 Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a new day, new week. Let's begin this time with the word of prayer. Could one of us please lead us in prayer? Maybe Paul? Can you please lead us in prayer? Zeli? Okay, Paul's available. Go ahead, Paul. Father in the name of Jesus, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for today that you brought us together as we are going to learn from your word. Let it inspire us, let it dwell in us, let it become powerful in us and do your missionary work. We pray and declare all these in Jesus Christ's name, Son of the Living God, we are prayed. Amen. Amen, amen, amen. Thank you, Paul. All right, so before we go ahead, let me just do a quick review of what we did last week. Last week we looked at chapter 16, Isaiah chapter 53, and we saw how important, you know, Isaiah prophesies such wonderful things about the cross. Isaiah 53, if you read it in its entirety, it's got so many prophecies. Even if you read the whole portion of Isaiah, the whole book of Isaiah, there's so many wonderful prophecies. We read the authenticity of Isaiah. Now it's also important to look at authenticity, because many people may say many things, but what's the authenticity, what is the proof that what we're talking about is true. And so we looked at how, you know, even though the Dead Sea Scrolls 1300 years ago, what was found and what was written early in, around 400 BC, we see that both of them match. And a lot of portions of Isaiah was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and it is safe to say that whatever we are reading now from the book of Isaiah is word to word perfect. Of course there are different translations, but the essence and the prophecies are all perfect. And so we looked at three views on studying Isaiah 53. Three views of studying Isaiah 53. The first view was see what Christ accomplished on the cross for us. As foretold by Isaiah, remember, we looked at how, you know, behold my servant aboard Adonai. His visage will be marred. There will be nothing beautiful in him. His blood shall sprinkle the nations. The arm of the Lord has been revealed, which means what God has revealed it to his people, but not everyone have understood it. Then we also looked at how he will grow up as a tender shoot out of the ground, which means the Lord will protect God, protected over Jesus even as he was growing up. He was a man of sorrows and grief. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. And for our peace he died on the cross. So there was so many different things that the Lord Jesus did and accomplished for us on the cross. Then the second view was as believers, we see what has been made available to us through the cross. Remember that verse in Isaiah 53? For by his chastisement, we find peace. There is hope, there is deliverance. Remember the verse that says that by his tribes we are healed. So we receive healing, we receive deliverance, we receive hope, we receive joy, comfort, forgiveness of sins and so many wonderful promises. And the third view we looked at was as believers, how do we see, where is the imitation of the cross for us to apply in our daily lives? Now first one was what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Second view was as believers what do we receive because of the cross. And third one is how can I apply the work of the cross in my daily life? And so we looked at how the New Testament scripture calls us and says you are no longer slaves to sin, you have been crucified with Christ, you have been taken from sickness and bondage from the work of the enemy to the power of God, to the presence of God, from the place of darkness to eternal light. And there is this whole translation so when we live out our daily life we live out not as children of Adam but children of the Most High God, the Last Adam who overcame every obstacle, who overcame death for us. So when we are living our life we live out of that identity, we are victorious, we are conquerors in Christ Jesus. So it's so wonderful to read these scriptures and reiterate it in our lives. Now remember we always emphasize that we must not only just be heroes of the world but we must be doers of the world. So what we are studying, what we are learning it's very important that we walk on those promises. For example, all of a sudden the enemy fears into our hearts. Feeling of fear or you feel like you're sinking down. What is it that we can do? Remember the cross, remember what Isaiah said and remember what we as believers receive through the cross. And then we apply it in our lives and say, okay, I know this fear is real. I know that the enemy is putting this fear in my mind yet I will declare what God has called me to be and he has said, I have not given you the spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind. So when we declare these verses in our daily lives what we are doing is we are living our identity out of the cross. Apostle Paul the great man also says it's no longer I who live in the body I am living but my spirit, my will is all yielded to Christ. My sin, my fleshly desires have been crucified with Christ. And so we can attain that we can work towards that. Remember God is changing us from glory to glory strength to strength. So we completed this Isaiah 53 now we are going to go to the next portion 17th chapter we are on page 84 we are going to talk about how Jesus foretells the cross. Now we did study about this we did establish the fact that Jesus knew the reason why he came. It was not like Jesus was scared of the cross or he wanted to escape from the cross. He came into this world exactly what he was going to do. He knew that there will come a time that the sins of the world will be put upon him and he will die on the cross. He knew it. So it is not plan B as we had already discussed. So let's look at a few verses. We are going to read a couple of verses. I just want to encourage some of us to just keep your bibles open and quickly read the verses that we just look at not all the verses but just a couple of them. Let's read Luke chapter 2 34 and 35 Luke 2 34 and 35 Yes. And then somebody else can please go to John chapter 1 verse 29 So we can read those two. So the first one is Luke 2 34 and 35 Yes please go ahead anyone Luke chapter 2 verses 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother this child is destined to cause the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many heart will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too. Evan thank you said Let's read John 129 as well. John chapter 1 verse 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Thank you Anita. So we see here that the first one Luke 2 34 a sword shall pierce your own heart talking about Jesus mother and he will reveal the hearts of the people will despise him and we talked about what the cross was it was not a beautiful sight it was not something that was so wonderful we sing that song wonderful cross beautiful cross that's because we know the revelation we have received the power of the cross into our lives we understand what the cross is but in physicality if we had seen it there was nothing beautiful in that and so here the writer of Luke says Luke is writing and he is saying that because of the cross he will reveal the hearts of people so again he is foretelling the cross let's read probably John chapter 15 and verse 13 John 15 and verse 13 John 13 greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends yes thank you Zeddy no love is greater than this than anyone who is willing to lay down their life for his friends the Lord Jesus is talking to his disciples saying there is no greater love than this that a man is willing to lay down his life for his friend so Jesus knew it he knew that he has to lay down his life for the people of the world John 17 and verse 1 and maybe somebody else can move to Matthew chapter 16 13 to 26 let's read John 17 and verse 1 John 17 and verse 1 after Jesus said this he looked towards the heaven and prayed father the time has come glorify your son that your son may glorify you amen thank you Zed the time has come glorify your son so that the son may glorify you now what is he talking about glorify your son Jesus was talking about the crucifixion and through his death he is going to glorify the father through the death through this crucifixion and there will come a time he will go back and be with his father and he will be this will attain that same glory that he was before the foundations of the world so Jesus knew that these are things that are going to happen right it was not like he was surprised he was not he knew that Jesus in his mind didn't think okay I hope I can live for 50 years or I hope I can live for 60 years no he knew it time has come glorify me so that I can glorify you the father Jesus knew it let's read this it's a bigger portion Matthew chapter 16 13 to 26 Matthew 16 13 to 26 Matthew 16 13 to 26 Matthew 16 13 to 26 yes anyone please Matthew chapter 16 verses 13 to 26 when Jesus came to the region of Kasera, Philippi Laskis disciples who the people say son of man is they replied some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets but what about you he asked who do you say I am Simon Peter answered you are Christ the son of the living god Jesus replied desid are you Simon son of Yona for this was not revealed to you by man father in heaven and I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of gates will not over commit I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whatever you mind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven then he want his disciples not to tell anyone that he was Christ 21 from that time on Jesus began to explain his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders chief priests and teachers of the law and that he must be killed on the third day he will be raised to life Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him never lot he said this shall never happen to you Jesus turned and said to Peter get behind me Saturn you are stumbling block to me you do not have in mind the things of god but the things of man if anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me forever wants to save his life will lose it but whosoever loses his life for me will find it what good will be for a man if he gains the whole world yet for fit the soul or what a man give in exchange of his soul amen thank you thank you said now just picture this to read this portion the disciples have seen all the wonderful miracles Jesus has done right they've seen him uh you know take the five loaves of bread into fish serve it to thousands they've seen him raise up Lazarus they've seen him heal the leper and the lame the blind they've seen all these wonderful miracles and now towards the end of Jesus's ministry Jesus is asking Peter Peter who do you say I am many people say a lot of things about me they say I'm a healer they say I'm Elijah some say I'm I'm just a carpenter's son he's a prophet some say that the angel of god they sent me so Peter what do you say who do you say I am Peter says you are the son of the living god right and Jesus is pleased and he said upon that revelation of Jesus being the son of god I will build my church right now just a couple of verses later it says that Jesus went about teaching the disciples and telling them every time I'm not going to be with you long there will come a time I'll have to go to Jerusalem people will hand me over to the authorities and I will be killed immediately Peter says no Lord that should not be so Jesus rebukes Peter and says you don't have the things of God but the things of man so you see it was such a perfect example of human beings right people like us where Peter is so pleased he knows who Jesus is he knows and he is the one who said on this you are the Christ son of the living god and he had this great revelation but a couple of verses later he says no Lord we don't want you to die on the cross what does this teach us you know the Lord Jesus was prepared what it teaches us is sometimes we may have a great revelation of who God is but for that revelation to become real in our life we need the work of the Holy Spirit we need to walk in wisdom so sometimes there are people who have great revelations of God you know revelations of the word of God but they don't walk in wisdom the revelation is true but the outcome of the revelation walking in wisdom is fault heard Peter I'm sure it was he was just genuine but there was a sense of he wanted to protect Jesus but he didn't see the things of God even in our lives sometimes we have these great revelations God has spoken to us previously before God has done wonderful miracles in our lives and we can testify of it but suddenly there comes a season when we feel that all those are blocked everything is closed feel that we are just trapped in a room and there's nowhere to go and then we may forget all about the revelation and put our focus on what the enemy is doing right what does Jesus tell Peter get away from me Satan that was strong words I wonder how Peter would have felt you said why are you calling me Satan Lord yes you're trying to protect me but that's the enemy who's trying to put that thought in your mind so that I may not go to the cross and if I don't go to the cross the purpose of me coming into this world is lost so very important just as how Jesus knew what was ahead of him as believers we must know what is ahead of us in the sense that we know one day we will be with the Lord one day we will be in His presence yet there are these there are these seasons in our lives that God takes us through but we live with eternity values for example we are in the workplace we are working in the corporate sector it's very difficult to live a holy life live with honesty, integrity but God is calling us to walk in holiness God is calling us to walk in integrity so we need to put our focus, put our mind on Christ knowing that Lord you are there with us you are there with me, you will empower me to walk a life of holiness and then when we align ourselves to that we obey God we are pleased in God's eyes Peter wanted to do something in his heart I was always wondering what would I do if Jesus said this probably I would have said Lord no let's probably send you to Samaria they all like you there or we'll send you to Judea there the people are good they like you Jerusalem you don't be here for some time and Jesus did that previously in his ministry he went away from Jerusalem he said Prophet is not recognized in his own hometown he goes away because his ministry nobody was accepting him so he went to different places so maybe we would have said the same thing yet God says Lord Jesus says no that's not the purpose it's not that I have to run away from challenges I have to walk through those challenges and we see what God accomplished through the cross even in the Garden of Gethsemane Matthew chapter 26 the Lord Jesus is there he knew his time is very close what does he do he prays and there's this whole sense of the weight of the sins of the world coming upon him remember that Jesus did not know sin which means he did not sin he was tempted in all ways but he did not sin how can the sins of the entire world something that he has not tasted we put upon him in full measure and so that is why in the Garden of Gethsemane he says if this is let not my will if it's possible let this cup pass by but if it's let not my will my will be done so we see that in many places the Lord Jesus foretells of the cross he was pleased with it he was looking forward to it the scriptures teaches us that he says I will make all things new through the cross so let's go to the next portion which is the wisdom of the cross now I know that we've all learnt about this and probably heard a lot of sermons but it's good to refresh our hearts, refresh our spirits this is the eternal truth the cross is the basis of our foundation of our life so let's look at the wisdom of the cross firstly let's look at the title the wisdom of the cross the whole aspect of God becoming man coming into this world living a perfect life dying on the cross for each one of them it's not a natural wisdom it is not something that people who out of their natural heart will believe what Jesus what God did was wisdom he expressed wisdom through this entire ordeal of the cross Christ there was substitution in war God died for man let's look at a few verses Hebrews 2 9 says but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone how did death come into this world we know sin and death came through Satan when Adam disobeyed God we the fall of man caused sin and sin causes death now God by the grace of God that he might taste death for everyone Romans 5 8 says but God demonstrated his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ the anointed one the son of the living God died for us Galatians 3 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us because it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree the Greek word here used here is the word Hooper H-U-P-E-R Hooper now what is this word the Greek word Hooper it can be translated into 4 different ways first one instead of Christ died Hooper instead of me second one in place of when Christ died he took my place you know I was supposed to be on the cross but Jesus took my place 3 on behalf of the word on behalf of refers to I'm sure we've done this right probably in school or college somebody is unwell maybe your friend is unwell they come to college and the teacher says I expected this person to do the presentation in the class maybe your friend comes and says can I do it on behalf of her or him so what is that this other person friend is at home maybe unwell if the other friend comes and says I will do it on behalf of my friend I'm going to represent her so what God did and what the Lord Jesus did is he represented us before the father fourth one he was as a substitute substitution means he became what we are he took our place it's so wonderful to just think about these four aspects instead of me it was Jesus in place of me it was Jesus on behalf of me it was Jesus and as a substitute for me it was Jesus the wrath of God and the anger the wrath against sin and Satan all of that wrath was supposed to fall on me what did Jesus do through the Lord's death Hooper through that he came and took my place only a perfect man could be a substitute even if there was one sin in Jesus substitution would have not been valid even one sin imagine if Jesus when he was in the wilderness fasting for 40 days the enemy comes and says why don't you take the stone and turn it into bread and eat it because you're hungry imagine if Jesus said okay anyways I'm in the desert there's nobody here none of the disciples are there no people are there who can watch me so I can just turn it into bread and eat it because anyway this whole world is my creation I can do it could he have done it yes but he didn't why because he knew that if he did it he would fall into temptation he would sin and the entire purpose for what he had come for will be nullified there was no sin in him a perfect man could only substitute for a sinful man a man who was already a sinner could not become a substitute for other men remember in the old covenant the high priest would go into the holy of holies yes he would go as a substitute but what he had to do he had to first cleanse himself he had to pray he had to make an offering for himself and say God I'm coming I'm also a sinner but I'm coming on behalf of my people behalf of my nation please forgive their sins and he had to make atonement for himself first then do it for the nation secondly one man's obedience the last Adam through him everyone was made perfect look at this this whole picture Adam sinned after Adam Cain then the generations that came sin was automatically imputed upon us now who taught Cain to murder Abel who taught him to get angry with Abel who taught him to get jealous that's so much anger that he went and killed his own brother who taught him that before that Adam and Eve didn't know what it is didn't know sin they were sitting probably with the wild animals around nothing they didn't know sin but now who taught Cain to kill Abel it was sin because of Adam because of the fall the sin that is there in us caused Cain to kill Abel and then even when we look now people around us and even our lives why is there so much sin why is there sickness why is there death because sin because of Adam because what he did was he disobeyed God and it was imputed upon all of us when we were born when we were born and sin you don't teach a 2 year old child or a 3 year old child how to lie they know it they know it whether they are the they may be the pastors children or prophets children or the greatest man in the world to have the holiest man in the world their children would have automatically learned how to lie how to cheat it is sin that is already in us it is in our nature but what did Jesus do when he died on the cross although it appeared as if it was man dying it was God dying for humanity and so when we believe in this cross our identity immediately changes from Adams as our father to the Lord Jesus as our saviour immediately it just changes but what is the wisdom of the cross we must believe in it right? so if we were living in sin we are living a life of continual sin then suddenly the Lord Jesus reveals himself and we accept the Lord Jesus we ask for forgiveness we change our lives and we believe in the cross our identity is changed physically we look the same right? we will not get a halo we will not get wings physically we look the same we will have our same family same friends we are not glorified just because we receive Jesus as our personal saviour everything is the same but our identity changes we are no longer of the enemy we don't belong to Adam but we belong to the last Adam here Adam fell here the last Adam he conquered so we are translated from this generation to the generation of our last Adam now we can say that Adam the first Adam when the serpent came he disobeyed he ate and sin and death came into this world but the last Adam the same temptations came but he overcame and when I believe in him my identity changes so now I am no longer in sin I am no longer a sinner there is sin in the world but I am no longer a sinner because my identity is changed the real work is a spiritual work for perfect holiness to come in contact with sin is far worse than the physical humiliation and torture that Jesus endured right perfect holiness the bible says that Jesus Christ was there with the father in the presence of the father he was God right perfect holiness more than the physical endure challenges that Jesus went through it was more of an emotional stress science proves that when we go through intense stress it affects on your body it affects on your skin it shows in your skin there are sometimes people who have scales on their skin or psoriasis burning sensation intense stress it shows released out on the skin it scientifically proves stress that is even more intense than that will cause blood to come out of your nose and ears because your blood vessels gets compressed and it just begins to burst the bible says that Jesus had drops of sweat of blood falling down it was not because oh the nails are going to be 5 inch long one nail here, one nail here they're going to beat me they're going to put a crown how will I manage they'll not be any water they'll not be food how will I be in the dungeon I'm not used to this it was not about the physical it was more of an emotional I don't know what sin is but now the sin of the world is going to come upon me and there's going to be the separation between you and me which has never happened before when Jesus was there before the foundation he was there with the father there was no separation even when he was born there was no separation all through Jesus' ministry there was no separation he always called him father how do my fathers will the father and I are one I am in the father and the father is in me remember those verses so they were one now all of a sudden because of the cross Jesus is going to taste death and he's going to taste what it feels like to be separated from the father that was something too much for him to handle that is why it is only on the cross where the Lord Jesus says my God my God why have you forsaken me because the sins of the world was upon him he was no longer God the father was no longer a father to him at that moment there was a separation even when Jesus was on the cross he had to turn his face away where the righteous judgment of God was imputed on Jesus if you see all through Jesus' ministry never has Jesus said my God he's always said my father was only on the cross because of sin that separation why have you forsaken me that pain of being away from you the pain of tasting sin which I've never tasted it's too much to handle yet in the end he says into your hands father into your hands I command my spirit and so wonderful to see the substitution he died so that we can live he was stoned away from God so that we can be brought to God he became sin so that we may be made righteous he became poor so that we may be rich when we say poor and rich we are not talking about physical material poor we are talking about spiritually he became poor for a moment because the sin of the world was upon him but through that we are rich he took our place here or not to give us a place in heaven what a wonderful promise he became what we were so that we could share in who he is amen that's so wonderful imagine this I'm not trying to put fear into us but imagine this either way what passes away what does Paul say to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord now imagine this if the cross was not there if Jesus did not die on the cross what would have happened in the river righteous lives but we cannot enter his presence just like that there would have been a place and we'll talk about paradise and Abraham's bosom but there would have been a place we would have just been there our souls would have been resting or if we were living in sin there was a place of torment but here as believers just by believing in the cross you and I get to be in the presence of Jesus when we die or even if the rapture happens Paul's writing to the testimonians a twinkling of an eye we will get a glorified body and we will see him face to face can you picture that we will see the Lord Jesus face to face the bible says that we will see him as he is in his glorified state what a wonderful wonderful wonderful exchange we don't have to sit in one place and you know because there's no torment but sitting there God is saying I'm giving you something better than that you will be with me in heaven I will be your king and I will be with you my presence will surround you this is the greatest comfort that we have as believers we can say God that is not the end it's not the end it's just that our bodies are going to fade away here we are going to be with the Lord forever our glorified bodies all this is possible because of the cross we study end times and revelations and what's going to happen in heaven and earth and all of these things all of this is possible because of the cross the son of he became what we are so we could share in who he is imagine the father seated on the throne and he says he looks at us and he says I don't see any sin in you why? because I'm seeing you through the eyes of my son Jesus and the prices paid the son of God became the son of man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God now we can say I'm a child of God I'm a son of God I'm a daughter of God the word atonement means that Jesus met the demands of God's justice for sin and towards the sinner Christ became an atonement for us in order to turn aside God's anger towards sin and complete the requirement of God's judgment towards sin the atonement which means Jesus met the demands remember the day of atonement in the Old Testament what do they do in the day of atonement they would cut the lamb take the offering take the blood they will pray give it to the high priest the high priest will go into the holy of holies smear the blood and he would come out once a year day of atonement that means God has turned away his wrath he has put the wrath on that sacrifice on that lamb but here Christ became the atonement the anger of God the wrath of God was put on Jesus Christ and God's judgment complete judgment was just lashed out on Jesus fully full of God's anger and wrath on Jesus but what did God do after that he said you know the Bible says that God, the spirit of God raised him up on the third day so he says here it's so wonderful when you picture it God put all his wrath all his anger on Jesus all the sins of the world upon him he died this most horrendous painful death and then the father decides I will raise him up on the third day Jesus rises again now this is not in the spirit this is in the physical body Jesus who was dead with scars and wounds and pierced hands his body had resurrected they can't find the body of Jesus they can't find anything Jesus walked out of that tomb he goes to his disciples Thomas is unbelieving for a moment there what does he tell Thomas come here put your finger into my side put your finger into my hands and see because flesh and blood will not I am in flesh and blood so he overcame that he overcame that his substitutionary that removed the barrier between man and God and offered unlimited atonement to all of us the last Adam broke down the walls that the first Adam constructed such a good saying the last Adam because of sin he built a wall so there's God, there's man behind the wall now the last Adam says no more wall no more separation between God and man break that wall down there was a reason why the veil was stoned from top to bottom it was to typify that there's no more separation between God and man it was all done the cross put to death the enmity God had with man read this verse and we'll take a break Ephesians 2 14-16 for he himself is our peace who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself one new man from the two thus making peace verse 16 and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross thereby putting to death the enmity that enmity between God and man has been removed now here's something important we can say we can have enmity with God we can say there is no God God is always judging God is always causing me to go through troubles God is doing this God has never been there for me God is at a young age my family has gone we have all kinds of excuses that we can give but here's the thing we maybe have enmity with God but the important thing is God has no enmity with us the picture this in school growing up as children you have this best friend and you fight to that best friend then you don't talk to him him or her you don't talk to them you're upset you don't talk to them but maybe the other friend is saying hey that's happened is happened let's move on let's continue to be friends but the other friend is saying no I don't want to talk and this has happened in cases where there are brothers as well own brothers one brother wants to reconcile but the other brother is saying no he did this to me 10 years back I will never forget that now the same way we can be upset about God and say God is this God is that but that does not change the fact that God is still willing to bring restoration upon our lives so that's a wonderful promise that we can hold on to we'll take a break, we'll come back at 11 and continue from where we stopped let's take a break