S1: Jesus. How can you have joy when they're going to
S1: whoop you all night long? Uh, when they're going to
S1: do the things to you that they're going to do
S1: to you? But Jesus would say to us in this passage,
S1: I'm going through it because I understand the blessings in
S1: a beat down.
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
S2: Ford Jr, senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us today as we're
S2: beginning a new message from Isaiah chapter 50, the blessings
S2: in a beatdown. And, uh, pastor, you don't look like
S2: the guy who's experienced too many beat downs in life. Big,
S2: strong guy like that. So I can't imagine that, uh,
S2: you can say, hey, I've had a lot of blessings
S2: coming out of beat downs, at least physically, so. Well, well.
S1: And we've had a few now.
S2: Okay. I've had.
S1: A few. Yes, yes. In my BC days before Christ days.
S1: I was a fighter.
S2: Okay.
S1: Yeah. And it didn't matter to me who you were.
S1: So I did take a lot of beatdowns.
S2: Well, if I would have met you back then, I
S2: would have been the runner as fast as I could.
S1: Well, you know, the old adage goes something like this.
S1: I'd rather they say, there he go, than there he lay.
S2: Right. There you go. Amen. That's right. That's right. So
S2: you're saying Jesus took a beat down? Yes. And, uh,
S2: in the midst of that, you're saying he would have said,
S2: I'm going through this because I understand the blessings. What
S2: are the blessings that come out of his beat down?
S1: Uh, well, Scripture says, uh, he did it so he
S1: could bring many sons to glory. So it's you and I. Uh,
S1: that he had us in mind. He knew what he
S1: was doing. He knew. And as a matter of fact,
S1: remember what the writer of the book of Hebrews said? Who?
S1: For the joy set before him. You know what's joyous
S1: in a beatdown? What comes after it. Yeah. You know,
S1: the many sons to glory. And of course, the gospel
S1: writers said, except the seed die, it abideth or remains alone.
S1: But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. Yeah.
S1: And we're the fruit that come as a result of
S1: the fact that Jesus Christ said, you know, he stayed
S1: on that cross. If it would have been me on
S1: that cross and you would have said, come on down,
S1: you saved others yourself. You cannot save what I said
S1: nails out of my hands. Yeah, I float and I'd
S1: be zapping them. Zap! What you say, zap! POW! You know.
S1: But Jesus submitted to the will of the father because
S1: he loved you and I.
S2: Mm. That is, uh, quite a love to try and
S2: wrap our minds around. So let's go ahead and do that.
S2: Open your Bible, if you can, to Isaiah 50 as
S2: we begin this message, the blessings in a beat down.
S2: Here is Pastor Ford.
S1: You know, I grew up in a different era. Things
S1: were totally different when I was growing up. Uh, so,
S1: for example, you would never see a sex scene on television,
S1: especially in prime time. Amen. Amen. There were just some
S1: things that weren't tolerated. As a matter of fact, I
S1: grew up in a day when you got spanked. Alright. Yeah. See,
S1: nowadays they have what they call time out, Brother Joe.
S1: But when I was growing out, it was called Lights Out. Yeah.
S1: No time out. As a matter of fact, I can recall, uh,
S1: my mother asking questions that I knew I could never
S1: answer truthfully. She catch me doing something and I say,
S1: I didn't do it. She say, do I look stupid
S1: to you? I couldn't answer that. My brother be in
S1: another room talking about. That's a trick question. It's a
S1: trick question. Don't answer that. And she would say things,
S1: Brother Dave. That that that. I just had to keep
S1: my mouth shut. I fought it when she said, you
S1: know what I'm going to tell you now? This is
S1: going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you.
S1: And I'm thinking to myself, well, if that's the case,
S1: then why don't you let me whoop you so that
S1: it could hurt me more than it hurts you? Well,
S1: that make sense? Yeah. And so now, listen, you know
S1: young people, they're over on the other side. You get
S1: away with murder. You get away with stuff. I never
S1: would get away with because I'm. I don't know if
S1: anybody had a mama like me, but I thought once
S1: you went to sleep, you didn't have to worry about it.
S1: And she would whoop you, woke and whoop you back.
S1: Sleep again. Yeah. So, so so you children, uh, your
S1: children better, thank God. Yeah. See, you can call the police.
S1: It's called abuse. My mom would have said, oh, while
S1: you're on the phone, call the coroner because the police
S1: are going to come for me, and the corner is
S1: for you. Because I'm going to kill you. Yeah. But
S1: did you know there was a day if you were
S1: in England and you had some substance, you had some money.
S1: If you were a prince or duke or earl or
S1: the child of a prince, a duke, a king or earl,
S1: you never got a weapon. In the 16th and 17th century,
S1: they had what was called whipping boys. So what they
S1: would do is, uh, you would lie and get caught,
S1: and they bring your whipping boy in, and they whip your.
S1: Whipping boy before you. You would do something wrong, and
S1: the whipping boy would be beaten. Some of y'all are
S1: looking at me like I'm crazy. Google it. As a
S1: matter of fact, it's so deep they even a couple
S1: years ago made a movie about it. And so you
S1: could cuss and your parents would say, bring in the
S1: whipping boy. And whip him in front of you. Now,
S1: today we have one. We call him pastor. Uh, but
S1: you know where I'm going. Because if you disobeyed, the
S1: whipping boy took your whipping. If you didn't do your schoolwork,
S1: the whipping boy took your whipping. If you didn't do
S1: your house. The whipping boy. I know some of the
S1: kids wish they were here. They say, where are they?
S1: Where are they Now, you already know where I'm going
S1: with this. Because Jesus is our whipping boy. We did
S1: the crime, and Jesus did the time. See, the Bible
S1: says he became sin for us. Who knew no sin,
S1: that we may become the righteousness of God in him.
S1: So he never got drunk, but he became a drunkard
S1: so that drunkards could be saved. He never committed fornication
S1: or adultery, but he became a fornicator and adulterer so
S1: that fornicators and adulterers could be saved. He never murdered.
S1: He never lied, he never cheated. He never got high.
S1: He never stole anything. But he became a murderer, a liar,
S1: a cheater, and a thief so that murderers, liars and
S1: thieves and cheaters could be saved. Yeah. He became our
S1: whipping boy. Yeah. He took our sin so we could
S1: have his salvation. He took our hell so we could
S1: have his heaven. He took our sadness so we could
S1: have his gladness. He took our guilt so we could
S1: share in his glory. He took our poverty so that
S1: we could have his richness. He took our emptiness. That
S1: we could have his. I'm preaching better than you. Amen. Yeah, yeah.
S1: Let me just say it this way. Because y'all y'all
S1: don't want to hear it. Jesus went to hell for
S1: us so that we could go to heaven with him. Yeah.
S1: He's our whipping boy. As a matter of fact, I
S1: said it this way. Isaiah said, surely he has borne
S1: our griefs and carried our sorrows. But we esteemed him
S1: lightly smitten and stricken of God. He was wounded for
S1: our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of
S1: his peace was upon us, and by his stripes we
S1: are healed. Yeah. You know what happened? Jesus was beat
S1: down because you and I were low down. Right. Don't
S1: look around. Don't look around. Tell, tell you. Tell your
S1: neighbor he talking about you. Mhm. Mhm. Uh, so now
S1: we said we're celebrating not March Madness but March Madness.
S1: Not the road to the Final Four, but the road
S1: to the final fight for victory on Calvary. And Jesus
S1: is on his way down the via de la Rosa,
S1: on his way to the cross. To carry our sorrows,
S1: to carry our sickness, to carry our suffering, to carry
S1: our shame. He's going to take it all upon himself
S1: on Calvary as our whipping boy. And I wonder what
S1: is his attitude. Now I know when I get a
S1: beat down I don't like it. I don't like trouble.
S1: I don't like trial. I don't like tribulation. Is there
S1: anybody that's like me or I'm the only one? Yeah.
S1: But Hebrews 12 two says that we are to look
S1: unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
S1: for the joy that was set before him endured the suffering.
S1: What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy despising the shame,
S1: but he had joy. Jesus, how can you have joy
S1: when they're going to whoop you all night long? Uh,
S1: when they're going to do the things to you that
S1: they're going to do to you. So that Isaiah says
S1: that his face was marred more than any man's ever
S1: been marred. You saw the the passion of the Christ.
S1: You saw it. Yeah. But Jesus would say to us
S1: in this passage, Isaiah 50, Isaiah 50, verses four through 11.
S1: I'm going through it because I understand the blessings in
S1: a beatdown.
S3: Alright, alright.
S1: Oh yeah, that there are blessings in the a beat down.
S1: That's the message of our text today from Isaiah. Now
S1: remember I got to give you the con watt text
S1: before I give you the content, because a text without
S1: a context is both a pretext and a proof text.
S1: If somebody gives you a text without giving you the context,
S1: you've just been calm. Amen. Amen.
S2: Did you follow all that? You might want to go
S2: back and listen to this program again, to make sure
S2: you get that you can do so easily by coming
S2: to our website, Treasure Truth Radio. You can stream programs
S2: through your computer or mobile device, download MP3's, or order
S2: copies of this broadcast on CD. You know, another thing
S2: you can do when you stop by the website is
S2: check out the books that Pastor Ford has written. You
S2: can click on the link that says Books by Pastor
S2: Ford on the left side of the home page, and
S2: see the different titles available as a paperback or in
S2: an e-book format. And if you're ever in the Chicago area,
S2: you can visit Christ Bible Church of Chicago and hear
S2: Pastor Ford speak live. Get all the info when you
S2: come to our website and click on the about link.
S2: Our website address is Treasure Truth radio.org. Back to the message.
S2: Here's Pastor Ford.
S1: And so Isaiah is called the Bible in miniature. It
S1: has 66 chapters that correspond with the 66 books of
S1: the Bible. So that the first 39 chapters form the
S1: Old Testament in Isaiah and the last 27, the New
S1: Testament in Isaiah, so that the first 39 chapters focus
S1: on the government of God, whereas the last 27 chapters
S1: focus in on the grace of God. So the first
S1: 39 chapters talks about the sovereign who is also the Savior,
S1: and the last 27 chapters talk about the Savior, who
S1: is also the sovereign. So then in the first 39 chapters.
S1: Jesus is our master. In the last 27 chapters, Jesus
S1: is our Messiah. He is the one who God said
S1: would come. Now it's commonly called the Fifth Gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
S1: John and I. Now why? Because more is said about
S1: Jesus in the book of Isaiah than in all of
S1: the other books of the Old Testament combined.
S3: Amen.
S1: So that what you have take my favorite verse, Isaiah
S1: nine six. It says this. For unto us a child
S1: is born, and unto us a son is given. And
S1: the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name
S1: shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince
S1: of Peace. So notice what happens here. Unto us a
S1: child is born. That is the crib. It's called the incarnation.
S1: He came. Yes, but then unto us a son is given. See,
S1: the child was born, but the son was given. And
S1: that's the crucifixion. So you go from the incarnation to
S1: the crucifixion, the crib, and then the cross. Then he says,
S1: but his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
S1: there you have the crown.
S3: Right?
S1: But then he said, his government shall be upon my shoulder.
S1: When is that going to take place? Doing what's called
S1: the Millennial Kingdom, that there is literally still coming a
S1: thousand year period in which Jesus Christ will rule on
S1: the earth.
S3: Alright.
S1: So one verse takes us from Alpha to Omega, from
S1: beginning to end. It takes us from the crib, then
S1: to the cross, then to the crown, then to his coming.
S3: Yes.
S1: Alright, so Isaiah was a book that was written to
S1: encourage the Israelites, the Jewish remnant that would be delivered
S1: from the Babylonian captivity after their 70 years of captivity
S1: were over. Right over your head. You say. What do
S1: you mean, right over our head? Because they're not in
S1: captivity yet. They won't be in captivity, Sister Kim, until
S1: 150 years from the writing of this book. So do
S1: you know what that means? Say, what does it mean?
S1: It means that before they ever got in trouble, God
S1: told them. I'm going to get you out of trouble.
S1: When they didn't even know they would ever be in trouble.
S1: That God wants us to understand. When you get in trouble,
S1: quit focusing on the hell you're going through and start
S1: focusing on the heaven you're going to. I'm going to
S1: help 2 or 3 of you before you get up
S1: out of here. You ain't going to like me when
S1: you leave, but I'm going to help you. And so
S1: when you look at this, it's amazing to me. He
S1: told them, I will bring you out before they ever
S1: went out.
S3: Amen.
S1: Okay. Let me illustrate before I move on. Last week,
S1: remember what I did last week. How many were here
S1: last week? Okay. Last week I gave out $100 bills.
S1: Remember the illustration I gave out? I gave out Brother Dave.
S1: I said, okay, listen, uh, I called sister up, and
S1: I said, uh, give me $100. I want $100. I
S1: was trying to teach imputed righteousness. That. Is that what
S1: God wants from us? He has to give it to
S1: us because we don't have it. Because if he don't
S1: give it to us, we can never have a relationship
S1: with him because his criteria is $100. Holiness and the
S1: first sister had $5 holiness. So then I gave him
S1: the money. So in the second service, Sister Asia, uh,
S1: she she came up and she helped me with the illustration,
S1: and I gave her the $100. Now, I don't care
S1: what you're thinking. We're not doing that this week. Amen.
S1: And so you never know when I'm going to do it.
S1: You better come to church. Now get this. She she
S1: told me. She said afterwards, she said, Pastor Ford, I
S1: need to tell you something. I need to I need
S1: to tell you something. I said, okay, okay, okay. Uh,
S1: what's it about? It's about that $100 you gave me.
S1: That's okay. I want to hear it. She said, well,
S1: let me tell you what happened after after the service
S1: we're talking. I said, wow, this is really powerful. She says, uh,
S1: me and my daughter were going to eat and, uh,
S1: we were going to go to our favorite place, but
S1: the Lord said, go to Olive garden. And I said
S1: to the Lord, you know, I don't like Italian. I
S1: can't stand Italian. And she said, I know it was
S1: God who told me, go to Olive garden. So she
S1: said her and her daughter went to Olive garden, and
S1: she said, mama, why are you going here? You don't
S1: like Italian? She goes to Olive garden. She gets into
S1: Olive garden, she orders her food. The lady that's waiting
S1: on her is, uh, is, uh, you know, tear stained
S1: eyes and, and and apologizing for slow service and all
S1: that and then tells her the reason that I'm so
S1: slow and things are I'm tore up from the floor up.
S1: My husband's sick. My child is sick. I have to work.
S1: And it's like I got my mind on them, but
S1: I gotta work and I just don't know what to do.
S1: And God told her, give her $50. That was her
S1: last $50. And so if she, like me, she said,
S1: you know, ain't nobody but the devil. God ain't told me.
S1: God ain't told me. No, no no no no God
S1: ain't told me. Get my, get my, get nobody. No $50.
S1: But she gave her $50. And the woman was so appreciative,
S1: I guess she could get her husband's medicine or whatever.
S3: Amen.
S1: She said, then I come to church and you give
S1: me $100.
S3: Amen. Amen.
S1: You see what God did? God said, do you trust
S1: me enough to obey me and to give what I
S1: tell you to give and go where I tell you
S1: to go and do. Yes, Lord. Well, here's what I'll do.
S1: You don't even know it. You didn't do it to
S1: get it. So she didn't give to get or. This
S1: ain't prosperity. No, no, no, this is obedience. And how
S1: did I know? Why did I call her? There's at
S1: least 300 people. Why did I call her out of everybody?
S1: Because I just felt like I wanted to give it
S1: to somebody who was a single mom.
S3: Amen. Amen. Amen.
S1: And so I saw over there, I said, come here. No, no, no, no,
S1: that is not what happened. God, just put it in
S1: the mix. He said, okay, here's who I want you
S1: to get. Look over there. Look over there. Because I
S1: need to show her that I'm able to give her
S1: double for her trouble. I'm Jehovah Jireh that she obeyed me,
S1: wasn't expecting anything, but now I'm going to bless her.
S1: And that's what God did.
S3: Amen. Mm.
S1: Now, this text that we have before us can teach
S1: a little bit. Just for a minute. Yeah. Okay. Thank
S1: you for your permission. The text before us is one
S1: of the four, possibly five songs in Isaiah, and they're
S1: called Servant Songs. What are they called? Servant songs. They're
S1: all songs about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we're
S1: talking about this month, right? A man, because that's the
S1: only name under heaven whereby we must be saved. It's
S1: the only name that can set the captives free. It's
S1: the name that is above every name that at the
S1: sound of that name, everything in heaven, everything that's human,
S1: everything in hell will say that Jesus Christ is Lord.
S1: To the glory of God the Father. And so it's
S1: the servant song. Let me give it to you real quick.
S1: I'm going to drop them. I'm not going to push them.
S1: The first one is in Isaiah 42 one through seven. Uh,
S1: the second one is Isaiah 49 one through seven. The
S1: third one is this text Isaiah 54 through 11. Then
S1: the fourth one is Isaiah 5213 to Isaiah 5312. And
S1: some would include the fifth one. And the reason they
S1: don't want to include a lot of people is because
S1: the name servant isn't there. Uh, I'd like to include
S1: it because even though the name servant isn't there, the
S1: concept of it is there. And the song rounds it off.
S1: So then what's these songs about? Let me drop em.
S1: I'm not going to push em. The first song is
S1: about his identification. What's it about? Yeah. Who is he?
S1: And then the second is about his occupation. What's it about?
S1: What will he do? Does. This one is about his tribulation.
S1: Is what? How he will suffer. The fourth one is
S1: about his mediation, why he would suffer, and the fifth
S1: one is about his exaltation. That one day those who
S1: hated on Jesus will have to face him as judge
S1: and jury. That's what he's going to do.
S2: Blessings in a beatdown. That is the title of this
S2: message from Pastor Ford. You're listening to Treasure Truth and
S2: you'll find more teaching like this when you come to
S2: our website. Treasure Truth radio.com. You know, we live in
S2: a relativistic age where claims to absolute truth are treated
S2: with skepticism. Yet, as Christians, we believe that God is
S2: the source of all reality and His Word. The Bible
S2: is absolute truth. Perhaps you struggle to explain this to non-believers,
S2: or maybe you're wrestling with your own doubts about what
S2: the Bible is and how you should respond to those doubts. Well,
S2: in the book Why Believe the Bible? Pastor and author
S2: Doctor John MacArthur presents convincing evidence that we can believe
S2: the Bible and shows that God's Word is true not
S2: only in abstract religious terms, but also in our experience.
S2: Discover why the Bible is trustworthy and find out how
S2: it can change your life when you request this practical book.
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