Wounded

For OUR Transgressions.

Bro. John Dillinger

Wounded for our Transgressions

Dedication

This book is dedicated first and foremost to my Lord. There is no doubt that without him I would be a lost soul with no hope or home.

Secondly, I want to dedicate this book to my wife and children. There is no greater thing that I could ask for, no greater honor, than being the husband of my wife, Mindy, and the father of my children, Evan, Kailey, Landon, and Sawyer.

Finally, I want to dedicate this book to my friends in the ministry and the men who have helped to shape me: My Three pastors Jerry Miller, Kenny McMahan, and Jeremy Ballinger. Through their leadership and fellowship, I am who I am today. And also to the folks at the three churches to whom I have served in the ministry: Eastside Baptist Church, Black Oak Baptist Church, and Holy Hills Baptist Church. I appreciate all of you!

Bro. John Dillinger

Wounded for our Transgressions

Text  Isaiah 53:1-5 “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

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.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

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.”

Introduction:       The purpose of this study is to do two things: First, for those who have never trusted in what Jesus did on the cross for their salvation, to introduce them to the One who was wounded for their transgressions. Second, for those who are saved, to be reminded that he was wounded for OUR transgressions, and bruised for OUR iniquities. If we are not careful we will get caught up in the emotions and activities of being apart of a fun, growing church, and we will forget about the one who is supposed to be the center of our church and our lives.

Pride

          Many times as a preacher, I have operated on my own abilities, rather than the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

 Once, a young preacher (that was a little too full of himself), went to the pulpit for a Sunday morning service. It was a big honor to be the one to get to fill the pastor’s pulpit on a Sunday morning. The young preacher went up with his nose in the air, and his shoulders back with pride, expecting to give the sermon of his life. The only problem was, that God did not go up there with him, because of his haughty spirit. When he finished, he could tell that he had not performed the way that he had hoped, and was disappointed, leaving the pulpit with his head bowed low. One of the older preachers put his arm around him and said, “Son, if you would’ve went up there the way you came down, then maybe you could have come down the way you went up.”

Worldliness

A lot of Christians have swallowed the pill, that if you don’t look like everybody else, and act like everybody else, then you’re missing out. You see we need to quit trying to be like the world, and like Hollywood, and we need to start acting like someone who has been washed in the Blood! 

Rich people spend a lot of money on soaps, and oils, and perfumes, that they use to clean with; but those things will not wash off, or cover the smell of a soul stained by the filth of sin.

Conforming to what?

Look in v. 2—“Tender”    “root out of dry ground”    “no form nor comeliness nor beauty”     The world says, you’ve got to be popular, or rich, or famous, or own every new gadget, or have the best clothes, or be tall and muscled, or be thin and look like a model. And if you’re not those things, then you don’t fit. Listen, Jesus did not fit what the world would want in a king!

Think about when Israel called their first king. They did not choose someone like David.  He had the right character, and the right amount of bravery, and the right heart, but that is not what they were looking for. They wanted Saul.  He was the best looking, and the tallest, and the strongest. That is what the Jews were looking for in their Messiah King.

They wanted a handsome king, someone that would look good on a cereal box!

In Jesus’ day they wanted the lion, but they got the lamb.  Look at verse 6. “we like sheep” Now look at v.7. “he like a lamb”.  

He became what we are, in order to redeem us from what we’ve become.  Sin demanded a blood sacrifice, but a sheep had not committed the offence. So, in order to pay for the sins of the world, a human would have to die. The only problem was, there had never been a sinless human.

Adam was for a while, but that didn’t last.      

Enoch walked with God, but wasn’t sinless.

Noah found grace, but got drunk.           

Abraham was of great faith, but was a coward.

Jacob was a liar.  Moses was a manslayer.       

David was a murderer, and an adulterer.         

John the Baptist couldn’t even keep his head on straight!

But one day as he was baptizing in the Jordan, he looked up and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

…The one able to take away their sin, and reconcile the people to God.

So, did they accept him? No.

v.3 They were just like most people in our day and time don’t accept him.

He came to pay the payment for our sin. Rom 3:23 For the wages of sin is death; And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.Heb9:22

Rom5:7-8 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

You see what it says in text verse 5 “He was wounded for our transgressions.”

There are four different injuries noted in verse 5:  wounded, bruised, chastised, and striped.

Likewise, the Lord suffered four different injuries on the cross. His feet and hands were pierced by nails, his brow was pierced by a crown of thorns, and his side, under his heart, was pierced by a Roman spear.

We see him wounded in his hands, his heels, his head, and hisheart.

I.                  His Hands were Wounded for Our Transgressions.

Think about these hands that suffered the nails.

They had cast the stars out into the universe.   They had hung the moons and the planets in orbit, like hanging decorative balls on a Christmas tree.

They had formed man, out of the dust of the ground, like a potter forming clay. Those hands had taken the tip of the finger, and wrote the 10 Commandments on tablets of stone, as easy as you writing on a piece of paper.     

Now, they had been stretched out, to receive the wounds that would pay for our sins. You see, his hands were wounded for our transgressions, because WE had done things that WE should not have done.

WE have held things that we shouldn’t have held, and touched things that WE shouldn’t have touched.

I remember as a child, when Grandma would make an Italian cream cake for special occasions. It was the only time that she would make her cakes in round pans, and frost them all over, just like the ones at the store. She would even take the time to arrange the pecans on top to look like flowers, and the first thing that she would say after it was done was, “Now you’d better not touch that cake!” I wanted to touch it so bad I couldn’t stand it. Why would you say that to a mischievous child?

From that moment on, all I could think about was that cake. If I played basketball it looked like a cake. If I played with my cousin, his head looked like a cake. All that was on my mind was that cake. So finally, I would give in to my temptation, and I would stick my finger in the icing on the side, and taste the best bite of the cake that a person could ever taste; The forbidden bite!

When you have a hard time with sin, and you want to do what you know that you shouldn’t do, think about that precious hand being stretched out on that hard wooden cross.

Thomas didn’t believe the account of the Lord raising from the dead. Look at John 20:26-29 “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

I believe, the reason why we don’t consider what the Lord went through, to pay for our salvation, is because WE didn’t have to go through it! Did you ever learn anything from a whippen that someone got in your place? Also, WE didn’t have to witness it. Thomas didn’t either, in fact, ALL of his disciples forsook him.  But we never got to see the scars, or the wounds, but Thomas did. I doubt that he ever forgot what the Lord had done for him.

I want you to realize, that those wounds in his hands, were just as much for you on that day, as they were for Thomas back then. As the hammer came down on the nails, I can’t help but to think that he was thinking my name in his mind, and your name with every stroke on the nails.

Invitation thought:  Now, those hands, that took the nails, are the ones that are holding your salvation tightly in his grip. No one is able to get you out.

II.               His Heels were Bruised for Our Iniquities.

Think about the feet of the Lord Jesus. 

These feet stepped out into the vastness of nothing, and created everything.           These feet stepped out of the portals of Heaven, and into the womb of a virgin.           These feet walked on the water while it was raging beneath him. These feet bore the burden of walking the cross up the mountain of Calvary.

These feet were then bruised for our iniquities on that cross.                But one day these feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, as Jesus assumes his throne, as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Isaiah 52:7

This verse alludes to that very day when all of the earth will come under subjection to the Lord as servants.  It is also this verse, that Paul was quoting from when he said in Rom 10:15;  “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

Jesus wasn’t just preaching the gospel of peace, He WAS the Gospel of Peace.     He was the Eternal Word, preaching the Spoken Word, to some of the ones who would pen the Written Word. All of these are the pure Word of God.  “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

A.           His feet were to be washed by the tears of sinners.

Look at the book of Luke 7:37-48 In verse 38 it says that the woman “…began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

B.            His feet should be worshipped at, by the hearts of his saints.

They hadn’t even offered him water to wash his feet with, yet she washed them with her tears.  This should be the desire of his children, those that have been forgiven of their sins should never cease to give him their love, and , and humility.

We should be the most forgiving people in the entire world, but all to often, we are the most unforgiving people in the world.  Having been forgiven of our sins, we should understand the need to forgive and give mercy.

The fact is, that he was bruised for our iniquities. Look at Gen. 3:15

Here is the promise of the redeemer. Just as Adam became sin to redeem his bride, so too would Jesus Christ become sin, in order to redeem his bride, and all that would follow God before them.

On the cross of Calvary, the spike was placed in the only part of the foot, that would both hold the weight of a man, and also would not break a bone. That place is the joint, where the heel meets the rest of the foot.(Psalm 34:20; John 19:36)

Here, the Lords heel was bruised, but Satan’s head was crushed. Satan didn’t realize that he was nailing his own head to the cross!

C.      He was wounded in his feet because WE went places that WE should not have gone.

Be careful little feet where you go.  Be careful little feet where you go.

It breaks my heart to realize, that it was the places that I’ve gone in my life, that caused the Lord suffer the bruises to those beautiful feet.

There have been times, that I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it caused me to be in trouble. And there’s also been the times, that I knew exactly what I was doing, and did it anyways.  I can here the hammer hitting the nails. 

But it’s not only the places that I went physically, but the places that I’ve gone spiritually. I’ve walked so far away from the Lord, without ever moving from 514 Reynolds Ave.    The disciples walked away from him physically, and I’ve walked away from him spiritually, even after all that he has done for me.

Think about the words of the poem; “Footprints in the Sand”

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."(Footprints: Mary Stevenson)

Friend, have you walked away from God? Come back, he is waiting on you!

III.           His Head was Chastised for Our Peace.

Text Isaiah 53:5; 10-12

Intro:    To be chastised is to be whipped. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Heb. 12:6

You know, that you get a whipping as punishment for  doing wrong, not because your parents hate you, but love you.

It is also to be a payment for your sins.  But the text is clear, He was chastised for OUR PEACE!

We are the ones that needed peace with God, not Jesus. We are the ones that had to have our sins atoned for, not Jesus.

WE are the ones that deserved the whipping not Jesus, but it was put on him.

We have seen how his hands were wounded for our transgressions, and how his heel was bruised for our iniquities. Now, we’re going to see how his head was chastised for our peace.

Head chastised for our peace.

The head is arguably the most important extremity of the body. It holds the eyes, by which we see;  the ears, by which we hear; the nose, by which we breathe; and the mouth, by which we eat and drink. It also holds the brain, which is the abode of the mind, and the processing place for the soul.

Man is a three part being, and each part focuses on a different part of you. The body’s main concern is the desires of the flesh. The spirit’s main concern is the desires of the heart, but the soul’s main concern is the desires and intents of the mind.

When you think about his head being chastised, you must think about the beautiful countenance of the Lord. Verse two tells us that in the earthly, he was tender and not comely. But in the heavenly, he is altogether lovely. Look at Isaiah 52:14  “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:”

Think about the fact, that with his mouth, he spoke the creation into existence. With his eyes, he sees our needs before we have a problem. With his ears, he hears our prayers before we ever pray them. He listens to our hurts, our fears, our praises, and our songs.

It is this head, that we, the blood washed, redeemed saints of God, will one day crown as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and his head was chastised for our peace!

Why me Lord?  Who am I that a king would bleed and die for? Who am I that he would say not my will thine Lord? The answer I may never know, why he’d ever love me so, but to the old rugged cross He’d go, for WHO AM I”

The old Man in the natural sense is at war with God. But the new man is at peace with God. It is a peace that passeth all understanding. 

But his head was chastened for our peace. Look in Matt. 26:59-68 Here is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7 

Be careful little mouth what you say, be careful little ears what you hear, be careful little mind what you think.

If that would’ve been you or I being falsely accused, we’d had us an independent fundamental cussing fit.

…but he opened not his mouth.

He could have called the angels to avenge him, but he opened not his mouth.

He could’ve called fire down from heaven, but he opened not his mouth.

He could’ve told the ground to open up and swallow them, but he opened not his mouth.

You see, his head was chastened for the things that I thought, and the things that I heard, and the things that I saw. That was what he was being chastened for.

He was crowned, by a thorny crown, to gain my peace with God. One day, I’ll repay the favor, when I take the crowns given to me at the judgement seat, and crown him king with a golden crown!

We have seen how his hands were wounded for our transgressions, and how his heels were bruised for our iniquities, and how his head was chastised for our peace.

IV.           Heart striped for our healing

We needed healing because, without Christ, we are sick. Jesus said “…they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”

You see, we are like the blind man who cannot see what is ahead of him. And like the crippled man, who is crooked and unable to stand on his own. And like the leper, that is sick from the inside out. And like the children of Israel, bitten by fiery serpants, were sick from a snake bite, and the only antidote is made from the very same poison that has made you sick.

That is why Jesus had to drink the cup of sin in the garden, and that is why the bible says he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin…

He was scourged at the whipping post by pilot, until you could see the inner parts of the muscle torn, and the ligaments and even some of the organs were exposed.

Then, after that, he carried a heavy wooden cross up to the top of a hill, and laid himself down of his own free will.

After they dropped the cross into the hole ripping his flesh, after God had turned the sky black and poured out his wrath upon sin, after he commended his Spirit into the hands of the father and gave up the Ghost, after all this,they had one more stripe to lay upon him. John 19:31-37 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”

Now, this was supernatural in nature, as well as natural. The blood, was the agent to which salvation would be given, and the living water, the Holy Spirit, would be the agent whereby salvation would be kept.

There is a medical condition that can help to explain this as well. When the heart suffers great trauma, the sack around the heart will fill with a watery fluid. Jesus did not die of a scourging, or a Roman cross, or of any other earthly reason, he died of a broken heart that burst forth the cleansing blood and the living water of the Holy Spirit.

“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.”

Why was he wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, and chastened for our peace, and given stripes for our healing? It was because of what it says in the book of Job, He became our daysman.

We were reaching up to God, but could not make it, because of our sin. God was reaching down, but could not reach us, because of our sin. So, Jesus came to where we were, and took our hand in one hand, and then to reach God, he climbed upon the cross and stuck out the other hand to his father, and that day, mercy built a bridge that we could have healing and peace!

In Closing…

With HIS stripes WE are healed.

He was wounded in his hands for our transgressions, because of things we have done. He was wounded in his heels, and bruised for our iniquities, because of places we’ve gone. He was wounded in his head, and chastened for our peace, because of things we have thought. And, he was striped and pierced in his heart, for our healing, because we have loved things that we ought naught have loved.

Yet he loved us enough that he gave his cheek to the smiters, and opened not his mouth to the accusers. This ought to cause us to be bold in our service to him, and never let us forget what our salvation cost. It may have been free to us, but it was certainly not cheap.

Thank God, He was wounded for our transgressions!

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 50:6

To Contact Bro. John

Write to:

514 Reynolds Ave.

Dyersburg, TN 38024

(731) 285 9432 church

(870) 483 4755 cell

johnedillinger@yahoo.com