Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program, we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's book. Diamonds in the dark. But first, here's the message, the gospel of Isaiah.
Let me ask you a question today. How many gospels are in the Bible?
Well, you might say four. Matthew, Mark, Luke. And John. And you would be wrong. Because there is only one gospel in the Bible.
All 66 books of the Bible Proclaim the gospel. All of it. From beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, it's all about him. Jesus is the story of the Bible, and the story of the Bible is Jesus. One day Jesus was walking after his resurrection with two disciples on a road to Emmaus.
As they were walking, they were downtrodden, they were discouraged, they thought it was over, Christ had died on the cross. Jesus walked beside them for a few moments, and in Luke 24, he says, And beginning with Moses and the prophets, this is Jesus. Doing this, what a Bible study this must have been. Beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning. himself.
Peter tells us in the book of Acts That All of the prophets witnessed to Jesus. All of the prophets, all of the patriarchs. All of the apostles. Witness to Christ. I am not ashamed of this gospel.
I'm not ashamed to simply be A gospel Preacher. I make no apology. for preaching Christ and his cross. and his resurrection. And you know, I don't worry that this message is outdated or outmoded or irrelevant.
Especially in view of the breakdown of our culture. The breakdown of our world. The breakdown of the family. The breakdown of personal lives. In fact, It is so relevant, we need a brand new burst of gospel preaching in the kingdom and across the church of the Lord Jesus today.
And I say with the Apostle Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God into salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Isaiah, the prince of the prophets, preached. The gospel of Jesus. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Isaiah 53. What we see in Isaiah chapter 53 is known as a messianic prophecy.
And it is of invaluable importance to us because it points to Jesus as the Messiah. Who he is and what he came to do. It is as though Even though it was written 750 years before Christ, it is as though Isaiah himself is standing at the foot of the cross. And he gives us a clear Picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. How so?
One in the incarnation of Christ, who is. The child who was born. Look at Isaiah 53 verses 1 through 3. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. And he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised. And we esteemed.
Him not. Isaiah speaks of the incarnation, which means God in the flesh, God becoming a man, when he describes this Messiah who would come as being a tender root in dry ground. What does dry ground produce? Typically, nothing. And in the dry ground.
of a virgin's womb. God conceived. His only begotten Son. And this is an illusion, therefore. To the virgin birth of Christ.
You say, well, is that really so? Are you taking it a bit far there?
Well, actually not. In Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah has already told us that a virgin would conceive and bring forth a son. That a child is born, Isaiah chapter 9, a son is given. And his name shall be called Wonderful and Counselor and Mighty God and Prince of Peace and everlasting Father. Yes, Isaiah fall through the tunnel of time and the testimony of God's Spirit that the Savior, the Messiah, would come and be born like a tender root in dry ground.
But of course, this passage primarily speaks of the humility of our Lord's birth and of his life. Because we are told that He had no form or majesty or splendor or statue about him personally that would have drawn us to him. As a matter of fact, He was despised. and reject it. It's always been amazing to me.
That in spite of his great love and compassion. His tenderness. That Jesus was so hated. That he was so despised and rejected. You see, many people in his day had a big problem with Jesus because he claimed to be God.
Ultimately, it put Jesus on the cross. This claim of. Deity. Describing blasphemy. The death sentence for Jesus was the fact that he.
Dared to say, I am God. I am the Messiah. The problem was Jesus then, and look, the problem is Jesus now. You can talk about religion and spirituality and church, all you want, but you really start nailing the message of Jesus. Watch the problems develop with your friends, your family, and others.
Certainly, the culture. Jesus is still. despised and rejected. for who he claimed to be. He would not be despised if he were just considered a teacher or.
uh a moral authority. But the claims of Christ set him apart and distinguish him. And the exclusive gospel of Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, sets people apart. And that message, therefore, that Messiah is despised. Says he was There was nothing about him that was.
personally attractive. People want to know what Jesus looked like. I'm sure many times in your own mind you have imagined what. He looked like then and what he looks like now. Maybe you remember the Sunday school pictures of Jesus in your little quarterly or in your Bibles.
And maybe you've seen those medieval paintings of Jesus. And frankly, I think most of that, they get it all wrong. Certainly, not this Jesus that looked like he just came out of a beauty shop somewhere. He was a A carpenter by trade, growing up in the house of Joseph, the carpenter. I'm sure he had rough-hewn hands.
I had a couple of uncles who were carpenters, and to shake their hands was like shaking hands with a two-before. There was nothing About him, that would have said, We must follow him. There's no beauty that we should desire him. In other words, there was no physical thing that drew people to Jesus, not a natural attraction. The attraction of Jesus, the appeal of Jesus.
was and is his character. and of course his compassion. God became a man. And he came into his own, according to John chapter 1, verse 11. He came into his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be called the children of God. Many didn't understand. They were expecting a religious zealot, someone who would overthrow the tyranny of their oppressors. The Jewish people in particular believed that the Messiah would deliver them physically from their bondage. But Jesus did not come the first time as a sovereign deliverer, but rather a spiritual deliverer and a healer and a savior to die.
The suffering Servant. We're told that he was a man of sorrows. He wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. But in Matthew chapter 23 We're told as he was approaching the cross and had set his face to die on the cross. He overlooked the city of Jerusalem that had rejected him.
And he sobbed, and the word picture given to us there in Matthew's gospel is he heaved. With deep sobs within, he wept. And he cried out, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered your children as a hen would gather her chicks under. her wings. But you would not.
He was rejected. He came in Humiliation. He came in incarnation. But of course, the primary thrust of this passage we see in His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said, it is though Isaiah was standing at the cross.
Jesus died for our sins as the servant of God, the sacrifice for our sins. Look in verses 4 through 6. 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 crushed for our iniquities. And upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. That is, peace with God and peace within. And with his stripes, we are healed. The disease of sin.
Is healed by the stripes of our Lord. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him all our iniquities. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message: the gospel of Isaiah. If you're walking through a tough season, Diamonds in the Dark is a message you need to hear.
In this honest and hope filled book, Doctor Graham shows you how God uses grief, loss, and hardship to reveal spiritual treasures you'd never discover otherwise. We want to send you Diamonds in the Dark as a thanks for your gift of $10 or more. Call now to request your copy? Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.
Or text the word DIAMOND to 59-789. Don't let stress rob you of peace. It is possible to break the destructive grip of stress on your life and enjoy the peace and abundance God desires for you. That's what Dr. Graham helps you do in his booklet, Breaking Free from Stress.
We'll send you a digital download of Breaking Free from Stress when you sign up for email updates from PowerPoint today. Just go to PowerPoint.org slash stress and sign up today.
Now let's get back to today's message, the Gospel of Isaiah. When I first began learning to share my faith, even as a pastor, a young pastor, I was taught to Deliver the message of the gospel one-on-one. through Evangelism Explosion, written by Dr. D. James Kennedy, now in heaven.
And there's a little illustration in there that describes just what we read. The Lord laid on him The iniquity Of us all. You see, There is a predicament. that must be resolved in the human situation. And here is that predicament.
God loves you. He loves you with an everlasting love. He loves you perfectly. He will never stop loving you. And because God loves you.
He wants you to know him in a personal way and experience this relationship with him. But. God is also just. God is holy. And because God is just and holy and sovereign, Because he reigns.
And because he rules the universe. He must punish sin. Sin violates the nature and the character of God. As a matter of fact, the Bible says he is of purer eyes than to behold, to even look upon iniquity.
So God is love. But God is holy. And he must punish sin.
So, how. On earth, can this problem Be resolved. The problem, the predicament is resolved in the person of Christ and the plan of God that Isaiah. And the scriptures reveal the Lord laid on him our iniquities. And so there's an illustration that shows us that.
Let's presume that this Bible... Is the record book of your life and of your sin? Did you know the Bible tells us that God has books and that He's keeping a record? And Every sin that I've ever committed, every sin that you've ever committed is in this book. the record of his sin, and of my sin rather.
All the sin of humanity is in The record book of sin. The sin of the world weighting mankind down, weighting me and you down, because all of us have sinned. And if I bear this sin, ultimately... it will carry me to judgment and hell. But the Bible says, Isaiah's gospel tells us, the Lord.
laid on him. the iniquity of us all. Jesus took it on his back at the cross. Who could describe the cross? Isaiah described it.
He tells us that he is so beaten and so bludgeoned, he is so brutalized that. His very countenance is so marred that you don't even want to look at him. From the beating of Christ, a Roman soldier who would take the Roman lictor. They would fasten the victim to a pole. And there, with long leather straps embedded with bone and metal.
A psychopathic Roman soldier would lacerate the back of his victims. Tearing the flesh from the bones. Breaking through the arteries. It was a bloody, violent mess. Many never even survived the beating, much less the crucifixion.
The beating in itself, the flogging, the scourging of a criminal as Christ was accused of being a criminal was in itself a functional crucifixion. But then to carry The beam of the cross, the cross. to be fastened to it. to be nailed in the small Soft part of the hand or tied to a cross to be dropped in a jagged hole. The sockets being pulled from the joints, the sockets and the joints coming apart, the breathing and the heaving on the cross.
Many times people lasted for days on a Roman cross. The blood, the bleeding. The insects, the birds, often they were hung there in nakedness to amplify their shame. When Jesus died and hung there on that cross, bleeding and Dying for you and for me. You say, to what end?
Who did this? Isaiah tells us. that it was the will of God. to crush him. That God loved you so much and wanted to settle this issue with you and me so much of our sin that He hung His darling Son, that He Himself, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
God Himself. Took our sin and he took our shame upon the cross. He absorbed the judicial wrath of God. He is smitten by God, verse 4, and afflicted. The Lord laid on him our iniquities.
He did that for you and for me. And Isaiah saw it. The Send Bearer. It was a mockery of justice, of course. The trials of Jesus, there were approximately six episodes of the trial of Jesus.
Every one of them. A mockery of justice. He was accused and falsely accused. And Isaiah tells us, as the scripture later records, that Jesus, the Messiah, answered not a word. This is the silence of the Lamb.
The Lamb of God. who stood there silent. And when you read these accounts, don't you want to just say, Jesus, do something? Scott this. Don't let them do this.
Okay. But he answered them not a word. Because had he answered and justified himself and saved himself, he could not have saved you and me. There's a lot of talk that goes on today about Jesus and who he is. who he's not.
But there's coming a day, Romans 3 tells us, that every mouth is going to be stopped. And that's at the judgment. There'll be no more talking there. No more fun and games there. No more party time there.
Every mouth will be shut in judgment. Unless You accept what Jesus has done for you. He shut his mouth in judgment. and stood there. and took it for us.
So that rather than standing in silence and judgment one day, we can stand with hallelujahs and praises to His name. Thanking him forever for what he's done for us. By his stripes, we are healed. The disease of sin is now. Cured.
God is satisfied with this sacrifice, what God has done for us. He is accounted unto us righteousness. We stand in the righteousness of Christ. He stood in our sins so that we can now stand in his salvation and righteousness. We are justified, which means that our standing before a holy God is accounted as to righteousness before him.
This is the gospel. This is the gospel of Isaiah: that when man did his worst, God did his best. He loves you. And he has settled the issue of sin so that you can be forever. Transform.
Finally, thank God, there's the exaltation of Christ, and Isaiah saw. This resurrection and exaltation. Look at verses 8 and 10. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people, they said, he's finished, he's done, that's over with.
Even his disciples ran away in fear and terror, and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death. And of course, that was fulfilled in Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man who offered. His empty tomb. to the one who had died. The rich man in his death, and although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. And when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. referencing you and me. We are the family of God.
We are the children of God. He shall prolong his days. That references the resurrection. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Jesus is now exalted.
Raised from the dead. This is the glorious news of the Bible. He is alive. He is alive. The one that Jesus, Isaiah now sees is the same one that he saw in amazement.
In Isaiah 6. when he saw the Lord high and lifted up. And his train filled the temple. And they cried out continually, Holy, Holy, Holy. That's what they're saying in heaven this very minute in his presence.
He is our Redeemer because only He saves. He is our healer because only God heals. He is our sustainer. We pray in His name and we are strengthened. We call upon His name.
He ever lives to make intercession for His saints. He intercedes for the transgressors. He is the link. Between a holy God And sinful man. He is our victor.
even in death. We are not afraid because he holds the keys to the grave and to death and to hell.
So the only response To the gospel of Isaiah is to respond by faith and receive it and then to believe it. And then to worship Him for the rest of our days to contemplate and live the gospel. Um to live a cross-centered life. Our character is changed. We are no longer bound and broken by our sin, but we are alive in Him to spend our days honoring Him and our future forever.
Crazy. Yeah. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, the gospel of Isaiah. Life doesn't always unfold the way we hope. There are setbacks, losses, and seasons that leave us asking: where is God in all of this?
In his honest and encouraging book, Diamonds in the Dark, Dr. Graham shares how God is not absent in our pain, He is present. and he is at work. This powerful resource walks you through some of life's hardest places to reveal spiritual treasures God plants along the way. If you or someone you love is facing grief, fear, or uncertainty, this message will help you find strength, clarity, and hope right where you are.
And when you give a gift of $10 or more, we'll send you a copy of Diamonds in the Dark as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. Or just text Diamond to 59-789. And don't forget to visit jackgraham.org, where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr.
Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is jackgraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? What we see in this well-known chapter of Isaiah is a messianic prophecy. This should be of invaluable importance to us as believers because it points specifically as to whom Jesus is and what he came to do.
And any time we are describing Jesus and His mission, we are getting right to the heart of the Gospel, the good news.
Now anyone who studies the Bible will tell you that one of the most conclusive evidences of the Christian faith is fulfilled prophecy, which is history prewritten. And in Isaiah fifty three it is as though Isaiah Himself is standing in the presence of Jesus, standing at the foot of the cross, even though he was writing this seven hundred and fifty years before Christ. He gives us a vivid and enthralling picture of the Lord Jesus, who would take our sins upon himself. Isaiah describes the incarnation, which means God in the flesh, or God becoming man. But of course, the primary theme and thrust of this passage is the crucifixion of Christ.
Verses 4 through 6 of Isaiah 53 present some of the most recognizable and penetrating words about Jesus in the whole of Scripture. Just listen to these words once again. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him not. Esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, and upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, 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 has laid on him all our iniquities. With these extraordinary words we have the gospel according to Isaiah, the proclamation of who Jesus is and what He came to do. You see, God loved you so much that He hung His darling Son on the cross.
Jesus took all your sin, your bitterness, your anger, your pain, your judgment, all of it, in order to give you abundant and eternal life. If you haven't received Christ as your Savior, do it right now. Respond to the gospel of Isaiah, which is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, by receiving the eternal gift of salvation right now. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr.
Graham's book, Diamonds in the Dark, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word DIAMON to 59-789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how your life can overflow with world-changing love.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
