I am a post-millennialist. Let me say that again. I am a post-millennialist. And what I mean by being a post-millennialist is that I believe in the total, comprehensive, complete victory of Christ and the gospel in history. Let me say that again. I believe, as a post-millennialist, in the total, comprehensive, complete victory of Christ and the gospel in history. Now many will look at me in askance and say, how in the world can you believe such a thing? How can you make such a statement that you believe in that total, comprehensive, complete victory of Christ in the gospel in history when we live in a world that is falling apart at the seams? It is obvious to many, or so they think, that in the midst of this world in which we live, the gospel has become obsolete. It is of no value. We live in the 21st century, after all. We live in the age of space. We live in the age of technology. We live in the age of such advancement that any kind of belief in the gospel is seen to be archaic. And then to make the statement that you believe in the total victory, comprehensive, complete victory of Jesus and the gospel in history seems to be absurd. And that's even affected the church. Many in the church today do no longer believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They do not believe that it is the gospel that the world needs. The world is too complex. Life is too difficult. There are many variables out there that have changed so drastically since the days when the gospel was given to us. You can't possibly believe that all we need is the gospel. Listen, we need the gospel plus education, we need the gospel plus medicine, we need the gospel plus government, we need the gospel plus science, we need the gospel plus all of these other things. The gospel cannot, in the minds of many, any longer stand. even within the church. We see people, instead of calling people to come and hear the gospel as it's proclaimed week by week, we want other things from our pulpits. We want preachers to talk about politics. We want preachers to talk about advancement, social issues. We want preachers to talk about many different things. And the idea that all he does and all he's called to do is to preach the gospel is naive. There's a disbelief in the power of God. You see, we don't think that God can really break in and change the world. So for me to make a statement like I believe in the total, comprehensive, complete victory of Jesus and the gospel in this, in history, is beyond what they can imagine. Listen, we know all the superstitious things that are said in the New Testament. We read the stories about Jesus and doing miracles and doing healings and this. But we live in this 21st century. We live in the scientific age. We know that those things can't happen. It was impossible for God to divide the Red Sea, to part it so that the children of Israel could pass through on dry ground. It is impossible for God to have rained manna out of heaven for the children of Israel to feed upon it for 40 years. It is impossible for there to have been a pillar of cloud in a pillar of fire. It is impossible for Jesus to have walked on water. It is impossible for Jesus to have multiplied the loaves of bread, to heal the blind, to cause the lame to walk. and certainly to have raised the dead. These are all just stories. They are just myths. And if we are going to be credible to the 21st century so that they will believe in God, we have to demythologize the Bible. We have to get rid of all of these things, all of these silly stories. We have to get back to the real historical Jesus. You see, not only is there a disbelief in the gospel and a disbelief in the power of God, but there is a disbelief in the supernatural. Listen, we live in an age when men says, the real is what I can see and hear and feel and taste. It's what I can smell. If it is outside of the realm of my senses, then it is worthless. It is not something that I need to know. There is no supernatural world. The idea that there is a devil roaming around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, the idea that there is a heavenly host that lives, that there are seraphim and cherubim, that God sits upon a throne in heaven is Superstitious, it is something for a bygone year, but us in the 21st century, we no longer believe in such a thing. You see, life is what we make of it, and it is life here and now. And even in that, the church has succumbed to a disbelief in the victory of God. You see, the world is just a place that's going to get worse and worse and worse. And unless man gets his act together, unless he stops all the pollution, unless he stops the global warming, unless he stops the wars, unless he stops the disease, unless he stops all these other things, we are going to extinguish ourselves and there is nothing that God who sits in heaven can do about it. That is, in their mind, the fact. That is the reality. And so for a preacher like myself to stand up and say I'm a post-millennialist, that I believe in the total, comprehensive, complete victory of Jesus and the gospel in history, is seen to be insanity. Why would I believe such a thing? Well, I believe it because of scripture texts just like this one that we are reading in Isaiah chapter 53 this evening and in other portions of scripture that teach us in the victory of Christ. In Isaiah 53, we have been looking at that work of God in bringing redemption to man, how God, as our sovereign King, interposed as a mediator to bring reconciliation between Him as an offended God and we as offending sinners. He does it through the incarnation of His only begotten Son, who took upon Himself a human nature such as our nature, that He came and dwelt among us, that He died that shameful, painful death on Calvary's cross, bearing the full wrath and fury of God due to us for our sins. that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. And so in these last couple of verses of this chapter God tells us his response to the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He says in verse 12, therefore I will divide him a portion with the great And he shall divide the spoil with the numerous, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sins of many and makes intercession for transgressors. Yet I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the numerous. Now the Apostle Paul picks up on this particular theme for us in the book of Philippians and really expands on it a little bit as he looks at it and reminds us. Remember Paul writing to the Philippians and encouraging the brethren there, reminds them that as they live as a covenanted community, as they are the people of God, the body of Christ, they are to have this mind in them, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. That is, his equality with God was not something to be held on to, but being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. And then Paul goes on to say, "...wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." You see, the prophet Isaiah says that God will therefore divide him a portion with the great. God will give him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee would bow. Now as we look back through history, we realize that there are many names that we have heard about, many people that we have seen that have had a profound effect upon the cultures and the societies of men. And each of those individuals doing great exploits and doing the kinds of things that they do are written down for us in our history books and we read all about them. But God says He is going to give to Christ a name which is above every name. And we're reminded of that text in Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21. When the angel comes to Joseph and says, And you will call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. You see, He's given a name, a name which is above every name. He is given this name because He does the one thing that no other man, woman, or person in history is able to do, and that is to save us from our sins. You see, the name Jesus is not just simply any old name. It is a name that God gave to our Christ because he would accomplish a work that no one else was able to accomplish. He would save us from our sins. He's given to us a name. The Apostle Paul also, again, bears on this theme in his epistle to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 20 and following, Ephesians 1, 20 and following, the Apostle says this, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named." Again, that idea, above every name that is named, greater than any who have gone before or who should come after. Not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Christ is the great head of his church. God has given him a name, a name that surpasses all names. He has caused him to be the ruler of all things in heaven above and the earth beneath as All these things pertain to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him, who fills all things in all. You see, God has said, because Christ did these things, because Christ wrought this work, because Christ fulfilled all that the Father had sent Him to do, that God would give Him a name, and that at that name every knee would bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The Apostle Paul, even expounding on this particular theme once again in the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 1, beginning at verse 15, Paul draws this together. He says about Jesus, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. for by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Now Paul is telling us he is the Lord of creation. That he has made all things and that he holds the whole world by virtue of his creatorhood. He holds the whole world in the palm of his hand. That every fact of this world, everything of this universe points back to Christ. There is nothing in this world that is outside of the realm of the control of Christ because He is the second person of the Trinity. He is the creator of all things for by Him and through Him and to Him, the scripture says, all things were created and all things give to Him praise. But Paul doesn't stop there. Not only does Christ hold the preeminence as the second person of the Trinity who created all things, but he also says to us, and he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. You see, the scripture says to us in the Isaiah passage, Isaiah 53, that the Lord was pleased to divide unto him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the numerous. God would give him a name. And our God is not a liar. He is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should be found false, but he is the living and true God. And God has promised to Christ in his eternal covenant that if Christ fulfilled the obligations and the stipulations of salvation, that God would grant him and give him a name which was above every name, that there would be victory in Christ. And unless God lies, or He is so weak that He can't accomplish that which He's promised, then Christ will have total, comprehensive, complete victory with the gospel in history. And why was that? Well, he tells us in that verse, he says, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, that he bore the sins of many and makes intercession for the unrighteous, for the transgressor. You see, he poured out his soul unto death. the obligation of the covenant of reconciliation, for us to be reconciled to God, for us to be made to be at peace with God, it was necessary for Christ to die, and he died. That shameful, painful death of the cross. And he died not only a death that no man ought to have died, but he died in the midst, numbered with transgressors, so that others saw him just as a malfactor, just as one who had transgressed the law of God. Remember the two thieves on the cross as they bantered back and forth. Oh, they're listening to those who say, if He's the Son of God, let Him come off the cross. Yes, says one of the thieves. Let Him save Himself and let Him save us. If He can heal the blind, if He can heal the lame, if He can cause the deaf to hear, then let Him save us. And the other one responds, listen, you and I are hanging on this cross because we have gotten what we deserve. But this is a righteous and a holy man. And Jesus says to that thief, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. You see, he poured out his soul unto death, the shameful, painful death of the cross. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sins of his people. and he makes intercession for the unrighteous. And so God has promised. He has promised to Christ a name, a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue would confess. But you see, the ministry of Christ didn't end with the cross. It didn't come to an end because the scripture reminds us that Christ would ascend into heaven and that he would continue to make intercession for transgressors, that he would go boldly before the throne of God's grace, making a way for us, all those whom the Father had given to him, that we too might come into the presence of God. And you see, Christ will be victorious. His word will not return to him void, but he will accomplish all that the Father has sent him to do, first because of his obedience. Christ is and was the holy, harmless, undefiled Son of God. Remember on that day when Jesus came before John the Baptist to be baptized so that all righteousness might be fulfilled, John said to us, Behold the Lamb of God, the sinless Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world. We heard the voice speak as God testified to Christ in his obedience. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We hear on the Mount of Transfiguration the voice from the cloud as the disciples see Jesus transfigured before their eyes. Once again, that voice to say, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. He was obedient in all things. As he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night when he faced the terrible ordeal that sat before him, he said, not my will be done, but thy will be done. For the Lord hath made unto me a body, a body that would die, a body that would bear the full fury of God's wrath. In obedience, the Lord subjected himself to that full fury of God's wrath. He will be victorious because he has obeyed God in all things. And the Father has said, I will exalt you and give you a name which is above every name, that at your name every knee would bow and every tongue confess. And it's not just simply that passive obedience as we saw earlier today on the cross, but that active obedience because Jesus truly can say He had hid God's law in His heart that He might not sin against the Lord. That Jesus was sinless, keeping the law of God in all things. You see, it's not simply that for our salvation we need the forgiveness of sins. That is our demerit. That is why we could not enter into heaven, but we also needed to merit entrance into heaven. And it is by the righteousness of Christ that that way has been opened up, that way has been merited for us, that we can enter into the presence of God. You see, it's important for us, as the Apostle Paul says, as we read in Romans chapter 1 today, that there is a righteousness which is by faith, a righteousness revealed from heaven. For Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for in it there is a righteousness revealed. a righteousness which is adequate. The Apostle says to us in chapter 1 verse 5 of the book of Romans that Christ by His resurrection was declared with power to be the Son of God received. God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ in our behalf. Because of his obedience, because of his obedience to God, Christ will be victorious. God will grant unto him all that he has promised, but also because of Christ's faithfulness, his faithfulness in being our sin bearer. His faithfulness in carrying out all the will of the Father as He hung on Calvary's cross. He said, it is finished, I completed, I have done all that was required of me as a surety for God's people. Faithfully, completely, utterly, not failing in any particular. Remember, the scripture by the writer of the book of Hebrews reminds us about the superiority of Christ. Christ is superior to all the angels. Christ is superior to Moses. Christ is superior to the law. Christ is superior to the priest. Christ is superior to the sacrifices. Christ is superior to all things. That Moses was a faithful servant in his house, but Christ himself is a faithful son that God, who has spoken to us in sundry times and in diverse manners through the prophets, has now spoken to us once and for all, finally in His Son, that faithful witness, that faithful one who came to bear testimony to the truth of God faithfully. and completely. Why is Christ victorious? Because Christ was obedient to the Father, to do all the will of God. Why is Christ victorious? Because Christ was faithful in all the work that God had given to him. But the real focus of this text And the real thing that we need to bear down on and realize is that Christ is victorious because he humbled himself and in obedience became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You see, the scripture tells us that Christ was obedient. The scripture tells us that Christ was faithful. But the real crux of the work of Christ was his humility. He humbled himself. He counted equality with God as not something to be held on to, not something to be grasped. But he disrobed, as it were, of the glory of heaven. He entabernacled himself among men. He humbled himself. in his origin, he humbled himself in his life, he humbled himself in his death on Calvary's cross. Therefore God will exalt him and give him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. And what is the reward that Christ receives according to the promise of God? Well, we read in Psalm 110 and verse 3, first of all, that Christ will receive a willing people. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments. You see, God says to Christ, I will exalt your name and I will give you a people. a willing people. We recognize and realize as a result of sin that the will of man is bound. A man can say, I will turn unto God if I feel like it. Well, we know he'll never feel like it because he will never will to turn to God because his will is enslaved. It is in bondage. That if it was left to the power of men, if the gospel was simply proclaimed out there and the Spirit of God didn't do that regenerating work where He made His people willing in the day of His power, there is not a man, woman, or child in the midst of this world who would turn to the Lord. There would never be a willing, repentant sinner. But God makes us willing in the day of His power. In the day of His power, He will turn us again. And we are testimony to that, as the people of God have been testimony to the truth of Christ's victory throughout all of the ages. Because the Spirit of God does His work. Jesus says, All who the Father hath given to me shall come unto me, and all them that come unto me I will in no wise cast out. John chapter 6 tells us that it is the Father who brought us. It's the Spirit of Christ who moves us. It is the Spirit of Christ who regenerates us and causes us to be willing. And it is the power of God that changes us. That's why it's important for us to understand and believe in God's power. It is not simply that God sits above the circle of the earth and causes the sun to rise and causes the rain to come and causes the world to run in its circuit. It is that the power of God changes bondage and and chains of a man's heart a man who is bound and captive in his sin God comes and by his power breaks the power of sin and Makes us willing to turn unto God But also verse 12 of this chapter says that he will divide the spoil among the numerous and As I started off this sermon, I said, I am a post-millennialist. I would add to that, sometimes the kind of things we, as professors in the seminary, tell our students that they ought not to do, but I'm going to do anyway. Not only am I a post-millennialist, but I am a Calvinist. I believe in the doctrine of limited atonement, our particular redemption. I believe that God has foreordained before the foundations of the world those whom he would save. And right away, people look at me and say, oh, then you must not believe that there are going to be many people saved because you believe in limited atonement. And my response to them is, I believe that there are only people saved because I believe in limited atonement. But when we use the term limited, we are not saying that that is going to be a small number. Though it is not universal in its application, it is particular in its scope. God has set a number, but the scripture doesn't tell us it's a small number. The scripture tells us it is a vast number, greater than the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore. Now certainly we know that the Lord is talking in hyperbole there. But the reality and the truth is that because Christ is victorious, there will be a numerous people saved from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. For God says to us, again through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 49, It is too small a thing that you should just be my redeemer in Israel and Judah. No, I will make you as a light unto the Gentiles, so that my salvation shall shine to the very ends of the earth, so that from the north and the south, the east and the west, from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, God would bring a people to himself. You see, there is going to be victory of Jesus and the gospel in history. Total, comprehensive, and complete. Not one that the Lord has destined to be saved shall be lost. And He will make them a holy people. Again, Psalm 110 and verse 3. And this is the glory of the gospel. The glory of the gospel is that it is that which does and only can deal with the plight of man, and that is our sin. not only its penalty, not only in the guilt that we bear for our transgression, but it is by the gospel that the power of sin is broken. It is by the gospel that the pleasure of sin is broken. It is by the gospel that the presence of sin will be removed, so that on that great day, when we stand before Him, we will stand before Him complete. holy, harmless, and undefiled. For this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption." You see, you cannot separate the atonement of Christ from the victory of Christ. If there is no victory, then there is no atonement, there is no salvation. And it is only if there is no salvation can there be no victory. Because if Christ has saved, as His name proclaims, if Christ has saved His people from their sins, then Christ's victory will be total, comprehensive, and complete in history. And not one of God's elect shall be lost. Or Christ is a failure. and God is a liar. That's where the scripture puts us. Either Christ is a failure and God is a liar or there will be total comprehensive and complete victory of Jesus in the gospel in history. There is no in-between. It's either victory or defeat. It is either salvation or hell. There's no in-between. And that's the glory that Isaiah wants to put before us. And he opens up for us so perfectly as he goes on in these chapters, like chapter 54, when he reminds us that God will set. He says to us, fear not, for you will not be ashamed. Be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth and reproach of your widowhood. You will remember it no more. For your maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name. And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth, he is called. You see, God stakes his whole reputation on the work of salvation. All that God is, God says, I have manifested in that work of redemption that I have done to bring men and women who are lost in their trespasses and sin into a saving state of union and communion with myself. And if one of God's elect is lost, or all that the Father has given to the Son is lost, then there is no hope for us. But we of all men are most miserable because we have believed a lie. The Scripture says there is salvation. There is victory to Christ. And even though it appears to us at times that the world is not responding to the Gospel, Or it appears to us that God's word is being thwarted and turned back. Yet the truth and the reality is that God accomplishes all of his purposes. His word will never return to him void, but he will accomplish all that he has promised. And not one jot or tittle of his word shall pass away until all has been brought to completion. And so what manner of men and women ought we to be? who have the gospel of Jesus Christ. We should be those who embrace the promise. We should not be as those who fear. We should not be as those who are without hope. But we should embrace the promises because the scripture says all the promises in Christ are yea and amen. Christ has won the victory. He has triumphed. He has risen from the dead. He has ascended on high. He sits at the right hand of God making intercession till all of His purposes are fulfilled. All that the Father has given to Him has come unto Him and He has redeemed them and brought them out of darkness into His marvelous light. And not one day of this earth will pass away that Christ's will is not completed. We don't have to worry about somebody sitting with his hand on a button to blow up the world or global warming or the mass destruction of men and the total annihilation of humankind as we know it. No, the scripture says that it is Christ who holds all things, that he has the preeminence. He raises up nations and He brings them down. He causes the one who makes the weapons and He binds them so that they cannot be used. And we must embrace the promise. God has said to us, this is the work. We must be steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that's set before us. You see, it is so easy for us to become discouraged. Jesus says to us in the Great Commission, Go ye therefore unto all nations, preaching and proclaiming the good news. Paul tells us, if we call upon the name of the Lord, we'll be saved. But we won't call upon the name of the Lord unless we believe. And we won't believe unless we hear Jesus. And we won't hear Jesus unless somebody preaches to us. And somebody won't preach to us unless they've been sent. And it's our job to send them. It's our job as the church of Jesus Christ to send out those whom the Lord has called to be His preachers, that they might preach His Word, that in the preaching of the Word men might hear the voice of Jesus, and hearing the voice of Jesus they might believe, and in believing they might call, and in calling they will be saved. We are not to be those who draw back, but we are to be steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel, but trusting and believing. As the writer, again, Isaiah says in 54, he says, Sing, O barren one who did not bear. Break forth into singing and cry aloud. You have not been in labor. For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the one who is married, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtain of your habitations be stretched out. Do not hold back. Lengthen your cord and strengthen the stakes for you will spread abroad to the right and the left and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. God will bring in his elect. We should not and we must not give up. We must not be discouraged. We must not turn away. When we begin to testify and to witness to those who are in our families, let us not be discouraged. God's purposes can't be thwarted. When we begin to testify to those co-workers and those who are around us, let us not be discouraged. God's purposes cannot be thwarted. When we live in the midst of a nation that seems to be turning its back upon God, let us not be discouraged, but let us stand faithful with the proclamation of the gospel, because Christ will have total, comprehensive, and complete victory in history The nation shall come unto him, the knees shall bow unto him, the king shall kiss the sun, lest they perish in the way. We embrace his promises, we stand steadfast in our labors, and we obey his commandments. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. We serve Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. You see, what does the church need today? The church needs a revived faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is what the world needs. We need to think and meditate long and hard on Isaiah chapter 53, the heart of the truth of the gospel, that Christ came to die for sinners, to set them free from their sins. He has come to bring us peace. We need to revive trust in the power of God. God is able to do more than we could ever imagine or think. God created the heavens and the earth simply with speaking a word. Let there be light, and there was light. God can bring worldwide revival. He can bring down nations. He can open doors that no man can close. He can close doors that no man can open simply by speaking the word anytime he chooses. And we are to wait upon the Lord. We are to trust in Him and His power. God does all things and He does all things well. We must have a revised vision of the victory of the gospel. There's a day coming when the name of the Lord will cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea. when there will be no inch of God's world where the name of Jesus isn't glorified. We live in a day. I said this as I began this series of sermons last week. I had the privilege of telling someone for the first time about Jesus, someone who never had heard the name of Jesus before, but it won't always be like that because there'll be a day. a day when the name of Jesus will cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea. So Isaiah says to him, therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the numerous because he has poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sins of many and makes intercession for the unrighteous. Let us pray. Our gracious Father in God, how we honor and bless and praise your name for the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we confess that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we might be saved, save the name of Jesus. And we look to no other but to you and to you alone. Father, we confess your name. We honor and bless you for the salvation that you have given to us in Christ. And Father, as we go from this place, may you grant us grace that the truth of your word might sink deeply in our heart, that as your people, with confidence, we might go forth weeping, carrying the seed. knowing that one day we will come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. And for this we thank you and praise you and bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.