Soli Deo Gloria

“He is despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). For the special benefit of young preachers, we propose to sermonize this text, though in as simple and homely a manner as possible, trusting that it may please the Lord to speak through it to some unsaved readers, for we dare not assume that all who take this magazine have really been born again.

Our text forms part of one of the Messianic predictions, in which God made know long beforehand the treatment which his Son would receive when He became incarnate.

The prophecy of Isaiah was in the hands of the Jews seven hundred years before the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem—yet so exactly did it describe what befell Him, that it might well have been written by one of the Apostles. Therein is supplied one of the incontrovertible proofs of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures, for only One who knew the end from the beginning, could have thus written history beforehand.

It might well have been supposed that the advent to earth of such a One as the Lord of Glory, would meet with a warm welcome and reverent reception, the more so in view of His appearing in human form, going about doing good. Since He came not to judge—but to save; since His mission was one of grace and mercy, since He ministered to the needy and healed the sick—will not men gladly receive Him? Many would naturally think so—but in so thinking they overlook the fact that the Lord Jesus is “the Holy One,” and none but those who have the principle of holiness in their hearts, can appreciate ineffable Purity. Such an assumption as the one we have just mentioned, ignores the solemn fact of human depravity—the heart of fallen man is “desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). How can the Holy One appear attractive to those who are full of sin!? Nothing so clearly evidences the condition of the human heart, and so solemnly demonstrates its corruption, as its attitude toward the precious Savior.

There is much recorded against man in the Old Testament Scriptures, as for example in Psalm 14:1-4; yet dark as is the picture there drawn of fallen human nature, it fades into insignificance before what the New Testament sets before us. “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7), and never was this so frightfully patent, as when Jesus was manifested in flesh. “If I had not come,” declared Christ, “and spoken unto them, they had not had sin—but now they have no cloak for their sin” (John 15:22). The appearing of Christ has fully exposed man, bringing to light as nothing else ever has—the desperate wickedness of his heart!

Now let us ask and supply answer to three questions—Who was (and still is) “despised and rejected by men?” Why is He so grievously slighted? In what way is He scorned? Who was so unwelcome here?

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When we think of Christmas what may come to your mind is a round, young virgin and a miraculous birth in a small stable.  Or maybe your idea of Christmas is more of a family setting with the exchange of gifts around a glimmering Christmas tree.  Maybe your view of Christmas is more about a season of peace and joy where people seem to get along a little better this time of year.

The world we live in has always found a way to distract us from the true meaning of anything having to do with Christ Jesus.  Christmas focuses on Santa Claus and Easter focuses on a large bunny.  In this study, I want to show you how the story of Christmas is all throughout Scripture.  We’ll also see that Christmas is an event in history that all men throughout time have looked forward to and look back on along with all of the other events that emanate from the birth of Jesus Christ.

Let us begin with an important question:  How were those before Christ saved from the wrath of God because of their sins?  Has there always been only one Christmas?  Has there always been only one way to salvation throughout all of time?

Scripture gives us clear answers to this question.  Some may say that they were saved by the Old Covenant sacrifices or by following the Law.  Others may say that faith in God or confession saved them before Christ came.

However, what Holy Scripture teaches us very plainly is that from the foundation of time the only way that anyone could be saved is through the merits of Jesus Christ.  The Puritans called that merit the “crosswork” of Jesus Christ - the atoning death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  Let us take a journey through God’s Word to see just a few of the many places that show that all of Scripture points to Christ.  My prayer is that you will come to always see the shadow of the cross over the Babe in the manger as you celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

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“That opinion that personal holiness is unnecessary to final glorification is in direct opposition to every dictate of reason; to every declaration of Scripture.” -Augustus Toplady

By our fall in Adam we not only lost the favor of God but also the purity of our nature, and therefore we need to be both reconciled to God and renewed in our inner man, for without personal holiness “no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). “As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (behavior); because it it written, Be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:15, 16). God’s nature is such that unless we be sanctified, there can be no communion between Him and us.

But can persons be sinful and holy at one and the same time? Genuine Christians discover so much carnality, filth, and vileness in themselves that they find it almost impossible to be assured they are holy. Nor is this difficulty solved, as in justification, by recognizing that though completely unholy in ourselves we are holy in Christ, for Scripture teaches that those who are sanctified by God are holy in themselves, though the evil nature has no been removed from them.

None but “the pure in heart” will ever “see God” (Matt. 5:8). There must be that renovation of soul whereby our minds, affections and wills are brought into harmony with God. There must be that im impartial compliance with the revealed will of God and abstinence from evil which issues from faith and love. There must be that directing of all our actions to the glory of God, by Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel. There must be a spirit of holiness working within the believer’s heart so as to sanctify his outward actions if they are to be acceptable unto Him in whom “there is no darkness”. True, there is perfect holiness in Christ for the believer, but there must also be a holy nature received from Him. There are some who appear to delight in the imputed obedience of Christ who make little or no concern about personal holiness. They have much to say about being arrayed in “the garments of salvation and covered with the robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10), who give no evidence that they are “clothed with humility” (1 Pet. 5:5) or that they have “put on . . . bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forebearing one another and forgiving one another” (Col. 3:12 & 13).

How many there are today who suppose that if they have trusted in Christ, all is sure to be well with them at the last even though they are not personally holy. Under the pretense of honoring faith, Satan as an angel of light, has deceived and is now deceiving multitudes of souls. When their “faith” is examined and tested, what is it worth? Nothing at all so far as insuring an entrance into heaven is concerned: it is a powerless, lifeless, fruitless thing. The faith of God’s elect is unto “the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness” (Titus 1:1). It is a faith which purifieth the heart (Acts 15:9), and it grieves over all impurity. It is a faith which produces an unquestioning obedience (Heb. 11:8). They therefore do but delude themselves who suppose they are daily drawing nearer to heaven while they are following those courses which lead only to hell. He who thinks to come to the enjoyment of God without being personally holy, makes Him out to be an unholy God, and puts the highest indignity upon Him. The genuineness of saving faith is only proved as it bears the blossoms of experimental godliness and the fruits of true piety.

In Christ, God has set before His people that standard of moral excellence which He requires them to aim and strive after. In His life we behold a glorious representation in our own nature of the walk of obedience which He demands of us. Christ conformed Himself to us by His abasing incarnation; how reasonable therefore it is that we should conform ourselves to Him in the way of obedience and sanctification. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). He came as near to us as was possible for Him to do; how reasonable then is it that we should endeavor to come as near as it is possible for us to do. “Take my yoke upon vou and learn of me” (Matt. 11:29). If ”even Christ pleased not Himself” (Rom. 15:3), how reasonable is it that we should be required to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him (Matt. 16:24), for without so doing we cannot be His disciples (Luke 14:27). If we are to be conformd to Christ in glory, how necessary that we first be conformed to Him in holiness: “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19): Let him either put on the life of Christ, or drop the name of Christ.

- By A.W. Pink

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This evening, while my wife is recuperating from surgery on her shoulder, I was doing a study on Exodus chapter 22. As I read through this chapter, I see the utmost care God takes to protect those who could easily be taken advantage of and the helpless.  I see also the sobering reality that His law demands that all must answer to Him in both what they do maliciously as well as heedlessly. This of course draws me to rejoice in the grace and love of my Savior knowing that by His grace through faith I am clothed in the perfect righteousness of God. How humbling and how exhilarating. May the Word of God and His perfect Law cut us like a knife, piercing the heart and draw us more and more to the beauty, magnificence, mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His glorious cross-work.

While doing a search on Exodus 22:31, the last verse in that chapter, my good ol’ Bible software pulled up Matthew Henry’s great commentary entry. I paused at the last sentence of Henry’s entry and took a moment to reflect on the precious truth that “there is enough in Him to satisfy all the desires of our souls.” Oh how the world and our own flesh tempts us to temporary pleasures that pale in comparison to the infinite fountain of joy that is in Christ our All in all. May we see the lusts of the flesh as but dung compared to the infinite pleasure and joy found only in Christ our Savior, King and Prophet.

“Let these scriptures lead our souls to remember, that if the grace of God has indeed appeared to us, then it has taught us, and enabled us so to conduct ourselves by its holy power, that denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, Titus 2:12. And the grace of God teaches us, that as the Lord is our portion, there is enough in him to satisfy all the desires of our souls.” - Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Exodus Chapter 22 

Father, I pray that my eyes be opened more and more to Your glory in the face of Your Son Jesus Christ. Help me to always remember that Your grace is sufficient and that I am called to be holy as You are holy. May I, through the power of Your precious Spirit, mortify the deeds of the flesh and always look to the sweet joys of walking in the Spirit. Grant me always to look to the cross of Christ and look upward to Your throne and see my Great High Priest living forever making intercession for me. Oh the joys of Christ. Forgive us of our foolish ways dear Lord and Father of mankind. May we always set our eyes and minds on things above and not on things of the earth. Amen.

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“Christ will be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Saviour will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”

- Charles Spurgeon

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“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  (Isaiah 66:2)

Last weekend we spent time in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina on a weekend retreat with our Sunday school class.  The drive up was exhilarating as we approached the mountain line and began experiencing the popping of our ears as our bodies adjusted to the change in pressure.  The colors of the leaves were astounding.  The views from the car as we climbed higher and higher were absolutely breathtaking.

At the retreat we spent time during a prayer walk along the shores of Lake Junaluska enjoying the weather and nature surrounding us at this beautiful location.  The ripples in the lake gently reflected the colors that adorned the majestic mountains as if God had draped the mountains in a rugged coat preparing them for the cold to come.

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Ephesians 1:3-14 (NAS)  Emphasis mine

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