This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Suffering Servant” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 5, 1986.

It takes me a while to catch up with technology. Tonight our scripture reading is from Romans chapter 8. First of all, and we’ll be reading a couple of verses from that chapter, and I think it will become apparent why. We’re looking at verse 28. through thirty four. Words are well known to you. Romans eight twenty eight through thirty four.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God. Those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he predestined, these he also called, and whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns. Christ Jesus is he who died, yes, rather, who was raised. who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. And then, from Isaiah chapter 50, we will read the eleven verses of this chapter.

Where is the certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of my creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. Why was there no man when I came? When I called, why was there none to answer? Is my hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I dry up the sea with my rebuke. I make the rivers a wilderness. Their fish stink for lack of water. They die of thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I am not disobedient, nor did I turn back.

I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out my beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case against me? Let him draw near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me. Who is he who condemns me?

Behold, they will all wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them. Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and among the brands you have set ablaze.

This you will have from my hand, and you will lie down in former.” faith. Our Lord, is there encouragement for us from your word? Truly, we who have believed find consolation and strength in what you have said. Father, it is more than just a message given it is life itself. And therefore, Lord, we would partake of it, and Lord, having partaken of it, our souls will be at rest. We ask, Lord, this evening, that the import of your word may be apparent to us, and may the glory of your servant pass before our eyes, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The third of Isaiah’s servant songs occurs in this fiftieth chapter, verses four through nine. The setting in which it occurs is one of remarkable contrast. The one side of that contrast sees God. the absolutely faithful. This the concluding thought of the second servant song found in the forty-ninth chapter there in the seven. Note the conclusion. The world is a. Holy one of Israel. In Isaiah forty nine verses eight through thirteen.

The faithfulness of the Lord is further explained. The faithfulness of the Lord is seen as foundational for that coming favorable time mentioned in verse eight. as foundational for the approaching day of salvation, mentioned in that same verse. The Lord’s faithfulness, so the prophet goes on, transforms the physical features of creation and affects the restoration, the deliverance of God’s own people. the heavens and the earth. The heavens, the earth, and the mountains are called upon to join in triumphant chorus, for as we find there in verse thirteen, the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.

But then, introduced to us is the other side of the contrast. Verse fourteen. Here we are presented with the response of Zion to this glorious gospel message of the faithfulness of the Lord and his salvation purpose. Zion says, The Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has forgotten me.” This accusation by Zion must not be misunderstood by those who read, by those who hear, by us. It is no momentary lapse because of the severity of God’s chastisements, the severity of Israel’s ordeal. Instead, it is in direct response to that gospel message of God’s absolute faithfulness and his salvation purpose. It is in direct response to that gospel message and expressive of a persistent disbelief in that message.

What is so truly amazing is the tone of the Lord’s words which follow. The Lord, by these words, proves himself so accommodating and so thoroughly reassuring I might say. The Lord by his word proves himself so wonderfully. He asked a number of questions. The first one is found in the fifteenth verse of chapter forty nine. He asked. Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her room. To this, the Lord responds, even the. May forget. But I will not forget. You. And then follows the marvelous litany of promise. concerning all that the Lord is sure to accomplish for his own. The second question occurs in verse twenty four.

The Lord asks, can the prey be taken from the mighty man or the captives from a tyrant rescue? I might say, parenthetically, at this point, that we can hear in these words the foundation of those expressed by Jesus in his ministry. For instance, if you were to turn to Matthew 12, verse 29, you would hear Jesus speaking a one-line parable concerning rescuing those who are oppressed from the strong man, taking them from his house, in reference to the tyranny of Satan and Satan’s kingdom. But, the question here in verse 24, can the prey be taken from the mighty man? the captives rescued from the pirate.

And the Lord answers with a resounding, yes! The Lord shall in fact accomplish this and thus prove his case. The case for his faithfulness. But demonstrating that the original accusation by Zion back in the 14th verse of that 49th chapter, demonstrating that that original accusation lodged by Zion has not gone. The next question is quite pointed. The one that appears at the opening of the 50th chapter.

Where, asks the Lord, is the certificate of your divorce? or the bill of sale from your creditors. Despite Israel’s disgrace and chastisement, well-deserved to be sure, no such documents exist. Proof, once again, of the Lord’s constant faithfulness. For even though Israel has proved faithless, the Lord has proved Then comes the final battery of questions.

Second verse of the fiftieth chapter. This final battery expressed here comes on the background of this overwhelming demonstration of the Lord’s care and love. It comes on the background of the tender pastoral tone of the Lord’s entreaty and proclamation to his. But here you see the ultimate is put before the people of Israel.

Given my love and care, given the demonstration of my faithfulness to you, why is there no one to receive me when I come, and no one to answer when I call? Is it not because there persists that disbelief? By which my own, by which my own arm is thought as withered and incapable of delivering anyone? The response to those questions then that appear in the second verse of chapter fifty pursues.

Three long. In the verses that follow. First of all. As we noted last week. Israel is reminded. Of that. Magnificent rescue. Which the Lord accomplished for her. when she was delivered from Egypt. The language there is unmistakable. Behold, I dry up the sea at my rebuke.

But this rescue mentioned here is couched in what we might call apocalyptic terms. Especially as we move on to the third birth. And the mention that that birth makes of the heavens being clothed with blackness and sackcloth being there. Who can forget other prophecies? Portions of the Book of Revelation that use similar language to what is expressed here. The rescue then. Rounded in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt is couched in apocalyptic terms.

And this is so in order to indicate clearly both the past and future significance of that great event that underlies Israel’s identity. That is to say, The past event of the Exodus touches the apocalypse, the end, the conclusion of everything. The final resolution of all things, when God and his righteousness will triumph over every evil force that opposes his people. But this being the case, the point is that God’s future success is as certain as his past victory in Egypt. That past victory itself partaking of the coming, climactic vindication of God and all his ways. When you look at the Exodus, you are supposed to see the end of the world. that the pastoral tone in this is so that the people of God may be assured.

God’s future deliverance is as certain as his past deliverance. And as you have been visited with that past deliverance, so surely are you the recipient of the future deliverance. it is yours, because you are the chosen of the Lord, and he wishes nothing more than to give it to you.

Now, how much this is the case is brought on by the second line of the Lord’s response to that battery of questions that appears in the second verse of the fiftieth chapter, namely verses four through nine, and the service psalm. Here you have it. You realize what is being said here.

There was no one for the Lord When he came, there was no one to answer when he called. But even though Israel fails to produce anyone to greet the Lord and no one answers when he calls, this does not mean that there is not someone ready and receptive to the Lord. we might not be as yet all that clear about the figure presented here, clothed in mystery as he is. And if we could attempt to transport ourselves into a Hebrew setting, to try to think the thoughts of Hebrews after them, as they heard these words, truly, The figure presented here would be mysterious, indeed, with mystery. Nevertheless, the one here described steps forward at this point and by so doing is united to both the questions of whether there is anyone rather than no one and whether the Lord’s arm is whether unable to say what is presentation. Effectively fills a void created by Israel’s failure of faith and as well as tied to the ransoming of Israel and to her salvation. All of the questions that are asked in verse two will find their resolution.

Let appears first in this picture of the servant. Read through it. Let it settle in. Think about Isaiah. A lonely prophet with a tiny band of disciples gathered around him in Jerusalem. And now out of the language of discipleship. There comes the voice.

Of. What appears first in this picture of the servant is his total submissiveness. And that’s the absolute. Requirement. Is total submissiveness. He is portrayed as a disciple. Whose speech is controlled by the Lord, the Lord himself being the master. Over this company of disciples.

But note how much this is true. Just as the Lord’s voice has been so pastoral throughout who is so also is the servant. His conformity to his Lord is such that he knows how to sustain the weary one with a word. Has there been anything as beautiful as that? Yet, in those things which we have read about this servant, in his submissiveness His discipleship to the Lord, as the servant, has meant that, like the Lord, he knows how to be pastor. But, note the effectiveness of his word. I know how to sustain the weary one with the word. So thorough is the submissiveness of the servant’s service that it never misses a beat. Going on in that fourth verse, morning by morning, he never fails.

He awakens, listening for the Word of God. His ear has been opened by the Lord himself, and he has been obedient to all that the Lord has said. Not that his determination to be all that the Lord has called him to be. Not that his determination to obey the Lord has not met with opposition. He cannot, he will not, he does not turn back. However, in the face of that opposition, in the face of that abuse, despite the fact that there are those who strike him.

He gave his back. To the fighters. But know how the words of rain. It is as if the service literally. Is giving himself over to this abuse. as if he’s making a conscious choice to embrace it, as if it’s something deliberate. One of the greatest humiliations to be experienced in the ancient world is to have your beard plucked. He gives himself over to this and more.

I did not cover my face from humiliation and. Over again the picture of Israel’s fallen servant. Israel has failed is then presented this horrifying, this terrifying image of one so righteous, so undeserving of abuse, who gives himself over to that abuse and suffering, and gives himself to it, willingly, as if one who chooses it. Over against Israel, who reacts in disbelief to her suffering and well-deserved chastisement, comes one who embraces suffering in an expression of his own faith, as if through this suffering his vindication and justification and his trust will be made plain.

I choose it because in it my faith is proved. In fact, I embrace it. Therefore, we pass from the testimony concerning the servant submissiveness to his wonderful. Active and resolute trust. In God. The expression of that trust. Is recorded there for you in verses seven three nine. And how stirring it is. He looks to no human vindication. Only the Lord’s. No opponent is a match for his advocate.

Therefore, he’s able to ask. Who can contend with me? Who has a case against me? Who is he who condemns me? Verse 9. And his confidence stands. The Lord, he says, helps me. Verses 7 and 9. He who vindicates me is at hand. Verse 8. anyone who would therefore. Bring a case against the Lord’s servant. Cannot stand it is impossible for him to stand long enough to present a convincing case. For as the servant song concludes. before the opponent can present his case against this against the Lord. He is worn out like a garment. And can. I’m on. The. The service. Justification.

Now, you’re ahead of me, because you have recognized in these words from Isaiah the very toned sentiment of what appears in Romans 8. But there in Romans 8, we are not so much speaking about the servant of the Lord as the servants of the Lord. not of that one who is justified in the first order, but those who are justified in the second order, and because of the justification in the first order. What justification is there that awaits any of us? Is it something that we hope to work out, that we penetrate, that we perpetrate? By no means. It is a justification that is, first of all, accomplished in Christ, and we are justified. Why?

Because we enter into the faithfulness of that servant of the Lord. He was faithful. And because he was faithful, now I, by my faith, over against the disbelief of Israel, by my faith, I am joined to him, I am united to him. And as his vindication means for him eternal endurance, it means the same thing for you and for me.

Who will lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Who is he who can dare? Those who would stand against you will decay as an old garment, will be eaten by moths before your justification is extinguished. For as utterly impossible as it is for you to think of Jesus not being justified, the servant of the Lord, so. It is to be impossible for you to think of yourself as anything less. Than justified.

I. Am declared righteous. In God’s. And faithful. Only for the righteousness of Christ, imputed to me and received by faith alone. I told you there were three lines. The third will have to wait until next week.

It is found in verses 10 and 11 and has to do with the response to the gospel message as it now is becoming focused in the servant of the Lord. The portrait of the servant Lord is overwhelming in every respect. First in terms of his submissiveness, then in terms of his willing embrace of suffering, and then in terms of his resolute determination, his faithfulness, even in the face of abuse, and in the face of all those who would make accusation against him. Lord, it is plain to us that justification is found in no one else, and if we are to be received by you, declared righteous in your sight, the only avenue for us is through the servant here described. May we be certain in our own minds that we believe and trust in him, that we believe and trust as he did. and that we love him after the pattern of how he…

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.