HOW WE RETURN FROM GOING ASTRAY
The first-fruits of the gospel were for God. God feels deeply that men have gone astray, but He found in the Person of His Son, our Lord Jesus, a way to bring man back in righteousness. A glorious morn it was for God when He could look upon men and shine upon them in blessing and forgiveness. The pleasure of God in the work of Christ is seen in that preaching by Peter when three thousand souls were saved. God, as it were, announcing His joy, that in virtue of what Christ had done He could bring thousands at once into the blessing of His house.
This chapter is most beautiful. A gentleman reading it many years ago said, Who is the prophet speaking about? He was a learned man, he must have known the society of his day; as he read the chapter he could not think of anyone who would fit into it. He said, Who is it? Philip says, It is Jesus who is the theme of the chapter. He is the One who came here and grew up before God as a tender sapling. All had gone astray, every one had turned to his own way, but here was a Man who grew up before God as a tender sapling. What winds and storms there were, but there He is, a tender sapling bending against those winds. He drew no resources from the circumstances in which He was found, but there He is, a tender sapling growing up before His God. He could say, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven roosting-places; but the Son of man has not where he may lay his head”, Matt 8: 20. It says, “He is despised and left alone of men”, Isa 53: 3. Think of the Lord Jesus; He fed five thousand at once, cured lepers, raised the dead, and yet He was left alone. The hymn-writer says, ‘None cared His worth to know’. There was nothing there in the way that they treated the Saviour to encourage God to bless men. It says, “like one from whom men hide their faces”, Isa 53: 3. They had no room for Him in their arrangements. There He is a tender sapling, growing up before His God, the pleasure of heaven centred upon Him. At last, upon this earth, there was a Man for God; and a Man who was expressing towards men, God in all His grace.
He had not come to raise questions. He had not come to condemn. They brought to Him one of the most guilty cases they could think about and He says, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more”, John 8: 11. O, the grace of the Saviour! Whatever need there was He was ready to meet it. It says about the lepers that He handled them freely. He entered into the sorrows of humanity as He bore them in His spirit day by day. The very children were the objects of His grace. The disciples would have turned them away, they thought they were not important, but He said, “Suffer little children to come to me”, Luke 18: 16. He had room for them all. That man called Legion who sat outside the city, think of the Saviour taking a journey to reach a man like that whom men would not touch. One beloved servant of God, as he was contemplating the gospels, said, His holiness set Him apart from the race. He was holy, different from every other man, but His grace made Him a Servant of all. How beautiful! Holy, blessed Man, the Servant of all. He came to serve men.
Even in the hour when they rejected Him, and put Him on the cross, think of those precious words that have come down through this present dispensation in all their blessed fulness, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23: 34. There is that tender sapling, there is the Man that has come in here to glorify God, oppressed and afflicted, every ignominy that the enemy could heap upon Him was heaped upon Him, and in that hour of deepest sorrow, the hour when the nation was guilty as never before. He says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. How beautifully the scripture speaks about Him, “as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth”, Isaiah 53: 7. I often contemplate the Lord Jesus in Pilate’s hall, He opened not His mouth. He could have spoken. What accusers there were and He could have met them all. Where were those He had raised from the dead? Where were the lepers He had cleansed? Where were the thousands He had fed? In His hour of need no eye was found to pity, no heart to share that grief. He was alone. What delight God must have found in Him! He opened not His mouth. Had He spoken and taken up His own case, there would have been eternal damnation for the race; but there in the presence of His accusers He opened not His mouth.
Wherever He was placed He was perfect; be it on the mount, or in the desert, or in Pilate’s hall, or on the cross; He was the perfect, precious, glorious Man, and yet men would have nothing to do with Him. There in the presence of Jesus’ hour of sorrow, in the presence of Pilate’s questions, it was said, “Not this man, but Barabbas”, John 18: 40. Think of the guilt that lay upon the race as they refused God shining in grace. God had sent the prophets. Jesus Himself says in that beautiful parable, that God had sent prophets to appeal. Here is one of them, the appeals of Isaiah how beautiful they are, and He has sent other prophets, and they refused them. The Lord Jesus says, Last of all He sent His Son. I think of the feelings of Jesus as He said those words, “And at last he sent to them his son, saying, They will have respect for my son”, Matt 21: 37. O, the feelings of God! As if He would pass by that they had neglected the appeals of His grace in Isaiah and the others. He says, Perhaps when they see My Son they will reverence Him; but it only brought out how far we have gone astray—“All we like sheep have gone astray”.
This passage will be the language of Israel in a day to come when their eyes are opened and the veil is removed. In their hearts they will come to see how beautiful their Messiah is, they will come to see then that God was there in all His fulness and all His grace. Friend, it is here for us tonight, that you and I, who like sheep have gone astray, may come to see that in the Person of Jesus, there is a Man in whom God’s love, grace and mercy are shining in all their blessed fulness. In those very circumstances He was always perfect and perhaps more beautiful to heaven’s eye, than anywhere else in His pathway here. There He is in the presence of His accusers, as Mr Darby says in ‘The Man of Sorrows’—
Priests, that should plead for weakness,
Must Thine accusers be!
And again he says in the same poem—
A Judas only owns Thee—
That Thou may’st captive be.
Judas identified Him to betray Him. Oh, the betrayal of the heart of man. How precious in those circumstances that He opened not His mouth. He had something greater to do. What a work was laid upon Him! What a mission He had come to accomplish! And in full devotion, committed to the will of God, His Father, He opened not His mouth. He went to the cross and took on the liabilities that had been incurred by the race, the race that had gone astray. He went forward there into the circumstances where it says that God “laid upon him the iniquity of us all”, and He was able to bear it. You think of the enormity of what has come into the race, and God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. That was from Adam right down, and blessed be His name. He bore it to God’s eternal satisfaction.
The types are full of those animals upon whose head the iniquities of men were confessed. The animals were slain, their blood was shed, some were led away into a land of forgetfulness, and God looked in mercy afresh for another year upon His people. But friend, in the offering of Jesus and what was laid upon Him. God has looked on for nearly two thousand years, upon the race in blessing. He is offering mercy, forgiveness, wonderful blessings to those who put their faith in Jesus. God alone could estimate the glory and value of what was done on the cross by Jesus, when alone, forsaken. God is fully satisfied with that work; involving His death and that His precious blood was shed; and that He was buried in the grave for three days and three nights; and that God raised Him by His glory. The work was completed, and He has given Him a Name that is above every name.
Now we come back to the verse that we read, “All we like sheep have gone astray”. How far you have gone you would know. However far the distance, Christ has measured it. You remember that parable where it says that He went after the sheep until He found it. No journey was too long, no circumstances were too grievous, He went after the sheep until He found it. As I said, in the day to come, the distance and the guilt of Israel will weigh heavy upon their hearts, but they will come to see that there was a Man in Jesus who met the distance. You read these chapters of the Old Testament and see how grievous was the sin, how deep the mire into which they had sunk, but it is all met in the offering of Jesus.
The gospel is proclaimed that there might be on the one hand conviction in the soul that we have gone astray. There are none excused from it. Some may think they have not gone so far as others, but they have gone astray. Who in the presence of this chapter, reading of this precious sapling, a root out of dry ground, could say they have not gone astray? Tested in every circumstance, perfect, there is God’s standard, there is God’s Man, and in contemplating Him we have to say, “All ... have gone astray”. My friend, the gospel is proclaimed, the work that God had laid upon Him has been done. In the work that Jesus has accomplished, once and for all. God has found a way that there is forgiveness preached in His name, to those who believe. Alas, the darkness and distance of sin has hardened our hearts so much. Maybe you have heard the gospel time and time again, you have heard of the Saviour and His saving grace, but you are still astray, still perhaps feeding on these foods that would lead you further away. The sheep keep going further away, they do not realise how far they have gone from the shelter of the shepherd’s care and environment; each step is going further and further away till they are arrested as to how far they have gone. Maybe God brings in certain matters so that you realise that you are no longer under the protection of the divinely prescribed environment. His love, my friend, comes to meet you where you are that you may return.
Another beautiful word of the prophets is to return, return. The value of the work of Jesus remains the same in all its value and efficacy. It is not only that we have confessed our sins, but maybe we have confessed our sins and know Jesus as our Saviour, and yet we may have gone astray. The work of Jesus is enough—it is never to be repeated. I may have to come afresh to the appreciation of it; but the value of the work of Jesus remains in all its efficacy however far astray we may have gone. John tells us, speaking to believers, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins”, 1 John 1: 9. Things come up and cause us to wander away from the circumstances in which grace would have us, but the work has never to be done again. God is ready in the fulness of His love, as we return in confession of our sins, to forgive in the precious name of Jesus. Precious substitute for all that was due to us; He has taken our place. He has taken the place of believers. The wider aspect is He has taken the place of all. John says, “he is the propitiation for our sins; but not for ours alone, but also for the whole world”, 1 John 2: 2. That means that the work of Jesus is enough for all that has come into the race; but those who get the gain of it are those who put their faith and trust in Him. Ah, friend, where are your sins? Are they lying upon your heart? are they upon your conscience tonight? Or are they gone, as the hymn says—
My sins—O the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sins—not in part, but the whole—
Were borne on the cross, and are gone evermore,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Hymn 238)
What a rock, that what He has done He has done once and for all!
Then there is a need to see that there is a present enjoyment and a present realisation that our sins are gone; they are gone before God and they are gone for me through faith in what Jesus has done. The blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son has met God’s eye; and the precious character of the offering is what meets my eye; I know that those sins are gone in His death, they are gone evermore in the fact that I have put my faith and trust in Him where He is at God’s right hand, a Prince and a Saviour.
The chapter is full of the down-stooping love of Jesus from the manger to the cross, but God has given Him a Name that is above every name. A very beautiful verse says, “he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth”, Isa 53: 9. God took care of Him. When men had done everything they could do, crucified Him between robbers, they appointed His grave with the wicked; but the Spirit says that He had done no violence, neither was there guile in His mouth, and He was with the rich in His death. God saw to it that He was taken care of. When men had done everything, God took over and raised Him from the dead, raised Him from the tomb into which men had placed Him, and He has given Him a Name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
What blessing comes by putting our faith and trust in the Man whom God has appointed, the Man whom God is proclaiming as a Saviour, the Man who is to be trusted in all His grace. This chapter shows how trustworthy He was in the presence of all that was against Him. It is not only in what He has done but in who He is. It says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs”. Can every one here put themselves into verses 4 and 5, and say, ‘Surely He has borne my griefs, He has carried my sorrows; I did regard Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities; the chastisement of my peace was upon Him, and with His stripes I am healed’? There is the language of faith. Another prophet says that he would put the very words in your mouth; and there they are in verses 4 and 5, the words are put into your mouth that you may put your faith and trust in the Saviour that God has provided. How beautiful it will be to hear Israel use those words, “he was wounded for our transgressions”. He was there in our place, that is what Israel will be saying. My friend, can you say. He was there in my place? He took my place on the cross; He took my place in the grave; and in virtue of what He has done He has given me a place in glory. O, what grace! He was there in the grave for me but tonight He lives at God’s right hand, for all who put their faith and trust in Him.
May all have a fresh assurance of the great love and kindness of God towards men. He has done everything possible, He has cleared the ground entirely, and He puts these very words in your mouth that you may say, He bore my griefs; He bore my sins. Peter puts it so beautifully—“who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree”, 1 Pet 2: 24. That is where they have been judged, and the Lord Jesus has also put them out of God’s sight. May it be, my friend, that through faith in His Name, they have gone from your sight, so that you are no longer a sheep gone astray, but you have been brought under the Shepherd’s care to know the food that the Shepherd gives, to know the grace and protection of the Shepherd’s love. Instead of being a sheep who has gone astray, may you be one of the sheep that hears His voice; He calls them by name. Maybe He is calling you, calling you by name, to come into the shelter of all that is provided in the Shepherd’s care. May no one here turn a deaf ear to His voice. He calls as a shepherd calls in His grace; calling, calling, and calling again that you may come to prove the blessedness of abiding in His love, and abiding under His care, for His Name’s sake.
BENDIGO
16th April 1995