​“THE GOD WHO WEEPS
​AND LAUGHS”  

TEXT:  Isaiah 53:3
 
INTRO:  
A.  I had a friend in seminary who decided never to laugh again, because he said he couldn’t find any place in the Bible where Jesus laughed.  Surely the God Who created a puppy can laugh!  Or a giraffe!  Or an aardvark!  Or an armadillo! Or you! Or Me! The Bible says “a merry heart doeth good like medicine".
💥It is more difficult to me to comprehend how the God Who made the birds to sing, the brooks to babble, the butterflies to soar, the bees to buzz and the black-eyed susans to bloom, could become “the man of sorrows…”
 
I. A MAN OF SORROWS:  Is. 53:3
 
A. Disappointed By His People:  John 1:11
 
   1. First by Adam in Eden.
 
ILLUS:  Suppose you were the Creator and made man and placed him in a perfect environment, gave him a beautiful woman to share the beauties of Eden and the planet with, animals to enjoy, flowers to tend, fruit to eat, beautiful weather 365 days a year and then he rebels against your beneficence, bounty and blessing?
 
   2. Then by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, et.al.
   3. Then by Abraham’s seed.  John 1:11
   4. Then by the world at large. (text)
 
B. Disfigured By His Pain:  Is. 52:14
 
   1. At Gethsemane: 
 
Luke 22:44
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
 
   2. At Gabbatha:  (many died at the whipping post)
 
John 19:1
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
 
John 19:13
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
 
   3. Golgotha:
 
Is. 53:4-5
4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5  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.
 
C.   Delighted By His Purpose:
 
Heb. 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 
TRANS:  Yes He was the “Man of sorrows” but in spite of the pain of rejection by His people, the disfigurement of His pain, we was delighted by His purpose:  “to seek and to save that which was lost.”  It was through Calvary that

He became…
 
II. THE HELPER: 
 
Heb. 13:6
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
 
Ps. 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
 
A. A Compassionate Helper:
 
   1. David had known great grief, anguish of soul and disappointment from friends and family, but he wrote of the One who was his Helper!
   2. The writer of Hebrews (Paul?), also knew hardship, deprivation and sorrow and yet encouraged his readers to boldly proclaim “The Lord is my Helper.”
 
B. A Constant Helper:  “a very present help…”
 
   1. We may have friends who would like to help, but don’t have the means to help or are too far away to help, or who lack compassion or - ?
   2. But we not only have a Helper who wants to help, but has the means to help and is always present to help!
 
C. A Conditional Helper: 
 
Heb. 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
 
   1. Help is readily available to the believer, and our Helper is accessible, but we need to access His help.
 
ILLUS:  IF you have money in the bank, it is as accessible to you as the nearest ATM machine or your checkbook!  But you have to “come boldly to the ATM machine, that ye may obtain cash and  find help in time of need!”
         “People who never walk the road of prayer never find jewels along the way. Christians who never look up never see the stars.”
 
D.   A Confident Helper:
 
   1. His resources are limitless.
   2. His willingness is unquestioned.
   3. His promise is our guarantee.
 
Is. 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
 
III. THE OVERCOMER: 

Rev. 17:14
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
 
NOTE:  This is a suggestive name, but it reflects now what He is but what He has done.  With Him the future is a certainty. We are on the winning side! He is not only the future overcomer, but He has already overcome trials, conflicts, temptations and hardship. He has also overcome Satan and sin on Calvary!
 
A. He Overcame By Prayer:
 
   1. Most of our defeats are the result of our being too busy to pray!
   2. During our Lord’s earthly ministry, in spite of pressures, problems and people, our Savior found time to pray:  “in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”  (Mk. 1:35)
 
B. He Overcame By Scripture:
 
   1. When evil attacked Him, He remembered the words of His Father and used them to overcome temptation and the devil.
   2. Of His ministry we read time and again that what He did was “that the Scriptures might be fulfilled…”
   3. We can use the same resources He used to become overcomers.
 
Rev. 12:10-11
10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
 
CONCL:  Yes, our Savior was a “Man of sorrows” but He was also our Helper because He it the Overcomer!  He is “THE GOD WHO WEEPS and LAUGHS!”  He wept over rejection and disappointment but He overcame thru prayer, Scripture and His cross.  The Psalmist declares that one day “the Man of sorrows” will laugh!
 
Ps. 2:4
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

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REJECTION

TEXT: Isaiah 53:3  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. 
 
INTRO:

A. Rejected! We shudder when we hear the word.  We cringe if rejection becomes our portion.  All of us have felt it.  Perhaps we were an unwanted child and our parents rejected us, even if it was not consciously.  Maybe our playmates rejected us and we felt the sting and the pain.  Perhaps later on a boy or girl friend rejected and spurned us or our love.  Now it may be a family member, friend or even a spouse.
 
B. In most cases it isn't because of what we have done, but because of who we are or what we represent.  ◼The rejection may com because of racism, religion, political views, ◼or just because of what we remind someone of; e.g. our parents wanted a girl instead of a boy or didn't want a child at this inopportune time... ◼Perhaps the rejection is because of some physical disability, emotional problem, intellectual dysfunction or even a spiritual lack. But it is real and it hurts!
 
TRANS: The question is, what do we do about rejection?  We can learn from the Scriptures how to effectively deal with rejection...
 
I. THE REJECTED and THE REJECTORS:
 
A. Case #1: Joseph
 
   1. Joseph was rejected by his brothers.
   2. The reason was jealousy.
 
ILLUS:  Joseph provides us with a classic example of how to respond to rejection.  Not one sin is recorded of Joseph in the Bible!  Surely he had reason to be angry, to stew and become bitter, to allow his resentment to seethe...but he didn't!  After approx. 17 yrs. in an Egyptian prison we find his spirit still sweet and his attitude free from bitterness.
 
   3. His response was to trust in the sovereignty of God.
   4. He apparently never blamed God for his circumstances, while at the same time accepted his circumstances as a part of God's sovereign purpose for him and his nation.
   5. His classic statement at the end of his rejection was: "God meant it for good...!"
 
B. Case #2: Jeremiah
 
   1. Jeremiah was rejected by his fellow countrymen.
   2. The reason was resentment for his message.
 
ILLUS: Jeremiah preached faithfully a negative message of judgment for over 40 years.  He did not originate the message, he just delivered the bad news.  He never compromised the message or his loyalty to the Lord.  His family, friends and nation turned against him. He lived to see his prophesied judgments come true.
 
   3. Jeremiah's response was that he loved his nation, but his loyalty belonged to the One who called him.
   4. Jeremiah was distressed by his rejection, but not depressed.
 
NOTE:  One statement will suffice to illustrate his faith and courage: Jer.10:19 -"Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it."
 
   5. Jeremiah shed many tears over his rejection and over the rejection of the nation of God's message, but he continued to trust the wisdom of God.
 
C. Case #3: Jesus
 
NOTE: cf. Isaiah 53:3 and Luke 17:25  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
 
   1. Jesus was rejected by "His own" people, the Jews as their Messiah, and by "His own" people as their  Creator.
   2. The reason was unbelief!  They simply refused to believe that He was the Son of God and their Messiah.
 
ILLUS: It is bad enough when parents reject their children, even worse when children reject their parents; worse still when the creature rejects its Creator!
 
   3. Jesus' response was love, compassion, longsuffering and forgiveness.
 
ILLUS: Jesus becomes our example as to how to lovingly respond to rejection.  Oh to be more like the Master!
 
II. THE REMEDY and THE RESPONSE:
 
A.   Expect Rejection:
 
   1. Everyone will not love you or treat you with respect.
   2. God doesn't promise that every one will respond positively to us or that our heart will never be broken  or that He will take away our tears this side of heaven.
   3. What He does promise is to be with us in our fiery furnace or lion's den or dark dungeon.
 
     a.   Joseph was hurt by those who should have brought him joy.
     b. Jeremiah was hurt by those who should have appreciated his faithful warnings.
     c. Jesus was hurt by those who should have readily accepted Him and His gracious offer to be their Messiah.
 
ILLUS:  No one is suggesting that we should enjoy rejection.  It always hurts.  When a spouse leaves you for someone else it, hurts.   When a child leaves home or rejects your teaching or lifestyle, it hurts.  When a friend rejects your offers of friendship, it hurts. When a church member rejects your ministry, it hurts.
 
B. Examine Rejection:
 
   1. Examine any rejection in the light of God's plans for your life:
 
     a. As a believer even our rejections are in the hands of God.
     b. Trust in the sovereignty of God, as Joseph did.
     c. Stay loyal to the Lord as Jeremiah did.
     d. Respond with love, longsuffering and forgiveness as Jesus did.
 
ILLUS: If we fight circumstances and become bitter, then God cannot accomplish what He purposes in our lives. "Fight the will of God and it will break you; accept the will of God and it will make you."
 
   2. Examine your rejection thru the eyes of an all-wise, all loving Lord.
 
     a. Surely Joseph must have questioned God's will in His brother's rejection during the long years in prison, but he nevertheless continued to trust the Lord.
     b. Surely Jeremiah questioned why the people refused to hear his message and rejected him, but he continued to be faithful.
 
ILLUS: Joseph's story has a happy ending🙂.  Jeremiah's does not!😢 He is taken captive by some fanatics and stoned to death.  But in the will of God every story has a happy ending...and Jeremiah "lived happily ever after."  So will you, if you remain faithful.
           Jeremiah, thru his rejection, became a beautiful picture of our Savior.  When Jesus asked His disciples who people said He was, one of the answers was "the prophet Jeremiah"!  What a compliment to Jeremiah.  It was his rejection that made him most like the Savior.  Two of the OLD TESTAMENT men who are most Christ-like and became types of Christ are Joseph and Jeremiah.  Perhaps you will be more Christlike thru your rejection!?  It depends on how you respond.
 
     c. Surely Jesus wondered why men would reject His love and offer of salvation, but He continued to be faithful in in spite of His rejection.
 
ILLUS: In fact the Scriptures declare that because of His rejection the Gentiles were admitted into His Kingdom. Cf.
 
John 1:11-12  
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 
 
           If some choose to reject you thank the Lord that others will receive and respect you.  Do as the Savior did.  Turn your full attn. to them.  "Disappointments are not only opportunities for maturity, they are also opportunities for ministry."  -Wiersbe
 
CONCL: "Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it" said Jeremiah. Perhaps that is your sentiments also.  He didn't complain about it - he accepted his rejection and let God use it for his good and for God's glory.

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“TRY MY PHYSICIAN”  

TEXT:  Isaiah 53:5
 
THESIS:  To show that Christ’s sufferings qualified Him to be the Great Physician with a cure for man’s most deadly malady - sin.
 
INTRO: 
A. Whenever I have any kind of physical problem, I am sure to have several people who want to help me, say: “TRY MY PHYSICIAN.”  This morning I want to turn the tables on folks and say to them: “TRY MY  PHYSICIAN.” 
 
B. Faith (fake!) healers use this passage “…with His stripes we are healed” to teach the unbiblical doctrine of  “healing is in the atonement.”  ✖ They teach that since believers accept the atonement of Christ, that they must also accept physical healing since that is included in His death on the cross, thus they say, no Christian in God’s will should be sick (unfortunately even those with the NEW TESTAMENT Biblical gift of healing got sick and died - along with all the fake healers!).
 
ILLUS:  When a “healer” gets sick it is hushed up. (Physician heal thyself!)  A.A. Allen, one of the best known healers in the Pentecostal movement claimed to be able to cast out the “demon of alcoholism” and was secretly being treated for chronic alcoholism before his death!  Oral Roberts built a hospital on the campus of ORU !
            Oral Roberts Jr’s marriage got sick and died and he got a divorce and is remarried!  Jimmy Swaggart cast out the demons of lust from others, but succumbed himself!
 
C. The passage, according to the Apostle Peter, has nothing to do with physical healing, but is speaking of salvation and spiritual health!
 
1 Pet. 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
         
D. No one has the “gift of healing” today.  But God still heals the sick thru 🙏intercessory prayer, confession of sin, the use of means and medicine and thru miracles. Jesus never had a “misfire” when His purpose was to heal and He is still the Great Physician, but His purpose today is primarily spiritual healing.  So why don’t you “TRY MY PHYSICIAN?”
 
I. THE DISEASE:  SIN!
 
A. It Is A Chronic Condition:
 
   1. It weakens us; so that we cannot do the things we would and we do the things we would not.  “Oh wretched man that I am…!”
 
Rom. 5:6
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
 
   2. It causes pain or deadens sensibilities; the more sinful a man is the less conscious of his sin he becomes.
 
ILLUS:  We have all watched with disbelief as the Ted Bundys, the Jeffrey Dahmers, the Charles Mansons, etc. sit with a smirk or display no emotion or remorse for their sin! Habitual sin paralyzes the conscience.  Those who lie again and again soon have difficulty distinguishing the truth from the lie.
 
   3. It pollutes us; so that unless it is dealt with we can have no fellowship with God.
 
1 Cor. 6:9-11
9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
 
B. It Is A Heredity Condition:
 
Rom. 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
 
   1. To see how awful sin is we need to compare Adam before the fall and after.
   2. We need to see what sin cost him and us!
 
ILLUS:  Before the fall, there was paradise; 💙a beautiful garden to live in (not polluted cities), 💙a pleasant task to keep the garden (not work by the sweat of labor and fatigue), 💙no pain, sickness or aging (instead of Drs., Hospitals, morticians and cemeteries), 💙perfect climate (no snow, rain, hurricanes, lightning, etc.).  👿Sin is a monster which devours all in its path, a hideous thing which God cannot look upon and which pure eyes detest.  Spurgeon said:  “A flood of tears is the proper medium through which a Christian should look at sin.”
 
C. It Is A Fatal Condition:
 
   1. Sin is eternally fatal for the unbeliever;  “the wages of sin is (eternal) death,”  “the soul that sinneth, it shall die," “sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death…”
   2. Sin is potentially fatal for the believer;  “be sure your sin will find you out,”  “there is a sin unto death…,” “he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.”
 
II. THE REMEDY: SUFFERING!
 
A. His Stripes Heal:
 
   1. Those “stripes” were not just the lashes on His back, nor the wounds in His hands, feet and side, but included the wrath of His Father against the sin He was bearing on the Cross.
   2. They included the bruises left on His holy Person as men brutalized Him, they compass all the physical and spiritual sufferings of our Savior as He bore “our griefs …our  sorrows…our trans-gressions…our iniquities…”
   3. Is there “healing in the atonement” - YES! - but not the healing spoken of by the fake healers, the Pentecostals, charismatics, et.al., but a spiritual healing that removes our sin-debt to God thru His sacrificial, substitutionary death!
 
B. His Stripes Save:
 
ILLUS:  Look at Him👀 as He agonizes in the Garden and sweats “as it were, great drops of blood;" look at
Him👀 as He is mocked, scorned and smitten by Roman soldiers and Jewish religious leaders alike; look at Him👀 as they beat His back with the whip; look at Him👀 as they press the thorns into His forehead; look at Him👀 as they spit in His face and tear out handfuls of His beard;  look at Him👀 as they make Him carry His own cross thru the streets;  look at Him👀 as they drive spikes through the flesh of His  hands and feet;  look at Him👀 as they drop that cross into the earth;  look at Him👀 as blood spurts from His side they have pierced,  look at
Him👀 as His body heaves for every breath and His lungs fill with fluids which don’t belong there,  look at Him👀 as He cries out to His Father and to those around Him; but NOW 🙄LOOK AT HIM as He speaks to the repentant thief “Today thou shalt be with Me in paradise!”  His stripes began saving on that infamous day!  And they continue to save today.
                       
   1. They can save the lost sinner by removing the curse of original sin and paying the debt of personal sin.
   2. They can save the saint from heartache and heartbreak and a life of misery.
 
ILLUS:  Spurgeon, in dealing with the effects of sin in the believer speaks of the ✔mania of despair, the ✔stony heart, the ✔paralysis of doubt, the ✔stiffness of the knee joint of prayer, the ✔fever of pride, the ✔leprosy of selfishness, the ✔cancer of coveteousness,  the ✔consumption of worldliness. 
            We have been saved not only from our past and present sins, but from the dark future we would have had without Christ.  By going to a church like this think of all the problems you have been spared.  By growing up in a Christian home, think of all the grief you have avoided.   Yes, “by His stripes we are healed.”
 
III. THE RESTORATION:  COMPLETE!
 
ILLUS:  It is possible to be healed, but not restored to health.  You may have had heart surgery and are able to function and live, but with many restrictions and the possibility of another heart attack.  You may have been healed of cancer, but you can have a recurrence.  Thank God His “stripes” heal completely!
 
A. Character:  2 Cor. 5:17
 
   1. A person cured of leprosy would be a fool to stay in the leper colony.
   2. A person cured of sin needs to stay away from “diseased company”!
                       
B. Conscience: 
 
Ps. 139:23-24
23   Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24   And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
 
C. Countenance:
 
   1. If you have been cleansed on the inside, it will show on the outside.
   2. If you have become a new creature, your sadness will turn to joy, your attitude will be reflected on your face.
 
ILLUS:  In John R. Rice’s bklt. “Trailed By A Wild Beast (sin)” he writes about how sin leaves its tracks on the faces as well as the lives of the lost.  There ought to be a softness in the countenance of God’s people…and there will be if they have been healed!
 
CONCL:  I heartily recommend my Dr. to you. Why don’t you ‘TRY MY PHYSICIAN?”   He is a world renowned heart specialist who will give you a heart transplant and you won’t have to be placed on a waiting list. Also you will never suffer a relapse, have to seek other help and the best thing is there is never any charge for treatment!