The 53 Challenge!

Hello, this is Will Hardy with ManTalk Radio. We are all about breaking down the walls of race and denomination. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few minutes.

Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. Isaiah 53, and I'm challenging everyone to memorize Isaiah 53. I'm looking for 53 listeners that will memorize Isaiah 53 just in time for Good Friday. I'm going to read it to you. I want to talk through this amazing chapter with you. It's called the Gospel of the Old Testament.

It is just magnificent. I'm going to read a couple things about Isaiah 53 to give you a little background, but here's the passage. You ready? Listen to God's Word. Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is 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. 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.

All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth 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. For the transgression of my people he was stricken, and he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.

He hath put him to grief. When shall thou make his soul an offering for sin? He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah chapter 53.

Let me read what one pastor said, a Dr. Mattoon said about this. He said, the timeline of history has been touched with extraordinary events and accomplishments that's caused all of mankind to pause and say, wow, in the field of medicine we marvel at the vaccines of Louis Pasteur. In the field of travel we're amazed at the flight of the Wright brothers and launching men on the moon.

In sports we talk about that four minute mile ran by Roger Bannister. We gaze with awe at the architectural achievements of the Egyptians constructing the great pyramid at Giza. So many wonders of the world, but when we journey through the chapters of scripture we are also left with a feeling of wonderment and awe when we pour over key cardinal Bible chapters with picturesque words like Isaiah chapter 53. Like the great masterpieces that are on display in the famous art galleries of Paris, Athens, London, and Washington D.C., this chapter is a detailed prophetic portrait, a masterpiece of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. The brush strokes of the Holy Spirit were given to Isaiah enabling him to paint with words the suffering of our Savior 700 years before they were actually fulfilled and became a reality. The portrait in this chapter, Isaiah 53, has an abundance of hues of black, blue, purple, and shades of red that illustrates man's wickedness and hate, the deep bruises and wounds from our tortured Savior, and crimson blood that flowed from his broken body. Yet even though he was being brutalized by bullies, our Lord exemplified peace in a dark, violent time because he is the Prince of Peace. He responded with peace in the face of brutality, beatings, blood, butchery, and bitterness. The gospel of the Old Testament.

Some theologians call Isaiah 53 the greatest picture of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. It's a detailed description of his beatings. Listen to this language, listen to what he says. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

So many of you are familiar with these words. Surely he's borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The word bruised there literally means crushed. Crushed?

Why? For our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace. Shalom was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.

That is one of the most quoted little phrases in all the Bible. By his stripes we are healed. It's inspired artwork. It's inspired pictures, bumper stickers, paintings, t-shirts, hats. By his stripes, the stripes of Jesus. It inspired a 1980s Christian rock band by the name of Striper. That was their theme verse. What does all this mean?

Well, it starts with one question. Who hath believed our report? This picture of a suffering servant that Isaiah the prophet presents in Isaiah 53 is the last thing Israel was looking for. It's the last thing they wanted. They wanted a conquering king. They wanted someone to come in and subdue their enemies.

All these captivities. The Assyrian captivity, the Babylonian captivity, all the oppression in Egypt. They wanted someone to come in and dominate and set up his throne forever. And when they saw the prophecies of Psalm 2, of God ruling, you know, with a rod of iron, they thought that's what the Messiah is going to do. But the Messiah had to come and pay for their sin before he could reign triumphant. And we hear about this in Saint John chapter 1.

What does it say? It says he was in the world and the world was made by him. Verse 9, but the world did not know him. He came unto his own and his own received him not. John 1-11. One of the saddest verses in the whole Bible. Who hath believed our report?

Who can believe this? The audacity, the thought of a god as a baby in a manger. I mean, all kings were once babies, but how many kings become a baby first before reigning as king? This was the king of kings.

Who hath believed our report? The audacity of God becoming a man. And the word became flesh, it goes on in John 1, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The good news of the gospel found in Isaiah 53. Will you memorize Isaiah 53 with me? Will you memorize this beautiful passage in the Old Testament? It's only 12 verses. It's power-packed. It's loaded with all kinds of prophecy 700 years before Christ even came. Specific, articulate details about his life and his death and how he would be wounded and how he would be striped even before scourgings were done and how he would die and how he would be buried with a rich in a rich man's grave, an unused grave, a borrowed tomb, the one of Joseph of Arimathea, and how he would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Wow. And how, look at verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. Isn't that something how, of all the animals in the Bible, the dumbest animal by the way to ever live some say is a sheep. It has a tiny little brain and a sheep will literally follow other sheep off a cliff and sheep are prone to wander.

That's right. We're likened to sheep. Verse 6 of Isaiah 53, all we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way. That word all is very important for all have sinned. Romans 3 23. None are righteous.

No, not one. Romans 3 10 all the way through verse 20 of chapter 3 of Romans. It talks about how all of us are guilty of sin, right? And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so it took Christ to be like a sheep or a lamb led to the slaughter. Verse 7. Again, Isaiah 53, the gospel of the Old Testament. It took the lamb of God to die for sheep like us. He was both the lamb who would be the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, but he was also the great shepherd. What does he say in John chapter 10?

The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and might have it more abundantly. Do you have that abundant life? Have you received the gift of salvation that Christ is offering you?

Have you? Because whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3 16. Back to John 10. Back to this great shepherd. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd.

He said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me and they are mine and no one will snatch them out of my hands. I want to challenge you this Easter season, this resurrection season. By the way, I don't say happy Easter.

I say happy resurrection because it creates a lot better conversation. But everyone's going to be talking about it. The whole world is going to be talking about Easter. People are going to be going to church that don't normally go to church and that's good that they're going.

The question is what are they hearing? The question is what are you and I talking about and how are we presenting the gospel? How are we talking to people about a Savior that came and died for sinners like all of us? Don't share the gospel like that person is really bad and you're really good. Share the gospel because I stew, the person talking desperately needs this gospel of Jesus and he saved a wretch like me and guess what? He is mighty to save because the very next part after it says who hath believed our report in Isaiah chapter 53 it says to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. My prayer is that the arm of God that is mighty to save will reach out to you and save you. Will you call upon the name of the Lord and be saved? Will you call upon this one who bore your grief and your sorrows?

This one who died for you so you could live with him, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came out of that grave. He's coming back again. He came as a humble lamb.

He's coming back as a roaring lion to reign forever. Do you know him? Not just you know about him. Do you know Jesus?

Pull that car over. Get with someone that knows Jesus today before your head pits the pillow at night and receive the gift of salvation and call upon the name of the one who was wounded for you. His name is Jesus. Isaiah 53 on Experience Truth This Week. I'm challenging 53 people to join me and memorize Isaiah 53 by Good Friday and quote it to someone you love or quote it on your social media and tag Stu Epperson, tag Truth Network, direct message me in my Instagram, on my Twitter. I'm putting, I'm going to tweet all Isaiah 53. Every verse is going to be tweeted sometime, somehow, somewhere between now and I'm going to tag my buddy Peter Rosenberger too in between now and Good Friday.

And I'm going to quote it to, I've got, I've already got 10 or 15 people that are doing this with me. The 53 Challenge, Isaiah 53, memorize it by Good Friday. God bless you and seek to know him and seek to make him known. Happy resurrection! This is the Truth Network.