Jesus spoke to the disciples about his joy. John chapter 15 and verse 11. These things I have spoken to you Jesus says that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. So why then was Jesus the fountain of all joy a man of sorrows? Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick and we’re in Isaiah chapter 53 today and we come to a message called Our Verdict. Colin that seems to imply some sort of decision so when we talk about a decision for Jesus what stands out for you? Well no one will follow Jesus unless they’re drawn to him and no one’s going to be drawn to Jesus unless they see something really compelling and and attractive in him and that’s why I think the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ is such an important theme. No one would want to follow an unhappy person but the Lord Jesus Christ is not an unhappy person. He is full of joy and he speaks about his joy being in us. He has peace in himself and he’s able to impart peace to us. He is love incarnate. He’s love in the flesh and his love reaches out to us. Now we’re looking at a verse in Isaiah and chapter 53 that says that Jesus was a man of sorrows. That’s a very important statement. It doesn’t mean that Jesus was an unhappy person. God is forever blessed. The Bible says that. He’s not sort of frustrated in heaven because he can’t work things out in the world. He is blessed supremely in and of himself and what is true of God the Father is true of God the Son. Jesus became the man of sorrows because he was despised and rejected but he took that journey on purpose in order to redeem us and to bring us into his joy, his peace and his love. We’re continuing to look at Isaiah 53 verse 3 so join us with your Bible if you can as we begin the message our verdict. Here’s Colin. Well please open your Bible again at Isaiah and chapter 53. This is one of the best-known and best-loved chapters in all of the Bible and in every verse Isaiah is inviting us to look at the Lord Jesus Christ. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest good news that this world has ever heard and yet across the world and in every culture the dominant response to the good news of Jesus is one of overwhelming unbelief and this is where Isaiah begins. Who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Why is it that the world is filled with unbelief? Well we saw last time from verse 2 that we are distracted by the wrong considerations, we are drawn to the wrong priorities and we are driven by the wrong desires and these are the things that lie behind unbelief and you may find them therefore to be a useful guide for conversations with unbelieving friends and loved ones. Why do you not believe? Could it be that you have been distracted by the wrong considerations? Could it be that you are pursuing the wrong priorities? Could it be that you are driven by the wrong desires? So Isaiah begins this marvelous chapter in which he invites us to look to Jesus by telling us that the primary problem from which we need to be saved is the problem of our own sinful unbelief. Who has believed what he has heard from us? So then the question is how does a person come to faith? And we ended last time by noting two things that you can do that will lead to faith. The first is to take a good and honest look at yourself. That’s what this verse helps us to do. When you take an honest look at yourself you will see that you are a sinner who needs a Savior and when you see that you’ll be well on your way to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then as you take an honest look at yourself take an honest look at Jesus Christ and when you do you will see that Jesus Christ is the Savior that you need. Now the whole story of this chapter, the whole series as we’re going through it together throughout this year, it’s an invitation to look at the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what Isaiah 53 is all about. And we saw last time that Isaiah begins by inviting us to look at the early life of Jesus. How did Jesus grow up? Well he grew up like a young plant. In other words he grew up very very quietly. He did not attract attention to himself. He grew up before him, that is he grew up before the Lord. He grew up with a profound awareness that the eye of God was on him in everything that he said and everything that he did. And we saw that the Lord Jesus Christ is our model for growing up. Our students are under constant pressure. How am I going to stand out from the crowd? How am I going to make an impression? And we saw last time that if you follow the example of Jesus you will be released from a great burden. You really will. Jesus did four things as he grew up. Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and with man. And here’s what God calls us to do as we are growing up. We follow the model of Jesus. What does that mean? You eat healthy food and you get good exercise so that you grow strong physically. You develop the capacity of your mind by studying hard. You form good friendships by being a good friend to other people. And you get to know God and you live in a way that honors him. Focus on these four things and you will be relieved from a whole world of anxiety. Now today we come to verse 3 where Isaiah moves from inviting us to look at the early life of Jesus to looking at the ministry of Jesus. We’re then going to see later this year his death and his resurrection and his triumph. But today we’re focusing in this verse on the ministry of the Lord Jesus. And we’re told here he was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not. Now notice that Jesus is described here as a man of sorrows. Now that does not mean that Jesus was miserable or that he was unhappy. You may have heard this comment that is often quoted that the Bible records that Jesus wept but it never says that Jesus laughed. Now that statement if you’ve heard it is true it is also terribly misleading. Because it implies that Jesus was somehow an unhappy person. And therefore of course it implies that to follow him would be to join up with a small band of disheartened people who are constantly moaning and complaining about the state of the world and never have any fun. And who in the world would want to do that? But I want you to remember that Jesus spoke to the disciples about his joy. John chapter 15 and verse 11. These things I have spoken to you Jesus says that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. Jesus preached good news and it is impossible to preach good news with a long face. The Bible says that God is forever blessed. He’s content in himself. He’s at peace in himself. He is full of joy in himself. And Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And that means that Jesus Christ is joy in the flesh. The things I have spoken to you Jesus says I spoken them that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. So why then was Jesus the fountain of all joy a man of sorrows? And this verse gives us the answer. The reason that Jesus was a man of sorrows is that he was despised and rejected by men. He was as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Jesus came the New Testament tells us to his own and his own received him not. You remember that when he came to his hometown of Nazareth and he opened up the scriptures and pointed to how he himself fulfilled them. What was the response of the people in the hometown? They took him to the brow of a hill because they wanted to throw him off a cliff. You remember that the Lord Jesus performed miracles releasing people from evil powers that bound them and the scribes said he is possessed by the devil. When Jesus restored a man who had terrorized a community so that he was in his right mind and dressed and at peace. Well the community actually begged Jesus to leave their region. And you remember that when Jesus was arrested and brought before Pontius Pilate, Pilate found him to be an innocent man and so he wanted to release him but the crowd called for the release of a notorious prisoner. Barabbas, a man of violence. He, the Bible tells us, was a robber and a murderer. They would rather have him on the streets than Jesus and they called for Barabbas to be released because they despised the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Isaiah anticipates all of this in our verse here today. Jesus was a man of sorrows. Why was he a man of sorrows? Because we despised him and we rejected him. Because we hid our faces from him because we esteemed him not. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message Our Verdict which is part of our series The Gospel According to Isaiah. And remember if you ever miss one of our broadcasts you can easily go online to openthebible.org.uk and download any of our previous messages. Go back, listen again or catch up to any you’ve missed. And remember you can also find Pastor Colin Smith’s messages as podcasts. That’s easy to find on any of your favorite podcasting sites. Just go there, search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to get regular updates. We’re continuing with Isaiah 53 and verse 3 so let’s get back to the message now. Here’s Colin. Now the title of the message today is Our Verdict and I want you to notice that this verse indicates to us the process by which a person comes to a verdict about Jesus. In this verse each line explains what went before. So if you look at it he was despised and rejected. Well now why was he despised and rejected? Well here’s why. Because we hid our faces from him. And why did we hide our faces from him? Well we hid our faces from him because we esteemed him not. This verse is telling us that unbelief is a decision in which the whole person is involved. The mind, the heart, the will. They’re all fully engaged in faith and they’re all fully engaged in unbelief as well. Now today we’re going to look at two very important things from this verse. The first is how we make decisions and the second how God changes our hearts. First I want us to see here how we make decisions. And decisions begin when the mind calculates. And I say this because of the words of Isaiah here, we esteemed him not. And the word esteemed very clearly takes us into the world of the mind where an evaluation takes place. Alec Motyer, an esteemed commentator on the book of Isaiah says this and I quote, esteemed is an accounting word, a reckoning up of value. So when you see this phrase we esteemed him not, think about accounting. Think about a ledger. Think about columns of numbers. Think about what is added to profit. Think about what is listed under loss. That’s the world that we are in. And the first step in any decision involves the mind making a calculation like accounting. What’s the value here? What’s the cost here? That’s what Isaiah is telling us. And when people looked at Jesus they did this accounting and they came to the conclusion no value. And that of course is why he was crucified. Now of course there were various numbers as it were that went in on the plus and the minus side on this accounting. When Jesus did miracles, oh well that seemed like a big plus. Oh well then people said we must make him king and they wanted to take him by force and make him king. Maybe we can get his power used to fulfill our agenda. But then when Jesus began to speak about the significance of the miracle in which he fed 5,000 people and he said I’m the bread of life and whoever feeds on me will live forever. Well then they very quickly lost interest. That was a big big negative and in the end they saw zero value in Jesus. The mind calculates. Then we make decisions as the heart directs. Notice what Isaiah says here, as one from whom men hide their faces. Now as esteemed takes us into the world of the mind these words about hiding our faces clearly get us into the world of the heart. Isaiah is describing an intense emotional reaction as one from whom men hide their faces. There’s revulsion here. There’s turning away. These people can’t bear to look. And the whole point of this chapter remember is that Isaiah is inviting us to look at the Lord Jesus Christ and now he’s telling us but this is something actually that the human heart doesn’t want to do. Isaiah has already told us in verse 2 as we saw last time that Jesus had no form or majesty that we should look at him. Now he’s telling us that we actually resist looking at him. That’s what the sinful heart does. People actually put their hands over their faces so that they don’t look at the Lord Jesus Christ. We hid our faces from him. Now we may think that the normal response to God from the sinful human heart is simply apathy. But do you see that Isaiah is telling us quite clearly here that the problem goes deeper. It’s not just that people don’t want to look at Jesus. It’s that the sinful heart can’t bear to look at Jesus. Now you might wonder is that really true? Well listen to these words of the Apostle Paul. Romans chapter 8 in verse 7. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. For it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed it cannot. Why do people not believe? Is it really that the evidence in the scripture is insufficient for faith? No it’s not that at all. Men do not believe the Apostle says here because the flesh is hostile to God. Hostile. Now that doesn’t mean of course that all people are constantly walking about seething with resentment towards God. But what it does mean is this. That unbelief is a decision in which the mind the heart and the will are all actively engaged. And that’s why only the arm of the Lord can save us from it. So we’re looking at how decisions are made and Isaiah is particularly pointing us to how unbelief is formed. The mind does a calculation doesn’t see value in Jesus. It’s weighed up the pluses and the minuses and it’s come out to a zero. The heart then directs and of course then the will decides. And here look at Isaiah’s words. He was despised and rejected by men. Well you can see as the word esteemed takes us into the world of the mind and men hiding their faces takes us into the world of the heart and of the feelings and of revulsion. The word here despised and rejected clearly takes us into the world of the will. We’re speaking here about a decision about a determined refusal. So do you see that in these three lines we have a description of the way in which we make decisions. The mind calculates. We esteemed him not. The heart directs. We hid our faces from him. The will decides. He was despised and rejected. You’re listening to Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith with the message Our Verdict which is part of the bigger series The Gospel According to Isaiah looking very much at Isaiah chapter 53 and looking at how we make decisions. Next time we’ll look at how God changes our hearts. So I hope you’ll join us for that. Remember if you ever miss one of our broadcasts you can always go online to openthebible.org.uk There you can download any of our previous messages or you can find them as a podcast. Go to your favourite podcast site and search for Open the Bible UK. Open the Bible is supported by our listeners. That’s people just like you. If you feel you’d like to get involved in this way this month we’d like to offer you a free gift. If you’re able to support the work of Open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month or more we’d love to send you a book called Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. It’s by J.I. Packer. Colin who is this book for? Well if there’s someone in your life who you would long to see come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ this book is going to be wonderfully encouraging for you. I’m thinking now about someone I would love to see come to faith in Christ. So I ask the question now what can I do? Well I can pray for this person you know I can share the gospel with this person but you know when you see that someone you care for in your life really has no openness at all and has proved very resistant perhaps over many many years you have a profound sense of you know only God himself is going to be able to turn this person around and that’s why the Sovereignty of God is really really good news that God is able to take a person as hardened against the gospel as Saul of Tarsus was and literally turn him around and make him anew. God is able to do that. So grasping the sovereignty of God is actually the greatest encouragement and incentive for praying and for evangelism. I found this book to be wonderfully encouraging. It has helped to sustain in me a hope for people who have been long away from the things of the Lord Jesus Christ because the sovereignty of God actually motivates us to pray and to reach out with the gospel. I think it’d be a wonderfully encouraging book for anyone who really cares about a loved one or a friend who is far from God. Well we’d love to send you a copy of this book if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month or more. For full details or to give online go to openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll be able to join us again soon. You decided maybe a long time ago that Jesus is not for you. Can you reconsider Jesus? Find out how next time on Open the Bible.