BEHOLD THE SERVANT - ISAIAH 53 Tune to âMy Faith Has Found a Resting Placeâ CM/double Words by Jim Byrd
1. Who hath believed Thy Word O Lord, To whom is it revealed? For darkness is within our hearts, And truth from us concealed. Thine arm O mighty God of grace, Is strong to seek and save; Come Spirit and reveal that One, Whom God the Father gave.
2. Like to a tender plant He grew, A Root out of dry ground; Behold the Servant of the Lord, In Him all grace is found. No form nor comeliness had He, No beauty could we see; And yet there dwelt upon this earth, One of the Godhead three.
3. With all the sin of His own sheep, Upon the Servant laid; He suffered at the hands of God And satisfaction made. âTwas so ordained by God Himself, Before the world began; To save the people of His choice, By Christ, the Son of Man.
4. It pleased the Lord to bruise His Son, For us the Savior died; His soul the offâring for our sin, And we are justified. Now lifted high upon His throne, The Lord of everything; Let sinners saved by sovereign grace, Sing praises to the King.
SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY: MORNING: John 6:22-40 EVENING: Acts 10:34-48
âWhatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.â (Psalm 135:6) *****
âHe values not Christ at all who does not value Christ above allâ (copied). *****
Sin: Not Remembered - Remembered âFor I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.â (Hebrews 8:12) The sins of Godâs elect are not remembered by the Lord because they were heaped upon Christ, as an awful weight, and He bore them away. Isaiah declared, âAll we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us allâ (Isaiah 53:6). âLaid on Him,â means that the sins of all the sheep were gathered together, as though one bundle, and laid on Christ. This was the heaviest of burdens, such as only God could bear. Our sins, having been made to meet upon the head of our Scape-Goat, were then borne away by Him, something the animal sacrifices could never do. âFor it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sinsâ (Hebrews 10:4). The express reason for Christâs incarnation was to remove the guilt of His people by the sacrifice of Himself. âAnd ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sinâ (1 John 3:5). It is because our sins have been washed away in the blood of the Savior that they are not remembered by the Lord. Hear these gracious words of our covenant God. âI, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sinsâ (Isaiah 43:25). The sins of Godâs children are not remembered by Jehovah; they are forgiven and forgotten. Such is the infinite power of the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus that He has completely removed every stain, stench and evidence of sin; nothing of it remains. On the other hand, the sins of all those for whom Christ did not die will forever be remembered by the Lord. âThus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; He will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sinsâ (Jeremiah 14:10). The sins of all those who leave this world in unbelief and rebellion are written down in the books which shall be opened in the final day of judgment. The Lord will not and cannot accept those who are âladen with iniquityâ because He is of âpurer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquityâ (Habakkuk 1:13). If sin remains, God remembers it and punishes it, but when sin has been taken away, there can be no condemnation, for there is no iniquity to bring about judgment. Christ removed the sins of His sheep, and God remembers them no more. âIn those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserveâ (Jeremiah 50:20). âPastor Jim Byrd *****
The man or woman who is not content to be saved and go to glory solely upon the basis of the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ gives full evidence of their utter depravity. This is the only way of salvation and is thoroughly God-honoring and Christ-glorifying. Surely he is the vilest of the vile who would dare to set forth and trust any other means of acceptance with God than this, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. âcopied