He Took My Beating Part 2

by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)

When it was over, Mr. Allison put his arm around Billy and he said, “It was a wonderful thing that you did; you are a good boy, Billy.”

Then Mr. Allison did something he had not done before. He picked up the Bible that set on his desk, and he turned the pages until he found what he was looking for.

He said, “Boys and girls, what happened here is very much like something that happened 1900 years ago. It was predicted by one of God’s prophets, a man called Isaiah. And he was talking about a person you have all heard about; Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

He wrote these words several hundred years before Jesus came to earth.

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.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way, and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:5-7, KJV)

Mr. Allison explained to the boys and Girls that Isaiah wrote this about Jesus long before he was born. Then he went on…..
Just like Billy took Johnny’s beating, Jesus took ours. He was beaten by the Romans. They made a game out of it. They put him in the center of their circle, blindfolded Him and hit Him in the face and said, “Tell us, who hit you?” They played this game for a long time.

Then they whipped Him with a cat-o-nine tails, which was made of leather cords with pieces of sharp glass and rocks tied to the ends. This cruel whip cut the flesh in hundreds of places and pulled out small pieces of skin.

He was stripped naked, laughed at, and spit upon. Those pictures that we see of him with a covering across His hips are just for today’s refined way of thinking; so we won’t be shocked.

They pushed a crown of thorns into His scalp. It was a bloody spectacle. When they finished with Him, it was difficult to make out His features. He didn’t look human.

Then He was nailed to a cross, where He hung until He died. No one has ever suffered as Christ did. Why did He do it? He did it for you! He was the Son of God and He did it for you!

The scriptures that we just read said that He suffered and died, because of our sins. Sin separates us from God, and because of sin, we deserve to be punished.

But I believe that one day, long before the world was created, Jesus said to God, “I will take their beating”, and God said, “I will accept that.”

Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.
But that will not do you any good unless you believe that Jesus died for your sins. The Bible says that to be saved, which is to be spared the punishment for sin, we must repent.

To repent is to be genuinely sorry for your sin and to tell it to God, in prayer. If you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and to come into your heart, He will be your Savior and Lord.
It’s a wonderful thing to know Christ as your Savior. He will give you the Holy Spirit to live within you. You will know the joy of His constant presence.

He did all of this because he loves you. John3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

No one loves you like God does. Won’t you accept His wonderful gift? All you have to do is pray, “Father, please forgive my sins. I believe that Jesus died for me. I trust in Him, and receive Him as my Savior.”

Before the end of the term, all the children accepted Jesus as their Savior. I believe that when they saw Billy take Johnny’s beating, they could better understand what Jesus did for them.

I’m glad today that Jesus took my punishment. He also took your beating, and He died for you. It was an act of love. He loves you and wants you to accept the gift that he is offering this afternoon. Paul said this about Salvation:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23, KJV). It can’t be any simpler. Everyone in this room is a sinner. Everyone that ever lived sinned, except one man.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23, KJV) We are separated from God by our sin, and we will remain separated unless we accept the free gift that He wants to give us. But there is a condition; you must believe that Jesus died for your sins and you must tell someone about it.

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10, KJV)

Salvation is offered to everyone. Because God’s word says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13, KJV)

If you want to accept Jesus as your Savior today, let me know and we will pray together.