Pastor's Sermon Notes: Five Words You Must Understand (series), Part 16, "He Shall Prolong His Days" (Isaiah 53:10)

Sermon Series:  Five Words You Must Understand

1 Corinthians 14:19

Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding,

that by my voice I might teach others also,
than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Part Sixteen:  Isaiah 53:10

“He shall prolong his days.”

Introduction:

On the old Daniels and Webster program on ROCK107 we often heard from one Walter Nepasky.  He would begin his commentary with either, “I'm Walter Nepasky and today I wanna talk about three things.”, or “Hi. My name is Walter Nepasky. How you doin? Today I want to talk to you about tree tings.”

What if we had a modern Christian radio station (“The Rock of Ages 316”) with a program that began, “Hi, I’m Paul of Tarsus, and today I want to talk about five words.”

This is Paul’s “druthers”! 

This is when 5 is better than 10,000!

Here Paul follows up his extreme personal example with an extreme preference framed as a mathematical proportion: 5 versus 10,000.

If Paul were here, and you could pin him down to a literal selection of five words, what do you think he would choose?  “Gimme Five Paul!”

Read the following:  “Sunday’s Coming!”, AKA “It’s Friday - But Sunday’s Comin’”, Easter meditation by S.M. Lockridge (1913-2000), pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego from 1953 to 1993, posted by Justin Taylor (18 APR 2014) to The Gospel Coalition at http://thegospelcoalition.org/mobile/article/justintaylor/its-fridaybut-sundays-comin [accessed 19 APR 2014].[1]

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt 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.

Here are “Five Words” that you need to understand!  “He shall prolong his days”.

Outline:

I.  The Promise of Long Life

II.  The Power of Resurrection Life

III.  The Proclamation of Eternal Life

Transition:  Let’s put a twist on what some refer to as “The Stations of the Cross”.  Let us consider for a few moments what could be referred to as the three “Stations of the Season”.  Let us see whether it was easy or hard to believe these words at these “stations”.

I.  The Promise of Long Life - He shall prolong His days

Station #1:

Stand before the Cross of Christ as He dies before your very eyes. Stand there with your Bible in your hands, and interpret this event in the light of what your were taught and believed about these words concerning your Messiah!  Doesn’t it say, “He shall prolong His days”?  How can that be?  Can you still cling to the truth of those five words, and maintain your faith in them, in spite of what you are witnessing with your very eyes?

Obedience to God brings a promise of long life. This is a repeated theme in the fifth book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. 

“It is in Deut that one finds the heaviest proliferation of the phrase, “That you may prolong your days/your days may be prolonged” (Deut 4:26, 40; 5:33 [H 30]; 6:2; 11:9; 17:20; 22:7; 25:15; 30:18; 32:47). In every instance the promise is prefixed by a moral contingency. It is only as Israel keeps God’s laws and commandments (Deut 4:40) that she is guaranteed security in her land.” [2]

For example, Deuteronomy 17:20, “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”

That is precisely what Christ earned in His life here on earth as the Son of Man on behalf of His people, and lost on behalf of His people as the Lamb of God.  The perfectly obedient One, the only perfectly obedient One, the Beloved Son of God, laid down His life for His sheep.

When that happened, one of the immediate effects was that the veil of the temple that hid the way into the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place, was torn in two from top to bottom.

Heb. 9:3 - And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

Mt. 27:50-51 - ⁵⁰  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. ⁵¹ And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; (Mk. 15:38; Lk. 23:45)

Read the following:  Grant Horner, "The Mending" (4 MAY 2007), on Master Minds Online at  http://mastermindsonline.blogspot.com/2007/05/mending-poem.html [accessed 20 APR 2014].

Heb. 6:19-20 - 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Heb. 10:19-22 - 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

II.  The Power of Resurrection Life - He shall prolong His days

Station #2:

Now stand before the sealed tomb as He lies there for days. Stand there with your Bible in your hands, and interpret that reality in the light of what you thought these words meant concerning your Messiah!  Doesn’t it say, “He shall prolong His days”?  How can that be?  What will you do with that prophecy, with that promise now?  Will you still believe it in the face of the sealed tomb, with the dead body of your Messiah within?  You know what you read in the Scriptures, and you know what you are facing, and you cannot get your mind around that.  You cannot make sense of it.  Will you still believe those five words in spite of this tragic difficulty?

The primary referrent for these words must be seen as the triumph over death.  The One who asserted that He, and He alone is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, died, conquered death, and passed out of death as a living victor triumphant over it.  “He shall prolong his days” because Death could not hold him.  “He shall prolong his days” since it could not be otherwise!  Life wins over death in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  The death of death was only achieved by His death.  The pride of Satan and the foolish rebellion of the fallen human race led them to imagine that they had won by crucifying Christ, when in fact they had handed Him the keys, and done the very thing that secured their ultimate doom, and his absolute victory over sin, and death and hell.

The reality of Who He is, and the tremendous significance of His death is magnified in the Gospel of John.  Tracing the theme of “life” in this Gospel reveals that “Life” is a Person!

John 11:25, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”

Romans 1:4, “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”

III.  The Proclamation of Eternal Life - He shall prolong His days

Station #3:

Now stand on this earth with your Bible in your hand, and a Messiah who has ascended into heaven administering all of His power and glory, all of His mercy and grace, but beyond the sight of your eyes.  What about what these words mean for you when you face the awful realities of life in this vale of tears?  Will you doubt that He lives, and that the power of His resurrection life lives in you if you have faith in Him as the resurrected Lord?  In sickness, in poverty, in trials, in persecution, do these five words have any relevance to you?  As you face the death of others, and the end of your own days in this fallen world, does it matter that “He shall prolong His days”?  Is it still true, and if so, so what?

Have you ever considered that these words, “He shall prolong his days”, actually must be seen as a gross understatement?  Have you noticed that the entire verse that it sets in is a descending and then ascending chiasm or parallelism with six parts divided into two triplets?

[A] Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;

            [B] he hath put him to grief:

                        [C] when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,  

                        [C’] he shall see his seed,

            [B’] he shall prolong his days,

[A’] and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

These five words must not be disconnected from those that proceed, and those that follow!

The Jewish Origin of the Vulcan Salute![3]

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Rom. 5:10 - For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Rom. 5:21 - That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom. 6:22-23 - 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Conclusion:

Here are “Five Words” that you need to understand!  He shall prolong His days.

I.  The Promise of Long Life

II.  The Power of Resurrection Life

III.  The Proclamation of Eternal Life

Read the following:  Jennifer Agee, “Vigil” (18 APR 2014), on Transpositions at http://www.transpositions.co.uk/2014/04/vigil/ [accessed 19 APR 2014].

Luke 24:18-27 - ¹⁸ And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? ¹⁹ And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: ²⁰ And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. ²¹ But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. ²² Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; ²³ And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. ²⁴ And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. ²⁵ Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ²⁶ Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? ²⁷ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Are you a stranger to these things?

Or, do you find Christianity “easy”?

“Cast your deadly “doing” down—
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete. 

“It is finish’d!” yes, indeed,
Finished, every jot;
Sinner, this is all you need,
Tell me, is it not?”[4]

[Sermon preached 20 APR 2014 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Resources:

Willis J. Beecher, "The Servant", in The Prophets and the Promise: Being For Substance the Lectures for 1902-1903 on the L. P. Stone Foundation in the Princeton Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969 reprint of 1905 original by Thomas Y. Crowell & Company Publishers, New York; reprinted in 2002 by Wipf & Stock, Eugene, OR), pp. 263-288; available as a free download on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=axsWAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 8 APR 2014].  reprinted in Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., ed., Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972; Portland, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), pp. 187-206, s.v. Ch. XII: "Messianic Terms. The Servant".

Harry Bultema, Commentary on Isaiah, trans. Cornelius Lambregtse (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1981; from Dutch orig., Practische Commentaar op Jesaja; Muskegon: Bereer Publishing Co., 1923).

F. Duane Lindsey, "Isaiah's Songs of the Servant" (series of five articles), in Bibliotheca Sacra 139:553 (JAN-MAR 1982), pp. 12-27; 139:554 (APR-JUN 1982), pp. 129-143; 139:555 (JUL-SEP 1982), pp. 216-227; 139:556 (OCT-DEC 1982), pp. 312-325; and 140:557 (JAN-MAR 1983), pp. 21-36.[5]

F. Duane Lindsey, The Servant Songs: A Study in Isaiah (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985).

Allan A. MacRae, Studies in Isaiah, ed. Stephen E. Michaels (Hatfield, PA: Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute, 1995).

W. E. Vine, Isaiah: Prophecies, Promises, Warnings (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971).

C. von Orelli, The Prophecies of Isaiah, trans. J. S. Banks, in  Clark's Foreign Theological Library, New Series, Vol. XXXVIII (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1889); available online and as a downloadable PDF on the Hathi Trust Digital Library at http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89094598943;view=1up;seq=5 [accessed 8 APR 2014].

E. J. Young, The Book of Isaiah: The English Text, with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, 3 vols., in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, series ed. R. K. Harrison (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965, 1969, 1972).

Appendix:

Here are “Five Words” that you need to understand![6]

The Person of Christ – The Redeemer:

“Before Abraham was I am.” (Jn. 8:58) [7]

“I am Alpha and Omega.” (Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13) [8]

“I am the Good Shepherd.” (Jn. 10:11) [9]

“I am the True Vine.” (Jn. 15:1) [10]

“He is Lord of all.” (Ac. 10:36) [“Jesus Christ is the Lord.”][11]

“This is My Beloved Son.” (Mt. 3:17; 17:5)[12]

“Behold the Lamb of God.” (Jn. 1:29, 36)[13]

The Work of Christ (as Prophet, Priest and King) – Redemption Accomplished:

“He called His Name Jesus.” (Mt. 1:25)

“He shall bear their iniquities.” (Is. 53:11)[14]

“Christ died for our sins.” (1 Cor. 15:3)[15]

"And that He was buried" (1 Cor. 15:4)[16]

“He shall prolong His days.” (Is. 53:10)

“He rose from the dead.” (1 Cor. 15:12)[17]

“I have overcome the world.” (Jn. 16:33)[18]

“Sanctify them through the truth.” (Jn. 17:17)[19]

“He shall see His seed.” (Is. 53:10)

The Salvation of Christ – Redemption Applied:

“He shall save His people.” (Mt. 1:21)

“Ye have not chosen Me.” (Jn. 15:16)

“Peace I leave with you.” (Jn. 14:27)

“By grace ye are saved.” (Eph. 2:5)

“Ye must be born again.” (Jn. 3:7)

“We have peace with God.” (Rom. 5:1)

“My sheep hear My voice.” (Jn. 10:27)

“Continue ye in My love.” (Jn. 15:9)

"I am crucified with Christ." (Gal. 2:20)

"Buried with Him in baptism" (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12)

"Ye are risen with Him" (Col. 2:12)

"Get thee behind me, Satan" (Mt. 16:23; Mk. 8:33; Lk. 4:8)[20]

The Return of Christ – Redemption Revealed:

“We look for the Savior.” (Phil. 3:20) [“Jesus Christ is coming again.”][21]

“Blessed is he that readeth.” (Rev. 1:3)[22]

“The time is at hand.” (Rev. 1:3; 22:10)[23]

“Behold, He cometh with clouds.” (Rev. 1:7)[24]

“I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:5) [“God wins in the end!”][25]

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20)[26]

as of 20 APR 2014

KEY:

Red = preached

Green = Incarnation

Blue = Resurrection

Purple = Revelation

Green/Blue/Purple and footnoted = preached

Review of the first 20 messages:

All 7 texts on "The Person of Christ - the Redeemer", including:

1)  four statements Christ makes about Himself,

2)  one Apostolic testimony to His Lordship,

3)  one testimony of God the Father to His Sonship, and

4)  one testimony of John the Baptist to Him as the Lamb of God

Part One:  John 8:58 - Before Abraham was, I am.

Part Two:  Revelation 1:8 - I am Alpha and Omega

Part Three:  John 10:11 - I am the Good Shepherd

Part Four:  John 15:1 - I am the true vine

Part Five:  Acts 10:36 - He is Lord of all

Part Six:  Matthew 3:17; 17:5 - This is My Beloved Son

Part Eleven: John 1:29, 36 – Behold, the Lamb of God

           

6 of the 9 texts on "The Work of Christ (as Prophet, Priest and King) – Redemption Accomplished" including:

1)  Christ’s substitutionary death on the Cross

2)  Christ’s burial

3)  Christ’s resurrection

4)  Christ's intercession

Part Seven: 1 Corinthians 15:3 - Christ died for our sins

Part Eight: 1 Corinthians 15:4 - And that He was buried

Part Ten: 1 Cor. 15:12 - He rose from the dead.

Part Twelve: John 17:17 - Sanctify them through the truth

Part Thirteen: John 16:33 - I have overcome the world

Part Fifteen: Isaiah 53:11 - He shall bear their iniquities

1  of the 12 texts on "The Salvation of Christ – Redemption Applied":

Part Nine:  Mt. 16:23; Mk. 8:33; Lk. 4:8 - Get thee behind me, Satan

All 6 texts on "The Return of Christ – Redemption Revealed" including:

Part Fourteen: Philippians 3:20 - we look for the Saviour

and 5 messsages in the series on the Revelation:

Revelation 1:3 - Blessed is he that readeth

Revelation 1:3; 22:10 - The time is at hand

Revelation 1:7 - Behold, He cometh with clouds

Revelation 21:5 - I make all things new (“God wins in the end!”)

Revelation 22:20 - Even so, come, Lord Jesus

---

[1] Video on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/39886827 [accessed 19 APR 2014].  See also “S. M. Lockridge” on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._M._Lockridge [accessed 19 APR 2014].  “Lockridge's best-known message is a six and a half minute description of Jesus Christ, known as "That's my King!" for Lockridge's repeated refrain. Youtube, Google Videos, Godtube, and other video-sharing websites have numerous variations of this message in video clips of varying lengths, in both English and Spanish (subtitles or with a translator), with various video and musical backdrops, and user views reaching into the multi-millions.” Ibid.  See “That’s My King” on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BhI4JKACUs [accessed 19 APR 2014].  The most famous portion of this sermon is available as a 6:16 video on RPM Ministries at http://www.rpmministries.org/2009/12/thats-my-king-do-you-know-him/ [accessed 19 APR 2014].

[2] V. P. Hamilton, “162 אָרַך (´ārak) to be long”, in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols., eds. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. and B. K. Waltke, electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980, 1999), I:72.

[3] Daven Hiskey, “The Iconic “Live Long and Prosper” Hand Gesture Was Originally a Jewish Sign” (30 JUN 2010), on Today I Found Out at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-iconic-live-long-and-prosper-hand-gesture-was-originally-a-jewish-sign/ [accessed 11 APR 2014]; and Rabbi Yonassan Gershom, “The Jewish Origin of the Vulcan Salute” (24 MAY 2009); in Yonassan Gershom, Jewish Themes in Star Trek (n.p.: Lulu Press, 2004, 2009), pp. 31-40, s.v. Ch. 4, “Live Long and Prosper”; posted to Patheos (1 JAN 2000) at  http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/The-Jewish-Origin-of-the-Vulcan-Salute [accessed 11 APR 2014].

[4] Joseph Proctor, “Nothing Either Great Or Small, Nothing Sinner”, AKA “It Is Finish’d!”, on Hymnary at http://www.hymnary.org/text/nothing_either_great_or_small_nothing_si [accessed 19 APR 2014].

[5] Note: the pages numbers from the articles as posted to Galaxie Software's Theological Journal Library do not correspond to those listed by the author himself in his footnotes.

[6] The five word statements from Scripture that follow may not be five word statements in the either the Hebrew or Greek originals, nor are they necessarily complete sentences or verses in the English language translations from the Hebrew and Greek, including the King James Version, from which these statements are drawn.  Nevertheless, they were selected for the fundamental truths and span of doctrine that they present.  This list of 34 examples is not intended to be comprehensive, and may easily be expanded or consolidated.

[7] Part 1, 20 MAR 2011.

[8] Part 2, 27 MAR 2011.

[9] Part 3, 3 APR 2011.

[10] Part 4, 19 JUN 2011.

[11] Part 5, 26 JUN 2011.

[12] Part 6, 17 JUL 2011.

[13] Part 11, 15 APR 2012.

[14] Part 15, 6 APR 2014.

[15] Part 7, 21 AUG 2011.

[16] Part 8, 28 AUG 2011.

[17] Part 10, 8 APR 2012.

[18] Part 13, 13 MAY 2012.

[19] Part 12, 22 APR 2012.

[20] Part 9, 18 MAR 2012.

[21] Part 14, 21 APR 2013.

[22] 20 MAY 2012, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 1.

[23] Ibid.; also 10 MAR 2013, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 39, and 17 MAR 2013, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 40.

[24] 27 MAY 2012, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 2.

[25] 20 JAN 2013, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 33, and 27 JAN 2013, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 34.

[26] 14 APR 2013, Revelation Sermon Series, Part 43.