the other side of the greatest of troubles, the faithful pilgrim is promised an even greater satisfaction. To be sure, the road to the celestial city is stained with blood. soaked with tears however Bunyan knew that his future entrance into the gates of the celestial city would cause his weary battered soul to be completely satisfied Oh faithful pilgrims of the church remember that Christ troubles preceded his satisfaction First, he had to be troubled of soul, even to the point of sweating drops of blood from his brow. And then only afterwards did he see light and become satisfied. What shall we say then about those who think that they can have the satisfactions of the resurrection without first having the sufferings of the cross? Shall the soldier divide the plunder without first bleeding on the battlefield? Shall the athlete wear the gold medal without first wincing in pain in the contest? Shall the farmer eat of the crops without first sweating from his brow in the planting fields? In this life, dear Christian, there will be much trouble and anguish of soul. The cross will pinch down upon the shoulder each and every day. The persecutions will come for they are appointed to come. Rachel will weep for her children. Job will lament the day of his birth. The tears shall be many and the bitter loneliness of being hated by the world shall be great. The sorrows of this life shall at times feel so overwhelming that you will wonder whether or not God has forgotten to be gracious to you. Yet this precious promise, dear Christian, will carry you through the worst of afflictions. After Christ's troubles, he was satisfied. In the same way, after your lesser troubles, for however great they are, they will certainly be less than his. After your lesser troubles have come to an end, you too. Shall be satisfied. When you awake from your troubles and find yourself in the presence of Christ. And within the gates of the celestial city. you shall be satisfied with the sight of his radiant countenance as it shines upon you. There shall be trouble for Christ. There shall be a cross on which to die. Yet on account of the trouble of his soul, he shall see light and he shall be satisfied. So what remains then for such a glorious Christ? If he has obeyed his father, his righteous father, with such perfect obedience and out of such perfect love for his father, how shall the father reward him? Will not the father reward his son with an infinitely great reward? Isaiah 53, 12. Therefore, He's willing to pour out His soul unto death. Obedience to the Father, love for the Father. Therefore, will I give Him a portion with the great. And He will divide the plunder 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 made intercession for the transgressors. when Asa, king of Judah, trusted in the Lord in battle, even though his army was so greatly outnumbered by their Ethiopian attackers. The Ethiopians were overthrown and could not recover because they were broken before the Lord and his army, and Asa and his men, the text says in 2 Chronicles 14, 13, carried away very much spoil. The reward was exceedingly great. And yet this is nothing in comparison with the reward of Christ, which the Father will give to Christ. Isaiah 40, verse 10, Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him. his recompense before him and then the same thing in 62 verse 11 Isaiah 62 11 behold the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth say to the daughter of Zion behold your salvation comes behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him he is according to the prophecy the suffering servant by God's eternal decree he must enter into the darkness of the grave Yet once he sees the light of resurrection, he shall see his seed and be satisfied. He shall divide the spoil with the strong. He shall have the pleasures of his eternal reward. Psalm 16, 10 through 11, for you will not leave my soul and show neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand. There are pleasures forevermore. The prophets then did not prophesy about the sufferings of Christ only. they also prophesied about the glories of Christ's reward that would follow his sufferings 1st Peter 1 11 the prophets were constantly 1st Peter 1 11 searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed to when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow them. How richly magnificent and exceedingly graceful then is the gospel that has been entrusted to us since in the gospel Christ not only has his reward but ever so generously and mercifully shares his reward with us. We formerly were his enemies. We previously were the ones who denied him and abandoned him in his time of shameful reproach and bitter torment. He bore the multitude of our sins on his own shoulders and he made intercession on the cross for us who formerly were great transgressors. Yet being ever so rich in mercy, Christ Jesus not only obtained his reward, but chose to divide the spoil of his victory with us who believe in his name. We deserved death and an everlasting debtor's prison in hell. He bore our sins and then gave us light and immortality through the gospel, and then gave us the rich spoils of His own heavenly reward. Revelation 22, 12, behold, I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to repay to each man according to his work. And Romans 8, 32, he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? all things. As the old hymn goes, what wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul. Can the scorned and cheated bridegroom really be this generous towards his once adulterous but now repentant, cleansed, and sanctified bride? Can the once hated father truly be so lavishly loving towards his once defiant, yet now broken, contrite and returned prodigal son? Surely Christ must have his reward. His sacrifice was infinitely glorious, and so his reward must need to be infinitely glorious. Surely, yet somehow must I be obliged by faith to find the boldness to say, that He, the resurrected Christ, has predestined even me, the chief of sinners, to be holy and blameless in His sight in heaven, and thus to be a sharer in His own heavenly reward. O dear brethren, will the very Son of God whom we previously scorned Will he not only condescend to wash our feet with water, but also love us to the point of washing our sins away with his own blood? Will he not only forgive our sins, but clothe us in his own robes of righteousness? Will he not only clothe us in white, but also give us white stones with new names written on the stones? Will the Father not only crush the son for our redemption, but also be pleased to make us heirs of his kingdom and joint heirs with Christ? Oh, how wide and long and deep High is the love of Christ which surpasses surpasses knowledge He who saw the darkness of the tomb was raised from the dead. He saw light and in that light he saw us his seed We are his inheritance And so the father has been pleased to give him the reward of all of the riches of all of the majesty of the glory of his eternal kingdom. And he in turn has decided in love to share his reward, to divide the spoil amongst his offspring. And therefore we shall render Thanksgiving to him forever and ever. And His prolonged days shall be eternal days of receiving the everlasting praise of His saints. And in this everlasting praise, He, our Lord and our God, shall be satisfied. To the everlasting glory of God the Father, days unto days, ages unto ages, forever and ever. Amen. So as we now close this morning and return to the Lord's table, we come to the table of atonement to be sure, to remember the atonement of Christ on the cross, but we also come to this table as the table of satisfaction. He died like a seed sown into the ground. He received the trouble and the torment of the cross. but he also rose from the grave and saw his seed and was satisfied. Before we come, here's the doxology. Praise be to God, our Father, who has caused Jesus Christ, his Son, to see his seed. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is satisfied and who shall be satisfied. And praise be to the Holy Spirit, who is sanctifying us, making us into a holy seed, such that we, on the great day of the Lamb, shall be his reward. Amen.