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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you,
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"
(Matt. 28:19,20).
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February 14, 2016
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Contents:
1) Evidences of Faith: The Suffering Servant (part 1 of 2, Jim
Robson)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
Evidences of Faith:
The Suffering Servant
Jim Robson
In the eighth chapter of the book of Acts, we find Philip the
evangelist being sent by God to the deserted road that led from
Jerusalem to Gaza. Once there, Philip saw the chariot belonging to
the eunuch who was treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia. The Spirit
told Philip to overtake the chariot. When he did so, he found the
eunuch reading from the book of Isaiah. Specifically, he was reading
the passage known to us as Isaiah 53:7-8. Philip established that
the eunuch did not understand the prophecy he was reading, and the
eunuch asked Philip for help. "Then Philip opened his mouth, and
beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him" (Acts 8:35).
This is an amazing thing. Philip began preaching Jesus from the book
of Isaiah, which was written more than seven hundred years before
Jesus' birth. How could this be? How could a book written centuries
before Jesus was born be used to teach someone about Him? If we go
to the passage that the eunuch was reading, we will see that, on its
own, it is indeed difficult to understand. However, when we view it
through the lens of the New Testament, we can get a glimpse of how
Philip could have used this passage to lead the eunuch to Christ. We
will also see that it becomes very difficult to explain how or why
Isaiah wrote such a passage -- unless he was truly inspired by God.
Before we look at the passage in Isaiah, it is important to keep a
couple of things in mind. For example, remember that the chapter and
verse divisions in our modern Bibles were added almost 2,000 years
after Isaiah wrote. These divisions are for ease of reference, and
do not necessarily reflect a logical division in the author's line
of thought. Also, you will notice that Isaiah, like other prophetic
writers, frequently shifts verb tense. He goes from past to present
to future tenses while talking about the same events. This may be to
emphasize that, whereas the prophet was writing about things that
had not yet occurred, God had decided that they would happen, and
therefore they were as good as done. Whatever the reason, however,
we do not need to be distracted by these things; for our current
purposes, we simply need to be aware of them.
I. Exalted, Extolled, and Marred?
Let us turn now to the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah. In the midst
of prophecies concerning God's promise to redeem His people, we find
descriptions of a very special Person:
"Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and
extolled and be very high" (Isaiah 52:13).
This picture of a Servant of God who would be characterized by
wisdom and be held in honor is consistent with other prophecies of
the coming Messiah (for example, Psalm 110). From here, however,
Isaiah goes in a direction that we would not expect:
"Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more
than any man, and His form more than the sons of men" (Isaiah
52:14).
Why would God's Servant be marred? Moreover, how does this fit with
the idea of Him being exalted and extolled and very high? Already,
we can begin to see why the eunuch might have difficulty
understanding Isaiah's prophecies concerning the Servant. We can
also begin to see that it is difficult to explain why Isaiah would
write in this manner, if he were merely writing of his own
initiative. If his goal were to comfort the people with promises of
a great and powerful Messiah, why would he say that God's Servant
would be marred? On the other hand, if he were trying to frighten
the people into obedience, he would not be writing promises of a
wise and glorious leader. If we try to explain Isaiah's words in
purely naturalistic terms, we will keep running into problems.
If we try to imagine ourselves living before the time when the
gospel had been preached all over the world, we can see that
Isaiah's words would be very difficult to understand, even if we
believed that he was a true prophet, and his book inspired by God.
How could it be, that God's anointed King would be wise and exalted,
and yet be marred more than any man? For one who is acquainted with
the gospel, however, Isaiah's message is perfectly clear. Consider
the apostle Paul's words:
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being
in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with
God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the
point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven,
and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11).
Jesus was God in the flesh, and He never did anything but good, yet
He was subjected to the form of execution reserved for the most
despicable criminals: clearly, His visage was marred more than any
man. Yet, as Isaiah prophesied, Jesus was subsequently exalted and
extolled above all others.
So then, Isaiah 52:13-14 is a passage that is difficult to explain
in naturalistic terms. Moreover, even a believer would have
difficulty explaining its meaning -- if it were not for the gospel.
We see then, that the gospel of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New
Testament more than seven hundred years after Isaiah, provides the
explanation for Isaiah's writing. To look at it another way, Jesus
fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy. If this were an isolated Old Testament
passage torn from its context and made to conform to a preconceived
idea, then it would not be very compelling. But is that what we have
done? Let us return to Isaiah and see.
II. The Mouths of Kings Shut by the Man of Low Esteem
If we pick up the reading in Isaiah where we left off, we find that
the prophet had much more to say about God's coming Servant:
"So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at
Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they
had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report? And
to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up
before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He
has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty
that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our
faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him" (Isaiah
52:15-53:3).
Where the New King James reads, "sprinkle," your Bible may say,
"startle." Either way, the prophet is telling us that this Servant
of God would have such an impact on the world as to affect many
nations. In fact, He would even shut the mouths of kings! And yet,
Isaiah tells us that He would not be respected, but rather would be
despised and rejected by men. How could both of these things be
true?
Once again, we can turn to Jesus to find our answers. In His life as
a man, Jesus was indeed despised by the religious leaders of His day
(for example, see Mark 12:13,18,28; John 9). Moreover, at the end,
multitudes of His own people gathered together and demanded that He
be subjected to an excruciatingly painful and disgraceful death:
"Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the
multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a
notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they had
gathered together, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to
release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?' For he
knew that they had handed Him over because of envy. While he was
sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, 'Have
nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things
today in a dream because of Him.' But the chief priests and elders
persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and
destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said to them, 'Which of the
two do you want me to release to you?' They said, 'Barabbas!' Pilate
said to them, 'What then shall I do with Jesus who is called
Christ?' They all said to him, 'Let Him be crucified!' Then the
governor said, 'Why, what evil has He done?' But they cried out all
the more, saying, 'Let Him be crucified!' (Matthew 27:15-23)
But the Jews were not the only ones to show contempt for Jesus. The
Romans, too, treated Him as though He were utterly despicable:
"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium
and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him
and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of
thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And
they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, 'Hail, King
of the Jews!' Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck
Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe
off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be
crucified" (Matthew 27:27-31).
Remember that all of this was done after they had beaten Jesus with
a scourge, which was a whip with many thongs (verse 26). So, Jesus
was treated with the utmost contempt by both Jews and Gentiles. All
are guilty of His suffering and death; no one is innocent. When we
meditate upon these things, we see that Jesus thoroughly fulfilled
the words of Isaiah, "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief."
But Jesus also shut the mouths of kings, even after His crucifixion.
Consider, for example, the emperors of Rome. The Roman Empire
covered an enormous territory and encompassed many nations. For
centuries, Roman emperors persecuted Christians. Their goal was to
put an end to the religion of Jesus Christ and preserve their empire
by turning the people back to the state religion. In 311 AD, the
emperor Galerius, an ardent persecutor of Jesus' followers, was
struck with an incurable illness that caused him intense pain.
Realizing he was near death, he reversed his stance, and issued an
order that Christianity should be tolerated. Might we not say,
insofar as his attack on Jesus was concerned, that his mouth was
shut? Of course, his nephew, Maximin II, disregarded the order, and
instead increased the severity of his persecutions. But Maximin was
defeated by Licinius in battle, and fled. In 313 AD, co-emperors
Licinius and Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which required
that Christianity be tolerated. As for Maximin, he died of poisoning
that same year.
Of course, the Roman Empire slowly crumbled, and its emperors have
long been silent. However, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, which they
fought so tenaciously to destroy, continues to thrive. Indeed, no
other person has had as much of an effect on human history as Jesus,
yet the secular historians of His own time considered Him to be of
little significance: they did not esteem Him. Having said all of
that, though, we need to recognize that Jesus' influence on the
affairs of this life is as nothing when compared to His influence in
eternity. Jesus has gained the eternal victory for His followers. He
has gained the ultimate victory over every attempt of man or Satan
to establish a lasting religious or political system. In the end,
there will be no pretending to resist Him:
"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came
death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in
his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are
Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the
kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all
authority and power" (I Corinthians 15:20-24).
On the day when God calls all mankind to account, there will be no
king, emperor, philosopher, scientist, "pastor," or "reverend," who
will be able to open his mouth in the presence of the glorified
Jesus Christ. However, His faithful servants, though lightly
esteemed in this life, will shout and sing with triumph and joy.
-- Via The Watchman, September 1, 1999
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News & Notes
We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the
following, and let those of us who are Christians be remembering
them in prayer:
Robert Allen Young passed away February 15 at only 58 years
of age. He was the husband of one of our members, Anita Hadley
Young.
Shirley Jernigan (mother of Gege Gornto) also passed away
February 15. She was the mother-in-law of one of our member's
brother (Bud Gornto), who had been a former member before moving
away.
These others can also use our prayers:
Carol Drain will soon be having a port implanted to begin
chemo treatments for a total of 6.
Michelle Rittenhouse, who has been having heart trouble, will
be undergoing medical tests for a few days this week.
Also, with heart trouble are Misty Thornton and Rex
Hadley, Jr.
Barbara Sutherland (Marie Pennock's niece) has been diagnosed
with breast cancer.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith
comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John
8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10;
Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the
remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not,
salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM
& 5 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Ladies' Bible class)
Wednesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
https://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com/
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)