415: Richard Morgan - Exhortation: My Servant Will Acquit Many

Welcome to Good Kristoffian Talks. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. Each week, we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world. Then, we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. Hi everyone, this is Jason Hensley, and this week we're going to be listening to a talk by Brother Richard Morgan, given at the Seamy Hills, Ecclesia in California. One of the things that I really loved about this talk, this is an exhortation, is that Brother Richard spent time looking at the connections between Isaiah 53 and the story of Job. I never looked at those before and I found those links to be really powerful because you can see that they're there, and even more, you can imagine that as the Lord Jesus read Isaiah 53 and thought about himself, he would have also made those connections back to Job, and therefore considering Job and Job's response to his own suffering, I think that would have really impacted Christ, and Brother Richard brings that out really nicely. So, that's what I love about this talk. I hope that you're excited to hear it, and I think that you'll enjoy it. This is Brother Richard Morgan. My servant will acquit many, as what he has titled this talk, and it was given just in July of 2026. Have you ever suffered unjustly? You're suffering through no fault of your own. You're suffering maybe because of the actions of somebody else. Maybe you've been misunderstood, maybe you've been misjudged, maybe you've been falsely accused. All of us brothers and sisters throughout our lives experience times like this when we suffer an injustice. So what should our reaction be? How should we respond when we suffer unjustly? Well, of course this morning we come to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and His suffering, and this is the subject of what Peter talks about in the chapter that we just read. By the way, I'm reading this morning from the New English translation, that's the version from Isaiah 53 you have on the screen there. The reason I'm reading from the New English, the NET is because it brings out the meaning of Isaiah chapter 53 very well for us, and Isaiah 53 is of course all about the unjust suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it forms the background of what we've just read here at the end of 1 Peter chapter 2 where Peter says in verse 19, "For this finds favour, God's favour if because of conscience toward God, someone in duers hardships in suffering unjustly." And then at the end of verse 20, he repeats that, "But if you do good and suffer, and so in duer, this finds favour with God." Then in verse 21 he says, "For to this you are called." Now that's interesting isn't it? We've been called to this. Everything unjustly is going to be part and parcel of being a brother or sister in Christ, and we know that there's a reason for this. There's a big story at play isn't there? We don't suffer for suffering sake. We know that God, for instance, is developing our character, he's developing the mind of Christ in us when we suffer, and tied to that is what Paul says to the Philippians. He says, "We need to be conformed to the death of Christ, fellowshipping His sufferings that we might attain to to His resurrection." And the reason why we fellowship the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ is because then we know what it is like. We experience something of what Jesus experienced, but people, other people through their actions brought suffering into his life. And that, brothers and sisters, should convict us because of course we sin in ways that can bring suffering into the lives of other people. So having been convicted by that, it should persuade us instead to develop the mind of Christ. So God allows us to go through these periods of suffering so that we learn these lessons. So he says in verse 21, then, through this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in His steps. Notice what he says there, "Christ suffered for you." Christ did not suffer for suffering sake, and it wasn't just for him. It was for you. It was for me. Keep that in mind, brothers and sisters. We're going to come back to this point at the end of our exhortation. And then in the next verse, verse 22, he quotes from Isaiah chapter 53. He committed no sin, nor was the seat found in His mouth. So Jesus never did anything wrong, and yet He still suffered. So what was Jesus' reaction? How did He respond to unjust suffering? Well, that's where we come to verse 23, and this is really our exhortation this morning brothers and sisters, verse 23 says, "When He was maligned or insulted," or as it says in the ESV, "when He was reviled, He did not answer back, or He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He threatened no retaliation." And really what Peter is doing there is He's interpreting our key verse that we have on the screen there from Isaiah 53 and verse 7. But in the face of unjust suffering, as it says at the beginning and the end of that verse, He did not open His mouth. And Peter interprets that in this verse, verse 23, "But when He was reviled, He did not answer back. He did not retaliate. He submitted to it." And instead of answering back, instead of opening His mouth, as it says at the end of verse 23, He committed Himself or was entrusting Himself to God who judges justly. So there we see the contrast, of course. Wicked men put Jesus, for instance, through an unjust trial. They placed Him on the cross and then He was put in the tomb, falsely accused. In contrast to that, we have the God who judges justly. And God's answer to that was to raise His Son from the dead. By the way, that word in verse 23 at the end, they're committed or entrusting. This is the only Greek word you need to remember this morning. It's the Greek word "paradidomy." And it's the word used extensively through the gospel records for the time when Jesus was betrayed and handed over to the authorities. So you can see what's happening here. Jesus got allowed His Son to be handed over to those who falsely accused Him of put into death. So what did Jesus do in response? He didn't open His mouth, He didn't answer back, He turned the other cheek, and He handed Himself over to God. He put Himself into God's hands, He let God take care of the situation. Now I could sit down now because that's our excitation, isn't it? In the face of unjust suffering, don't open your mouth and commit yourself instead to the God who judges justly. However, we don't find that very easy, do we? The last thing we feel like doing when we're suffering an injustice is to keep our mouths close. We want to do the right opposite, don't we? We want to open our mouths wide. We want to gather everybody in the room and explain to them why this is so unfair. We want to defend ourselves if we're falsely accused, for instance. We don't want to submit to that. And I think too, we find it hard to commit ourselves to the God who judges justly because we want answers now, we want resolution now. We want this fixed right now. So perhaps brothers and sisters, we have a lot of empathy with another man who went through unjust suffering. And that was Job. I want to have a look at his example. Come with me if you would to Job chapter 1. And what we find with Job is that in the face of unjust suffering in his life, he had I think a very natural reaction and I think we can see ourselves in Job even if we don't obviously suffer as much as he did or as much as the Lord did. Now that is not to say that Job doesn't point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ because he definitely does. If you look at Job chapter 1, it says there in verse 8. So the Lord said to Satan, the adversary, now we know that this adversary is a key character in the story of Job and one of the questions in the book of Job is who is Job's adversary. And we are going to come to that question a little later. So God says to this adversary in verse 8, "How have you considered my servant Job?" Now notice how God refers to Job here. my soup. That happens to be the title that God uses for the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 and its context, a series of chapters about God's servant. So Joe definitely points forward to Christ and you can see that in the rest of the verse. There is no one like him on the earth, the pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. So Joe, yes, definitely points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this first wave of suffering in chapter one, he has a very good reaction. If you look at the end of the chapter, verse 20, it says, "Joe got up and tore his robe, he shaved his head." By the way, that word shaved, it's a very unusual word, but it happens to be the exact same word as the word "shearers" in our key verse on the screen. And what we find is that all the language of the suffering servant in Isaiah is the same language, the exact same Hebrew as we find to describe the suffering of Job. Then if you come on to verse 21 of chapter one, it says, Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will return there." The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed. So he had initially a very, very good reaction. By the way, that phrase takes away is also a key phrase found regarding the suffering of God's servant in Isaiah chapter 53. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Now if we were to skip right to the end of the story of Job, that verse 21 is reversed, isn't it? Job had things taken away from him, but the end of the story of Job is glorious. He was given back. For instance, he lost his offspring, but he was given back twice as much as he had before. So that's the end of the story, but the end of the story of our suffering, too, is glorious. Come to that later, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's come back to what Job is experiencing right now because there's going to be a second wave of suffering in chapter 2 and a second conversation between God and the adversary. So if you come to chapter 2 verse 5, it says, and this is the adversary speaking, he says, but extend your hand and strike his bone in his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face. By the way, that word strike there, a key word in this passage to describe Job's suffering is also a key word found in Isaiah chapter 53 for the suffering of God's servant. He says in verse 6, the Lord said to the adversary, all right, he is in your power, only preserve his life. So God hands Job over to his adversary. And by the way, in the Septuagint and the Greek translation of verse 6, we have our word, paradidemy, to be handed over. So God allowed Job to be handed over to his adversary just as years later, he would allow his son to be handed over to his adversaries. Then it says in verse 7, so the adversary went out from the presence of the Lord and he afflicted. Again, that word afflicted, a key word to describe Job's suffering, also a word used in Isaiah 53 for the suffering of God's servant. He afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the soul of his feet to the top of his head. So Job is absolutely covered with ulcerous souls from head to toes, disgusting. People don't want to look at him. He's unsightly. So, how does Job react now? Well, that's where we come to chapter 3. Have a look at chapter 3. And verse 1, after this, Job opened his mouth. And now we begin to see the contrast between Job who opened his mouth and the servant of Isaiah who did not open his mouth. And it took brothers and sisters 37 chapters for Job to close his mouth again. And I think we can see ourselves in Job when we're going through it. We want to say something. We want people to listen. We want everyone to know that this is not fair. And of course we have then this dialogue between Job and his so-called three friends. And what do his three friends do? They start to malign him, to insult him, to revile him, don't they? They say, "Job, you must be a terrible sinner. You must have done something terribly wrong to deserve this punishment from God." And what does Job do in return? Does he just sit there and take it? No. Job reviles in return, doesn't he? For instance, he calls his friends miserable comforters, whitewashed with lies, worthless physicians, and he accuses God. Effectively, Job reviles God. He says, "God has wronged me. God has made me his target." And he feels like God is against him. Have a look at chapter 16. Maybe you felt like this sometimes. Maybe you felt exactly like Job, but when you're going through the thick of it, that God is against you. Job chapter 16. And we'll come in here at verse 9. He's talking about God here in verse 9. "God's anger has torn me and persecuted me. He has nashed at me with his teeth. My adversary locks his eyes on me." And I think there he's calling God. He's adversary. He thinks God is against him. Now he carries on in verse 10 by saying, "People have opened their mouths against me. They've struck my cheek and skull and they unite together against me." Now you can see Christ can't you in verse 10, but notice what Job is doing here. He's lumping God in with these people. He thinks everybody is against him, including God. Now he says in the next verse, verse 11, "God abandons me to evil men, throws me into the hands of wicked men." Now that's actually true, isn't it? Because he had been handed over to the adversary. And by the way, again in the Septuagint of verse 11, we have our word "paradidomy." So Job had been handed over just as Jesus later would be handed over to into the hands of wicked men. But Job doesn't understand why this is happening. He feels like God is against him. Have a look at chapter 19. Chapter 19 and at verse 6. 19 verse 6, "No then that God has wronged me and encircled me with his net." In the court of public opinion, Job has been unfairly judged. And he thinks that God is part of the problem. God has wronged me. He thinks God has falsely accused him. But God is against him, that God is his adversary. And the next verse, verse 7, notice what he says here, "If I cry out violence, I receive no answer. I cry for help, but there is no justice." This is how Job feels. And what kind of help did Job want? Here he is in the court of public opinion. He wants someone to defend him, doesn't he? He wants an advocate. He wants someone to intercede under his behalf. But he thinks there is no one. There's no one to help him. There's no one to come to his defense. There is no justice. And maybe brothers and sisters, when you're going through the thick of it, when you're in the middle of suffering, maybe you feel a little bit like that. He says in verse 11. Oh, by the way, what we're going to see is that the suffering servant of Isaiah is going to answer Job's complaint. We'll see that in a moment. But verse 11 says, "Thus God's anger burns against me. He considers me among his adversaries." So again, he thinks that God is against him. He thinks that God is the prosecutor. So what does Job want? He's been judged unfairly in the court of public opinion. He wants his day in court, doesn't he? Now, come back a couple of chapters to chapter 13. Have a look at some of the things that Job keeps on saying in the face of this unjust suffering. Chapter 13. And verse 18. He says, "See now, I have prepared my case. I know that I am right. So I'm prepared to defend myself. A Job keeps on saying this. I know that I'm right. I didn't do anything wrong." He keeps opening his mouth to declare this. Then he throws out a challenge in the next verse, verse 19. "Who will contend with me?" he says. who will contend with me. Now what we're going to see in a moment is that the suffering servant throws out the exact same challenge, but with a slight difference. Then he says, carrying on in verse 19, "If anyone can, I will be silent and die. If anyone can argue against me, if anyone can prove me wrong, I will shut up, but until then I am going to keep my mouth wide open." He says in verse 23, "How many of my iniquities and sins show me my transgression of my sin? Tell me, what have I done wrong to deserve this?" And then speaking about God again, speaking to God in verse 24, "Why do you hide your face and regard me as your adversary?" He thinks that God is against him. Look how he feels in the very last verse of verse 2080. He's speaking about himself here in the third person. He says, "I waste away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths." That's how he feels. Now we're also going to see, run the sisters, how the suffering servant is going to echo those words of Job in verse 28. But before we get to that servant, let's not leave Job here, shall we? Because Job did learn his lesson. We go right to the end of the story of Job. Come with me, our last reference in Job to Job chapter 40. Job finishes his discourses, along with the three friends, a liar who has say, his say, and finally God speaks. And it is after God has finished speaking that we read this in Job chapter 40, verse 3. So God has finished talking. Job 40, verse 3, "Then Job answered the Lord. Indeed, I am completely unworthy. How could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself." And now Job has learned to close his mouth and to commit himself to the God who judges justly. So what was it about what God said that convinced Job? Well, just like all of us when we suffer, when Job suffered, his whole world shrank down to that suffering. Everything revolved around that suffering. Everything was viewed through the lens of that suffering. And he became very self-centered and very short-sighted, and it happens to all of us. So what God does for Job in his speech, and what God will do for you and me as well, is he widens his perspective. He tells Job that his suffering is just a part of a big story at play. And of course, that's what the Lord Jesus Christ understood, didn't he? He understood that he suffered not for suffering sake, that there was a big story at play. And in understanding that, he submitted to it. So now let's go to Isaiah chapter 53 and have a look at the suffering servant. Isaiah chapter 53, now there's an unfortunate chapter division here. This is why we started earlier in chapter 52. Chapter 53 really begins in chapter 52 and verse 13, which says, "Behold my servant." Remember what God said the adversary? Have you considered my servant Job? And just as much as Isaiah points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, it also points backwards to Job. For instance, look at the next verse, verse 14, "Just as many as were horrified by the side of you." Remember those horrible, ulcerous souls that covered Job from head to toe. And people didn't want to look at him. So if you come into chapter 53, it says in verse 3, "He was despised and rejected by people. One of them experienced pain and was acquainted with illness. Think about Job here. People hid their faces from him. He was despised and we considered him insignificant." Then in verse 4 it says this, "But he lifted up our illnesses. He carried our pain and the end of verse 4." And I'm reading here, there's a reminder from the NET, the New English translation, "The end of verse 4 says this, "Even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done." Now isn't that what the three friends kept on telling Job? You're going through this because you are being afflicted for something you have done. You've committed some terrible sin and isn't this what how Job felt. Job felt like God was attacking him. He felt like God was against him. But verse 4 is a misunderstanding, isn't it? Because that verse is answered in verse 6. Verse 6 says this, "All of us had wandered off like sheep. Each of us had strayed off on his own path." Now the end of verse 6 again from the NET says this, "But the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. The Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him." So no, it wasn't God who was attacking his son. It wasn't God who was attacking Job. But he allowed it to happen. He did hand Job over to the adversary who attacked him just as he would hand his son over. And by the way, again in the Septuagint of verse 6 we have our word "paradidomy" handed over. So God allowed it to happen because of the biggest story at play. But it wasn't God attacking. It also says there you'll notice it's the sin of all of us that attacked him. Yeah, that's your sin and that's my sin. He's every time we are envious, every time we are hateful, every time we falsely accused, we are committing the same sins that put that man upon the cross and laid him in the tomb. When we sin in these ways, brothers, this is we bring unjust suffering into the lives of other people. And so that realization should convict us and persuade us not to be like that. But this isn't the end of the story, is it? The last three verses of Isaiah chapter 53 are the end of the story. What we read about the victory were God raised his son from the dead. Now what was God signaling when he raised his son from the dead? Wicked men had taken his son, putting through an unjust trial, falsely accused him, put him on the cross, placed him in the tomb. When God raised his son from the dead, he was declaring his son innocent. He was declaring his son innocent. But there's more to that. If you look at the end of Isaiah 53, it says this. Have a look at verse 11. It says having suffered, he will reflect on his work. He will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. So in other words, the servant, of course, point you forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, understood the bigger story of play here. He was willing to submit to that suffering because he knew that there was something bigger at play here. What was the thing that was at play here? What was bigger than his suffering? It says in verse 11 there, the end of verse, my servant, as a result of all this, my servant will acquit many. Or many will be accounted righteous as it says in the ESV. My servant will acquit many. My servant will vindicate many. My servant will declare many to be innocent. Will in New Testament language will justify many, not just himself, but many. And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ understood that through his suffering, it would produce a wonderful, glorious result that many would be declared innocent. Now come back a couple of chapters to chapter 50, saying context, suffering servant, and you will recognize these words as they apply to the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 50, verse 6, I offered my back to those who attacked, my jaws to those who tore out my beard. I did not hide my face from insults and spitting. This is what Peter says, isn't it? Jesus was insulted, he was reviled, but he did not revile in return. He turned the other cheek, he even allowed himself to be spatter upon. By the way, that word spitting is only ever used in this verse and in the story of Job. Job 2 was spatter upon, but the difference between the suffering servant and Job is what it says in the next few verses. Remember what Job said? I cry for help, but there is no justice. Well, thankfully, and Job learned this, Job was wrong, because verse seven says, "But the sovereign Lord helps me." There is somebody to help. There is somebody to defend, and it's God. Verse eight says this, "The one who vindicates me, the one who acquits me, the one who declares me innocent, the one who says that I am right, the one who justifies me is close by, and that's God." You see, brothers and sisters, God is not the accuser, God is not the adversary, God is not against us, God is not the prosecutor, and this is what Job had to understand. In fact, the opposite is true, God is the one who delights to vindicate, to justify, but despite what we're like, He delights to set us free. And then if you look at carrying on in verse eight there, you'll notice that the servant throws out the same challenge as Job, "Who dares to contend with me." Remember, those are the exact words of Job, "Who dares to contend with me?" The difference is that Job thought he was alone. Job thought he was defending himself, and he thought that God was against him. The suffering servant understands that that is not true. Who dares to contend with me? Let us confront each other. Who is my adversary, yes, at the end of verse eight? Let him challenge me. Who can possibly be against me is his question, and then he says in verse nine, "Look, the sovereign Lord helps me. Who dares to contend me?" Those are the sentiments of Job, aren't they? But now, in the words of someone who understands, "Who dares to contend me?" And then you'll notice at the end of verse nine, he echoes the words of Job. Remember, this is how Job felt. "Look, all of them will wear out like clothes, a moth will eat away at them." Remember, Job said this, "I feel like a moth eaten garment, but Job was wrong." Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment to be moth eaten. The false accusers will, but not God's servant, not you, Job, not you, not me, no, the opposite is true. Let's finish, brothers and sisters, in the book of Romans. Come with me to Romans and chapter four. The very last verse of Romans, chapter four, leads into what Paul says at the beginning of Romans, chapter five, where he talks about suffering as it is part of a bigger story. Part of God's purpose, part of God developing the mind of Christen us, and it's in that context that Paul says this in the last verse of Romans four, verse 25, where he is going to encapsulate Isaiah chapter 53, because he says at the beginning of verse 25, he was given over. That's our word paradidemy. He was handed over because of our transgressions. Isn't that what we read of in Isaiah 53? The Lord calls the sin of all of us to attack him. God allowed it to happen. He allowed his son to be handed over to his adversaries, as he allowed Job to be handed over to his adversary, and it was because of our transgressions. It's because of your sin and my sin that Jesus was put upon the cross and laid in the tomb, and that should convict us. As we think about this in the brethren, the cup, this morning, brothers and sisters, we think of what produced the suffering of our Lord. That should convict me not to be like that, but that's not the end of the story, because the rest of verse 25 says this, that he was raised for the sake, not just for his own vindication, but for the sake of our justification, our vindication, our acquittal. And isn't that what Job wanted? He wanted acquittal. He wanted people to know that he was right. He was just going about it the wrong way. Let's finish in chapter 8. And Paul says here, in chapter 8 verse 18, "For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us." Isn't that the story of Job? There is a glorious end to the story. And we need to understand, brothers and sisters, that our suffering is just part of a bigger story. But as he says in verse 28, "All things work together for good." Yes, including your suffering works together ultimately for good if we can commit ourselves to the God who judges justly. And so we read in verse 31, "What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who could be against us?" God is not against us. Job was wrong. God is not against us. God is not the adversary. God is not the accuser. God is not the prosecutor. The opposite is true. God is for us. And He delights to be on our team. He's not on the prosecuting team. He's on the defense team. He is the judge who will acquit us. Verse 32, or carrying on, sorry, in verse 31, "Who then can be against us?" Yes, people might throw whatever they like at us, insults, false accusations, misjudgments. But if God is for us, who really can be against us? Verse 32, "Indeed He who did not spare His own Son, but, again, Parodydemy gave him up, handed him over for us." God was doing all of this for you and for me. From the beginning it was for us. As Peter said, "Christ suffered for us." The end of verse 32, "How will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things." Yes, the Lord might give and take away. We might have things taken away in this life, brothers and sisters. We might suffer now, but God is delighted to give us as He gave to Job in abundance. Verse 33, "Who will bring any charge against God's elect?" That's Isaiah 50, isn't it? Who is my adversary? Who will bring any charge against God's elect? And you can read the end of verse 33 like a question, "God, who justifies?" He is the one who vindicates, he is the one who defends, he is the one who is willing despite your sin and despite my sin, he is willing to declare us innocent. That's God and Job was wrong. Thankfully Job learned that. Verse 34, "Who is the one who will condemn?" Again, that's Isaiah 50, isn't it? Who is the one who will condemn? And read the end of verse 34 again like a question. Christ? Is He going to condemn you? Christ? The one who died and more than that who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, and who is also interceding our advocate for us. Thank you for listening to the Good Christian Elfian Talks podcast. We hope this talk helped you and your walk and brighten your day. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes. We are on all major podcast platforms and also on YouTube. If you enjoyed this particular talk, please share it with someone else who you think might enjoy it too. For show notes on the talk you just listened to, visit our website at goodcristadelfiantalks.com or check out the show notes section of your podcast player. Please share your thoughts on the talk from this week on our Facebook or Instagram pages where we are at goodcristadelfiantalks or leave a comment on our YouTube channel where these talks are posted as well. If you enjoy listening to the talks that we post and hear one that you think we should share, please tell us about it. 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