The Suffering Savior

The Suffering Savior and the Grace of God

So, that's about that close to as much as I want to hear about myself, so. Praise God for all of these wonderful things that He's doing in my own life, and thinking about some of the things that He's doing, and thinking about achievements or accomplishments.

None of it is possible without God, and those are good things to do to be equipped and to train, but the best training I have, or the only thing really that I'm bringing to the table, is I'm a sinner, and I need Jesus Christ as my Savior.

That's the biggest accomplishment in my life. So praise God for all those things, but I want to give the credit where the credit is due, and none of that would be possible without the supernatural enablement of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God in my life.

But yeah, very happy to be here, grateful to be welcomed, I've just been overwhelmed with the hospitality and generosity and lovingness and just sort of loveliness of this church and this church body.

Isaiah 53 and the Two Foundational Doctrines

So we are going to be spending some time in the book of Isaiah, so if you have your Bibles, please open them to the book of Isaiah. When thinking about what I would preach for this Sunday and then, Lord willing, next Sunday, I just wanted to really get a piece of Scripture that magnifies the name of Jesus.

And so I think we're in good hands spending some time with the prophet Isaiah. We're going to be looking at Isaiah 53, and if there's a title for the sermon, I would call it The Suffering Savior, and this is going to be part one of a two-part series, Lord willing, we'll conclude next Sunday.

So, The Suffering Servant is the heading that you might have in your Bible, The Suffering Servant who, of course, we know is the Suffering Savior. I just want to start with a word of prayer and then we'll read God's Word.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this morning, thank you for this day, I pray that you would be with us all, both for your slave and servant as the preacher, I pray that you would enable me through the Holy Spirit, that you would help me to be bold in the proclamation of your Word this morning, that it would glorify you, I pray for the listeners, that we would, God, put away any distractions we may have, instead of thinking about tomorrow, what it may bring even later today, that we would focus now in this time together on your Word and these wonderful truths about Jesus, even in this Old Testament Scripture from Isaiah, as we look to know you more and to grow in our relationship with you and our relationship with Jesus.

I pray that you would, God, be glorified and that it would be for the good of your people, and we pray this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. So please open your Bibles, if you're not already there, to Isaiah 53, we'll be spending some time with Isaiah and we'll consider his amazing prophecy, so this is The Suffering Savior.

I'm going to be reading this morning out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Isaiah 53, verse 1. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground, he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried.

Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our peace fell upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who consider that he was cut off out of the land of the living, that for the transgression of my people, striking was due to him?

So his grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death. Because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth, but Yahweh was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief.

If you would place his soul as a guilt offering, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days. And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied.

By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide for him a portion with the many, and he will divide the spoil with the strong.

Because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sins of many and interceded for the transgressors. Praise God, praise God for this word, amazing passage.

This chapter gives us two amazing, really foundational doctrines that we can put our trust in and hope, and they're encouraging. The first is atonement, the doctrine of atonement. The second is justification.

These first six verses that we're going to look at this morning really talk about atonement, so we'll look at justification next week, Lord willing. Atonement and justification. Isaiah described the suffering servant of Yahweh, his life, rejection, death, and victory in resurrection.

This chapter is about certainty, certainty, certainty in the prophetic fulfillment of the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth. Isaiah prepared sinners for the coming Savior, that all would recognize him when he comes.

Special revelation is given by Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, to the prophet Isaiah for the people of Israel regarding holiness, sin, judgment, and the coming Messiah. In Isaiah, Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, will purge his people of unholiness and make them fit to participate in his rule.

We will see through careful examination of this prophetic holy scripture that God reveals his divine attribute of holiness through judgment, judgment of sin, and his restoration of Israel despite Israel's constant rebellion.

The main theme of Isaiah is critical to our understanding of the chapter, sort of the bird's eye view in the big picture. We need to think about the theme of the book, the purpose of the book, and the outline of the book.

So just thinking about the outline, we can really section this with two outlines, and that's the whole book in this division. The first would be the judgment of God, number one, the judgment of God. And for you note-takers, this isn't the outline yet, so this is just the introduction.

The outline is really crystal clear to see. Judgment of God in chapters one through 39, and then the salvation of God in chapters 40 through 66. So as an overview of the book, in chapters one through 12, Isaiah predicted the fate of Jerusalem and Judah in special revelation delivered by Yahweh to his chosen people.

In chapters 13 through 23, God would bring about the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and continual threat to the southern kingdom of Judah by using foreign nations as his instruments or tools of judgment.

He's demonstrating his complete sovereignty over all nations and peoples with his warning of judgment and promise of salvation. In chapters 28 through 39, national salvation will be brought to Israel only after the judgment of the world and the reign of the coming Messiah.

Although in Isaiah's contemporary time, the Israelites tried to avoid judgment by making alliances with foreign nations. Now let's look at chapters 40 through 66, the salvation of God. Although the Lord warned of the end of days and judgment of sin for the world, he gave Isaiah a special revelation that foretold of the coming Savior that will restore holiness and put a stop to sin among the nations.

In chapters 40 through 48, the nation of Israel will experience deliverance from the captivity in Babylon. In chapters 49 through 57, Isaiah describes the sufferings of the servant of the Lord, the servant's mission, his redemption, and the results of his redemption.

In chapters 58 through 66, Isaiah will prophesy the future glory of God's people. And that's as simple an outline as you can get for a book of the Bible. The judgment of God, chapters 1 through 39, and the salvation of God, chapters 40 through 66.

The themes of this book are robust, and it's in this greater context that we now can enter into the chapter before us. The themes of the sin of mankind, God's holiness, the providence of God, Israel's rebellious nature, judgment, redemption, and the salvation from the Messiah are all through this book.

If we had to say what one word encapsulates the main theme of Isaiah, I would say salvation. The purpose is clear. In Isaiah's prophecies, Yahweh promised a refining process of his people through a cycle of judgment and restoration, like gold being refined in a furnace and being pure only after the destructive nature of purging fire.

At the end of the Babylonian exile, the people of Israel had not been completely purged of sin and national salvation was not attained. As a direct result of Isaiah's fulfilled prophecy, God's people have begun the purging process and the elimination of idolatry among the people.

Starting in Isaiah's own lifetime and continuing to contemporary times, as God makes his people fit to live in his kingdom. The main thrust of chapter 53 is the prophecy of the suffering servant who is the Holy One of Israel.

This passage teaches Christians about the doctrines of atonement and justification. The passage predicts aspects of the suffering servant, what he will be like in life and his death. I want us to think of the text before us in the context of belief.

How can we believe the Bible? Well, the obvious answer is faith, the Holy Spirit, God, the Word of God. God has given us the Bible that we might believe. We have amazing prophecies that we can look at and then look at the facts of history and we can discern the truth.

God has revealed so much in his Word, the Word of God. I once heard a good illustration on the Bible about believing. About a hundred years ago, the King of Prussia had a discussion with his chaplain on the veracity of the Bible.

The King said to the chaplain, tell me in a word the proof that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. The chaplain replied, Your Majesty, I can prove to you in one single word that the Bible is the Word of God.

The King looked at him in amazement and said, what is this magic word that would carry such weight of proof with it? The chaplain replied, Your Majesty, that word is Israel. And of course he was right.

There are other single words that also prove the Bible, sin, salvation, Christ. But the history of the people of Israel is sufficient to show what a divine breath came down upon the men that held the pens who wrote down the Word of God.

And part of that is the prophets, what God said would happen. He speaks the future as if it's history. The prophets and what they said about Israel and what they said about the Messiah. Or in Isaiah's case, the servant of the Lord.

Isaiah predicted four dimensions of the suffering servant. I broke up the passage in four parts as it most naturally fits the prophet's unique descriptions in various stages of the servant's life. Number one in verses one through three, Isaiah describes the unassuming upbringing and appearance of the servant.

In verses four through six, the description continues in the servant's rejection amongst the very community he was coming to save. Number three, what follows in verses seven through nine is a prediction of the sacrificial and humiliating death of the servant.

And finally, the number four is the chapter climaxes in verses ten through twelve by describing the victory of the servant in resurrection and glory. The prophet Isaiah predicts four amazing aspects of God's servant so that you can know for certain that Jesus is the Messiah.

Four prophetic aspects of God's servant. Number one, the servant's life, verses one through three. Number two, the servant's rejection, verses four through six. Number three, the servant's death, verses seven through nine.

And finally, the servant's victory. Four prophetic aspects of God's servant. And the first is the life of the servant. So let's look at verse one again. He starts off with a question, who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? But really, we need to flip back a page and start in chapter 52. Even in verse 10, really, in Isaiah 52 .10, the prophet says this. He says, Yahweh has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.

Depart, depart, go out from there. Touch nothing unclean, go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves. You who carry the vessels of Yahweh. But you will not go out in haste, nor will you go as those who flee.

For Yahweh will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Behold, my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were appalled at you, my people, so his appearance was marred more than any man.

And his form more than the sons of men. Thus, he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths on account of him. For what had not been told them, they will see. And what they had not heard, they will understand.

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? The hour in this first verse in 53 .1 refers to the prophets, collectively, as they would all speak of the Messiah. And this was fulfilled in the eyewitness account from the Gospel of John.

These things Jesus spoke, and he went away, and he hid himself from them. But though he had done so many signs before them, they still were not believing in him. So that the word of Isaiah, the prophet, might be fulfilled, which he spoke.

Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? That's John chapter 12, verses 36 through 38. John Calvin is helpful here. Calvin writes this on this particular verse, start quotation.

He says, this division, or rather, dismemberment of the chapter ought to be disregarded. For it ought to have begun with the 13th verse of the former chapter. And these words ought to be connected with what goes before.

Here the prophet pauses, as it were, in the middle of his discourse. For having formally said that the name of Christ would be everywhere proclaimed, and would be revealed to unknown nations. And yet would have so mean an aspect that it might appear as if these things were fabulous.

He breaks off his discourse and exclaims that nobody will believe those things. At the same time, he describes his grief, that men are so unbelieving as to reject their salvation. Thus, it is a holy complaint made by one who wished that Christ should be known by all, and who, notwithstanding of this, sees that there are few who believe the gospel, and therefore groans and cries out, who have believed our report?

Let us therefore groan and complain along with the prophet. And let us be distressed with grief when we see that our labor is unprofitable. And let us complain before God, for godly ministers must be deeply affected.

If they wish to perform their work faithfully, Isaiah declares that there will be few that submit to the gospel of Christ. For when he exclaims, who will believe the preaching? He means that of those who hear the gospel, scarcely a hundredth person will be a believer.

Isaiah does not include merely the men of his own time, but all posterity to the end of the world. For so long as the reign of Christ shall endure, this must be fulfilled. And therefore, believers ought to be fortified by this passage against such a scandal.

These words refute the ignorance of those who think that faith is in the power of every person, because preaching is common to all. Though it is sufficiently evident that all are called to salvation, yet the prophet expressly states that the external voice is of no avail.

If it be not accompanied by a special gift of the spirit, and whence proceeds the difference but from the secret election of God, the cause of which is hidden in himself. That this was foretold beforehand.

And you think about that, that Christ came on the earth and performed signs and miracles, signs and wonders. And they still didn't believe he was the Messiah. That is from God. And this is an amazing reality as we look at this text and we consider that God was born a man.

Jesus was born a man. God became flesh. It says, for he grew up before him like a tender shoot. And like a root out of parched ground, he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should desire him.

In verse two, it gives the idea that he grew up as a tender plant, or like a suckling baby. He was born in Bethlehem in poverty. He came from Nazareth, a place of lowly insignificance. The Pharisees would later say of him, nothing good comes from Nazareth.

But verse two is not saying he was ugly. He was not like King Saul. You think of King Saul and he's tall, he's stately, he has a handsome appearance, he's attractive. No, he was not like King Saul, he was average.

Verse two gives us a prophetic description that the servant is humble. We see this New Testament fulfillment in the Gospel of Mark. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many, Mark 10, 45.

Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man. In the prophecy of Daniel, it's stated that the Son of Man will be given dominion, glory, and a kingdom over all peoples, nations, and men of every language.

Will serve in his kingdom, will serve him in his kingdom. Daniel writes this, I kept looking in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming. And he came up to the ancient of days and came near before him, and to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom.

That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not be taken away. And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14.

So Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man. There's a humble attitude here. A person that has put aside his God privileges, not grasping after equality with God, but laying them aside in his humanity.

Always 100 God, truly God, truly man. But also, it's an amazing reality that he is saying, the one in Daniel, the one that is the Messiah, God himself on the Earth, it's me. That's me. We see similar language in Isaiah 9, 6, which describes the birth and reign of the Prince of Peace.

So if we just look to the book of Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

So if you ever hear somebody tell you that Jesus never said he was God, we understand that Isaiah is the human author, but he was moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God. And this passage says that the Messiah is Mighty God, Eternal Father.

Yes, Jesus did say he was God, it's right here, crystal clear. We can also look at chapter 11. As well as Isaiah 11, it describes the righteous reign of the branch from Jesse's root, making a clear connection to the Messiah being a descendant of David.

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The spirit of Yahweh will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.

And he will delight in the fear of Yahweh, and he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor render a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with uprightness for the afflicted of the earth.

And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips, he will put the wicked to death. Also, righteousness will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist.

That's Isaiah 11, one through five. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him.

Verse three gives the impression of someone that society scorns. We like to think we wouldn't be included in this if we had lived at the time of Jesus's earthly ministry, but of course we would, of course we would.

Many of us as believers have scorned him. Many of us has scorned him even in our walk as we proclaim to know him. Do you have friends or co-workers that don't know you are a Christian? Because it's awkward or embarrassing, and you don't wanna bring it up to, you know, get out of a conflict or a confrontation.

Sometimes we take our faith and salvation and hide it in a closet. That is scorning Christ. We have all been guilty of this at some point in our Christian lives. How is that any different from scorning him now even as believers?

We need Jesus every day. We need the Holy Spirit. We need to have boldness. We need our Savior. A fulfilling prophecy is that Jesus was scorned by those he was sent to save. Many commentators make a connection to leprosy here.

And they're not saying that he had leprosy, but the idea that you're avoiding this person. Um, you know, he was someone to avoid. Don't make eye contact. The word for sorrows and grief are literally pain and sickness.

So we can say he was a man of pain and familiar with sickness. Not sickness as in he was ill, but the grief and dealing with the sickness of sin. Verse, verse three gives us a prophetic description that the servant would be rejected by his people.

So the ones that he comes to deal with their sin, their sicknesses. And he's familiar with that. Those are the ones that reject him. He's sent to save the people. And he's rejected by his people. The Jews at the time risked everything to believe.

And we see in the New Testament that some believed. And some of those those Jews were converted. The Jews at the time risked everything to believe because they could be rejected by the leaders of the synagogue.

They could be cut off from food, shelter, their livelihoods, and even their life. If they were expelled or cut off from the synagogue by believing in this radical Messiah. You know, it was false teaching for them.

They had no chance of support if they were cut off from the synagogue. But let's not make excuses for them here. The rejection wasn't merely earthly. They rejected him because of their spiritual blindness.

There's a rejection because God said that's what would happen. Now, for the unbelieving, there is no difference for some today. And just thinking about church, there may be no difference for some of you today.

I heard an elder at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley describe his sermon on Matthew 7. This is the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus is approached by some proclaiming that they are his followers. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, and I will declare to them, depart from me.

I never knew you. So there is a reality that even some that are professing to be his followers in their heart are actually not. In a pithy comment, the elder described the church as being made up of believers, unbelievers, and make believers.

Now, we may not know because we believe your your profession of faith, but God knows whether you're a believer or not, whether you're truly a disciple of Christ, whether you're truly a follower of Christ.

And this passage tells us about who the suffering servant is. We can listen to the Gospel of Mark. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed.

And after three days, rise again. Mark eight thirty one. And that leads to our second point in his life and during his ministry. Jesus predicted his rejection, echoing Isaiah's words. And the idea of this first point is that he had an average upbringing.

You know, we know from the scriptures his name was Yeshua. Right. We're in Hebrew. So it's the name Joshua, very popular name, a hero in the Jewish faith, the successor of Moses. And he was from Nazareth.

So imagine in that context, in that time period, it'd be like today the Savior is born and the elders or the religious elite are telling are shocked when somebody says, yeah, the Messiah is a guy named Mike from Skid Row.

It's like this is the this is the Messiah. He's from Nazareth. Who is this? He's a carpenter's son. He's humble. He has no stately appearance. There's nothing about him that we're attracted to. He's a humble, average upbringing.

He's an average upbringing. And that's the first point, the servant's life for amazing aspects of God's servant so that you can know for certain that Jesus is the Messiah, the servant's life, the prophetic life of God's servant correlates perfectly with the life of Jesus.

The Servant's Rejection and the Doctrine of Atonement

And number two, the rejection of the servant, verses four through six, surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, just like in verse three griefs and sorrows literally means sickness and pains.

Jesus was a healer. Jesus was the healer. He literally healed our pain and our sickness. Because we are all sick with sin. Our illness is a death sentence. Jesus carried our sickness and bore the weight of our sin.

Yet the people of Israel did not recognize this fact. They thought he was being struck down by God for his own sin. And how much more wrong could they have been? But he was pierced through for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our peace fell upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed. Jesus's death on a cross was brutal. He was tortured. He was beaten. He was scourged. He was spit on.

He was humiliated. He was literally pierced. He was brutalized. And the result, we are healed. He took our punishment that we might live. Jesus died for you. Jesus died for you. For every believer in this room.

Every person that confesses Jesus is Lord. And they believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead. He died for you. And this, this is a difficult thing to think about. Our great God, perfect in holiness, died for us.

And in light of this reality, we can ask the question, how are you living your life in Christ in this reality? How are you living your life in Christ in light of this reality that Jesus died for you? All of us like sheep have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to his own way. But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. In verse six, we see the reason why. Why did Jesus need to die for us? Why did Jesus need to die for us?

Every one of us has gone astray. Everyone. No one seeks after God. We seek our own. The Bible teaches there are none righteous. Of course, we can look to Romans three, a very famous passage. We fall short of the glory of God.

There are none righteous. No, not even one. And this leads us to this amazing teaching, the doctrine of atonement. We can look at these passages and not despair. We can look at these passages and have hope because of the doctrine of atonement and what that means.

The sacrificial aspect of Christ's work in life, specifically his death, brings a secure restoration between God Almighty and individual believers. This passage demonstrates that Christ's death was a reparation, a legal down payment, a legal down payment for sin on behalf of all sinners.

The suffering servant gave his life and poured out his very soul as a guilt offering so that sinners could be legally declared innocent by God, the father. You deserve the punishment and Jesus takes it for you and God, the father, says with the gavel.

That was a lot louder than I thought it was. That was loud. I should have said bang or something. But imagine that. You know, it might be a even childish kind of an illustration, but you think of a courtroom with God hitting the gavel down and declaring the sinner innocent because of Jesus Christ.

He stepped in. This completed act of atonement brought reconciliation between God and humankind through Jesus Christ. And the extent of the atonement is important. The atonement of sin is forever. Consider First Peter chapter two, verses 21 through 24.

Peter says this for you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by his wounds, you were healed.

The atonement is an act of everlasting reconciliation where man is no longer alienated from God, but instead has peace with God. This is an amazing doctrine. Consider Paul's words from Colossians chapter one, verses 19 through 23.

For it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross through him. I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven, and although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul was made a minister.

That is an amazing reality. We have peace with God because of Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. And these writings are so helpful. All of the prophetic descriptions of the Messiah are for our benefit.

The biblical writers describe the savior of mankind from the very first book of the Bible to the very last book of the Bible. Isaiah's prophecies about the coming Messiah are very specific and they include my new details that cannot be ignored.

We've seen the reign of Christ on the earth. We've looked at that in chapters nine and 11, but let's remember the prophecy of the virgin birth of Emmanuel in Isaiah seven. We're so close to the incarnation and this time of year that we celebrate this amazing reality.

But these things were spoken about well before they occurred. In Isaiah seven, verse 14, it says, therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name Emmanuel.

God with us, God with us. This has happened once in all of recorded history. One historical fact, one account. And it's this account, Jesus of Nazareth. There is no other. And not only these realities about his reign on earth and his birth, but think about the prophecy of Cyrus from Isaiah.

So Cyrus is the king of Persia who releases the Jews to go back to build the second temple. It is I who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and all my good pleasure he will complete and saying of Jerusalem, she will be built and of the temple, your foundation will be laid.

Isaiah 44, 28. Or how about Isaiah 45, one thus says Yahweh, thus says the Lord to Cyrus, his anointed whom have I taken hold of by his right hand to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of the kings to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut.

And the date of writing is important here. Isaiah wrote approximately 700 BC. About 100 years before the destruction of Jerusalem. Over a century, almost 150 years before Cyrus, the king of Persia, even came to rule.

There was another nation who was in charge. It was Babylon. 100 years, 150 years before Cyrus is even on the scene. He gave his decree to the Jews to return from captivity. Almost two centuries before the completion of the second temple under the decree of Cyrus.

And think about this, about seven centuries before the birth of the Messiah. Approximately 700 years before the suffering servant Jesus Christ. Predicting future events as if they're facts of history.

So the prophetic descriptions about the coming Messiah, they're for our benefit. They're so specific and happen so closely in the historical accounts of Jesus. They eliminate any other candidate from the messiahship.

They illustrate the very real physical reign of Jesus. The king of kings and the lord of lords. The son of man will reign upon this earth and over all nations and peoples. His kingdom is reality. And the Bible's clear prophetic descriptions are for your benefit.

So that you may clearly see that Jesus of Nazareth is the only possible option. We can see him for who he truly is, the promised savior of mankind. And if you don't have Jesus, you don't have anything.

If you don't have Jesus in your life, you are like a sheep without a shepherd. You have the sheep are in the penfold, the shepherd sleeping at night. He's taken them to graze. He's taken them to streams of water.

He's now built a little thing with some sticks. They're in there. They're safe. He can sleep. He's protecting them from the wolves. They're his. They're his treasure possession. Even one of those jump and run out into the forest.

He's running after them. Because if you don't have Jesus, you're like a sheep without a shepherd. You're in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by prey. You don't have any food. You don't have spiritual food.

You're surrounded by wolves. So without Christ, you are a sheep without a shepherd. We need Christ. Four prophetic aspects of God's servant so that you can know for certain that Jesus is the Messiah. Number one, the servant's life.