We want to focus this evening on, again, on the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and particularly on Christ's obedience to the Father. So let's open up in a word of prayer, shall we? And Father, as we come once again together, gathered in the name of your Son, dear Lord, we ask that you would please come and cause these words that you have indicted that you have chosen in your scriptures to be food and drink for us, even as we come into the Lord's Supper this evening. We pray that you would give grace to both speaker and to hearer to the end that you, Lord Jesus, would be lifted up. And we ask this in your name. Amen. I wanted to start off with a brief review of the prophecies of Yahweh's coming servant. So Yahweh's coming servant prophesied. And I trust that for some of us, this is going to be something of a review that you perhaps have seen numerous times before. And for some, it may be completely new. Nevertheless, starting with Isaiah 42 and verse 1, in whom my soul delights, I will put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. And then moving forward to chapter 49, verse 5 of Isaiah's prophecy, and now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength." He says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. And then over in chapter 52 at verse 13, behold, my servant shall act wisely He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were as astonished at you, his appearance was so marred behind human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. So shall he sprinkle the nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him. For that which has not been told them, they see. And that which they have not heard, they understand. And then best well known of these passages from Isaiah chapter 53, out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. So as we consider these texts, the question is going to rise in our minds by what role or what capacity is Yahweh's servant going to accomplish this work of redemption. Now by way of review, in a previous study, we observed the absolute necessity of Jesus, Yahweh's servant, coming to offer himself as the sin bearer and atoning sacrifice for our sins. Simply put, only Jesus had to suffer. Only he could suffer. for the sinners upon the cross, and no one, if he did not do that, no one could be saved. from Matthew 16 verse 21. And from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. The risen Christ appeared, as you remember, to two disciples on the Emmaus road from Luke 24 verse 25. And he said to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? and beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. There are in fact numerous passages which establish there is literally no other way you or I could be right with God apart from Christ becoming man and dying on that cross. What a tremendous rescue plan it was and we are indebted beyond knowledge for Christ's coming as that perfect Lamb of God and our Great High Priest. But recall as well that the Father, Son, and Spirit didn't need to save anyone. Through all eternity, they have been completely and utterly happy in and of themselves with each other's company and fellowship. God didn't create man out of some felt need of loneliness. God certainly wouldn't care for my company, certainly apart from the work of Christ in my life. Nor did he somehow owe me salvation. Any way you look at it, salvation stems from the sheer love and grace of God alone. And that reminds me of a question that a seminary student posed to one of his professors one day. He came to his professor after class one day and said, Prof, I've got a terrible problem. And he goes, oh, what is that? He said, why did God choose Judas? And he goes, that's nothing. I've got one harder than that. Why did he choose me? Why did he choose you? For mercy. And so as we go back to our survey here of Isaiah, in what capacity or what role does the Son of God accomplish the justifying of many that we read about in Isaiah 53? And you can see it is that of a servant. The blessed Lord Jesus in that inner Trinitarian conference prior to the world began, chose to willingly place himself in full submission to the Father for the end or purpose of securing redemption of our salvation through nothing less than obedience to his Father's will, even to the laying down of his life, and that for the likes of you and me. So as we look at this theme through the scriptures, We're going to see its importance and I'm hoping to draw some of that out for you because we find it in a number of different passages. Beginning with John 6, beginning at verse 37 there. If you would mind turning there with me. John 6, beginning at verse 37. A very important passage in terms of establishing Christ's deity and his work of redemption on the cross. Verse 37 of chapter 6, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. but raise it up on the last day. Verse 40, for this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. So Jesus came down to do the Father's will as Yahweh's servant, as his obedient son. If you'll flip over then to chapter 10 of John's Gospel, just a few pages over. Again, a controversial situation where he's with the scribes and the Pharisees. Beginning at verse 14 of John 10, I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge, this command, this commandment, depending upon what translation you're looking at, I have received from my Father. And then if you would flip over with me to Romans chapter 5, Paul's epistle to the Romans. He also draws attention to the contrast between the first Adam and our Lord Jesus. Chapter 5 of Romans at verse 19. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. So note the contrast that underscores Christ's obedience to the Father. Where Christ succeeded, this is where Adam failed. And then over to Philippians 2, probably the quintessential passage on this theme. Philippians chapter 2, I'll begin reading at verse 5. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, verse 7, but emptied himself. by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And then another passage as well that I can't really skip over, Hebrews chapter 5. Again, we'll see this same theme here Here it's in relation to Christ's eternal priesthood, Hebrews chapter 5, beginning at verse 5. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest. but was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son. Today I have begotten you, quoting from Psalm 2. So he says in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus became our high priest, our great high priest, only by the expressed will of the Father. And in doing so, he fulfilled not only these prophecies in Psalm 2 and the second one in 110, but all the types and shadows of the Aaronic priesthood and its system of worship. All of this was distinctly the role of Yahweh's servant. To fulfill these words, our Lord Jesus had to become the God-man. There is no other person that can be appointed as a priest other than the fact that they are human, as we read in Hebrews 5 and verse 1. So to fulfill these words, our Lord Jesus had to become the God-man and also had to die and rise again, demonstrating his endless priesthood for us, able to give eternal life to all who come to him in faith. John Owen comments, the Lord Christ did not merely on his own authority and power take this office upon himself. He became so, was made so by the appointment and designation of the Father. Nor did he do anything in the whole work of his mediation but in obedience unto his command and in compliance with his will. For it is the authority of God alone which is the foundation of all office, duty, and power in the church. Even what Christ himself is and was unto the church, he is and was so by the grace and authority of God, even the Father. By him he was sent His will did he perform, through his grace did he die, by his power was he exalted, and with him doth he intercede. And so this evening, as we look at your outline, there's two aspects of Christ's obedience that theologians want to focus upon. And the first of those two under letter A is Christ's passive obedience. You may think passive obedience, what is that, an oxymoron? Like original copy or jumbo shrimp? Well, there is a misconception with this term, passive obedience. Obedience that is passive in the way we normally use that term is really not obedience, but it's acquiescence. But listen to this, Christ was fully active even in his passive obedience. When we use the term, what we mean is that the servant of Yahweh as the Lamb of God took upon himself our sins as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And as we've looked at those passages a moment ago, Christ was not an involuntary victim of God's justice, but fully volunteered to be our Savior. If you think back with me to the John 10 passage, Jesus said this, for this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. And so as we read the gospel accounts, you're going to see several times in which Christ could have been killed by his enemies. Once in Nazareth, as I recall, and then another time in Jerusalem. And yet none of those events would have satisfied your need and my need for propitiation. Christ was fully in control of his life as our Savior at every point along the way. And as we go back to Philippians 2, Paul describes Christ's obedience not just to the point of, but rather to the extent that he laid down his life. In other words, nothing was held back in his obedience to the Father. In verse 7 of Philippians 2, but he emptied himself. taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So when we speak of the passive obedience of Christ, we simply mean that Christ's obedience meant the fulfillment of all the penal demands, the infliction of penalty for all the shortcomings and infractions of God's law. So Christ absorbed and fully exhausted the wrath of God on behalf of his people. The primary reason we celebrate the Lord's death in the Lord's Supper is this. Christ, for each one who believes in Christ, drained fully the cup of God's wrath. As the hymn writer says, that we looked upon this year. God looked upon Christ and pardoned me. All of the wrath God stored up legitimately to vent upon me. was completely spent on Christ at the cross. Praise God this evening, if you can say what the hymn writer did, God looked upon Christ and pardoned me. Nothing's left of God's wrath. Christ paid it all, all to him I owe, just as we sang. Now I imagine if we were in an urban church this evening, I would get shouts and claps of amens, but that's okay. So we've looked at Christ's passive obedience. We want to move on and take a look at Christ's active obedience. What is Christ's active obedience? Positively, Christ, throughout his earthly life, completely fulfilled every precept and requirement of God's law. And then again, here is another misconception that we need to address. This was not a mechanical obedience, as if Christ were checking off a list of boxes, or some formal obedience, but it was what John Murray describes as a dynamic, experiential, suffering, maturing obedience. Every trial, every temptation over which Christ was victorious served to forge his sinless human nature increasing in knowledge and prudence as we see referenced in Isaiah 52 and 53. This became the material used to shape our Lord's, and mold his heart, his affections, his will, preparing him for that ultimate act of obedience that we read of in Philippians 2, by actively laying down his life upon the cross. If you would turn with me please to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, we'll look at a few verses here. The writer to the Hebrews, once as likely this was Paul again, says, for it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should be the founder of their salvation. should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Made perfect through suffering. Down to verse 17 of Hebrews 2. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God. to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. And so the reality of Christ being made perfect through his suffering has great practical value for the original reader of this book of Hebrews and for us as well. The original Jewish Christians reading this experience persecution by both their countrymen as well as by Roman authorities and yet this archagon, this captain, this founder of their salvation himself was perfected, was made complete by this same suffering. Every temptation of our Lord was met with perfect resistance to that temptation. In every trial, He was victorious, even to the giving of His own life in obedience to His Father. And so He is therefore, as High Priest, able to help those in their suffering being victorious Himself. If you move forward again to Hebrews 5 that we looked at, Hebrews 5, beginning at verse 5 again, so also Christ did not exalt himself to be made high priest, but he was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son today, I have begotten you. As he says also in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And so in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source. the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. And so in this passage, the author of the Hebrews cites two passages which convincingly demonstrate Christ as king, as David's son, but also priest according to the order of Melchizedek, as this unique king priest Christ's suffering on the cross was the supreme act of his obedience and yet one into which his obedience matured his whole life long. Christ actively learned obedience, learned in the sense that with each passing day Christ met the sufferings of this life. in discerning the Father's will, using the means of grace, the Word, and constant prayer in communion with the Father, having the Spirit without measure, as fully human, fully conformed to our earthly condition, and yet sinless and growing with each passing day. There was a perfecting and a development and growth in his course of obedience. not from sin to obedience as it would be for you and I, but from obedience to fresh, more sensible, more developed obedience. His heart and mind were molded, were forged through suffering and temptation, fulfilling every aspect of love to God and man, culminating in obedience by actively laying down his life on the cross. And in all he suffered, his mind, his heart, and will were so framed in that culminating work, for that culminating work of redemption. I have a quote here, I don't remember where I got it from. The whole experience just refers to, just referred to in this passage, was a form of education for Jesus before he served his suffering people. His unique relation to God notwithstanding that he was a son. He had to experience the true meaning of obedience in terms of the suffering which it entailed. Having done so, he was therefore made perfect for the role that he would play as his people's captain and high priest. And so that there is an element of mystery and all of this need not being denied, but it is no greater than what was found in Luke's words that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, from Luke 2.52. In a real sense, not fully comprehensible to us. The Incarnation gave the already infinitely wise and perfect Son of God the experiential acquisition of knowledge about the human condition. Suffering thus became a reality that he tasted and from it he can sympathize deeply. with his followers. And what a comfort that would be to those first century Christians who had their property seized, who had been disowned by family, tossed out of the synagogue, and in many cases were left destitute. This is what the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he affirmed that he became the source the itios of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. So both aspects of Christ's obedience are vicarious. In other words, on the behalf of you and me and all who trust in Him. He was already sinless through eternity. He had a righteousness as deity. He also was sinless as the God-man, our great high priest, able to enter into the Holy of Holies in that heavenly temple. And yet still more, the righteousness he demonstrated as he lived a perfect human existence was a righteousness wrought for us to be credited to our account through faith in him. and this is his act of obedience. Well, what can we take away from studying briefly Christ's obedience this evening? First, appreciate Christ's love as Jehovah's suffering servant on our behalf. appreciate Christ's love as Jehovah's suffering servant on our behalf. His love for God, his zeal for God, as we look forward in Hebrews 10 and verse 5. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he says, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. And burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I come to do your will, O God, as it is written in the scroll of the book. Christ came here in his zeal and his love for his Father. So when he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and burnt offerings, and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings. These are offered according to the law, Hebrew says. Then he added, behold, I come to do your will. He takes away with the first in order to establish the second. In other words, he's taking away that whole system of the system of worship that we read about in the Old Testament. by becoming that great priest according to the order of Melchizedek, which proves that that old system had to pass away, at least at David's writing, that had to ultimately pass away. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So the offer referred to this setting aside of the old covenant sacrifices, which did not ultimately satisfy God's justice. What was established was God's will. And it was by that will we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ and that once for all. And so here, sanctified, not in the sense of a progressive sanctification, but really in the sense of our justification, is how it's used here before God in that perfect tense. So Jesus willingly, voluntarily set aside his pre-incarnate glory to ultimately give himself, his body as a bondservant forever to the Father for our justification, Isaiah says. and in doing so he fully satisfied all the penal demands of the law pictured by that Levitical system. And so secondly as well, appreciate Christ's obedience on your behalf. Pastor Mitch alluded to Romans chapter 3 and verse 21 and following where Paul writes, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. being made right with God is a gift by the redemption that Christ accomplished. So, God's justice on your behalf was fully vented on Christ, the demands of his law are fully credited to your account. God credited Christ's law keeping to your account. Do you appreciate this, this evening? Does it lead you to worship your Savior? And I want you to forget thinking that your obedience to God is somehow going to supplement or add to Christ's obedience in order to secure the forgiveness of sins and favor with God. How could you possibly compare your and mine inconsistent, half-hearted, empty-hearted at times, sluggish, grudging obedience to that which Christ offered to God on your behalf? How could you possibly think your obedience can somehow add to this? Was there something missing in Christ's obedience that you somehow had to make up for? Somehow lacking, somehow insufficient that he needs you to come alongside and add your pittance to and mine. My friend, that is blasphemy if you're thinking that way. You dishonor Christ. when you think that way. But love the Savior. Embrace His gift with empty hands, trusting He's more than willing to give that gift to you. And He is. Again, John 6, 38. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. And then thirdly, pattern your life after Christ's obedience. Not in the sense that it's going to accomplish or win you favor for God, but in a way of glorifying God that you were made for. There is, in a real sense, you and I can never repeat Christ's obedience. He was a one-off, as we say. His obedience to God was unique as a sin-bearer, and passively and actively rendering his obedience to the Father. And yet we are urged time and again to use his obedience as our template, our pattern, for our own. Back in Hebrews 5 verse 9, And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. As Christ obeyed the Father, so must we obey Him in faith. And when you think about the whole new covenant as a whole, what we're celebrating this evening in this simple meal that you have before you, your mind is ultimately going to go back to Jeremiah chapter 31, beginning at verse 33. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. So this new covenant meal we celebrate this evening reminds us of the multiple blessings of that covenant. And in this text, We're reminded of God writing into our hearts a deep, dynamic work of obeying his law from the depths of our being. So if there's evidence of that in your heart this evening, throughout this Lord's Day, then you have another reason for deep gratitude in partaking of this meal this evening. It is the work of God that he has written his law upon your hearts. and also since Christ's priesthood is eternal, there's no need to seek any other priest before God. We are to look to Christ alone. Jesus alone is our great high priest, and that forever. The only other priesthood that is given is to all who trust, pardon me, trust in Christ. In Christ we enter into what Peter describes as a royal priesthood. as he says in 1 Peter 2 verse 9, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you might proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. once you had not received mercy and yet have received mercy. It was said of our Lord Jesus in Psalm 45 verse 7, you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness and therefore God, your God, anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Could that be legitimately said of you, Christian, that you, like your Savior, love righteousness as we find it in the Scriptures? That you hate wickedness? From Psalm 119, 104, through your precepts I get understanding and therefore I hate every false way. Spurgeon writes, the Lord Jesus hated wickedness so much that he bled to wound it to the heart. He died that it might die. He was buried that he might bury it in his tomb. He rose that he might forever trample it beneath his feet. Christ is in the gospel, and that gospel is opposed to wickedness in every shape. Wickedness arrays itself in fine clothes and imitates the language of holiness, but the precepts of Jesus, like his famous scourge of small cords, chase it out of the temple and will not tolerate it in the church. May he continue to purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works in us. Christ, Christian, Are you prepared to renew your commitment by grace to walk in His ways this evening? Now, in closing, perhaps there is someone here this evening who thinks, what's all this talk about obedience? Isn't that, that's not part of our culture anymore, is it? Well, actually it is, but you think the Bible is a relic from a bygone era. Well, I understand some may think that way. Your life is geared toward self-preservation, and that's actually part of God's design to preserve life, since he is the giver of life, and yet, unwittingly, you've counterfeited that idea, kind of turning it on its side. You've replaced self-preservation and self-control with self-determination, which is a self-deception. Let me clear that up for you. Paul called it suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, kind of like the FBI has been doing over the past few years. God has always been sovereign. He's always been God in this creation. This is his universe. No one has voted God into office or gave him permission to rule his universe. We breathe God's air. We tread upon God's earth. And what we enjoy comes from his goodness, every one of us. But as in Luke 17, 32, remember Lot's wife. You remember what happened to her. Jesus calls her to attention as an example. Her life was in Sodom and Sodom was her life. And yet the Lord Jesus continues, whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. Her life was in Sodom and Sodom was her life. What happened to her? The only way you'll preserve your life is by giving it back to God, even this evening. In the end, you must surrender it either way. Your life, even this very moment, is in the hands of a God who is holy and morally pure. Perhaps you've forgotten about that. You, though getting by in this life at this point, you are far from holy. far from mirroring God's perfect moral standard. And if we were to pull this projector screen down and display all those secrets that you don't want anyone to know about in front of this company here, which God already knows anyway, you would be certainly reminded that you fall far short of God's perfect standard. If your secrets were displayed here, you would see your need for Christ's perfect life as your substitute before God. I know that drives me to want to repent of my sin, because God knows me through and through. You think you're the final arbiter of truth, of justice, of morality. Well, let me save you a rude awakening. If you consider the last words of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. He says, for God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil. And so isn't it time then to get honest with God about these things? Tell him all of your sins, which of course he already knows, your lack of obedience, your lack of even caring. and seek His forgiveness which He freely offers to you in Jesus Christ. And commit yourself fully to Him, asking for His Holy Spirit to help you, to learn the blessing of walking with God in humble trust and obedience. Go to Him even this evening before your court date in heaven. Pursue peace with God and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. So in a sense, we're ending where we began in Psalm 2, where our Lord Jesus is declared to be the Son of God, where David concludes, kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. And blessed, happy are all those who take refuge in him. Well, let's pray, shall we? Even as Pastor Mitch had reminded us this morning, oh Lord, how indebted we are to your grace, your sovereign grace. And yet we are also completely responsible to hear this gospel, to repent of our sins, and to believe upon Jesus to the saving of our soul. May that be true of all of us this evening, that you would do such a work in our hearts, so that even as families wake up tomorrow morning, that there's gonna be something different going on in every family represented here. Something's changed, because Christ is now precious to each one. Well, Lord, we pray to that end. We love you, Lord Jesus. We love your obedience. We love your zeal for God. We are ashamed at how we frequently fall short of that. We thank you for the wonderful forgiveness that we have completely because of your grace and mercy. So make these truths this evening food and drink as we partake of this memorial service this evening. We pray in Christ's name, amen.