Isaiah 53: 3 states:
“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.”
The Messiah would be both “despised” and “rejected” by the very people who claimed to follow Him. The astonishing report of Isaiah was unbelievable. It makes no sense that the people who looked forward to deliverance would reject their Deliverer. Why expect them to “despise” and “reject” the very one they rely upon for their hope? It is little wonder that Isaiah’s report would not be believed.
Isaiah’s Messiah would be “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He would mingle with the commonest of people, bearing with their infirmities, ministering to them. All the while, He will be a thorn to those who despised His ministry. Those in good society would “hide their faces from Him,” and refuse to associate with Him. He had nothing to offer them. For them to acknowledge Him would require them to condescend. Better for them to hide their faces.
He warned them that if they were ashamed of Him, He would in turn be ashamed of them. (Mark 8: 38.) He also counseled them to be careful about their standard of judgment, because it would be applied to them. (Matt. 7: 2.)
Despite the coming Messiah’s teachings, and Isaiah’s testimony of Him, the chosen people nevertheless “despise” Him, and “esteem Him not.” It would simply be too difficult a task to confront Him in the flesh and find it possible to recognize Him for what He was.
We presume we could have recognized Him. However, the test He set up was one that He cautioned was coming. Our unflattering views of Christ’s contemporaries may, in turn, leave us without excuse should He choose as He does so often, to send us a message from an obscure or un-credentialed source.
I wonder how many of us would recognize the truth, if it came only with the power of veracity behind it. Forgetting all the messenger is lacking, could we be starving ourselves from truth by again rejecting the open hand the Lord extends us? Whether by His own voice or by the voice of a servant, it will always be the same. (D&C 1: 38.)
This is stinging. I love it.
(Thought I’d leave a comment so you’d know at least someone is getting into your Isaiah postings.)
Love the Isaiah posts. I’ve read those versus many times before. Understood the words, but little of the message. Suddenly…. the verses are so applicable, and so clear as noon day, it makes me wonder how I could have missed so much of a profound and relevant message.
Denver,
From various posts written, I am seeing what I believe to be important basic doctrine that you have posted:
1. The Savior should be our personal minister, not the institution of the church.
2. To receive Christ as our personal minister, we should actively follow the light of Christ which invites us to be kind and good in all that we do and say.
3. As we become of strong faith and a firm mind and give heed to the specific promptings of the Holy Ghost and faithfully do all things we are invited to do, our light will grow and we will continue to receive more light.
4. Sources of greater light that are available to those of strong faith and a firm mind include the Holy Ghost, Angels, Celestial Beings, and the gift of Seership.
5. The Church through its presiding officers are endowed with the keys of the priesthood and control the rights to the saving ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here on earth.
6. We should consider all counsel provided by the church, magnify any office given to us within the church and strive to follow all general counsel (i.e. family and personal prayers, scripture study, service, family home evening, regular temple attendance, and so forth).
7. We are not to look to the church for our primary source of light; rather, as Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other prophets have taught, we are to faithfully heed and obey invitations of the Holy Ghost and to ultimately receive the Savior as our personal minister.
8. A part of the path of receiving Christ as our personal minister includes an Abrahamic test that we know of assurety comes from God and it will include doing something that for us personally will run counter to what we believe to be right. Passing the test will lead to greater faith and blessings.
9. We should spend our study time with literature that teaches pure doctrine–which alone has the power to lift us unto exaltation. We should cease to support or create literature that does not teach pure doctrine.
10. As individuals and as a church, we cannot fulfill our destiny by covering up sins and mistakes, but must become fully transparent (confession) if we hope to continue to progress.
11. The church is not adequately emphasizing pure doctrine as readily as it once did.
12. The church no longer follows the charge of Joseph Smith for apostles and prophets to receive the Second Comfortor.
13. Historically coorelation has always leds to a dilution of pure doctrine and to apostacy. We face a similar risk.
14. Isaiah 53 teaches a pattern that occurs in Israel whenever Israel becomes barren through political or financial considerations.
15. God raises up and sends forth messenger(s) who are empowered with no credentials other than “pure truth” to call Israel to repentance, as needed.
I would ammend one of the previous summary statements to say that coorelation leads to a dilution of pure doctrine, to stagnation in the ability to gather Israel, and to a spiritual weakness that leads to greater apostacy.
I really appreciate this summary, JDS. Thanks. I agree that this is pretty much the core of what Denver has been telling us on this blog. This really helps.
—————-
A friend of mine told me a few years ago that she had made a comment in Sunday School which got a horrific response from the Gospel Doctrine teacher. She said she wondered, if the Savior came today and walked into General Conference in his robe and with his long hair and beard, and then came to the pulpit and said, “Thank you, Brethren, for all you’ve done. I’ll take it from here,” if we would accept Him. The SS teacher said, “He would never come in a robe with long hair and a beard. He would only ever come in a suit and tie, looking like the Brethren!” And he was serious and not joking.
How scary is it either way, if we’ve decided what He will and won’t do?
I really appreciate what Denver has pointed out as a pattern in the scriptures. The Lord has given us the pattern to help us be able to see. I pray that I will be able to see.
I have been perplexed for a long time now, how among all the LDS people I know, I can’t find anyone, except maybe a couple people, who actually truely believe in Christ’s Gospel of True Love.
Though they have all the outward appearances of membership, when you actually ask them if they believe in it they confess they don’t, saying it’s too hard.
So it does seem that hardly no one in the Church today would accept his Gospel or him, if he were to come & preach his new doctrine again today.
I don’t think we are ready for his return or to create Zion. But I don’t think he will wait for us to become ready either. It may truely be only a very few rare righteous souls on the earth that he uses to establish Zion, along with those he brings with him from heaven.
JDS: That was a brilliant summary.
Thank you Denver, I cannot adequately express my appreciation. Reading The Second Comforter and these blogs have helped ground me with a greater sense toward the reality and the eventuality of the process. Have you ever read, “The Three Lights,” by Marion G. Romney. I found and read that talk in a stack of Old Ensigns when I was a missionary back in the 70s. You are the first person I know of to write about this topic since that time. It has helped me connect the dots to much that has happened in my life since then. Thanks again.