Turn with me now to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 53, this is one of the more familiar prophecies in the Old Testament that tells us of Jesus as the suffering servant. We'll read all 12 verses, it's found on page 847 to 848 of the Bibles that are in your rows. Let's listen now once again to God's holy word. Isaiah writes, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness and when we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. 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 bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death. Because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you 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 the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressions and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Remember the grass withers and the flower falls, but God's word abides forever. as we continue our series on untwisting, twisted scriptures, we are looking at the verse here in Isaiah that says, by his stripes we are healed. Now, for some of you, you may be surprised that this would actually be a passage or a verse that would be chosen. In your mind, you're going, well, what's there really to pull out of context here? What's there really to twist here? After all, how I've heard this passage, it really just relates to the Lord Jesus Christ and the prophecy that's brought forward. Listen to what some individuals have said as they would look at the statement in verse 5 when it says, by his stripes we are healed. One individual noted this, I know I'm healed because the word says by his stripes I'm healed. Another one Joseph Prince said the following, sickness and disease are not from God. On the cross, Jesus bore not just our sins, but also our sickness, disease, and infirmities. And by his stripes, we are healed. This has really moved people within the context of the church to say it's the will of God for believers to be healed. Healing is in the atonement, just claim it. And so what we find is that those who have embraced the idea of divine healing, miraculous healing, a life free of sickness and disease, they say that because Isaiah here says that by his stripes we are healed, then consequently healing is for Christians. Here's the basic argument that is made. Sickness and disease is the consequence of the fall of man. As sin was introduced into the world, so sickness and disease came in. And yet God has promised, and all of these statements have scriptural basis. Now, all of these statements I say at the outset, yes, they cite scripture, but in their citing of scripture, they rip everyone out of context and they move it into their paradigm of God intends for healing to occur for all Christians. So they start sickness and diseases because of the fall of man. That's true. Number two, sickness is due to a curse. Well, that's true, Genesis chapter three. But where they go is Deuteronomy chapter 28, verses 59 through 61, that notes the consequence of covenantal disobedience upon Israel. But from that, they then argue, well, God promises to turn us from wickedness and to take away our sins, Deuteronomy 7. So God in turn, based on the curse that is found in the law, has sent Jesus Christ to overcome the curse of the law in our lives, Galatians chapter 3, to destroy the works of the devil, 1 John chapter 3, so that through the shedding of his blood he might then secure healing for us. And this can occur because through Jesus all things are possible. And because Jesus healed in the past, and because the author of Hebrews says that He never changes, but is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then He in turn can overcome oppression and sickness, and He's done this in the lives of all sorts of people, and after all, He has the authority to do so. Did you just follow all that? I see some smiles, which means no. Let me say this a little more slowly just so you can pick up on this. Sin is as a consequence of, or sickness is as a consequence of sin and the curse. They then twist the passage in Galatians chapter three that says Christ came to redeem us from the curse of the law. They in turn then apply it to the issue of the presence of sickness and sin in our life. And they then say that Jesus by his blood can overcome that curse. We just simply need to believe it and to claim it. And Jesus can still do this today because he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yesterday, or when he was here on this earth, he overcame those who were oppressed by sickness and by demons. He healed all sorts of sicknesses in Matthew chapter 8, and he applied this to all sorts of people. And so what do they argue? God will always heal. It is always God's will to heal because healing is connected to the atonement and because Jesus has said, or the prophet Isaiah has said regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, by his stripes we are healed. Listen to what one author notes. I believe that it is the plan of God the Father that no believer should ever be sick. It is not the will of God my Father that we should suffer with cancer and other dreaded diseases which bring pain and anguish. It is God's will we be healed. Well, I'm sorry nurses and doctors. Y'all are out of a job. In fact, we should just encourage you to no longer pursue advancements in medicine and those types of studies and instead just engage you guys in all sorts of theological training and putting those things forward so that you might be able to come along and help more people regarding their faith so that they can just name and claim and believe the promise of healing. But there are other problems with this. The first is that it completely distorts theology. In other words, what it does is it has certain preconceived ideas regarding who God is, and what God wants for His people, and what God's will and intention is, and then says, this must somehow fit into my perspective, or my view, or my interpretation of Scripture. And so it interprets the text of Scripture through perspective, rather than allowing perspective to be determined by the text of Scripture. And secondly then, it doesn't simply look at the context of the Scriptures themselves. And so, this morning as we continue to work through this series, we basically want to see what did Isaiah really mean when he said, by his stripes we are healed, and consequently from that to draw encouragement and strength with what is ultimately and truly meant by that. Now, as we look at Isaiah 53, it's important for us to note exactly what Isaiah is doing. And in understanding what he's doing, I think the first thing is to just simply consider, well, what does he mean by the word healed? Because if Isaiah means physical healing, then those who would interpret it as such would have a leg to stand on. But if he means something else, then they lose their foundation. Now here's the interesting thing, Isaiah cites the word healing about six or seven different times in his prophecy. And every single time that he references the word healing, it does not mean physical healing. Uh-oh. It's speaking of spiritual healing. It's speaking of the addressing of sins in the lives of his people and consequently overcoming the effects of that sin in their life. We'll look at one passage, but if you go to Isaiah chapter six, verse 10. Actually, let's go to Isaiah chapter Go to Isaiah chapter 30. In verse 26, Isaiah 30 verse 26. We read, moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold as the light of seven days, and the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of his people and heals the stroke of their wound. Isaiah here's not talking about something that's physical. He's talking about something that's spiritual. This is said in the context of the entirety of his prophecy because in Isaiah chapter one, God through his servant notes that Israel is in some dire straits. They're in some serious problems and issues and ultimately they're filled with unrighteousness and they're so sinful that it is manifest in such a way that their picture is that they are greatly diseased and overcome by all sorts of putrid, disgusting things. In verse five and six, God describes them to say that from the bottom of their foot, even to the top of their head, there is no soundness, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed up or bound or soothed with ointment. And so this picture of God's people is one of disease. It's disgusting. And yet God, through Isaiah, tells His people that there will come a healing for them. And yet it's not by themselves, and it's not simply something for their outward person, but ultimately for their souls through the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, in all of the prophets, anytime the word healing is mentioned, it's spiritual. The only times in which you find healing being physical in the Old Testament is as it pertains to particular conditions that would warrant physical results, such as leprosy or skin conditions. So here's the point. The usage of the word in the scriptures demonstrates that it does not intend something that is physical, but rather something that is spiritual. In fact, the word itself can be used that way. It simply has one concept or idea that's connected with it is that it can mean to cure or to repair, to make thoroughly whole. When spoken of regarding God in His healing of His people or land, it speaks then to the comfort that He provides. Do you see how much greater, how much better that is? Than just to simply note, well, God wants you to be well physically, God wants everything to work out for you in terms of your bodies and consequently, God wants you to embrace or enjoy life. It's important to understand this because we need to recognize what Isaiah is ultimately noting then in Isaiah chapter 53. The message of Isaiah 53 isn't one that pertains to our physical wholeness or well-being. Notice what is brought out in the context of the text. There are certain words that are repeated a few times over. This repetition is intentional because Isaiah is using a method known as Hebrew parallelism. And in this parallelism, he basically is repeating lines or ideas in order to reinforce something. He's being repetitive for emphasis. The repetition is ultimately drawing our attention to the promised Messiah and showing then the accomplishment that he will secure through his life, his suffering, and his death. Notice the accomplishment. It's overcoming the issue of our own sins and our problems. Look, for example, at verse four, he has bore our griefs, he has carried our sorrows. Look at verse five, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastisement was upon him. Look at verse eight. He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people. Again, in verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to put him to grief, to make him an offering for sin. Verse 12, I will divide him a portion because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors and bore the sin of many and made intercession. What's all of this that's being described here by Isaiah? Only once does he mention physical healing. Everywhere else in this chapter, he lays upon it, line upon line, rejection, sorrow, grief, disdain, hurt. Because of sin. Because of disobedience. Yes, because of the curse, but not as it relates to what's happening in our bodies, but rather what is occurring in our souls before God. Isaiah here is foretelling the wonderful work and effects of the cross through the Lord Jesus Christ. He, as it were, is bringing to our attention what Paul had ultimately noted in Romans chapter 3, verses 21 through 25. When Paul writes, the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God sent forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. That's what Isaiah is saying. He's bore our griefs, he's carried our sorrows. He was cut off from the land of the wicked. It pleased the Lord to bruise him, to place upon him all of these things. Why? Because of transgressions of his people, because of the sin, and because of the misery, and because of the consequence of their disobedience. Not so that they might simply have physical health and well-being, but ultimately so that they might be rightly before a living God, so that as they were separated, they are separated no more, so that they might have that right standing and God in His holiness would no longer look upon them in condemnation and judgment, but through love and through grace and through mercy, bring them up to be with Him all because of Christ. Paul notes this in Ephesians 1, where he says that through the blood offered by the Son, we have the forgiveness of sins. And elsewhere he says, through the blood, having received the forgiveness, we then have peace with God and are then holy and blameless. Yes, miserable, cruel things happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was pierced for our transgressions. And the psalmist in Psalm 22 notes that this piercing is through his hands and feet, as he then hung on a cross and was cursed of God. And yes, Jesus was bruised or crushed for our iniquities, as was foretold in Genesis 3, that yes, he would be bruised on his heel by the serpent, but through that bruising, he would then crush and overcome the works of the wicked. But the healing that Jesus affords isn't the healing simply to overcome cancer and disease and sickness, but rather to overcome the sickness of our soul and the disease of sin and the effects of that as it pertains to death in our lives. It's important we set this perspective in mind for a few different reasons. The first of which is that this is the message then of Holy Scripture. Turn with me over to Matthew chapter eight. Matthew chapter eight, verse 16 and 17, we see that Matthew in his gospel there cites Isaiah 53, even this particular passage, and yet in doing so, he does not identify this in relation to the death of Jesus, but rather in relation to his life. Remember what one of the individuals who supported the idea of divine healing noted, I know I'm healed because the word says by his stripes, I am healed. The other individual who noted that on the cross, Jesus bore not just our sins, but also our sickness and disease and infirmities. Matthew notes this in chapter eight, verse 16 and 17, when evening had come, they brought to him many who were demon possessed, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah. Chapter 53, saying, he himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. What's significant here? Matthew associates the life of Jesus with the boring our infirmities and the taking up of our sickness, not his death. Matthew ultimately links the ministry of the Messiah, not the cross, but his earthly ministry to show himself as the true Messiah, whereby then he took and removed the effects of sin. How? through his life on that particular day, Jesus was busy. In the morning, he deals with a centurion who comes to him and he says, my servant is sick. Would you just say the word? And by speaking it, I know that he'll be healed. Why? Well, I'm a man in a position of authority and I have people under me. I tell them what to do and they do it. If you have authority, you also can speak and it will come to be. And Jesus then commands this man's faith and he sends him off and he says, your servant is made well. And the centurion then learns later on that it was at the time in which Jesus said he will be well go forth, that the man became better. Jesus then also heals Peter's mother-in-law. As he goes into Peter's house for an afternoon meal, there his mother-in-law is sick. Jesus shows compassion and he brings her to wholeness again. And then by the evening, we're told all sorts of individuals were coming from all over the place, dealing with all sorts of issues, demon possession, and all sorts of infirmities. And everyone, Jesus deals with them and boom, it's gone. What do we see? The Messiah shows himself through his ministry that he is acquainted with our griefs and he's touched by our sorrows. Through the exercise of his power in this ministry, he assures us that in the time of his death, he then is able to overcome and remove sin. Peter also then, in the passage that we read in our first scripture reading this morning, citing this same passage, he bore our griefs, he carried our sorrows, by his stripes we are healed, puts us into the context of redemption, not in the context of healing. In fact, Peter's whole point isn't to talk about how to deal with disease in your life, but rather is how to deal with the evils of suffering. He talks to slaves and he says, slaves, obey your masters for this is right. Even if they're evil, obey them. Even if they cause you to suffer, obey them. Why? Because Jesus suffered unjustly for what purpose? The redemption of sin. And in his redemption, he brought about healing and wholeness. What does all this point us to? It points us to the fact that God isn't in the business of eliminating our sicknesses. He can. I should rephrase that. God doesn't guarantee the elimination of our sicknesses. He can, but sometimes he chooses not to. We ought not look at the gospel as a means of securing false hope so that we just simply exercise faith or we just simply name certain things and through all of those things believe that something will come forth for us which will mean goodness, whether it pertains to our health or our well-being or our wealth or anything else. The scriptures give us at least four examples of those who did not experience healing. Epaphroditus. was not told by Paul simply to name and claim the promise of healing and it would be done. Epaphroditus was a devoted servant. He was commended for his faith and for a living example. And yet he was sick unto death. There was no healer. There was no call for the lack of faith. It was simply sickness for a time. And the Lord then eventually heard prayer, answered and delivered him. Timothy had some sort of stomach ailment and Paul didn't say, go down to your local faith healer and allow him to set hands upon you or come visit me sometime and we'll take care of this, Tim. Instead, he says, use natural means in order to overcome your stomach ailment and the Lord will sustain you. Paul himself, one of the greatest men of faith. We're told, had a thorn in the flesh. And those who are on the other side say, well, that's not about sickness. That's about persecution. The text doesn't seem to indicate that. Paul was given something that God would not remove. And Paul had sufficient faith. He had abounding faith. He had amazing faith. He had a rock solid faith that any one of us would die for twice over just so that we could experience for an hour. And yet he himself said, I would boast in my infirmities and rejoice in my weaknesses. Why? Because God shows his grace to be sufficient through the moment. Think about that. If our Christian life is simply all about being made well and being made whole, how does God bear a living example of the strength and fortitude of faith to a dying and lost world? If all it is is a matter of the exercise of belief and the confidence in what God has said and naming it over and over and over again, how does God really ultimately glorify his name through his people? Instead, he glorifies his people in the display of their belief. So what should we conclude? Number one, God can and does heal. There's no doubt about it. He did so for Epaphroditus. He did so for many people in the scriptures. But God doesn't always heal. And furthermore, God has not connected the promise of physical healing through the atonement of Jesus Christ as it relates to our bodies here and now. Rather, He's connected that promise to what lies ahead. If the atonement has righted us before the living God, has overcome the curse, and allowed us then to have communion and fellowship with Him full and free forevermore through the Lord Jesus Christ, then us being healed by the stripes of Jesus means that we ultimately have that which awaits for us, that which lies ahead after death, whereby we see that there will no longer be the effects or curse of sin, whereby we see that we will no longer deal with death or pain or sorrow or disease, but we know then that we will be made like unto the glorious body of Jesus Christ, brought together to be with him forevermore and praise and rejoice in the wonder of his hand and the glory of his name exercised in our lives. That's the healing that we have through his stripes. May we recognize then the wondrous glories that await us, and the assurances that are brought forth because of the victory that Jesus has accomplished as a suffering servant, whereby he has secured the ultimate healing that we need. Not simply removing a scrape or a virus that has come against us, but the effects of sin that hold us down and separate us from a holy God. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we rejoice to know that there is victory through the Lord Jesus Christ and that this victory is so much more and so much greater than simply that which lies to our bodies. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, if everything is right outwardly, and yet there are things wrong with his soul? And to that end, we know that you value and treasure, yes, our bodies, but ultimately our souls first and foremost. And you've effectively brought about a tremendous work in them through Jesus Christ. And so cause us, we pray then, to yield ourselves to your will at all times, to submit with patience and with faith, And may we walk, not simply seeking a life of ease and a life of physical comfort, but ultimately a life that would be yielded to your will, recognizing that you will glorify your name accordingly. You've even taught this through the words of our Lord, whereby we say, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.