Believe it or not!
Isaiah 53:1-5
December 6, 2006
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet, we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed.
1.What does God’s report say?
In many cases we look to man first for answers before we ask of God.
A.God’s report tells us he will supply every need we have.
The Bible says: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". Philippians 4:19. Now notice, God has obligated Himself only to the extent of our needs. That would include food, clothing, shelter, companionship, love, and salvation thru Jesus Christ. It would not include the luxuries that we have come to think of as needs.
B.God’s report states that His grace is sufficient for us.
II Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Sufficient defined is this: an amount of something that is enough for a particular purpose. Christ’s grace is the right amount to cover all of my weaknesses.
C.God’s report proclaims that His children will not be overtaken with temptation.
Instead, He assures us that a way of escape will be provided. This promise is recorded in I Corinthians 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Jude also wrote: "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" . Darius, King of the Medes, said to Daniel, " Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you." (Daniel 6:16). He did deliver Daniel from the den of lions. The same God that delivered Daniel is the same God that is in our midst today!
D.God’s report tells us that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28)
It may be difficult for us to see and understand how this is accomplished at times, but God has promised it, and He will deliver. If He said – He will do it and if He spoke it He will bring it to pass. Our Lord will not fail you - Lam.3:22 " His compassions they fail not ” Great is your faithfulness Lord unto me!
1. Do you need financial help - Somewhere God has an oil well in a jar for you
2. Do you need to get somewhere - God can part the waters for you
3. Are you on your way to the lion’s den - God can shut the lion’s mouth for you 4. Are your spiritual batteries about dead – The great news is God can REVIVE YOU AGAIN
E.God’s report states that those who believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins will be saved.
There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus. Any other teaching or religion that does not recognize Jesus as the savior of humanity, that religion is a false religion period.
One of the many problems with our generation is we have stopped preaching the cross and the conviction of sin to try to cater to everyone and get numbers. I would much rather minister to twenty who have that old time religion then to 500 lukewarm attenders! I heard a minister say a few days ago that his goal is to make everyone feel comfortable on Sundays. It is time for the churches in America to stop being places of entertainment and start being places of deliverance! I wonder what would happen in these mega churches if John the Baptist came back to be there Senior Pastor?
F.God’s report proclaims that we have victory over death.
He first resurrected Jesus by way of assuring our resurrection. Peter said: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32). Paul wrote to the Corinthians: " For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures “ Later on he adds: "but thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57). When he can view death the way Christ sees death, death is a victorious event. Death is the promotion process to our eternal state! Every day that goes by my hunger for heaven grows stronger. I love the hymn “ How beautiful Heaven must be“ listen to the words of that song:
We read of a place that’s called heaven,
It’s made for the pure and the free;
These truths in God’s Word He hath given,
How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be,
Sweet home of the happy and free;
Fair heaven of rest for the weary,
How beautiful heaven must be.
No wishing for elsewhere to be;
God’s light is forever there shining,
How beautiful heaven must be.
Pure waters of life there are flowing,
And all who will drink may be free;
Rare jewels of splendor are glowing,
How beautiful heaven must be.
The angels so sweetly are singing,
Up there by the beautiful sea;
Sweet chords from their gold harps are ringing,
How beautiful heaven must be.
2.Have you seen the arm of the Lord? Jeremiah 32:17 = "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
We need to begin to start speaking with our mouth that there is nothing to hard for God! We need to stop telling God on how big our problems are and start telling our problems how big our God is!
Has the arm of the Lord been revealed to you? If it has, never allow the enemy to silence your testimony of God’s faithfulness!
Isaiah 59:1 = Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
There are no shortages in God!
Another promise that Christ gives us is that his ear is always open to my cry! A powerful scripture about how God values are prayers is found in Revelation - Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. When I read this again a few weeks ago something jumped in my spirit! Now I prayer differently! I want to make sure my name is accounted for on that heavenly altar!
2.Borne our grief and Carried our sorrow
Isaiah has in view how the Messiah took our pain upon Himself. He made our griefs His own, and our sorrows as if they were His. The image is that He loaded them up and carried them on His back, so we wouldn’t have to.
How many people carry around pain - griefs and sorrows - that Jesus really carried for them? He took them from us, but for it to do us any good, we must release them to Christ.
Everything that we may ever need in life was covered with Christ’s anointment.
3.By His stripes – We are healed!
Here is a fact - There are 39 major categories in the medical profession that claim every single disease known to man around the entire world from the common cold all the way to HIV. So you see, Jesus took a stripe for whatever has been or will be wrong with you, and by His stripes you ARE Healed!
