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 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Nibert. If someone would ask me, could
you select a passage of scripture from the Old Testament that would
explain the New Testament? There are several scriptures
that would come to my mind, but the first scripture that would
come to my mind is Isaiah chapter 53. Now, if you could get your
Bibles and follow along, I believe that would be helpful, I want
us to look at Isaiah chapter 53. And in doing that, I want
to preach the Gospel. I've entitled this message, Isaiah
chapter 53. And if you want to understand
the Gospel, you must have some understanding of the message
of Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah begins this chapter with
a lament. Who hath believed our report? It seems like so very few people
believe. We have a lot of religion, a
lot of talk, a lot of noise, a lot of show. but so few people
actually believing the gospel. And Isaiah lament, who hath believed
our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Now, I know who will believe
the report, that person whom God reveals His arm to. His arm is the Lord Jesus Christ. His gospel. We're totally dependent
upon revelation. I'll tell you who will believe.
Those people that God reveals Himself to. So, we begin the
gospel with revelation. God's revelation of Himself. You and I wouldn't know the Gospel
unless God was pleased to make it known. And we're totally dependent
upon Him to reveal Himself to us. So here's where we begin.
Our utter dependence on revelation. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Verse 2, For He... This is one of 44 times in this
chapter. The personal pronoun he, him,
or his is used. This is a reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the arm of the Lord, the salvation of God, the
Son of God, the one who Isaiah earlier called the wonderful
counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, and the Prince of Peace. This is who He's speaking of,
and He's talking about Him becoming flesh. The Word was made flesh. Now, let's go on reading, verse
2. For He shall grow up before Him. This is talking about His
life on earth, the 30 years He spent before His public ministry,
before anybody knew who He was. For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground." Now picture
in your mind a dry, barren, parched ground with cracks and a little
plant springing up. It seems so weak, so vulnerable,
and what this is talking about is the humanity of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He who is God became flesh, and
He took upon Him all the limitations of the flesh. He became weak
and tired and thirsty. All the weakness that you have,
He had as a man. Now somebody may say, now how
can that be when He could perform mighty miracles, when He could
control the weather, when He could cast out demons, when He
could raise the dead? How could you say that He had
the weakness that we have? Because all these miracles that
He performed, He performed for somebody else. He never performed
a miracle for Himself to get Himself out of any trouble. All the weakness that we experience,
He had to experience as a man in order to be our Savior. So He shall grow up before Him
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He says He
has no form. nor comeliness, and when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." There
was nothing about the physical appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ that would have impressed us. All the beauty that the world
admires and desires, he did not have. I think of these paintings
and pictures of Christ, which I know are nothing more than
idolatry. You're not supposed to make an
image of God. But all these pictures, they
have this good-looking, blue-eyed, Caucasian man. That's not the
Lord Jesus Christ. He had no form nor comeliness,
and there's no beauty in Him that we would desire when we
see Him physically. What I think of is the tabernacle.
That tabernacle that had the Shekinah glory of God in the
Old Testament. God's presence shining in it. It was covered with badger skin. Very unimpressive. I have no
doubt that the Amalekites and the Hittites would look at the
children of Israel around that tabernacle with the badger skin
and they'd think, what are they impressed with? What is so big
about that? But they didn't know what was
inside. the very Shekinah glory of God. But out in the outside, concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, nobody got it. Nobody understood. You
know, he grew up in a home and never sinned, and his brothers
and sisters didn't see it. They didn't get it. They didn't
understand. You see, we can't understand
Him unless the Lord gives us eyes. Let's go on reading verse
3. Here's what men thought of Him. He is despised and rejected
of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted,
intimately acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from Him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ was
a man who was despised and rejected. Why was he despised and rejected? Was it because of the purity
of his life? Was it because of the miracles
he performed? Was it because of the good deeds
he did? No, it was because of his claims. Do you remember in
John chapter when they picked up stones to throw at Him. And
He said, Many good works have I showed you of My Father. For
which of these do you stone Me? And they replied, For a good
work stone we thee not, but for blasphemy. For thou, being a
man, makest thyself God. They understood exactly what
He was saying. He's saying, I'm God. I'm in control. You're in
My hands. Why, at the beginning of his
public ministry, Luke chapter 4, when he said, the Spirit of
the Lord is upon me. And then he said, this day this
scripture is fulfilled in your ears. And they rejected him.
And they became so angry with him that they took him up to
a cliff and they were going to throw him down headlong. The
Lord was despised. He was rejected of men. Men hated
his claims. They said, we will not have this
man to reign over us. Oh, but he does reign. And we
don't really have any choice in this matter, but this was
men's reaction toward Him, despised and rejected of men. We hid as
it were our faces from Him. We didn't want to be identified
with Him. Have you ever been somewhere where you see somebody
that you don't want to come in contact with, so you kind of
turn, get out of their sight so they won't see you? That's
the way people were with the Lord. Everybody that was anybody
turned thumbs down on Him. He was despised and rejected
of men. We hid, as it were, our faces.
And here's the greatest sin we can commit. We esteemed Him not. That breaks my heart to know
that that's what is in my natural heart. No esteem for the Son
of God. We esteemed Him not. Oh, what a man of sorrows He
was. You know, he said in Lamentations,
Behold all ye that walk by, see if there be any sorrow like unto
my sorrow, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day
of his fierce anger. Now, what were his sorrows all
about? A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. What does that mean? Does that
mean his feelings were hurt because of the way we treated him? Not
at all. What that's a reference to is
the sorrow he bore, the grief he bore as the sin-bearing substitute. My sin, the sins of all of his
elect, the sins of all who believe, became his so that he became
guilty of them. And when he was on the cross,
it was his father afflicting him, he died without comfort. He died in darkness under the
wrath of God. He died as an unbeliever would
die, because my sin became His. And He died in all the sorrow
He bore, bearing the wrath of His Father. He was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. That's why He was on the cross.
He said, At the beginning of His ministry, thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
And that's what He was doing. Their sins became His. And He's
now the man of sorrows. Now it says in verse 4, Surely,
surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet
we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, but 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 when I read
that verse, I need to be honest with it. Who is the our? Who is the we? Surely he hath
borne our griefs. and carried our sorrows, yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Is that talking about all men
without exception? Now, if it is, and some of those
men end up going to hell anyway, that means his death was a failure. If he intended to save these
people and bore their sins and they end up in hell anyway, then
his death is a failure and God is unjust because he is making
those people pay for sins that his son paid for. That's how
monstrous the doctrine of Jesus Christ dying for all men without
exception is. It's a monstrous doctrine. It
makes God unjust. It makes Christ a failure. But
beloved, The hour, the we, is every believer. It's all of God's
elect. It's His people. Matthew 121,
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. Our Lord said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. This is who He died for. Now,
don't be discouraged over this and say, well, maybe He didn't
die for me. No, this shouldn't prevent you
from calling on His name and asking for mercy. But you'll
find out, if the Lord saves you, it's because He died for you.
It's not because of anything you've done. It's only because
He died for you. And this is my hope, my hope
of being saved, my hope of standing before God, accepted, is that
He died for my sins. Now if he can die for my sins
and I end up in hell anyway because there's something I didn't do
to make what he did work, where's the gospel in that? There is
no gospel message in that. But oh, 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. Everybody that He died for must
be saved. They're healed. They're made
whole. When Christ said it is finished, the salvation of God's
people was accomplished. By His stripes, we are healed. Verse 6, Isaiah says, All we,
like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. Like stupid, senseless sheep,
we've all gone astray. Every time we sin, we go astray,
wandering away from Him. David said, I've gone astray
like a lost sheep. But if all this is, is us going
astray like lost sheep, you can pity lost sheep. But look what
he says next. He says, we've turned everyone
to his own way. There's a willful wickedness
in our sin. We've gone our own way. Sin upon
sin upon sin. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord had laid
upon him the iniquity of us all. That straying was laid upon him. That turning to our own way. was laid upon him, and the Lord
hath laid upon him, made to meet upon him the iniquity of us all."
And here's what happens as a result of that. Verse 7, he was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Now, if I'm not guilty of something,
I'm going to defend myself. The only way my mouth will stay
closed is if I'm guilty. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ actually
was guilty. When my guilt became His, it
became His guilt, so that He became guilty. That's why He
didn't open His mouth. He was oppressed, he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is done, so open
he not his mouth. When he was put on the cross,
he didn't defend himself because he knew he was guilty. You know,
when they tried to defend him, he said, don't you know that
I can Pray to my Heavenly Father and He'll send twelve legions
of angels to take care of this. But then how would the Scriptures
be fulfilled? He was guilty. That's why He was on the cross.
Understand that. He was on the cross because He
was guilty. The sins of His people became His. And He opened not
His mouth. 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. The Son of
God died. For the transgression of My people
was He stricken. The Son of God died and He made
His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death, talking
about being buried in the tomb of a rich man, because He'd done
no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. He never
committed a sin in His person. He did no violence, no deceit
in His mouth, yet He died because the sins of God's people became
His, and that's why He suffered. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
Now, do you want to know how God can have something to do
with me or you by way of mercy and grace? By way of acceptance
and favor? By way of blessing? Because of
what He did only. He was wounded for our transgressions
and He was bruised for our iniquities. Verse 10 says, Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief. Now hear what that's saying.
It pleased His Father. It pleased God the Father to
crush Him, to bruise Him. The word please means to take
delight in, to find pleasure in. God took delight in crushing
his son. He found pleasure in crushing
his son. Now, I wouldn't say that if the
Bible didn't say it. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. And this wasn't in any way an
act of cruelty on the Lord's part. Now, if I killed my son,
and found pleasure in it. Two things are true. I'm a wicked
monster or there was something altogether glorious in my reason
for doing it. Would you stay with me? If I
took pleasure in killing my son, either I'm a wicked monster or
there was something altogether glorious in my reason for doing
it now I know that God is holy and he has and had an altogether
glorious reason for being pleased to bruise his son now remember
this about God whatever he does is what he was pleased to do
He never does things unwillingly. Whatever He does is His pleasure. Psalm 135 verses 5 and 6 says,
He has done all things for His pleasure. All things for His
pleasure. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He in earth and sea and all deep places. Psalm 115
verse 3 says, The Lord has done whatsoever He pleased. So whatever
God does, it's what He is pleased to do. Now, why was he pleased
to bruise his son? Well, let me give you five or
six reasons. These are very important. First,
because it was his eternal purpose. Revelation 13.8 says that Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When Peter was
preaching on Pentecost to the people who had murdered the Lord
Jesus Christ, the actual murderers of Christ, the ones who had their
hands dripping with His blood. He said, Him being deliberate. by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and with wicked hands
have crucified and slain." This was God's purpose. You see, God
always purposed to slay His Son as the sin-bearing substitute,
and God is pleased with His will being done. Now, the second reason
it pleased the Lord was because His justice demanded it. God
is just. And when my sin became Christ's,
let me back up for a moment. I deserve to be crushed under
the wrath of God. I deserve that. Right now, in
and of myself, I deserve to be sent to hell. I'm a sinful man
in and of myself. Now, my sin became Christ's so
that He deserved to be crushed under the wrath of God. My sin
truly became His. And so the very justice of God
demanded His death. Where God sees sin, there must
be death. Christ was made sin, and God
put Him to death. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. But not only was it God's eternal
purpose, not only was it because God's justice needed to be satisfied,
it pleased the Lord in the sense that Christ made full satisfaction
so that God is actually pleased with what He did and pleased
with everybody He did it for. You see, He didn't stay dead.
He was raised from the dead because there's so much infinite value
and worth in what he did that God found satisfaction in it.
He said, I can ask no more. Now, if somebody killed my daughter
and said, I'll give you a million dollars to make up for it, I
couldn't find any satisfaction in that. If they said, well,
I'll give you a billion dollars, I still couldn't find any satisfaction
in that. The only thing I could find satisfaction
in is if my daughter was raised back from the dead. And that's
what God the Father did with Christ. He found such satisfaction
as death. The sin was paid for so completely
that nothing else was needed and He was raised from the dead.
God being satisfied with what He did and everybody He did it
for. So it pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. You see, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him because everybody
He died for was saved by that bruising. It pleased the Lord
to save me. It pleased the Lord to save anybody
who believes on His Son because of that bruising. It pleased
Him because it saves His beloved people. It pleased Him because
it glorified every one of His attributes. Oh, the glory of
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how could it be so glorious?
You think of a, His visage was marred more than the sons of
men. What a horrible thing when the Son of God was nailed to
a cross. But do you know that all God is pleased to make known
of Himself is seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
attribute of God is on display. God's justice, He must punish
sin, is seen on the cross. God's holiness, His hatred of
sin, is seen on the cross. God's wisdom, how He's made a
way to remain true to His justice and yet justify somebody who
in and of themselves is sinful. Only God has the wisdom to do
something like that. That's seen in the cross. We
see God's purpose. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world and here it is happening in time.
God's grace and mercy and love are magnified so clearly in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the scripture says
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief,
when thou, verse 10, shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Now that word, offering for sin,
is translated by two other words in the Old Testament, guiltiness. When thou shalt make his soul
guiltiness. And the other word is translated
by simply sin. When thou shalt make his soul
sin. In answer to II Corinthians 521,
For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. When thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. Talking
about all of the people he's dying for. He shall see His seed,
He shall prolong His days even for eternity, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail
of His soul, and He shall be satisfied. Oh, everything that
he went through, he's going to be satisfied by what he did.
Have you ever done anything and not been satisfied? Of course
you have. He hadn't. Everything he has
done, he's satisfied with. He'll see that travail of his
soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Now, do you hear that? Because
He bore my iniquities, and my sin was paid for and put away,
therefore I'm justified." To be justified means to be without
guilt, to be clean before God, to have no guilt. He shall justify
many. That's what He did by His death
on the cross. He justified many, everybody He died for, everybody
who believes. Therefore, verse 12, the last
verse of this chapter, will I divide him a portion with the great?
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Now who are
these great strong ones? This is a description of every
believer because of what he did for them. Every believer would
be to term great and strong because of what he did for them. Now
let's read the verse again. Therefore will I divide him a portion with
the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong for
this reason because he hath poured out his soul. unto death, and
he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many,
and he made intercession for the transgressors. Even right
now at the right hand of the Father is one, the Lord Jesus
Christ, making intercession, representing his people. Now
we have this message on cassette tape, on CD, And on DVD, if you
call the church or write or email, we'll send you a copy. This is
Todd Nyberg praying that God will be pleased to make Himself
known to you. That's our prayer. Amen. 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.