Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibbert. I'm preaching this morning from
Isaiah chapter 53, and if you can get access to a Bible and
follow along, I think it would be helpful. I've entitled this
message, The Only Message of Scripture. Every scripture, Genesis
to Revelation, is tied to Isaiah 53. I repeat, the only message
of Scripture. Now, Isaiah begins this chapter
with a lament. Who has believed our report? It seems like nobody does. And it seems that way in our
day. We have all kinds of religion,
but how little gospel. Who hath believed our report? And the word report means the
message, the doctrine, the Word of Scripture. Now, Isaiah 53,
written 700 years before the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ, is the clearest exposition of Jesus Christ and Him crucified
that you'll find in the entire Bible. As a matter of fact, Isaiah
53 is quoted seven times in the New Testament, and seven is the
word of perfection. It lets us know that this is
the complete revelation of the New Testament in the Old Testament,
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, this is the subject, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, the cross of Christ, This is the
subject of the eternities. Before time began, before there
were any sun or moon or stars, when all there was was God, there
was no creation. Even then, Christ is called in
Revelation chapter 13, verse 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now, what do we know about This
period, if you could call it that, language can't understand
a time when there is no time, but before time was, the Lamb
slain was the subject of eternity past. An eternity future, when
this will be over and time will be no more, This is going to
be the song of heaven, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And time was created, the universe
was created, Sin made its appearance for this one purpose, the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God created the universe for
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when Paul said, I've determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
that's what he said to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 2. He said, I determined, I made
this my resolve, not to know anything among you, not to esteem
anything as important or even worth speaking of, save the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me ask you a question.
When Paul made that statement, was he saying, I'm going to make
the cross my main focus? Or was he saying, the only message
there is, is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now let me
try to illustrate this by something an NFL coach said many years
ago, and I don't want to bring this to a sports metaphor, but
I think this will serve to illustrate what is being said. Vince Lombardi
made this statement, winning is not the most important thing,
winning is the only thing. Now, with regard to sports, I
know better than that. It's a silly game. You can't
say winning is not the most important thing. Winning is the only thing.
Besides, we learn more from our failures and losses than we do
our victories. So with regard to anything on
this earth, we can't say winning is not the most important thing.
Winning is the only thing. But with regard to the cross,
with regard to Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the cross is not
the most important thing. The cross is the only thing. And let me repeat that. I want
you to think about it. The cross of Christ is not the
most important thing. The cross of Christ is the only
thing. All of God's salvation is found
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. No doctrine of Scripture
can be understood apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the cross of Christ is the foundation of everything. If you've been elected before
time began, it's because you were seen in the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. If you believe, it's because
Christ died for you and gave you that faith. If you persevere
to the end, it's because Christ died for you and caused you to
persevere to the end. If you're an adopted child of
God, if you're born of God, it's because Christ died for you. The only hope anyone has of being
saved is that Christ died for them on Calvary Street. Now,
somebody may think, well, didn't He die for everybody? No, He
didn't. The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches that
He died for His elect, for His people, for His sheep. And if
Christ died for you, you must be saved. Now, let's read Isaiah
53. I just want to read it and make
a few comments as we go through it, verse by verse. In Isaiah 53, verse 1, Isaiah
makes this complaint who hath believed our report, our message,
our word, our doctrine. It seems like very few believe,
but the Lord said it would be this way. He said many go in
the broad gate that leads to destruction, but only a few enter
the straight gate and walk along the narrow way that leads to
life. That shouldn't surprise us, but Isaiah answers his own
question when he makes this complaint. He says, Who hath believed our
report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Now that's who believes. That's who believes. Those to
whom the arm of the Lord is revealed. Salvation comes by revelation. YOU AND I WILL NOT BELIEVE, WE
WILL NOT UNDERSTAND UNLESS GOD IS PLEASED TO REVEAL HIMSELF
TO US. SALVATION COMES BY REVELATION.
YOU AND I CAN'T FIGURE THIS THING OUT. Now, do you understand that? You cannot, by diligent studying
of the Scriptures, figure out what the message is. You and
I are completely dependent upon God to reveal Himself to us. And if He doesn't, we'll never
know Him. The Lord said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and
prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in thy sight." Now, Christ Jesus is the arm
of the Lord. He's the mighty power of God. He is the power of God unto salvation. And the ones who have the arm
of the Lord revealed to them are the ones who believe the
report. Now, let's go on reading in verse
2. for he, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall grow up before him. You
know, our Lord was born and he grew up. He grew in wisdom and
in stature and in favor with God and man. And the father watched
his son grow up from a child to a young man. for he shall
grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a
dry ground." Now, the picture before us almost seems like weakness. The Son of God before the Father
while He lived on the earth was as a tender plant, and as a root
sticking up out of dry, cracked, parched ground. And Isaiah says,
He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see Him, there
is no beauty that we should desire Him. Now what this is letting
us know is that there is absolutely nothing regarding Christ and
Him crucified that's appealing to the flesh. I'm talking about
fallen flesh. Fallen flesh sees no beauty or
comeliness in Him who is altogether lovely. Now the problem is not
Him. The problem is the blindness
of the natural man. He can see no beauty, no comeliness
in the most glorious person and work that can ever be described,
but he doesn't see it. Why? Because of the sinfulness
of fallen humanity. We don't even desire Him. We won't seek Him unless God
does something for us. Look what verse 3 says. He is
despised and rejected of men. Everybody that was anybody turn
thumbs down on the Lord Jesus Christ. They saw no beauty in
Him, and the Scripture says He was a man of sorrows and acquainted. He knew grief. And that word, grief, is the
word that is generally translated sickness. The word is found 24
times in the Old Testament, 19 times is translated sickness
and disease. He was a man of sorrows. Now, how is that? Because he
knew that he was going to be separated from his father. He
knew he was going to be made the sin bearer. He knew he was
going to experience his father's awful frown. He knew he was going
to be forsaken by him whom he loved with all of his heart because
he was going to take on the sins of his people, and he was a man
of sorrows because of that. How he loved his father, how
he hurt under the thought of being
separated from his Father's presence. He knew that was going to happen.
You see, he's the only one who knew the wickedness of sin. Me
and you don't really understand it. We're used to it. But he
knew the wickedness of sin and how he was burdened at the thought
of being made sin. When it says he knew our-was
acquainted with our grief or sickness, this gives us some
idea of what he experienced on Calvary's tree. Now, I know that
false preachers take this and say, well, he bore your sicknesses
and you don't have to. It's not the Lord's will for
you to be sick. Rubbish! If you're sick, it's because
it's the Lord's will for you to be sick. He's in control of
everything. Sickness is not some punishment
for something somebody's done, and somebody who's healthy, they
don't experience that sickness because of their holiness and
their obedience, and that's foolishness. The holiest people, all believers
are equally holy in Christ, but there have been many holy men
and women of God who have lived their entire lives in sickness. But what this is talking about
is Him experiencing sin. He never sinned. And He knew
everything there was to know regarding sin. He knew how bad
it was. He knew how evil it was. He experienced
the shame. He experienced the guilt. You
see, when He bore my sin, it became His sin. When God poured
His wrath out upon him, he wasn't punishing someone who was innocent.
He was punishing someone who was guilty, because my sin became
his sin, and he bore the sickness, the filth, the vileness of my
sin. What could be more evil than
to place no value on Him. Look what it says. He's despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised, and
we esteemed Him not. Here is the greatness of the
guilt of men. We despised the Son of God and
had no esteem for the glory of His person. Let's go on reading
in verse 4. Surely He hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. Now he was bearing the sorrows,
the griefs, the sins, the iniquities of His people. When it says,
Surely he hath borne our griefs, that's not talking about all
men with that exception. If it was, all men would be saved.
This is talking about the elect, those, and the evidence of election
is believing the gospel, those who rely wholly on Him. Surely He hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted." We didn't get it. We didn't understand
what He was doing. We thought He was being punished
by God. But, verse 5 says, He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we're healed. Now somebody may
be thinking, how could it be right? How could it be fair for
God to take the sins of His people and place them upon His Son so
that His Son became guilty of them and punish Him for them? Where's the rightness? Where's
the fairness in all this? Well, that's a good question.
It's right because God did it. Really, no other reason is needed. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? It's right because God did it. He hath put him to grief. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him, as we're going to see later on in this passage of Scripture.
Not only is it right because God did it, it's right because
Christ did this voluntarily. This wasn't forced upon him.
He said, no man takes my life from me. I have the power to
lay it down, and I have the power to take it up. This commandment
have I received of my Father. He did this voluntarily. He did this because He wanted
to. And this demonstrates the relationship between Christ and
His people. The great bridegroom takes on
the debts of the bride. They become his. He loves his
wife, and he's going to take care of his wife. This is who
he is. And in this we see God's way
of saving sinners. I love this. I was condemned
by what Adam did when he did it. I was condemned. I did it
too. I was in him. But just as I was condemned when
Adam sinned, I'm justified, I'm saved by what Christ does. So we see the glory of this.
He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
we are healed." Now, this was written 700 years before it took
place. And when Peter quotes this passage
of Scripture in 1 Peter chapter 2, he says, "...by whose stripes
you were healed." Now, healing, salvation before God is all in
Him. Now, Isaiah says, all we like
sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. Now, this is the true confession
of sin. All we like sheep have gone astray. We're all stupid, straying sheep,
and we can't get back. We've turned everyone to his
own way. Every believer feels like there's something peculiar
and particular about their sin that makes them worse than others.
We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
upon him the iniquity of us all." Now, that word, lay, means impinged,
made to collide. He hath made to collide on him
the iniquity of us all. Now, do I know what all that
means? Of course I don't. Of course I don't. What I'm talking
about, I realize I have very little understanding of. I know
what this passage of Scripture is teaching. This is the message
of Scripture, but do I understand what all it means for Christ
to be made sin? No, I don't. But I believe. This
is who I'm relying on. The Lord hath laid upon him the
iniquity of us all. Verse 7, he was oppressed. He
was oppressed. That means he was burdened down. He was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shears is dumb, so he opened
not his mouth." Now, why didn't the Lord defend Himself? You
know, if I'm accused of something that I didn't do, I'm going to
be defending myself. I didn't do that. But the Lord
did not open His mouth. Why? because he knew he was guilty. He wasn't going to try to defend
himself because the sins of the elect literally became his sins,
and he was guilty of the commission of them when the Father gave
them to him. And he did not open his mouth
in self-defense because he knew he was guilty. Verse 8, he was taken from prison
and from judgment? And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. All restraint was removed. He
was taken from judgment, cut off, just as Daniel said he would
be cut off. For the transgression of my people,
this is substitutionary atonement. The reason I'm not going to be
damned is because Christ took my place. No other reason is
needed. I'm not saved because of anything
I do. I'm saved because He took my
place. place. There was a missionary
once trying to describe to a tribe the gospel, and he didn't know
if he'd got across to them, and he asked a woman, he said, do
you understand what I've been saying? And she replied, either
he die or me die. He died. Me no die. Now that is the gospel. He was
stricken with the transgression of my people. Verse 9, And he
made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death,
because he had done no violence, neither was deceit found in his
mouth. He was buried in a rich man's
tomb, Joseph of Arimathea, And he was looked on as a criminal
in the eyes of them who crucified him, even though no deceit was
found in his mouth. He's always the sinless sacrifice. Verse 10, Yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. Now, when he was nailed to that
tree, it was the justice of God who nailed him to that tree,
because he really was guilty. My sin actually became his sin. And everything that happened
to him happened to him according to the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. I think of the words of the early
church of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel. That's everybody. were gathered
together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him he hath put into grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin." Now, this was what God did. He made the soul of
the Lord Jesus Christ an offering for sin. Now, that word offering
for sin is also translated sin, and it's also translated guiltiness. This is saying the same thing
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5.21, For he hath made him to be sin,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Now, because of this, He shall
see His seed. This is all of God's people called
His seed, His children. He shall see His seed. He shall
prolong His days His priesthood is forever. He's never going
to die again. He's eternal. He shall prolong
His days, and the pleasure, the will of the Lord shall prosper
in His hand. You see, what Christ does and
what Christ did is successful. He can't fail. You know, there's
not going to be anybody in hell that He died for. He can't fail. Look what verse 11 says. He shall
see of the travail of His soul. And that's what was going on
on the cross, oh, the travail of His soul. He shall see the
travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. He's going to know
that He has accomplished the Father's will. Everybody that
He died for is saved by His knowledge. And that's not talking about
our knowledge, but His knowledge, His knowledge of God, His acquaintance
with grief and sin, His knowledge of how He saves, by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. And in bearing their iniquities,
he put them away, and now everybody he died for is justified. Now look at this last verse,
verse 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
This is talking about the spoils of the mighty victor. And he
shall divide the spoil with the strong. He divides his spoils
with his people who in themselves are weak and insignificant, but
because of what he did for them, they're described as mighty and
strong. If he's mighty and strong, every
believer is too because of what he did for them. And he names
these four things because he poured out his soul unto death. This is why He comes as a mighty
victor. He poured out His soul to death
willingly, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Now remember
on Calvary's tree, God wasn't punishing someone who was innocent.
He was punishing someone who was guilty. The great transaction
of my sin being made His sin, and His sin being-I mean, His
righteousness being made mine. He poured out His soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He bared the sin of many. Oh, He bore their sins and put
them away, and He made intercession for the transgressors. When He
said from the cross, Father, forgive them, He wasn't making
a request. He was calling upon God to forgive
everybody that He died for. The very justice of God demands
it. The very purpose of God demands
it. He made intercession for the
transgressors, and everybody He makes intercession for must
be saved. Now, this is the gospel given
by Isaiah, I like calling the book of Isaiah the gospel of
Isaiah. Now we have this message on DVD,
CD, if you write, email, the church will send you a copy.
This is Todd Nybert, praying that God will be pleased to make
Himself known to you. That's our prayer. To request
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request
to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.