Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For You grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
You had no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon You,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to You.
You were despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
You were despised, and we did not esteem You.

Surely our griefs You Yourself bore,
And our sorrows You carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed You stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But you were pierced through for our transgressions,
You were crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon You,
And by Your scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on You.

You were oppressed and You were afflicted,
Yet You did not open Your mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So You did not open Your mouth.
By oppression and judgment You were taken away;
And as for Your generation, who considered
That You were cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgressions of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
Your grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet You were with a rich man in Your death,
Because You had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in Your mouth.

But the LORD was pleased
To crush You, putting You to grief;
Because You rendered Yourself as a guilt offering,
You have seen Your offspring,
You have prolonged Your days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD prospers in Your hand.
As a result of the anguish of Your soul,
You see it and are satisfied;
By Your knowledge you, Righteous One,
The LORD's servant, have justified the many,
As You have borne their iniquities.
Therefore, the LORD has allotted You a portion with the great,
And You have divided the spoil with the strong;
Because You poured out Yourself to death,
And were numbered with the transgressors;
Yet You Yourself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for transgressors.

Tonight I preached on 1 John 4:17–18:

These are words of promise given to the children of God, those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit. This is the promise: if you believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you need no longer fear God's judgment.

John is not saying that no one should fear God's judgment. In fact, if you do not believe in Jesus Christ, fearing God's judgment is exactly what you should be doing. Jesus said,

The Apostle Paul repeated Jesus' message:

Notice that salvation from the wrath of God is a promise given to those who have been justified by His blood. Apart from His blood, there is no escape from God's wrath.

This is the true Gospel. It says, "The wrath of God abides on you. You stand condemned before God. Believe in Jesus Christ and be saved." In other words, the true Gospel sees fear of God's judgment as a necessary precursor which compels us to receive God's grace.

But there's a half-gospel that is taking over.

In closing his great work on the mortification of sin in believers, John Owen outlines the sin-destroying work that the Holy Spirit effects in the life of a Christian: