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PORTRAIT OF JESUS J. A. Lovell We feel that it is rather odd for the portrait of a person to be given seven hundred and twelve years before He was born! We have all had pictures taken, but, naturally, these photographs were not made until we were born. But in today's message we want to tell you about a person who was adequately described and His portrait given over seven hundred years before He was ever born! It happened like this. The Holy Spirit moved upon the prophet, Isaiah, guiding his hands to write some of the sweetest and most precious sacred verses given in any chapter found anywhere in the Word of God. Isaiah, of course, did not know what Jesus would be like, but the Holy Spirit knew. Since the Holy Spirit is the Author of the Bible and the writers were only secretaries yielding themselves to the Holy Spirit and taking the dictation of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah was able to paint this lovely portrait of Jesus in this grand chapter. We only wish we had the power to do justice to this great and wonderful chapter and to describe it, teach it, and preach it as it should be done. We have asked the Holy Spirit to do just this. In this well-known chapter, Isaiah 53, enough characteristics were given seven hundred and twelve years before Christ's birth, of the man Jesus, that He was well identified. Some of those characteristics given in this pen picture Christ are: Tenderness. Verse 2: “For he shall row 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.” In this verse we’re given two facts about Jesus. One is that He would be tender, and the other sates that He would be beautiful. If He were not in the ministry, we don't know of anything we would rather do than to work with the soil, with nature, and with plants. We wouldn't seek to be in an office or work with steel or food. If we had our way about it, we could want to work with nature. We cannot think of anything more beautiful than a little plant when it has made its first appearance. It is so green, lean, pure, and tender. So we are told that Jesus would be like a tender plant. It must have been an inspiration to those who viewed Christ as a babe. We re certain He was the most beautiful child that ever was born, that His features were perfect, and that He was precious in every way. We are quite certain that He, as a child, had the loveliest manners of any one who ever existed, that He had a wonderful personality, and, that He was obedient, kind, and cordial in every way. Then, as a man, He was beautiful, manly, virile, bold, courageous, tender, and precious. We are told that when we shall see Him, there will be no beauty that we shall desire, for He will be the essence of beauty. It is our daily inspiration to know the time is soon coming when we will actually have the joy, the privilege, the blessing, of seeing in person at His return, the tender, beautiful Christ, our Lord, coming to be our King! What a privilege! Sorrowfulness. Verse 3, 4: “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.” These verses tell of the Lord's being a sorrowful person-- a man full of grief-- and why not, for He carried the sins of the whole world, the burdens, the griefs, the sorrows, and the responsibility of the entire world upon His shoulders. We are told that Dr. George W. Truett, who was pastor of the world's largest Baptist church at Dallas, went hunting with one of his best friends many years ago. While on that hunting trip, he accidentally killed that friend, and thereafter, being so grieved and full of sorrow, Dr. Truett was never able to laugh again. There was a time when women who lost their husbands would go into a period of mourning, wearing black dresses and veils. They would be sorrowful and mournful for many weeks, or months. You see, Jesus, along with many other purposes of His coming into the world, came to be our Comforter through the Holy Spirit. He could not be a Comforter in every sense of the word unless He had had experiences that would enable Him to put Himself in our place when we had sorrows, burdens, griefs, heartaches, etc. A person must be sensitive before he can feel things, have great experiences, and be a blessing to mankind. Some of our greatest ministers, artists, and public officials have been very sensitive, discerning, and intuitive. Such people have made the greatest contributions to humanity because of their sensitiveness. Jesus was truly sensitive and felt the things that people were suffering around Him. Being so sensitive, He went to the depths of sorrow, as well as to the heights of joy and ecstasy. He stood at the grave of His friend, Lazarus, and wept. He went through all these experiences that He might be our Comforter in every sense of the word. So, when we stand beside the hospital bed and view the almost lifeless form of a loved one, Jesus can be there with us, sympathize with us, and comfort us. When we have lost one of our loved ones, He can stand there with us at the side of the open grave and weep with us, because He wept over the death of His friend, Lazarus. When you are hungry, Jesus can sympathize with you, because He went forty days without food. When you are homeless, Jesus can sympathize with you, because we are told that even though the birds of the air had nests and foxes had their holes, Jesus had no place to lay His head. Healer. Verse 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.” We are given a very glorious thought in this wonderful verse, the fact that by Jesus' own blood, we are healed! We are sorry that so many people feel that anyone who believes in divine healing is fanatical, and that any preacher who practices this precious, sacred art must be dealing in' something weird and mystical. This is just as good as Satan would have it, for he wants people to be robbed of the precious blessings of divine healing. It isn't mystical, weird, or fanatical. It is the simplest thing in the world. We are simply told that just as Christ's blood was shed that we might be saved, it was also shed that we might be healed, for our healing is in the atonement just the same as our salvation, and if we don't enjoy this blessing of healing, we are being robbed of a part of our priceless heritage as a child of God. It is true, doubtlessly, that many have made a racket out of divine healing, and that perhaps fanaticism has been connected with divine healing. However, that is not the fault of God, the Bible, and the precious doctrine of divine healing, but it is simply the fault of selfish, greedy humanity. A brother came to our office the other day who had a cancer on his face. He lived many miles from our office, but felt led to come for prayer. As he knelt in our office, we anointed him with oil, laid hands on him, and prayed the prayer of faith for his healing. He went away, and in about two weeks we received a letter from him stating that the cancer had fallen off his face and that he was completely well. We beg you to believe God and to TRUST Him for your healing. Humility. Verses 6, 7: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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.” We are told that an acid test of greatness is one's humility. We all remember the story of Enoch Arden, one of literature's most beautiful. He returned from war, but his wife thought he was dead. Looking through a window, he found his wife, children, and the new husband happily enjoying life. He had such great love and deep humility that he turned and walked away, never to see his wife and children again, and never to let her know that he was alive. The Lord has greater love and humility than this fictional person had, and it is shown in the preceding verses, as well as at the time of His death. Most of us are defensive if someone criticizes us. The first thing we want to do is to defend and explain our position; and, secondly, we want to strike back in anger, seeking revenge from the person who mistreated us. Jesus did not do this, for He was humble, and He had a great love for mankind. And on the cross, looking in the faces of those who had grossly mistreated Him, he said, Father, forgive them, for they; know not what they do. And in Isaiah's great portrait of Jesus, he tells us that He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and, even though they wrongly accused Him, He opened not his mouth. We would all do well to have more perfect love and a deeper humility. Burden-bearer. Verses 10, 11: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt 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 of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” The portrait of Jesus as given by Isaiah would not be complete without mentioning the fact that He was to become our burden-bearer; that is, one who would bear our burdens. Many of us have seen the beasts of burden at the Grand Canyon. Those little donkeys, sure-footed beasts, have gone down into the Canyon, carrying their heavy loads of passengers, provisions, and materials, for many years without complaining, expecting nothing. Jesus is willing to do more than that for us, for He said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” He stands today as our great Friend, Counselor, Comforter, and Burden-bearer, willing to take our griefs, our burdens, our sorrows, our heartaches, our financial reverses, our domestic problems, and our troubles of all kinds completely off our minds and shoulders, placing them on Himself, that He may be our Burden-bearer. It is tragic to realize how many Christians and sinners alike, today, continue carrying their heavy load, while Jesus stands humbly and tenderly, waiting for us to come unto Him and let Him carry our load. Will you not, at this very moment, bow your head, ask God to forgive you, and exercise your faith by accepting Christ's simple invitation to come unto Him as a laborer, that He may give you rest, casting all at His feet? He will take your burdens; He will lighten your load; and He will give you comfort and peace. Will you do it? Thank you and God bless you. NEW SERMON #10817, PORTRAIT OF JESUS __________ New Christian Crusade Church |
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New Christian Crusade Church You may call us Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 601-749-8565 Last modified: Wednesday, 17 October 2007 |
