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.”
I heard a wonderful sermon today by one of my favorite preachers, Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr., titled: “The Other Side Of Being Dissed.” Jesus was despised and rejected by men—a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. What he is in essence saying is that you would be able to tell the coming Messiah by virtue of the fact that He would be rejected by men. Jesus was rejected by men. The very Son of God came in human form and was rejected. John 1:10-11, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
Jesus was not a good looking man. 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.” We have all seen the popular paintings of Jesus, portraying Him like a Hollywood hunk, but the Bible teaches in Isaiah 53:2 that Jesus had no beauty. He was a plain ordinary man who didn't stand out in a crowd. I am encouraged by that fact, knowing that my dear Savior was a normal guy, who wasn't handsome and some Elvis Presley type character. We don't know what Jesus looked like, but we do know that he lacked beauty.
Jesus wasn't considered an attractive handsome man. Jesus was a plain man. I love that! I can relate to that. I lost my hair at age 25! I lost my good health at age 37, having chronic neck pain ever since. I am 53 now. It took several years for me to accept the reality that I would suffer in neck pain for the rest of my earthly life. That fact was very difficult for me to come to grips with, but in 2011 I found a certain level a peace in just accepting the fact that I was not going to heal. That makes God promises of a new glorified body much more precious in Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Whenever I start to feel sorry for myself, and have a pity party, I go watch this video and begin to praise God for the remaining health that I do have. Praise God!
In our American society, many people have a warped idea of reality—if we don't have a great paying steady career, a big home, an attractive fun-loving spouse, a lucrative retirement plan, perfect health, a thriving social life, and all the toys that Americans are spoiled with—we feel like a failure! What saith the Scripture? Luke 12:15, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” You cannot buy or find happiness dear reader!
Jesus knew the feeling of rejection. When you are rejected by men, it is a sign and indication from God that He has something special for you in your life. ...
It is God's will for every believer to suffer persecution. You read right! ...
2nd Timothy 3:12-17, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
God wants every believer to live godly in Christ Jesus! The Bible says that evil men and deceiver will get worse and worse (and they sure have in the 21st century). Let's break down 2nd Timothy 3:12-17 into some principles we can live by:
- If you live godly for Jesus you will be rejected and persecuted.
- The persecution will increasingly get worse and worse as wicked people worsen.
- Deception and false prophets will increase.
- The Bible says to continue abiding in the Scriptures, living for Jesus Christ.
- The Scriptures make us wise.
- All Scripture (every word - Matthew 4:4) is the inspired infallible Word of God.
- The Holy Scriptures will make us complete.
Rejection is a sign that God doesn't want us to fit in. Suffering is an inherent part of the faithful Christian life. God intended for us to suffer for our faith. Please read my helpful article titled: “THE CALL TO SUFFER.” I wrote this article based on an eye-opening MP3 sermon by Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold of the same title: “THE CALL TO SUFFER.” This is an amazing sermon, and a truth that few preachers preach, and very few believers understand. We are as much called to suffer for Christ, as anything else in the Christian life. Suffering is not optional dear reader, it is the norm for a Christian who is living for Jesus!
To the glory of God, I have been persecuted on every job I ever worked as a Christian. I have had hammers thrown at me, been spit upon, cursed, harassed, abused, mistreated, lied about, had equipment sabotaged, slandered, ganged up on by the group psychologically, ostracized, booze bottles put in my tool box, naked centerfolds of women posted in my locker, work uniforms stolen, and came home crying more times than I can remember from being tired of it all. I was hated for simply being a Christian. When you are a Christian, the whole world is waiting for you to fall. Since there are no perfect Christians, we are always open game for ungodly critics who hate Jesus (John 7:7; 15:19).
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