R1639 The Trade of Sacrifice

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton about a trade of sacrifice. This is The Encouraging Word featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton as we head to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 today for this message. Know that we are available to pray with you and for you in this day and age of typing and texting, sometimes one of the greatest blessings. It's to have another Christian, woman, or man on the other end of the phone praying with you and for you, and we do that every minute of every day. Available at 866-899-WORD, jot the number down, store it in your cell, we're here for you.

866-899-9673 and online at www.tewonline.org. Now let's open our hearts and open God's word together to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 for today's message with Dr. Don Wilton called A Trade of Sacrifice. I want you to open your Bibles today to 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

We're going to be in a wonderful passage of Scripture. You know, as soon as I find myself thinking about sacrifice, a group of our men were at the tomb of the unknown soldier this week with Seth Buckley. One of my, I should imagine, favorite places to be there. I've been there with Steve Skinner and with our students quite a number of times over the years as we've been able to go and minister in prisons across the nation. You know, it's kind of a happy, sad place to be. There's something that wells up when I'm in Arlington.

I walk around and all those flags, memorials, just grip your heart. If you're a parent today, make a point of taking your children to places like this. Don't let them just see. Teach them. Talk to them. Show them.

Let them understand what it takes to have the freedom to worship and to call the name of the Lord Jesus. Be able to stand up for that which you know to be right and true. As I think about sacrifice, I come back to where I am because I'm a Christian man. I'm a proud American. But I'm a Christian man. And I'm a Christian man because of the trade of sacrifice. Because something happened in order to give to me the life that I now live. Something happened. Somebody did something for me. Somebody traded my sacrifice. If somebody hadn't done that for me, I'm dead.

I have nowhere to go. Because I was born in sin. That's the way I was born.

Because of the son of Adam. I was born lost. I was born without hope. I was born with all kinds of giftedness and potential in my human flesh, but I was born to die. And somebody loved me enough.

Me! Loved me enough to trade for my sacrifice. Made it possible for me. Opened a door for me.

Gave me what I ordinarily would never have had. I would have lived a life of captivity. I would have lived an entire life of absolute hopelessness. I would have lived a life of self-indulgence.

Selfishness. Everything about me would have been about me. I, me, and myself. Something happened. Somebody took my place. And his name is Jesus. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 16.

So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ. He is a new creation.

Old things have passed away and behold, everything has become brand new. All of this is from God. Who reconciled us to himself through Christ. And gave to us the ministry of reconciliation.

That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting our sin against us. And he has committed to us this message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you, therefore. I implore you because I am Christ's ambassador. On Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Please, my friend, be reconciled to God today. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. So that in him, we might become the righteousness of God. Isn't that a fantastic passage of scripture?

I can preach on that all day today. When I look at this and when I think about these great heroes, these men and women throughout the decades. We remember those who number one gave up their seats. These people, going back to the Revolutionary War, gave up their seats.

Just think about that for a minute. They had their home, they had their livelihood, they have their families, their frame of reference. They gave up their seat. They said, I'll give up my place and I will go. You take my seat.

Now I want you to just think about that. They gave up their seats. When we remember them, we remember those who put on the uniform. They did this for their country, they put on that uniform, that military uniform that represents, says, this is who I am. See this insignia, see this flag.

This is who I am. They 100% identified with the United States of America. Number three, they departed to serve. Their sacrifice, these people that we honor, gave their lives. They departed wherever it might have been.

They went to where they were going to serve. And number four, they traded for freedom. They said, I'll take it in order that you can have it. My friends, the greatest trade of sacrifice ever was the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does his sacrifice mean? I just want to place this in our hearts today.

What does that mean, that Jesus traded sacrifice? Please forgive the interruption. Yes, we'll get back to the answers of both those questions in just a moment with Dr. Don Wilton. But we also want to remind you that it's not just a presentation of the gospel through this podcast and radio broadcast and television broadcast, but it's also an opportunity every single day to spend time in God's Word together in a very focused and organized way. This will jumpstart your quiet time. It's called the Daily Encouraging Word Bible Guide. The Encouraging Word's most requested resource is the Daily Encouraging Word. The Daily Encouraging Word is a daily devotional made available in a quarterly booklet or delivered each morning in your email inbox. If you would like to request this free devotional, please call 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 or online at TEWOnline.org.

That's TEWOnline.org. We are confident that it will be a blessing to you. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. And now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton about a trade of sacrifice. My friends, the greatest trade of sacrifice ever was the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does his sacrifice mean?

I just want to place this in our hearts today. What does that mean, that Jesus traded sacrifice? Well, number one, it means that Jesus gave up his seat.

So now I want to try and explain this to you. His seat, the Bible tells us that God has a throne. He's king. And he is seated on his throne. You will remember after Jesus had come to the earth and then he gave his life upon the cross. And he went back to the Mount of Olives and he ascended back up into heaven where the Bible says he is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. I'm not going to get into all kinds of details right now, but even in the Jewish tradition, in the temple, the priest, even during the time of Jesus, there was a difference between when you read in the New Testament, the high priest, whether the high priest sat down and did what he did or whether he stood up and said what he said. And there were many times in the life and ministry of Jesus that Jesus would sit down to speak. The Bible says that when Jesus gave his life, this trade of sacrifice, it began by his willingness in obedience to the Father to give up his seat. Isaiah chapter six and verse one says in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and the Lord seated on his throne.

That word high and lifted up means lofty and exalted. And his train or his robe filled the temple. The picture that we've got here is God, our Heavenly Father, God, Father, God, Son, God, the Holy Spirit, literally seated on the throne and his robe, the array of his glory in his exalted high and lifted up rulership, his authority, his sovereign lordship. This was the throne of God. And when Jesus came to take our place, he gave up his seat. He walked out of heaven. He left his throne. Where did he go? To some dirty stinky little inn that was filled with cow dung and sheep and nobodies and a bunch of people fighting over one another as to whether to stay in the Holiday Inn or the Hilton or whether they were going to charge taxes or whether or not they were going to do this and do that and all the mess of humanity. Jesus traded his seat. He gave up. What a sacrifice. He not only gave up his seat, but he delivered over his body.

Romans 4 25 said that Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins. If you've been to Helen, Georgia, right downtown Helen, they have a memorial park there. I know you all follow me on social media, and I appreciate that. But I posted a picture for Memorial Day. Most amazing statue in the middle of Helen, Georgia. Let me read it to you. I took a picture of it, then I wrote it down. This picture is a statue of a man. And he's standing like this in position of throwing a hand grenade. World War II.

Can I read you what the citation says? The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, June 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Private Rondell H. Glaze, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company A, 275th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division. In action against enemy forces on 17th February, 1945, near Lixing, France.

Go and look it up on the map. During a company attack, murderous enemy machine gun fire halted the advance, realizing the extreme gravity of the situation. Private Glaze voluntarily assumed the task of knocking out the hostile weapon. He crept across open terrain while exposed to heavy enemy mortar, artillery and rifle fire and hurled a grenade at the machine gun crew, killing them instantly. Though fatally wounded, his courageous action enabled his company to continue its advance and gain its objective. His gallant service, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty at the cost of his own life exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself. The 70th Infantry Division and the United States Army. You know what Jesus did?

That. He first gave up his seat. Then he delivered over his body. We have a very distinguished Army officer with us today, Colonel Tim.

God bless you, sir. This man who died in 1945 gave up his seat, boarded a ship, arrived no doubt in England, crossed the channel. Do you know this was so close to the end of the war? He gave up his body, he crawled across a field.

Bullets coming from everywhere, the face of enemy fire. Gave up his body. Jesus gave up his seat, the throne of God, then gave up his body and he was delivered over to death. For my sin. He poured out his life. Isaiah 53 in verse 12.

The Bible says he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors for he bore the sin of many and through that made intercession for the transgressors. Can you see Private Glaze? Can you feel his pain? Some of you, men and women, you've been there, haven't you?

It sits right here. You've seen it, you've felt it, but you came back home. What does it mean that Jesus poured out his life?

I often see young men and women and many of them are very young. You know, we memorialize them, but sometimes I think we need to remember what they went through. What about Jesus? This sacrifice, giving up his seat and delivering over his body, pouring out his life.

Number four, what was he doing? He settled his love. This sacrifice, he settled his love. Romans, the Book of Romans, what a powerful, this is the Magna Carta of our human faith, of our Christian faith.

Romans 5-8, God demonstrated his love toward us. Watch this, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Do you know that while men and women, many of them went, gave up their seat and went and served and died?

I don't want to say, please, I'm not pointing fingers. Do you know that there were people who didn't, that all they could do was laugh and mock and jeer? And some of them couldn't have cared less.

But those men and women still traded their sacrifice. Do you know when Jesus came to this earth? Get this, do you know that there were people that mocked him, laughed at him, scoffed, blasphemed his name? Do you know just recently at the PGA Golf Championship, one of the top golfers just used Jesus' name as such a blasphemy. Then they printed what he said because he was upset by the crowds.

They blanked out in the writing some of the more moderate, did I say that, cuss words, but they didn't blank out the blasphemy. Because of course, who cares what anybody calls Jesus? When Jesus sacrificed his life, trading for our sacrifice, he settled his love. Yesterday at this beautiful wedding ceremony, as we do for all, I've done hundreds of weddings in my ministry. That time when you get the ring and you exchange the rings and it's so symbolic.

And I think I said to this to Jennifer Nolan yesterday in Helen, Georgia, maybe I said this. I said, you know, as you exchange rings, you are making a statement about your love. You're settling your love. It's symbolical. Do you see that ring on my finger?

Now, you're all going to say to me, yeah, but you've been married for 45 years and all. No, no. See that there? Do you know what it means? It means I'm accounted for. That's what it means. It means I am committed to one person.

I'm in love with one lady. I'm in a covenant relationship. When Jesus went to the cross, the Bible says God demonstrated his love for us. He put symbolically a ring on our finger.

But there's a final point here. The sacrifice of Jesus means that he traded his sacrifice. I love verse 21 of chapter five.

It's so powerful. God made him who had no sin to be sin, trade places with us. He took on himself our sin. Such powerful truth, God took on himself my sin, your sin, so that he could take our place so that you could know God and have a place with him in eternity. I pray that as you've heard the teaching of Dr. Wilton, you've heard not just the scripture, but the scripture come alive and the power of the Holy Spirit begin to speak to you, that you would open yourself to what Dr. Don Wilton wants to share next.

Well, hello again, my friends. Are you ready to give your life to Christ? You know, you've been listening like this and God has been speaking like this, hasn't he?

And he's speaking to your heart. I'd love to help you give your life to Christ right now. Why don't you pray this prayer, make this your prayer, because you know that God not only hears our prayer, but he answers our prayer too. Pray this prayer with me. Dear God, I know that you love me very much.

I believe Jesus came and died on a cross just for me and that he gave his life for me. Right now, I confess my sin to you and by faith, I receive you into my heart and into my life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Well, if you've prayed that prayer right now, in just a moment, we're going to send you some information.

I want you to listen real carefully because you can take note of that. We've got the means by which we can connect together and I want to connect with you because you're part of my family. You're part of the family of God. You are my brother, my sister in Christ. God bless you today. Welcome to the family of God. I'm convinced that some of you moments ago were praying along with Dr. Don Wilton to give your life to Christ for the very first time.

Perhaps some of you, like me, were at a stage in your life where you realized you had been turning your back on God and you needed to rededicate your life to Jesus and you've done that today as well. In both situations, we not only want to rejoice with you, but we want to put free resources in your hands that Dr. Don wants you to have if you'll just call us. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD.

Take out a pen, jot it down, open your phone, store us in your phone. We are 866-899-9673, ready to encourage you at the encouraging word. Those free resources are available just for calling 866-899-9673 or meet us online. If you'd rather go keyboard to keyboard, we're right there at tewonline.org.

That's tewonline.org. We'd love to put those resources in your hands and help you grow in your faith. We really are here to encourage you. And thank you so much for your wonderful, prayerful, and financial support of the ministry of the encouraging word where every day people are giving their life to Jesus.