Series: Isaiah
Title: No Form Nor Comeliness
Text: Isaiah 53: 2-3
Date: October 6, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 53: 2: 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. 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.
Proposition: The things which man highly esteems are an abomination
to God and the thing God highly esteems is despised and rejected of men.
I. CHRIST JESUS CAME WITH NOTHING WHICH WOULD
APPEAL TO NATURAL SINNERS—V2: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Christ is God
Christ
Jesus, was and is, God and equal with God.
Philippians 2: 6: Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God:…
Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace.
Matthew 1: 23:...they shall call his name Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is, God with us.
Christ Came with No Form
But
when the Son of God came into this earth to save his people from our sins he
took another form.
Philippians 2: 7: But made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Isaiah 53: 2…no form, nor comeliness.
Let me
tell you about something that happened to a girl that lived just down the road
from me. This girl was poor. She was not married. But she got pregnant. She left town and went away to have the baby? I guess she didn’t want to disgrace her
family any more than she already had with an illegitimate child?
Those
are the kinds of things the neighbors were saying about Mary over dinner. The
kind of conclusions we draw by just looking at the appearance of things. No—this girl was a sinner alright, but she
was chosen of God and saved by God’s free grace—like every other child of God. The
Holy Ghost overshadowed her and that holy thing formed in her womb is called “the
Son of God.” She left town because it was written in the scriptures which
Christ came to fulfill. So we should not
draw unjust conclusions by the appearance of things.
Sinners,
who were truly the bastard sons of Adam, whose father was the devil, implied
that God the Father’s only begotten Son WAS illegitimate…
John 8:41:…Then said they to him, WE be not born of
fornication; we have one Father, even God.
How our
Savior, “is despised and rejected of men!” (Is 53: 3)
No Comeliness or Beauty in Christ’s Birth
Christ was
born into poverty—Luke 2: 7: And she brought forth her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was
no room for them in the inn.
They
went to Bethlehem to be taxed—to fulfill scripture—so the town was crowded and
the inn was full. Yet had Joseph been a
wealthy man someone would have esteemed him highly enough to have made some
kind of descent accommodation—Mary was 9 months pregnant—but he was poor. So
the child was born in a barn.
They
did not even have enough money to have a doctor present—when Mary gave birth to
the great Physician, no mention is made of a physician or a mid-wife—just
Joseph and Mary. God the Son was not
laid on clean sheets in a nice crib—he was laid in a feed trough—where they put
hay and feed for the animals to eat from.
Illustration: Think of the fanfare when the prince born to Prince
William in England recently. He made headlines around the world. Yet, the
Prince of Life was born to poor parents—and it was not like Christmas time—men
were not singing joy to the world.
There
is no majesty in poverty to attract sinners; no beauty to the carnal eye in
poverty. You ever hear of a child who
said his dream is to grow up and be poor.
We do not want that for ourselves or our children. We give poverty negative connotations:
·
We assume God has not blessed the poor,
·
We assume the poor are uneducated
·
We imagine something wrong in their past
·
We assume we are better than the poor.
Not any
sinner, apart from God revealing grace, could look at that scene in the cow
stable and esteem him as the Lord Jesus, God with us. No, because those are not
the kinds of conditions that sinners esteem but rather despise.
No Form in Christ’s Worship
The
first time Christ was brought to the temple we see something of how men would
have found no form or comliness in the way he would later worship. When they came up to Jerusalem after 8 days
to circumcise Christ and to offer sacrifices to God—Joseph and Mary offered the
sacrifice which God provided for the poor-folks, “A pair of turtledoves, or two
young pigeons.” (Lu 2: 24) That was what poor people were to offer who could
not afford a lamb. So as he grew older and came to the temple with Mary and
Joseph, the scribes and Pharisees would have known he was poor by what his
parents offered.
Self-righteous
formalists do not esteem menial sacrifices in religion. They put great men’s
names on parking spots or on the back of pews while Christ commends the poor
widow he gave more than they all with her two mites. Formalists esteem great
sacrifices—great offerings, great prayers, great works, great buildings, great congregations,
on and on and on—because folks who only have a form of godliness, equate those
things as evidence that God is present. Let
me tell you what Christ said about that place so highly esteemed of men.
Matthew 24: 1: And Jesus went out, and departed from the
temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the
temple. 2: And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say
unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not
be thrown down.
Matthews 23: 27: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all
uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also
outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity.
Men
esteem a noble occupation. But the trade our Savior held was of no esteem. He
worked with Joseph as a carpenter.
Mark 6: 3: Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary,
the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his
sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
No Form in Christ’s Education
Sinners
pay high regard to a form of religious education. Christ knew the scriptures
because he is God who moved the holy prophets to write the scriptures.
John 7:15: And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth
this man letters, having never learned?
They
knew he was not trained at the feet of any of their masters or in any of their
universities. But remember who they are speaking to? This is the one of whom we
read,
Isaiah 40: 13: Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD,
or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14: With whom took he counsel, and who
instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him
knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
John 1: 1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2: The same was in the beginning with God.
3: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made. 4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5: And the light
shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not… 10: He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11: He came
unto his own, and his own received him not.
Think
of that: these men proud of their high education confronting the Incarnate Word
as an ‘uneducated man’.
No Form in Christ’s Authority
Sinners esteem highly a form of religious authority—with
letters of great swelling commendation.
Matthew 21:23: And when he was come
into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him
as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and
who gave thee this authority?
Weak and worthless sinners—asking God where he got his authority. He of
whom,
Daniel 4:35: And all the inhabitants of the earth are
reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto
him, What doest thou?
They
couldn’t take their next breathe without God giving it to them while they use
it to question God on where he got his authority to teach in their temple!
Illustration: When the old farmer who was a grace preacher backed the
works preacher into a corner, the works preacher questioned, “Who ordained you?”
II. SECONDLY, THE THING MEN DESPISED AND
REJECTED MOST ABOUT OUR SAVIOR WAS HIS GOSPEL.
No Beauty in Christ Being Salvation
If he
had promised earthly rewards they would have bowed to him as their king. They
followed him when he fed their bellies. But when he said, “All the Father
giveth me shall come to me”, “But Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood ye
have no life in you.”….“Many therefore of his disciples, when they
had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (Jn 6: 37, 53,
60)
When
they came to him of their own accord, when it was by their own power that they
called themselves his disciples then they would follow him, but when he said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they are life. But there are some of
you that believe not….And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can
come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many
of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (Jn 6: 65-66)
Why did
they go back? Christ exposed that their
discipleship was of their own making. Before I was pastor and since, I have
seen quite a few men and women who would sit and hear the gospel—some for a
long time but then they went away. Several told me why they went away. When
they began to hear the gospel they realized if this gospel is the truth then my
profession, my experience, is false—and I’m lost—but rather than let go of
their profession and bow to Christ—they hung on to their profession and went
away. That is what happened in John 6
when they went away from the Master. Oh,
that God make us drop everything and lay hold of Christ only!
No Esteem for Christ Being God
When
Christ healed folks, they did not despise or reject him for a good work. If they could have had this world and their
sin and all their temporal riches they would have gladly followed him. But when
he said “except you take up your cross and follow me”—they chose to save their
life, their profession, their works, their position and so on.
John 10: 14: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep,
and am known of mine. 15: As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father:
and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16: And other sheep I have, which are not
of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there
shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17: Therefore doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18: No man taketh it
from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. 19:
There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings….
What
caused the division? Christ’s gospel—for these sayings. What is it about the gospel that folks
find so offensive?
John 10: 24: Then came the Jews round about him, and said
unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. 25: Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works
that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26: But ye believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27: My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me: 28: And I give unto them eternal life; and
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. 29: My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man
is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30: I and my
Father are one. 31: Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32: Jesus
answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of
those works do ye stone me? 33: The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work
we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man,
makest thyself God.
The
thing men find offensive about the gospel of Christ—our gospel—is that it
declares Christ is God. Our gospel declares salvation is of the Lord: God the
Father chooses whom he will, Christ Jesus worked the works—laid down his
life—whereby he makes each one righteous himself, God the Holy Spirit quickens
them and brings them to rest all upon Christ
The
second thing men hate is that man cannot bring himself to believe our gospel by
his own will. Neither can he contribute any of his own works. Not even man’s own
wisdom avails him anything—and that offends a natural, unregenerate, religious
man. A man may listen for awhile—even a
long while—but eventually…the sharp-edged sword penetrates to the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
Isaiah 28: 17: Judgment also will I lay to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18: And your covenant with
death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by
it. 19: From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by
morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation
only to understand the report. 20: For the bed is shorter than that a
man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that
he can wrap himself in it.
III. NOW LET ME GIVE YOU A FEW THINGS TO
REMEMBER:
No Form on Purpose
First, it
is no accident that the only thing some of you see in Jesus of Nazareth is a
man with no form nor comeliness, no beauty that makes you desire him. By Christ appearing without form or
comeliness he teaches us how insignificant in God’s sight, are all the flattering
distinctions that men highly esteem.
Luke 16: 15: And he said unto them, Ye are they which
justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is
highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
If you do not believe on Christ, and you are fond of
saying, ‘Well, I believe this or I believe that’ then let me assure you of
something—the things you highly esteem are abomination in the sight of God.
Proverbs 14: 12: There is a way which seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
We are
so impressed and swayed by the circumstances of noble birth, of eminent rank,
of great power, by riches and pomp and superficial flash that we are eager to
show respect to stately, majestic fellows. But Christ had none of these worldly
attractions.
Yet, in
despising Christ, in using his lowliness, his manhood like our own, as proof
that he was just any other man, men condemn the ways of God.
By Christ coming in a humble, suffering state, God shows that
earthly poverty is no proof of a bad character or of a fraud as unbelievers so
pompously and vainly judge. The truth
is,
1 Corinthians 1: 25:…the foolishness of God is wiser than
men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that
not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: 27 But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things
which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are: 29 That
no flesh should glory in his presence.
John 7:24: Judge not according to the appearance, but
judge righteous judgment.
And
remember:
1 Samuel 16:7 But
the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his
stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for
man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
The Desire Comes from God Not Man
Secondly,
by appearing in this uncomely state, without any form to make men desire him, by
choosing a bloody cross, by allowing men to nail him to a cross, by using the
foolish means of gospel preaching, and by commanding his saints to continue
under the sound of his word—God manifests that it is only the dudomis—the
dynamite—of the Gospel coming in Spirit and in truth and in power that causes
Christ’s followers to believe on him and persevere in faith. To the child born
of God—where men see no beauty—we see one whose “countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether
lovely.” (SOS 5: 15) We behold, “the branch of the LORD, beautiful and
glorious, and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely for them that are
escaped of Israel.” (Is 4: 2)
Where
scorners see a bloody pathetic victim hanging on a cross—we see a conquering
Monarch—by whom our “warfare is accomplished and our iniquity pardoned, in whom
we are made the righteousness of God, accepted in the Beloved.” We see Precious blood—blood that paid our
ransom and redeemed us from sin, death and hell!
While
the wise and prudent look down their holy noses and receive him not. By the
power of his grace, we been brought down off the same high horse to the dust of
our sin and depravity. Grace has made us
“behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.” (Jn 1: 14) Perfect Love we once rejected, now we receive! Perfect purity we once reviled now we rejoice
in! Perfect Holiness we once blasphemed is now our Beloved! Perfect Mercy we once
scorned is now our Savior! All to the praise of the glory of his grace!
Christ Knows Our Sufferings
Thirdly,
believer consider what a great blessing it is for us that our Savior willingly
took that giant step from heaven to that lowly manger. By taking our flesh and
become the man of sorrows acquainted with grief now he knows every state we
face and every sorrow and grief we suffer.
He knows what it is to be despised for our gospel; Christ knows what it
feels like when loved ones turn their faces from you. Our great High Priest is
not someone whose never wept for those he loved. Our Redeemer knows what a broken heart is, he
knows the weakness of our flesh because he took our likeness.
Hebrews 4: 15: We have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin. 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.
There he sits between you and God the Father—able
to reach down and comfort you in every need while he stands as your Advocate
with the Father, making intercession for you.
In a day when perception is all that matters—and love is
superficial. When our leaders vote
themselves pay raises while we pay for their lifelong benefits, what a comfort
to know we have a Savior ruling over all who came so low and sorrowed so much, who
is exalted so highly and loves so deeply that nothing shall ever be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
What great blessings we have because he made himself of
no reputation and took on him the form of a servant. What false Christ every loved lowly things?
Matthew 18: 3: And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye
be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore
shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom
of heaven.
May he make us willing to do the same for his glory and
the good of his people.
Amen!