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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Isaiah chapter 52, please. Isaiah 52, a passage well familiar to all 
of you, hopefully, that begins at Isaiah 52, 13 and continues 
to the end of Isaiah 53. We'll read the entire portion. 
We will keep in, though, on verse 3. but we'll read the entire passage 
in its wholeness, just so that we get the context. Just as an 
introduction though, if any of you had read Spurgeon's Morning 
and Evening for March 9th, you would have read for the morning 
portion, Spurgeon closing with these words, All earthly suns 
have their spots, the fair world itself hath its wilderness. We 
cannot love the whole of the most lovely thing, But Christ 
Jesus is gold without alloy, light without darkness, glory 
without cloud. Yea, he is altogether lovely. And one of the passages that 
comes strikingly to us off the pages of Isaiah 53 is verse 3. He was despised and we did not 
esteem him. So this morning we'll consider 
biblical esteem for the Lord Jesus Christ. And what it means, 
that particular portion of scripture, we did not esteem him. Well, 
let's read Isaiah 52 and 53, beginning at verse 13 of Isaiah 
52. Behold, my servant shall deal 
prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled 
and be very high, 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. 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 is the arm of the Lord being 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. Surely He has borne our griefs 
and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, 
smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, 
he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 
was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. 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. He was oppressed 
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was 
led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers 
is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison 
and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? 
For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions 
of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with 
the wicked, but with the rich at his death. Because he had 
done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased 
the Lord to bruise him, he has put him to grief. When you make 
his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall 
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in 
his hand. He shall see the labor of his 
soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous 
servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. 
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide 
the spoil with the strong. because He poured out His soul 
unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. And He 
bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Amen. Our Father, we thank You 
for this passage of Holy Scripture. God, we praise You for its clarity 
as it speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ and His death on behalf 
of His people. We pray, Father, that you would 
help us to understand that you would send the ministry of your 
Holy Spirit this morning for edification of your saints, Father, 
your Christians in this place, and unto the salvation even, 
Father, of sinners. We pray that we would rightly 
understand your word. that you would help preach her 
and hear her, and that you would help us, Lord God, to glorify 
you in all that we do, that we would take what we hear this 
morning, that we would take what we know about a holy God, about 
our own sin, and about such a Savior, and that we would live our lives 
in a manner worthy of your glorious gospel. And it's in the name 
of our victor and redeemer that we pray. Amen. Well, one of the 
things that the Christian boasts in is the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And we didn't just get to that. We just didn't get to that point 
by our own strength. We didn't just someday wake up 
and realize that Jesus Christ is altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000. We didn't just one day decide and click on a 
switch and say we esteem the Redeemer and the victor, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. No, there is something that is 
behind that, and we will get to that, but suffice it to say 
that the chief object of the Christian's joy is the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He is the one that is the chief 
object of our affections. He is the one that we love, that 
we serve, that we ought to live for, and that we ought to preach. 
And one of the things, as I said, that jumps off the pages of this 
particular, among other things to be sure, but one of the things 
that ought to be striking, that ought to hit us in the heart, 
is when Isaiah includes himself in something of an indictment 
of the believing remnant, he was despised and we did not esteem 
him at verse 3. Now this, of course, was written 
with vivid language 700 years approximately prior to the coming 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And many people, not knowing 
the Bible, not knowing which, for example, which book of the 
Bible this comes from, many had thought that this was something 
that was written after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, because 
we have past tense in the passage, but more so because of the vivid 
and the striking language that we read concerning the death 
of Jesus Christ. But again, this was written 700 
years prior to the coming of Christ. And Isaiah is writing 
about the substitutionary, sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. The penal, 
substitutionary, sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. Now, before 
we get to the main point regarding esteem for Jesus Christ, two 
things I just want to note briefly before we get there. Firstly, 
that Isaiah was preaching Christ. and that he was not preaching 
about Israel or about himself. Now, many Jews today, many Jews 
after the Lord Jesus Christ and throughout history, well, actually 
not throughout history, for this first point, many Jews now look 
back upon the Holocaust, the Jewish Holocaust that Hitler 
brought down in the late 30s and the 40s, They think that 
is a fulfillment of Isaiah 53. They thought Isaiah, or they 
think Isaiah here is preaching about Israel, that Israel was 
the one that will be bruised, the one that will be afflicted, 
the one that will be led as a lamb to the slaughter. Well, clearly 
we have in Isaiah 53, with our New Testament glasses, that the 
prophet Isaiah is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we 
can, with those precious New Testament glasses, look at this 
and praise the Christ of our profession, knowing that Isaiah 
was foretelling of the suffering servant, Jesus Christ, who would 
come and give himself for his people. But suffice it to say, 
even before Hitler started his reign of terror, the Jews, many 
Jews, would see this as referring to Israel. Well, we know it's 
Christ, and we know that it cannot be Israel, because we have an 
atonement for sin here. We have, if that is the case, 
Israel substituting itself for itself. We have penal substitutionary 
work and a work of atonement here. And notice that it could 
not be Israel because the one who is afflicted, the one who 
is bruised, doesn't open his mouth. Now, we ought not to, 
with sinful hearts, charge people with being complainers. But surely 
the nation of Israel complained, rose up against those who afflicted 
them. Well, here we have the one who 
is afflicted and bruised, not opening his mouth as a sheep 
before its shearer is silent. So he opened not his mouth. But 
more importantly, why it cannot be Israel and why it cannot be 
the prophet is because of verse nine. because he had done no 
violence nor was any deceit in his mouth." That could not be 
said of anyone other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah himself 
said in chapter 6 that he was a man of unclean lips, that he 
dwelt among a nation of unclean lips, among a people of unclean 
lips. This is certainly the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Now, not only from that do we 
know, but when we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we 
have, of course, an inspired commentary or an inspired interpretation 
of what Isaiah 53 was writing about. Philip chases down the 
Ethiopian that was riding along on the chariot. The Ethiopian 
was reading what? He was reading Isaiah 53. And 
Philip overtakes the chariot on foot and begins to ask questions. Do you know what you were reading? 
And the Ethiopian says, no, please help me. I'm paraphrasing. And 
Isaiah, or Philip, beginning with that scripture, Isaiah 53, 
what we just read, preaches Jesus to him. So we have an inspired 
interpretation of what Isaiah 53 was all about. John chapter 
12, just very briefly, we have something of a rejection of the 
gospel message. And this is picking up in verse 
37. But although he, speaking of 
Jesus, had done so many signs before them, they did not believe 
in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, 
which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom 
has the arm of the Lord being revealed. We have, again, inspired 
commentary upon the meaning of Isaiah 53. Not only that, but 
just one more before we move on to the next point. This is 
Jesus from his own lips. Jesus from his own lips affirming 
the fulfillment of Isaiah 53. Then he said to them, But now 
he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack. 
And he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy 
one. Luke 22 verse 37 For I say to you that this which is written 
must still be accomplished in me. And he was numbered with 
the transgressors, for the things concerning me have an end. So 
this is Jesus from his own lips, attributing rightly Isaiah 53 
to himself. And again, it can only be speaking 
of our precious Christ, because he had done no violence, nor 
was any deceit in his mouth. Secondly, this is, or Isaiah 
is, writing about penal substitutionary atonement. This is Isaiah, again, 
700 years prior to our great suffering servant coming upon 
the scenes in the Incarnation, writing about penal substitution. First off, the work of the suffering 
servant was one of substitution. Note the language here, the language 
that we have between some personal pronouns, the he and the him 
and the his, that language, and then the our and the we and the 
us. the language or the relationship 
between those words as it touches upon the doctrine of substitution. Surely He has borne our griefs, 
and carried our sorrows, down at verse 5, but He was wounded 
for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the 
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes 
we are healed. Never just skip by this passage 
and not notice the wonderful language of substitution, Christ 
for us, our on Christ, or ours put upon Christ. The Lord has 
laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The work of the suffering 
servant was one of substitution. Now, the language that we find 
in our New Testaments very often, and yes, of course, the old, 
but when we're reading of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New 
Testament, we have the language of his death being used with 
the language for us. Now that might not strike you 
as amazing, but that language, the Greek preposition, actually 
carries the force and the meaning of, on our behalf, or in our 
stead, or for the sake of. So when we read the language, 
Christ died for us, we also read the language, Christ died in 
behalf of us. Christ died for our sakes. And it's a wonderful truth, when 
we open up the pages of Isaiah, when we come here, we're not 
just reading, and we need to get this too, we're not just 
reading history before it happens, We're not just reading, okay, 
Isaiah's writing about the crucifixion prophetically. He's writing it 
before it happens. That's great. No, it's not just 
history before it happens. It's not just prophecy. It is 
divine commentary on the work of the suffering servant. What 
does it mean, God? Well, it means that this suffering 
servant, my servant, will be afflicted by me on your behalf, 
Christian. That's what it means. It's God's 
divine commentary on what the cross work means. And it's very 
interesting that when we get to the New Testament, we read 
in the gospel accounts of what happened at the cross. We read 
the historical account of what happened. But nowhere in the 
New Testament, at least in the gospel accounts, do we have such 
vivid language of what Calvary actually means. That this suffering 
servant would be wounded, would be wounded for our transgressions, 
that he would be bruised for our inequities, that the chastisement 
for our peace would be upon him. Of course, when we move to the 
epistles, we do have that. And just very briefly, we're 
going to get to one of these things in a moment. But 1 Peter 
chapter 1, 1 Peter 2 uses this language of Isaiah 53 when speaking 
about the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is 1 Peter 2 at verse 24, 
speaking of Christ, "...who himself bore our sins in his own body 
on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for 
righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. For you were 
like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd 
and overseer of your souls." We have Peter there using the 
language of Isaiah 53, by whose stripes you were healed, in the 
context of speaking to the substitutionary work of Christ. Also, 1 Peter 
3 at verse 18. For Christ also suffered once 
for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. 
Which touches upon the fact that Christ's work of substitution 
on the cross was a penal That means or pertains to the legal 
requirements or the punishments due to a violation or a fracture 
of the law. Christ's work wasn't just in 
our place, although that is grand and amazing, But in dying for 
us, in dying in our place, he took upon himself the sanctions 
that were due to us for violating the law of a holy God. And we 
have that language in the text of Isaiah 53, verse 11b. By his knowledge, my righteous 
servant shall justify many. That justification carries with 
it the weight of the law or the weight of legal language. It's 
not just an ambiguous, ethereal justification that's floating 
out in mid-air somewhere. No, that's a legal justification. 
That is God declaring a sinner righteous based upon the perfect, 
obedient work of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we speak of Christ's 
cross-work, we speak of it in a two-fold manner with regards 
to His obedience, His preceptive obedience. and his penal obedience. His precept of obedience, kids, 
that means that the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law of God. He did the will of his Father, 
he came into the world and he perfectly obeyed every jot and 
tittle of the law. his penal obedience refers to 
the fact that he willingly took upon himself the punishment that 
was due to the breakers of the law who were breaking the law. 
He took upon himself the sanctions and all those punishments that 
the law required for a fracture of it. And that's what we have 
when we read at verse 6c, and the Lord has laid on him the 
iniquity of us all. And the glory, the glory of that 
penal substitutionary work is the imputation or the reckoning 
or the crediting that comes along with it. God imputed to Jesus 
Christ or reckoned to him the iniquity of us. He made him who 
knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the other 
imputation. He took Christ's righteousness 
and reckoned that to us, that we might become the righteousness 
of God in him. So Isaiah was preaching Christ, 
not only that, he was preaching penal substitution, that the 
Lord Jesus Christ died on our behalf and took upon himself 
the weight of the law's requirements for us. Now let's move on to 
Isaiah 53.3, this language of esteem. Isaiah 53.3 we have the 
language, Isaiah including himself in something of an indictment 
against the believing remnant. And he was despised, or he was 
despised, and we did not esteem him. Now, what does esteem mean? We actually have two uses of 
the word esteem in our passage. At verse 3, and at verse 4. The esteem that we have in verse 
3 is that regarding someone with honor, with appreciation, and 
with the respect that is due to them. The second use of the 
word esteem that we have in verse 4 is just a general judgment 
or opinion. So it's not that we find, oh, 
we didn't esteem him, but then all of a sudden we do esteem 
him. No, it's two uses of the word. One is more specific, again, 
appreciation or honor shown to one regarding one with right 
honor. And the second one, yet we esteemed 
him stricken, is that we simply adjudged, or according to our 
opinion, he was smitten by God and afflicted. So, looking then 
at the esteem of our Lord Jesus Christ, or proper biblical esteem, 
we're going to look at four things and hopefully move through them, 
yes, quickly, but not irreverently. First, why, or first, we did 
not esteem him, a simple observation. Secondly, why we did not esteem 
him. Thirdly, why we esteem him now. 
And fourthly, why he is worthy. of esteem. Firstly, we did not 
esteem him. The text clearly states that 
God's people did not esteem him, and generally that he was rejected 
by men. There's a distinction in the 
text between men generally, although that portion is brief, and between 
the believing remnant. But notice, of course, again, 
that we did not esteem Him. Verse 3, 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. We know from our New Testaments, 
of course, that Jesus Christ was not esteemed by His people, 
by the people that He came to, by the Jews. He came to his own 
and his own did not receive him John 1 10 and 11 and Not only 
not only did they not esteem him upon his coming Although 
for various times and at various stages they were as we read this 
morning amazed with his teaching there was marvel Nevertheless 
his people did not receive him. They hated him and they despised 
him also Matthew 27 verses 30 and 31 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 clothes on him, and led 
him away to be crucified." It is no mystery when we say that 
Christ's people, generally speaking, or the Jews, the covenant people, 
the Old Covenant people did not esteem him, or that he was despised 
and rejected by them. But Isaiah is referring to, at 
verse 3d, the believing remnant. He is not there referring to, 
generally speaking, the Jewish people. How do we know that? 
Well, verse 1, the prophet says, who has believed our report? 
Speaking of the reports of the believing remnant, or the prophetic 
message, the message preached by the believing remnant, Old 
Testament Christians, Old Testament believers, when we say believing 
remnant, the Old Testament in this case, in the context of 
Isaiah 53, the Old Testament believers. But also, it cannot 
be the Jews generally, which would include unbeliever and 
believer. Why? because Isaiah's writing 
continues when he says he was despised and we did not esteem 
him, we read next, surely he has borne our griefs and carried 
our sorrows. And he continues with that first-person 
plural language, referring to himself and to the believing 
women. And it can only be them. Very 
often, preachers will use the language, and to a degree, rightfully 
so, referring to sinners generally, all we like sheep have gone astray. Well, according to Isaiah 53, 
that text actually only applies to Christians. All we like sheep 
have gone astray. unbelievers, generally speaking, 
are astray. They are sinful, they have wicked 
hearts, wickedness reigns in their mortal bodies and they 
go about doing sin and loving it. But nevertheless, with regards 
to our passage, Isaiah, when he says, all we like sheep have 
gone astray, he's speaking about believers. Why do we know that? Because we believe in particular 
redemption. because we believe in limited 
atonement, definite atonement, but because the Bible also, of 
course, serves as the foundation for our belief in those things. 
And Isaiah writes after saying, 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. The of us all, or the us all 
in that passage, are the sheep who have gone astray. So we cannot 
say that the sins of those who are waving their fists up at 
God in hell right now were heaped upon the Savior, and somehow 
the Lord Jesus Christ was unable to redeem them. No. All we like 
sheep have gone astray. Yes, unbelievers generally, but 
believers. All believers. All we like sheep 
had gone astray. We had turned everyone to our 
own way. And the implication, of course, 
The implication, of course, and we'll return to this with a little 
more course later, is that every last one who loves the Savior, 
every last one Christian, every last saint needs to own that 
confession of Isaiah that we did not esteem. Very often we 
can get perhaps a little self-complacent in our Christianity and we can 
sneer or we can look down and lift our noses at maybe younger 
Christians or at unbelievers generally and say, oh, they don't 
esteem my Christ. Well, lest we get popped up, 
unless we get a little arrogant, which we never ought to do, we 
need to recognize that we need to speak the same words as Isaiah. We did not esteem him. He was 
despised and I, did not esteem him. Now, why did we not esteem 
him? Why did we not esteem him? Well, 
first of all, because of cosmetic and external reasons. We have 
something of that in this particular passage, and bear with me when 
I use that language Because, as Christians, I affirm with 
you that Jesus Christ is altogether lovely and sheaf among ten thousand. 
But notice the language of Isaiah 53. For he shall grow up before 
him, verse 2, 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 man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Now, there 
is something, I mean, Jesus Christ himself, or if we were to turn 
to the Psalm of the Cross, we would read the declaration of 
the Savior himself, I am a worm and no man, despised by the people 
and rejected. Now, something that we need to 
realize when we're considering this, so that we don't also, 
at the same time, fall into some sort of Christological error, 
imputing some form of ugliness to the Saviour, let it never 
be. We need to understand, though, when Jesus Christ came in the 
Incarnation, He was obviously rejected by men, and outwardly 
speaking, the people who saw Him and witnessed Him marveled 
that He would boast of being from Heaven. marvel that he would 
boast and that he would speak with such authority. What do 
we have in that account of the unbelieving Jews who were before 
him in John 6 or in other accounts of the gospel? They would respond 
by saying, is this not the carpenter's son? Is this not the son of Joseph? Is not his father and his mother 
with us? Are not his brothers and his sisters with us? How 
can he say then that he came down from heaven? they would 
find nothing lovely in him, they would find no form or comeliness, 
they would find no beauty that they should desire him. One man 
commenting on this has said, he lacked the superficial beauty 
so enthralling to modern taste. This is something that ought 
to strike us, and we'll see this as we close a little bit later, 
but he lacked, Christ lacked, a superficial beauty so enthralling 
to modern taste. Isn't that the thing? Isn't that 
how we operate? The modern man likes to operate 
based on tastes, based on fancies, based on appearance. First of all, we like our winners, 
don't we? We really like winners. Whether 
it's sports or entertainment or politics or whatever it might 
be, we like to heap up to ourselves those who win, those who are 
victorious, those who are lovely, those who are prominent, whatever 
it might be. And so when we, and by we I mean 
generally speaking men and women, boys and girls, But when we come 
across one who seems like he is losing, or when we come across 
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, we generally don't 
want to latch on to someone like that. We want to latch on to 
a victor, to a winner, not to one who has come as a root out 
of dry ground, who has no form or comeliness, and no beauty 
that we should desire him. When we go out and buy a car, 
we don't grab the regular looking clunker. When we go to get whatever, 
we don't grab the dusty and the dirty and the ugly. We grab the thing that is beautiful, 
the thing that appeals and enthralls our modern taste. So, when we 
come to the New Testament, and when we compare the Jews' response 
to Christ and His words, and we come to Isaiah 53, oh, we 
can see something of a reason, a cosmetic and an external reason. Now Christ did not arrive, of 
course, in His Incarnation when we think about the fact that 
Jesus Christ came to this world. When we think about the fact 
that that One who was altogether lovely prior to His Incarnation, 
in Heaven, before the praise of angels when He was the recipient 
of Isaiah falling on his face as dead, when he was the recipient 
of so many praises, when he was the recipient of worship, when 
we think of such a Christ like that, we think that if we were 
to back off three of our Christian glasses, we'd think that he'd 
enter into the world on that white horse already. We wouldn't 
wait to be seated upon the white horse 40 years later or 33 years 
after his coming. No, he would enter into this 
world on the white horse with sword wielded, running and trampling 
for the victory of his people. But when we come to the New Testament, 
what do we find? We find that he did not arrive 
in his incarnation with pomp or trumpet blowing. He was for 
a time a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a That's what 
he was for a brief time. He was raised, he was born the 
son of a carpenter. He was raised, no doubt, or likely, 
in the family business. He lived his years out, and then 
he came upon the scenes as one from Nazareth, as one from Galilee. What good thing comes out of 
that place? And that's our Lord Jesus Christ. 
That's our Savior. But what does he do? He teaches 
righteousness. He indicts the scribes and the Pharisees. He 
charges the unbelieving Jews. with wickedness, with not following 
after God the way that covenant people ought to have followed 
after them. He indicts, he teaches, he preaches, he announces his 
coming crucifixion and his resurrection, and then he actually goes through 
with, after that prayer in the garden, the work of his Father 
unto the death upon the cross. And getting to that point, the 
cross itself, not just to mention the incarnation of Christ as 
such a lowly entrance into our lower world, again, wrapped in 
swaddling clothes, being born or coming out of Galilee, coming 
out of Nazareth, but then to wrap up his 33 years of existence 
in this lower world, we come to the crucifixion of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And then what do those untouched 
by grace do? They spit at him, they beat him, 
they mock him, they revile him, they jeer at him, they hiss, This one who didn't have any 
form or comeliness, this one who we didn't desire prior to 
him being hung upon that Roman tree by Roman nails, look at 
him now. Look at him now. They'd walk by in contempt, they'd 
walk by in contempt, at the very least indifference, jeering at 
Christ. Why didn't we esteem him? Well, 
for yes, those external and cosmetic reasons, but primarily and over 
that and above that, it is because of sin. Let's just get to the 
bottom of it. Let's cut to the chase. It's 
not as if these people, the believing remnant, it's not as if the Jews 
before Christ in his day and before the crucifixion just didn't 
get it. If they really got it, then man, 
we would have put in our lot with Jesus or we would have signed 
up for Christ. That wasn't the issue. It's not 
that Christ wasn't lovely enough or the issue wasn't just external 
appearance and the cosmetic outside of our Lord Jesus Christ. No, 
the issue is sin. The issue is depravity. The issue 
has always been the fact that man is dead in his trespasses 
and in his sins. The issue isn't the apparent 
ingloriousness of the earthly Christ, it is the actual, the 
real ingloriousness of man and his wretchedness. That's the 
issue. Now when I say the apparent ingloriousness 
of the earthly Christ, I don't mean earthly as in worldly, but 
the incarnate Christ, the one who came down from on high to 
our lower ignominy. when we read or when we consider 
the fact that this wasn't just for cosmetic and external reasons, 
but for sin, it's a good exercise for us to do, to enter into a 
wholesome recollection of our own lives. Now many preachers 
will rightfully say that we should never, with some sort of sick 
fascination, enter into a historical retrospect of our lives as sinners. And that's true. We should never 
enter into some sort of sick fascination and just flesh out 
all of our sins in sort of glory and roll around in transgression, 
to roll around in fracture upon fracture. of the law of God in 
our own transgression. However, it is a wholesome and 
it is a righteous exercise to look back and to reflect upon 
fracture of fracture. It is a righteous thing to look 
back and to remember what we did as sinners before amazing 
and victorious grace touched us. Spurgeon put it this way, 
he said, let us seriously peruse the diary of our memory Let us 
seriously peruse the diary of our memory, for there the witnesses 
of our guilt have faithfully recorded their means." Sometimes 
we can, as Christians, we can get puffed up, we can get complacent, 
especially, mostly, when we're so far removed from our own conversion, 
when we're so far removed from that day when we first learn 
of such a Christ, when we first learn of the grace of a holy 
God. And when we get to that point, 
we can have that complacency. We can almost say, no, I never 
did. I didn't show disesteem for the 
Savior. I always esteemed Him. I've been 
a Christian from day one. I can't remember a day when I 
wasn't a Christian. Well, either you're not a Christian, 
or you need to think a little bit harder. You need to remember. If you don't have some sort of 
a medical condition where you really can't remember that far 
back, you really need to think harder because there was a time 
when you did not esteem Him. There was a time when you did 
not love Christ. There was a time when you despised 
and rejected Him. When you would have, along with 
those first century Jews, walked past the cross with content. Never let yourselves think. Never 
let yourselves think, again, not for an exercise in sick fascination, 
but so that you can lift your hearts to a risen Christ and 
worship Him alone and nothing in your own heart. But never 
think that if you were there in first century Palestine, that 
you would have been above holding the hammer, or that you would 
have been above holding the Roman nails. Never think yourself above 
that. We like to get angry with the 
Jews and with the Romans. We like to get angry with them 
and say, those wretches who put to death the Lord of Glory. But 
you need to know that you would have been right there shouting 
out. If you were employed in the Roman army and you were set, 
your assignment was to be at the cross, you would have held 
the hammer and held the nail. We got to never think ourselves 
above other people because we need to own that profession, 
that statement, we did not esteem. And what does the exercise do? 
When we consider, as Spurgeon also said in the same sermon, 
when we consider the rock whence we were hewn, the hole of the 
pit from which we were digged, what does that do or why do we 
do it? So that our gaze can shift, albeit with eyes of faith, upon 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That's 
what we do. We consider sin, we look back, 
we peruse the diary of our memories and then we can cast our gaze 
to the one who died upon Calvary's tree to put those sins away. 
He died, he took upon himself breach upon breach in his own 
flesh so that we never would have to take upon ourselves breach 
upon breach in our flesh. He died for us and rose again 
and now he ever lives to make intercession for us. Why do we 
not esteem him? Because of sin. None of us are 
exempt from Romans 3.23. None of us are exempt from that. 
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For 
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Again, I 
like the language that Spurgeon uses with regards to the lifelong 
Christian He says, the Christian whose hair is whitened by the 
sunlight of heaven, you need to look back upon your life and 
consider or remember the fact that, yes, you did break the 
law of God. And you need to shed a tear for sins, for transgressions. You need to shed a tear for those 
things that you did to the Lord of glory and in rejecting him. 
But you get to turn your head from reflecting upon that And 
you get to gaze with eyes of faith upon such a Christ who 
is worthy of highest standing. And it's not just Christians 
of our own day. It's all classes. It's all ages. 
The prophets of old, the martyrs, the faithful martyrs, the apostles, 
all Christians throughout every age do own this profession. What 
does this prevent us from doing? Well, as Protestants, we don't 
really have this issue. As Protestants, we don't have 
our relics and our images and our and our prayer saints and 
people with glowing heads and babies with wings flying around 
them. We don't keep up, before ourselves, saints and other people 
to worship and to pray to. But what does this do? The fact 
that saints throughout all ages owned this profession, we did 
not esteem them. The fact that even the Apostle 
Paul, who, remember, called himself the chief of sinners, everyone 
is leveled by the cross of Calvary. Everyone is level by the cross 
of Calvary. There is no longer Jew nor Greek, 
slave nor free, man nor woman, whatever or whatever. All are 
one in Christ Jesus. That doesn't mean some sort of 
mystical synergy of our bodies. That means that we're all at 
the same level. The cross is a great leveler. 
I think one of the statements that I've heard before is that 
the ground is level. at the foot of the cross. There 
is no Christian and then better Christian and then super Christian 
and then elite Christian and then Paul, although we look back 
upon Paul and say, woe is me that I'm such a wretch and that 
I'm not like Paul. Nevertheless, in Christ Jesus, 
we are one. We are all justified the same 
as Pastor Butler said last week. We all have the same amount. 
of justification. Why do we esteem him now? This 
is a very easy answer. Now, easy not in the sense that 
we shouldn't spend a whole lot of time on it, but easy in the 
sense that it's a biblical and a simple answer. Why do we esteem 
the Lord Jesus Christ now? Because God made us alive when 
we were dead in our trespasses and in our sins. That's why we 
esteem him now. Biblical theology doesn't allow 
for the notion that we esteem him now because we're better 
than Johnny Pugoe to the left or to the right. Biblical theology 
doesn't allow us to say, well, I esteem him now because I worked 
myself up inwardly unto such an esteem. No, biblical theology 
only allows us to say that we esteem him now because God made 
us alive when we were spiritually dead. Oh you reformed folk, that's 
just some old staunch Calvinistic saying. Well no, it's actually 
Paul in Ephesians 2, 1-10 under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 
That's what it is. He, or you being dead in your 
trespasses and sins, He made alive. And it was according to 
His loving kindness, according to His mercy, according to the 
richness of His grace. Why do we esteem Him now? Because 
God made us alive. and brought us out of spiritual 
death into spiritual life in Christ Jesus. Turn again to 1 
Peter just for a moment. Just because we have there an 
obvious connection. We have there an obvious connection 
just on this topic of why we esteem him now. Wonderful language 
coming from Brother Peter. In two places we have, of course, 
in Isaiah 2, 1 Peter 2, again the language that he used of 
Isaiah 53 of Christ, by whose stripes you were healed. Verse 
25, For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned 
to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. We were like sheep 
going astray. Believers, saints, were like 
sheep going astray, but we've now returned to the shepherd 
and overseer of our souls. But turn back a page. Turn back 
a page to chapter 2 and verse 7. He's already spoken about 
the fact that the Word, that Word that endures forever, that 
we were brought forth, we're born again by that incorruptible 
seed, the Word of God. And he speaks about us being 
living stones, chosen people, those who have been brought to 
God through Jesus Christ. And then verse 7, Therefore, 
to you who believe, He is precious. That ought to be a statement, 
brethren, that, though there's only a few words in it, ought 
to reverberate in our minds. Therefore, to you who believe, 
he is precious. Why? Because we consider Isaiah 
53, we consider the fact that we are included, we ought to 
own, and we ought to own with great grief, yes, but we ought 
to own rightly that statement, he was despised and we did not 
esteem him. And then we consider the fact 
that now we do esteem him. Why is that the fact that we 
esteem him? Not because of anything done 
by us, not by anything wrought in holiness of our own hearts, 
but by the grace of the living and true God. We can look at 
that, we can look at the fact that we did not esteem Him, we 
can look back upon our own lives, that wholesome exercise of considering 
sin, and then we can read a passage like that, therefore, to those 
who believe He is precious. And we ought to be amazed, brethren, 
by the contrast that we find with that preciousness that the 
Christian holds his Savior in, in high esteem. When we look 
at Isaiah 53, you don't need to go there if I brought you 
away from it and you're not there now. But the contrast that we 
find in Isaiah 53, and this ought to bring us to a greater esteem 
of Christ Jesus, when we see the contrast that we find here, 
we find that we don't believe, or we find that we don't esteem 
Him, that He was despised and rejected, that we hid our faces 
from Him, we esteem Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, 
but then what happens? but He was wounded for our transgressions 
and He was bruised for our iniquities. We ought to be amazed by that. 
Yet we didn't esteem Him, but even though we didn't esteem 
Him, God bruised Him for us. Isn't that amazing? We didn't 
esteem Him, we hid from Him. We esteemed Him stricken by God 
and afflicted. He had what was coming to Him. 
Right? That's what we would say, well 
yeah, when they were looking upon the cross, He's getting 
what He deserves. That's what they would have been 
thinking. That's what we would have been thinking, untouched by victorious grace. 
But we come here, and as Christians, we ought to bow both knees when 
we read the fact that we rejected Him, did not esteem Him, but 
He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The second contrast is the beauty 
and the glory of Christ Jesus in His saving work. We read all 
of this language of not complaining in the face of the aggressors 
and his opposers, the fact that he had done no violence nor was 
any deceit in his mouth, and then the contrast, yet it pleased 
the Lord to bruise him, he has put him to grief. It's a double 
contrast there, that ought not to force us to our knees and 
ought to force us to put coffee mug down and uncross our legs 
and praise the Christ of Holy Scripture. That we can now esteem 
him. because of the grace of a holy 
and a righteous, a merciful and a kind God. And very briefly, 
why is he worthy of esteem? The trouble with me was, in trying 
to prepare for this portion, was where do you begin with why 
do we esteem Christ? Where do you begin? Because, 
generally speaking, a spiritually ambiguous person can say, I esteem 
Christ. Well, do you really? Do you really 
esteem Christ? They'll say, well, you know, 
good teacher, good prophet, a man back in the first century who 
said some cool stuff. You don't esteem him if that's 
it. If that's the extent of it, you hate Christ. You hate Christ. The Jehovah's Witness will say, 
oh, I esteem Christ Jesus. I love him. Let me tell you how 
much I love him. Oh, you despise his Godhead. 
You hate Christ. You're an enemy. You don't love 
him. You don't esteem him. What does esteem mean? a tough 
one and we would be here all day. But we can wrap it up, and 
hopefully this isn't a brief irreverence, but we can wrap 
it up. Why is he worthy of esteem? Well, the text certainly provides 
reasons, but how about first his Godhead? We should never, 
brethren, as Trinitarians, We should never be lazy as Trinitarians 
and not remember the fact that Jesus is God. One of the reasons 
why we should esteem Jesus Christ when we read this, or generally 
speaking, well, because he is God. We're Trinitarians, remember, 
there are three persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal 
in power, and in glory. Equal in power. and in glory. So, when we consider our Lord 
Jesus Christ as Trinitarians, why do we esteem Him? Because 
He's God. Because He's God. Let us never 
forget, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. Precious reality. Why do we esteem 
Him? God Most High. And when we have considered the 
fact that His deity How much more amazing ought Isaiah 53 
to be? and get to whatever doctrine. Why don't we consider lapsarian 
positions, or why don't we get into a deeper analysis of eschatology, 
or why don't we get to this and that, while there is a wholesome 
time for that activity. But we often return to the basics 
of Christianity, to the ABCs, because it's glorious. When we 
consider the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ought to move 
to Isaiah 53 and we ought to be awed. Why do we esteem him? 
Because God did this. God was manifested in the flesh 
and came into our lower world to die for many, to justify many, 
and to rise again. I want to read this just before 
we close. Because this, brethren, this 
brother of old, says it a whole lot better than I do. And this 
was written, this was a sermon written, 50 years prior to the 
declaration of the deity of Christ by a council in the early church. 
But this is an early statement from an early church father. 
And so he, Christ, was lifted up upon a tree, and an inscription 
was attached indicating who was being killed. Who was it? It 
is a grievous thing to tell, but a most fearful thing to refrain 
from telling. But listen, as you tremble before 
him on whose account the earth trembles. He who hung the earth 
in place is hanged. He who fixed the heavens in place 
is fixed in place. He who made all things fast is 
made fast on a tree. The sovereign is insulted. God 
is murdered. The king of Israel is destroyed 
by an Israelite hand. This is the one who made the 
heavens and the earth and formed mankind in the beginning. The 
one proclaimed by the law and the prophets. The one enfleshed 
in a virgin. the one hanged on a tree, the 
one buried in the earth, the one raised from the dead and 
who went up into the heights of heaven, the one sitting at 
the right hand of the Father, the one having all authority 
to judge and save, through whom the Father made the things which 
exist from the beginning of time, This one is the Alpha and the 
Omega. This one is the beginning and 
the end. The beginning indescribable and the end incomprehensible. 
This one is the Christ. This one is the King. This one 
is Jesus. This one is the leader. This 
one is the Lord. Amen and Amen. When we consider 
the fact that we're Christians, we need to get past a whole lot 
of things. The chief object of our affection 
isn't the proficiency by which we can explain the law, or eschatology, 
or whatever. The chief object of our affection 
isn't our ability to communicate a gospel message, isn't our ability 
to repel doctrine and to find heresy. Although we ought to 
earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered 
to the saints, the chief object of our faith is the sovereign 
who was insulted, the God who was murdered, the Lord Jesus 
Christ who was put to death upon the tree. Let us always return, 
because we can get far removed from our conversion and try to 
carry along in other pursuits, let us always return to this 
precious truth, that Jesus Christ came into the world, sinners 
to save, sinners to save. The gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, Jesus Christ of that gospel, is the chief object of 
our affection and worthy of all esteem. Now that there was more, 
but I have gone too long, I want to close This esteem for the 
Lord Jesus Christ, or the Lord Jesus Christ and the biblical 
esteem that is due him, is an indictment of the world and what 
it esteems. When we consider the fact that 
the one worthy of all rejoicing, of all joy, of all worship, was 
rejected by men, and that men, of course, pursue other objects 
of their affection, We need to see the indictment of Isaiah 
here, and that is, it is an indictment of the world and what it esteems. And if I can carry this argument 
with your acceptance into the context of doing church, I'm 
not saying that the people who put up a PowerPoint slide and 
a projector are in sin. But I am saying that if our Lord 
Jesus Christ was despised and rejected by men, if right esteem 
is loving one who was dirtied and bloodied and battered and 
bruised upon the cross, then we ought to love a church that 
has a wooden pulpit, wooden pews, and a preacher, whoever it is, 
who seeks to preach the whole counsel of God. What do we esteem? We esteem the chief object of 
our affection, the Lord Jesus Christ, a pulpit and an open 
Bible, and a pulpit that flames with righteousness. That's what 
we esteem. Well, no, we need this, and we 
need that, and we need this. We need ponies. We need puppets. We need clowns. We need a projector. 
We need the slide that the projector projects onto. We need such and 
such and such. We need a pulpit. We need a Bible. 
We need a preacher. We need the Spirit of God to 
touch His saints and to touch those who are not His saints 
that they might bend the knee to the King of kings and the 
Lord of lords. Let's esteem rightly those things that we ought to 
esteem. and let's esteem chiefly and highly and above all, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, pray for leaders and 
those in power. Why? Well, remember that we once 
did not esteem the Lord Jesus Christ. We're asked to pray for 
leaders, those who are in authority, those who rule over us. We're 
asked to pray for them. It's very easy for us to pray 
imprecatory prayers that God would strike them down. him, 
and I believe we have biblical warrant, to pray that God would 
exercise vengeance, to be sure, in this lower world. Not just 
on that great day of judgment, when he surely will exercise 
his vengeance. We should pray that God would 
exercise vengeance in this lower world, that his righteous name 
would be upheld, that his reputation would be won in this lower world, 
that people would act according to law and obedience to Christ. 
But let's also remember that there are some kings and those 
who in authority that Paul said God actually saves. So let's 
remember to pray for them. Let's remember that we were with 
those kings and those who are in authority who wanted to cast 
off the bonds of Christ and God from them. We would have waved 
that flag. We would have flown the banner 
of those who rejected and who did not kiss the sun. So let's 
not think ourselves above those who rule over us, but rather 
let's pray that the God of victorious grace would cause them to bend 
a knee. Believers, we need to revive 
a love for Christ. We need to speak to our own souls. We need to, like the psalmist, 
speak to ourselves and revive our souls into the worship of 
such a Christ. Again, not be bogged down by 
the meandering trivialities of life or some of the trivialities 
even within our own walk as Christians that we can get carried off onto, 
little rabbit trails. Let us revive in our own hearts 
a love for Christ, or let us pray that God would do so, that 
God would revive in us a love for Christ, that he would return 
to us the joy of our salvation. And unbelievers, esteem Jesus 
Christ. If there's anybody here who does 
not esteem him, esteem him. pulled him highly. Oh yeah, he's 
great. But I'm just going to leave and I'm going to throw 
hockey cards against the wall, play video games, listen to my 
tunage and do whatever. Watch some hockey and I'll maybe 
consider Christ a little bit later or somewhere down the road 
when I've had my fun. No, you esteem him now. Now is 
the time to esteem him. Don't just say, I'll put it off 
until later because I have such and such and such to do. No, 
you esteem him now. I'm going to close with Spurgeon. 
But if we will not believe his Godhead, if we will not trust 
him, Christ as the mediator, if we have no part in his sacrifice, 
if we oppose his gospel, if we reject his claims to our obedience, 
there is another position we shall have to take up, and that 
is beneath his feet. Those feet will be heavy indeed. 
They were pierced once, but if ever those pierced feet come 
upon you, they will crush you to powder. Nothing is so terrible 
as love when it is turned to anger. Oil is soft, but how it 
burns. Inflame love into jealousy, and 
it is cruel as the grave. Beware ye that reject the Savior, 
for in the day when he cometh, he will smite you with the rod 
of iron. And even his face, which is full of tenderness today, 
shall then be full of terror. And this shall be your cry. Hide 
us, ye mountains, ye rocks, conceal us from the face of him that 
sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the 
believer, Christ is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. 
But for the unbeliever, He is that Lamb of God whom you will 
hide from if you do not bend a knee to Him, if you do not 
believe in Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with 
all your mind, your strength, and if you do not rest upon Him, 
knowing that you will sing His praises in eternal life. Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. The reverberation 
of every preacher it ought to be. Believe on Him now. and you 
will be saved. Let's pray. Father, we rejoice 
in you. We rejoice in our Christ. Father, 
we thank you that your people here can esteem him. can esteem 
him highly, we ask, Lord God, that this would always be so, 
that we would esteem the Lord Jesus Christ as that chief object 
of our affection, that we would put nothing else beside him, 
nothing else before him, nothing else above him, but that he would 
be solely in our view as that chief object of our joy and of 
our salvation. We pray that you go with each 
and every one of us. God, that you would save those, 
that you would save those who heard your word, who read your 
word this morning, Knowing, Father, or we know, Father, that all 
things are possible with you, that it is impossible with men. 
We pray that you would save those, that you would cause those who 
entered in sin and in rebellion, that they would leave, Father, 
knowing the grace of a loving God and knowing the salvation 
of such a Christ. We pray that you'd go with your 
saints, Father, that we would have revived in us a renewed 
esteem, a high esteem for you, that we would go in obedience, 
that we would live and we would walk and we would conduct ourselves 
in a manner worthy of your glorious gospel. We just pray that you 
do this now, Father, and help us return, those who will return 
tonight, help us to return with joy in our hearts for our Christ, 
that we would look forward to another hour of worshiping and 
of praising you, our most holy God. We pray in the name of our 
Victor and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. Amen.