Isaiah 53:6
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
Good evening, everyone. It is a pleasure to be with you tonight. My name is Ethan English, and we're going to be in Isaiah 53.6, so feel free to turn there now. It's on page 614 in your Pew Bible, or you can look at the front of the bulletin. It should be printed right there. I have a little boy who's named Luke. He's about 15 months old, and he loves it when I read to him. He especially loves it when I read nursery rhyme books to him. And one I've been reading to him lately is Mary had a little lamb. You guys know how it goes. Mary had a little lamb. It's loose as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, that lamb was sure to go. And as I was reading it to him, I was sitting there and I was thinking, you know, this lamb is really obedient. It follows Mary wherever it goes. And then I was thinking, wait a second. This lamb is following a little girl to school. It should be following the shepherd. This is a dumb and disobedient lamb.
But you know what's interesting about Mary's lamb? Is that Mary's lamb is exactly like us. We are all lambs who have turned their own way, following little girls to school instead of the shepherd. As foolish, disobedient lambs, we need to see where our foolishness has led us, and we need to know how we can get back to the shepherd. And Isaiah helps us figure this out with our text tonight. So look with me at Isaiah 53.6. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
I think the main idea of this text is we are astray and helpless, but Jesus has redeemed us. We are astray and helpless, but Jesus has redeemed us. I'm going to split that up into two points. Point number one, the sheep. Point number two, the Savior. Point number one, the sheep. Isaiah starts off by telling us that we are all like sheep. Why does he do that? Well, sheep are not self-sufficient. They get easily injured, they're stubborn, they're helpless, they can't find food or water for themselves, and they have no defense mechanism.
If you let the sheep defend for itself in the wilderness, it would be in grave danger. If a sheep leaves the shepherd, a lion is going to come and immediately devour it. But this is exactly what we've done in our lives. Look at how Isaiah says that our turning away is what makes us like sheep. So who do we turn from and who do we turn to? Well, our verse says that we have all turned to our own way, which means we have turned away from God, who is our shepherd. We've abandoned the shepherd, and we've turned towards ourselves, our own wants, our own desires, our comforts, and idols.
The sheep have trusted in their sheepy qualities to survive in the wilderness rather than God, who is their shepherd. Like sheep, we are prone to wander and leave the God we love by turning to our own way. And I think there are two reasons why we might turn our own way. The first reason is that we desire our own way, what we want for us, more than what God wants for us, which is straight-up rebellion. One way that we could turn our own way in the Christian life is by not repenting of subtle sin.
We don't think small sins are as big a deal as God says they are, so we don't repent. We know that gossiping and lying to another brother or sister is wrong, but we don't repent. And we go about our day not even thinking about it because it was just an offhanded comment. We know we shouldn't get angry with our kids, but we feel justified in our anger and we don't apologize to them. Brushing off sin without repenting is very subtle. What that doesn't look like is the way we typically think rebellion looks like.
The way we typically think rebellion looks like is like the movie scenes where you have the whole city going up in arms and you have the soldiers in the armory. They're handing out weapons to fight this big army that's coming their way. but it is still rebellion. Rebellion is rebellion, whether vivid or subtle. Don't turn your own way by not repenting of subtle sin. Confess your sin to the Lord, no matter how seemingly subtle it is. The second way that we might turn our own way is because we don't know what God wants for us, so we turn our own way by default.
Many of us turn our own way because we just don't know God's way. Doing college ministry, I interact with a lot of college students who have recently become Christians and they don't know that it's wrong to cheat on your test using ChatGPT. They don't know that it's wrong to go on dates with an unbeliever or whatever it is. If you're here and you've become a Christian in the past two years, do you know what God wants for you? You've just been introduced to what is right or the right way to live after living in a world that you thought was right.
So I want to encourage you to do a couple of things. First, I want you to show humility when others confront you about what you're used to doing. Your home group leader and older Christians around you, they've been through the ringer. They know the Christian life better than you do. Don't fight the correction, but be eager to receive it. Recognize that you are a baby Christian, and babies need to be taught the right way to live. Surround yourself with men and women who know the truth so that they can disciple you and teach you the right way to live as you grow up into maturity.
Use your home group as a time to pick your home group leader's brain about different situations and how to live the Christian life. It doesn't have to just be your home group leader. There are other men and women who are here who would love to help you grow into maturity. Well, maybe you're here today and you're not a believer. You're currently a sheep who is outside the care of the shepherd. You either don't know how to get back to the shepherd or you do know and you're rebelling against him. For those of you who don't know how to give back to the shepherd, all you have to do is recognize that Jesus is the way to safety.
He says, I am the good shepherd and I lay my life down for the sheep. All you have to do to get to the shepherd is to trust the shepherd and what he's done for you. For you who know how to give back to God, but you're refusing to repent and believe, you need to know that if you continue on the path of rebellion, One day the king's patience and kindness is going to run out. Justice will roll down and he will punish you as a rebel unless you bend the knee to the king. Jesus bore your sin on the cross and he died the death that you deserve and he rose three days later, defeating sin and death, proving that he can save sinners.
Come to him in faith today. Just like sheep, it is natural to turn away from the shepherd who alone protects the sheep. It is natural for us to be led astray from the shepherd because we are so deceived by sin and we are convinced that our lives can be better without God. We think we see greener pastures. We strain our necks and think that, or we look over there, and the world proves this to be true. The world is filled with people who think they are safe while forsaking God.
And what is the result of this? Absolute carnage. Wars are breaking out all over the globe. Political violence is spreading like wildfire, and social media is filled with sensuality and hate. Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking people to devour who is not under the protection of the shepherd. And this is true about all humanity, including us, if we are left to ourselves. Isaiah makes this clear when he says, all have turned away. He doesn't just say some, he says all.
This doesn't include a few people, but includes everyone. Notice also how Isaiah says, all have gone astray. Isaiah does not say that all of us are going astray or are turning from God, like we can just hop back on the path and follow him. No, we openly decided that our way is the best way, and we have foolishly forsaken God, who is our shepherd. We have gone astray. We are lost, helpless, vulnerable. Now what? Well, the question becomes, can we get back to God after going astray?
And if we can, how does that happen? Well, the answer is not found in ourself. We find the answer in our second point, point number two, the Savior. Remember, we are foolish and helpless. If you think you can find your way back to the shepherd, you're being foolish. We are sheep. We don't have the ability to come back. Sin has made it impossible for us to get back to God on ourself or by ourself. We need someone to rescue us from our sin. God knows we are outside the sheepfold.
He knows we're vulnerable. He knows we're helpless. And what does he do? In the same breath of Isaiah 53, 6, he brings us back to the sheepfold. Look down at Isaiah 53, 6, at the last half. And he has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He brings us back by stripping off our sin and laying it upon Jesus, who then gives us his righteousness. Paul picks us up in what we heard this morning, 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
There was nothing Paul could have done to bring himself to the shepherd, except to receive mercy from God through Jesus. Christian, you were lost without hope. astray, outside the grace of God. You were judgment-bound because of your sin, and then boom, in an instant, you were brought back to the sheepfold because God showed mercy to you. He brought you back to the sheepfold where you are now secure and protected by God. So how can we apply this to our life?
God has brought us to himself, and he has saved us through Jesus, bearing our sin on the cross. Praise God and remember that you are only a Christian because of what Christ has done. But now that we're saved, I think it would be helpful for us to look at how we can avoid our old sheepy tendencies by turning from the shepherd and instead stick close to the shepherd's side. As Christians, we should stay close to the shepherd and not wander away from him. But what does that look like? Well, one way we can stick to the shepherd's side is by being proactive and not reactive in fighting sin.
Many times in the Christian life, we have to react to sinning. We have to notice that we have wandered away from the shepherd and we have to see that. We have to get back to him. So yes, repent of your sin and react when you are recognizing that you're sinning in life. But have you thought of the way that you can be proactive in fighting your sin? Being proactive helps us to fight sin by staying close to the shepherd's side and not giving Satan an inch to devour us. So what are ways to be proactive in staying close to the shepherd?
One way of being proactive in fighting sin is having rhythms in life during the week and during the days to stay close to him. A great way to be proactive is by having a rhythm of praying in all situations to stay close to the shepherd. Too often in life, we are doing day-to-day tasks independently of God, even while I was trying to write this Devo. I didn't pray at first, and I tried for about 30 minutes to put something on the paper, and I couldn't do it. And then I was finally brought to my knees to pray to God. I called up Jeff Norton to try to figure out how I could apply this to older saints here.
And the first thing he did for me was pray for me. Before he said anything, before he gave any advice, he prayed for me. Be like Jeff and not like me. How foolish can we be to think we are able to do normal tasks without the Lord's help? And how easy it is to fall prey to thinking we don't need God's help for everything we do in this life, just like sheep. We must be proactive to stay close to the shepherd's side when doing normal, mundane tasks. I know when I have to go into the grocery store, as I'm sitting in my car, I have to pray to God that he would help me not to get angry at customers or shoppers or at my wife if she leaves something off the grocery list and I have to go back and get it. Or if I'm about to change my son's diaper, I have to pray that the Lord would not have me get upset as I am sitting there and he's squirming around and I'm changing his diaper. I get easily upset, but I find the times when I do pray, the Lord answers that prayer and he helps me not sin against him. What mundane task do you
have in your life that you're not going to God first to help you not sin against him? Being proactive and having a rhythm to pray for mundane tasks will keep us close to the shepherd's side. For you families, it looks like being consistent in family worship and applying it to your life and not only your child's life. Consistent family worship should be used to point your kids to the shepherd, to the shepherd that they must trust in for salvation, and it should be your consistent reminder that you need that shepherd. Family worship is like a landing strip that lights up for your kids to show them where to land. And for you, it's like an aircraft marshaler, after you've landed, pointing you back to the way to get into the terminal safely home.
Are you using family worship to remind yourself of the gospel, or are you just going through the emotions? Are you even doing family worship? If you're using another method to apply the gospel to your life and to teach your kids, then praise God. Family worship is a great day-to-day rhythm to be proactive in staying close to the shepherd so we don't wander away. High schoolers, college students, what are some rhythms in your life that can keep you close to the shepherd? One rhythm that you can do is always apply God's word to your life during your quiet time. I'm so encouraged by the amount of students that are taking the time daily to read their Bibles. And keep doing that.
But remember, there should never be a time when you're reading your Bible where you're not trying to apply what you just read to your life. The Bible is not like your other textbooks, where you read for knowledge's sake. We need to read our Bible, seeking to be changed by it. If you're growing in your understanding of the doctrines of grace while reading your Bible, are you storing up knowledge in your head, or is it moving you to worship? You're learning that God is sovereign over everything, including salvation, are you applying that by praying to God who can save your classmates and fight sin and help you fight sin? Or is it just another fact about God?
Be proactive to stay close to the shepherd's side by applying God's word to your life every time you read. Older saints, what are some rhythms in your life that can help you stick close to the shepherd's side? Right now, there's a natural rhythm in your life that reminds you that you're getting older and aging. Your body begins to break down and becomes weaker. Aches and pains become more prevalent in life, and it's harder to do normal things that you were once able to do. As you have those natural reminders of your aging body, let that rhythm remind you of the unaging joy that you have in the Lord. Isn't it wonderful that even though you're aging, your joy in the Lord does not age or decay, but only gets sweeter the closer you come to the time he calls you home?
Your body may be getting weaker, but what is not getting weaker is the joy that you have in the Lord. Like me waking up and feeling the joy that I have in the morning when I see my little boy Luke, you have that same joy as you weekly gather with the saints and you daily commune by reading your Bible and praying to God. Proactively reminding yourself that the Lord has given you an unaging joy for himself when you're reminded of your aging body can keep you close to the shepherd during the final years you have on this earth. All of us were at one point outside the protection of our shepherd because we all turned our own way. But praise God he did not leave us to die in the wilderness.
He rescued us through Jesus' death on the cross and we've been brought back to the shepherd. Let's not return to our sheepy tendencies of turning to our own way, but let us hold fast to Jesus who has saved us and will protect us until we see him face to face let's pray father thank you that you have brought us back to yourself through jesus's death and resurrection help us to stay close to you this week by being proactive in fighting our sin lord i pray that if anyone here is not a christian that they would come that they would come to you in repentance and faith and i would pray that you would help us to stick to your side and it's in jesus name we pray amen