By his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. This word many is really, really important. Think of what it tells us many. Many means that it will not be a few and many means that it will not be all. Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick and Colin, as you point out, there are multiple meanings of this word many. Yeah, that’s exactly right. There’s both an invitation here and there’s also a warning here. Don’t presume. People are not automatically in the place of being right with God, but you can become right with God and the message of this marvelous verse that we’re looking at in Isaiah and chapter 53 is that you become right with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because his perfect righteousness will then be counted as being yours. You’ll be in Christ and belonging to Christ. His righteousness will be yours. You’ll be accounted righteous and that’s a marvelous invitation. The invitation of God to all is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive everything that he gives. You can do that. You can do that today. So here’s a great invitation and it’s one for each and every one of us to respond to in faith. Let’s continue to look at that invitation from Isaiah 53, looking today at verse 11. As we continue our message, satisfaction. Here’s Colin. How are we justified? First answer, by the righteous life of Jesus. Notice that Isaiah says here, by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous. So you see, Jesus is described here, and this is very important, as the righteous one. What Isaiah is telling us is that the Lord Jesus Christ joined the human family. And when he joined the human family, he lived the perfect life that none of us has been able to live. But notice that the word righteous occurs twice in this verse. That’s very significant. Isaiah describes Jesus as the righteous one. And then he goes on to speak of the many who will be accounted righteous. So where does this righteousness that leads to the many being accounted righteous come from? Well, it’s perfectly obvious, isn’t it? It comes from the righteous one. It comes from Jesus himself. When you trust yourself to Jesus, God counts the perfect righteousness of his own dear son as yours. And we are justified by the righteous life of Jesus. And that’s the first part of the answer, and here’s the second. It’s in this verse. We are justified by the sin-bearing death of Jesus. Notice what he says, by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. And if you look ahead, you’ll see in verse 12 that he repeats the same truth again, that Jesus bore the sin of many. He bore our sin. He bore our iniquities. That means he took them upon himself. Now, the Gospels tell us the tragic story of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. And you may remember that when Jesus was condemned to death, Judas was filled with remorse. He really regretted what he had done. And so he went to the chief priests, the religious leaders of the day, because he wanted to return the money that they had paid him to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. I have sinned, Judas said to them, because I have betrayed innocent blood. And then Matthew records what the chief priests said to Judas. What is that to us, they replied, that’s your responsibility. It’s on you, Judas. Your sin is on you. That’s what they said. And that led Judas Iscariot to complete and utter despair. The religious leaders of the day told him that his sin was on him, period. And he couldn’t live with it. And he went out and he ended his life. Now who can blame him? If our sins were finally on us, there would be no hope for any of us whatsoever. Imagine for a moment arriving at the gates of heaven. And there you stand before God Almighty. And in absolute fear and in trembling, you say, I have sinned. And God replies, what is that to us, that’s your responsibility. Well if that were to happen, there would be no hope whatsoever. Carrying the guilt of your own sin is a burden that ultimately no one can bear. But Isaiah has already told us where hope is found. Back in verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord has laid on him, on Jesus, the iniquity of us all. And do you see he’s now coming back to this wonderful truth again in verse 11. And he says, and he, Jesus, shall bear our iniquities. They’ll not be on us, they’ll be on him. And then he says the same thing yet again in verse 12. He bore the sins of many. See justice says, well your sin is your responsibility, it’s all on you. But you see Jesus comes to us in mercy and he says, I will bear your sins, I’ll take them from you, and I’ll put them on my own shoulders. Your sins will be on me. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus took our place. And this is the very heart of the message of Isaiah in chapter 53. He expressed so wonderfully in verse 5, he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And by his wounds we are healed. The reason that we are counted righteous is that Jesus bore our sins. He carried them. Our sins were laid on him. And because they were laid on him, that means they’re no longer on us. That is why in the New Testament we read these wonderful words, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So how are we justified? We are justified by the righteous life of Jesus. And we are justified by the sin-bearing death of Jesus. God counts our sins as his, and his righteousness as ours. Upon a life I did not live. Upon a death I did not die. Another’s life, another’s death, I hang my whole eternity. You have already lived the life that God calls you to live. You know that? You’ve already lived it because Jesus lived it for you. And you have already died the death that was due to you on account of your sins. You’ve died that death because Jesus died it for you. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and the second part of our message is Satisfaction. Open the Bible is supported by our listeners, and this month if you are able to begin a new donation to Open the Bible, we’d love to send you a free gift. It’s two copies of a book called More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, and the book is an update of a classic book. Josh McDowell was previously a skeptic who was trying to disprove Christianity, but he came to the conclusion that Jesus really is who he says he is. We’d love to send you two copies of this book, one to read yourself and one to give away to a person you think might be asking those sorts of questions. You can find out details of this offer on our website, that’s openthebible.org.uk. Back to the message now, here’s Colin. Why are we justified? We are justified because God counts us righteous. How are we justified? God counts us righteous because of Jesus’ righteous life and because of Jesus’ sin-bearing death. And now the third question, who will be justified? Who will be justified? Jesus in this marvelous verse, by his knowledge, shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. By his knowledge. Now Isaiah has told us how Jesus justifies us, and what he’s telling us here is how this wonderful justification actually becomes ours. It’s by his knowledge, or by the knowledge of him. E.J. Young, who has written a very fine commentary on the book of Isaiah, says that this refers to a practical knowledge of the servant, that is of Jesus, on the part of others, a knowledge he says that approximates faith. And faith is sometimes spoken of in terms of knowledge. Jesus said this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Now you see, this knowledge of the Lord is what Isaiah is referring to here. We are justified by faith, and faith is described in many different ways in the Bible. Faith is looking to Jesus, faith is trusting in Jesus, faith is finding hope in Jesus, faith is knowing Jesus. Jesus justifies those who know him, he justifies those who look to him, he justifies those who trust him, he justifies those who believe in him. And notice that those who know Jesus by faith are described not as a few, but as many. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Many. See, the Son of God will be satisfied, he is satisfied because of many. He will not be disappointed by the outcome of his suffering. At the end of the Bible, the Apostle John was given this marvelous vision that is recorded in the book of Revelation. He’s given a glimpse of heaven, and he saw there a vast crowd that no one could number. They’re drawn from people of every tribe and every nation, and their sins are forgiven, and they’re rejoicing in the presence of God. The Lamb of God, the Son of God is their shepherd, and God wipes away all tears from their eyes. Listen, Jesus did not endure all the agony of the cross so that a few people could have an extra dimension to their lives. No, Jesus died so that many would be accounted righteous. He died so that a vast multitude of people would be redeemed and brought into the glorious presence of God to enjoy him forever and forever. When Jesus sees that crowd, he sees that crowd, he knows that everyone has been redeemed by his blood, and he is satisfied. And when he sees what comes from his suffering, he counts it well, well worth it. Now, friends, this word, many, is really, really important. Think of what it tells us, many. Many means that it will not be a few, and many means that it will not be all. The Bible never teaches that everyone will be justified. Many will be justified, and they’ll be justified through the knowledge of him, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many will be justified, many. And so the greatest question you ever face in all of your life is simply this, how can you be among the many? And the Bible gives the clearest possible answer to that question. John in chapter 1, to as many as received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to be called children of God. The Son of God will justify many. He can justify you because he bore the sins of many. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. So we’ve looked together at why we’re justified. God counts us righteous. We’ve looked at how it happens. It’s through the righteous life of Jesus and the sin-bearing death of Jesus, and we’ve looked at who will be justified. It will be those who know him, and they will be many. But I want to end on this note, that Jesus will be satisfied because his people are justified. Out of the anguish of his soul, Isaiah says, he shall see and be satisfied. Now you may find yourself wondering, can that really be true? Really? I mean, when Jesus looks at us, can he really be satisfied? Isaiah says, he shall see, and Jesus sees all things. He knows each and every one of us completely, nothing ever escapes his attention. And we know that even at our best, we are a long way from what God calls us to be. So how can Jesus be satisfied? And you may have wondered this, when the Lord Jesus Christ looks down from heaven, is he not at least sometimes disappointed? Are there not times when he says, I am not satisfied? When I think of all that I suffered and endured on the cross, I was hoping for something better than this. Well, it is true that we live in between times. God’s redeeming work in us has begun, and it is not yet complete, and we all fall short in many ways. So we can all find good reason to be dissatisfied. Christians can grieve the Holy Spirit, and no doubt we do that often. So it is very easy to get into a state of mind where you are habitually disappointed in other believers and perpetually dissatisfied with the church. Very easy to get there. You find yourself saying, well, God’s people are not what they ought to be. And you know what? If you say that, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. But when all of that has been given its proper weight, this remains true, that Christ loves his people and that they are a joy to his heart. When Jesus looks at his people, he is satisfied. In Psalm 147, we have these wonderful words, the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. And you might be struggling to take this in and say, really? How can this be? How can Jesus take pleasure when his own people are still so far from what he calls us to be? And here’s the answer. Because when we see him, we will be like him. And Jesus already sees and enjoys what one day we will be. So you know, if you are troubled because you imagine Jesus constantly looking down on you with disapproval and disappointment, try to take this in. He takes pleasure in those who fear him. And those who find hope in him are a joy to his heart. Jesus is not living in perpetual dissatisfaction. That is good news. When Jesus looks at his people, he rejoices in what we will be. And now we want to become more like Jesus. And part of becoming more like Jesus is that we find joy in what our brothers and sisters will one day be. You know, sometimes Christians disappoint and even hurt one another. But if you could see what the brother or sister who hurts or disappoints you will one day be, you would be overwhelmed with joy. And that is the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ right now. He knows what we will be. He sees it right now. And as he beholds the vast company of redeemed people made perfect in his presence, he is satisfied. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the final part of our message, Satisfaction, which is the 11th in our series, The Gospel According to Isaiah, working verse by verse through Isaiah chapter 53. And if you missed any of the series or you want to go back and listen again, you can always do that by going to our website, that’s openthebible.org.uk. There you can go back and listen to any of the previously broadcast messages. You can also hear them as a podcast. Go to your favorite podcast site, search for Open the Bible UK, look for the purple banner and subscribe to the podcast for regular updates. Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners. And if that’s something you feel you’d like to do, this month we’ve got a special offer for you. In return for setting up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more, we’d love to send you two copies of a book called More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell. And Colin, who is this book for? Well, it’s for anyone who wants to bear witness to Jesus and anyone who has questions about Jesus, which ought to just about cover everyone who’s listening to the program today, I’m sure. This is a marvelous book. More Than a Carpenter has a story behind it. And the story is that the author, Josh McDowell, actually set out to disprove Christianity. That was his aim. And what he found when he set out on that journey was that the evidence for Scripture and for the claims of Jesus Christ was so compelling that he himself was converted and became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is a great book for helping anyone who wants to be clearer and more confident in their testimony to Jesus. And it’s a marvelous book to be able to give to anyone who is a sceptic or is asking honest questions about the Christian faith. And that’s why we want to send you two copies of this book, More Than a Carpenter. One for you and one to give away. That’s our gift to you if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more. Full details on our website, openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick, and I very much hope you’ll join us again soon. What is the final outcome of all Jesus accomplished in his life, death, resurrection and ascension? Find out next time on Open the Bible.