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.“

Continuing on from Part 3 of the series on desiring Christ, taken from Thomas Manton’s Isaiah 53 commentary.

You can read it here, or listen to the whole exposition here.

The new section below after the recap at the beginning starts here if you want to read it, or you can listen to it in this audio section.

From Thomas Manton:

Recap:

Doct. 4. That Christ is so outwardly mean [low], that the men of the world do not any way desire him, or that carnal men do see nothing in Christ wherefore they should desire him. To his spouse he is all beauty, ‘altogether lovely;’ but to them there was no beauty why they should desire him.

The reasons of the point are these:-

  1. Because carnal men neglect the study of Christ; their hearts are so taken with the things of sense, and the beauty of the creatures [all things created], that they do not look any further.
  2. Because they reject Christ; he is not for their turn; nay, he is quite contrary to their ends [purposes]. Carnal men have not all the same ends, but they all agree in this, their ends are carnal.

Use 1. It serves for information, to teach us the difference between God’s people and carnal men.

To God’s people he is all their desire; to carnal persons there is nothing desirable in him.

. . .

Wicked men feel no desires; they have some slight wishes, carnal and weak velleities [the lowest degrees of desire], but they have no serious desires, nor true volitions [will, or power to will]. Balaam may wish to die the death of the righteous, Num. 23:10. So they may desire Christ out of some general conceit [conception] of happiness; but they do not desire Christ for holiness.

. . .

But that you may not deceive yourselves in this matter, I will give you a few notes. I will not speak anything of the cause of desires. A high value and price set upon Christ, and a seeing rich beauties in him, of that I shall speak in the next verse. I shall only treat now of the effects of this desire.

If it be earnest and strong after him, it will be manifested by these things.

1. A holy impatiency in the want [lack] of Christ.

2. A holy indignation.

Passions usually serve and accompany one another. If there be a holy desire, there will be a holy anger. And this is at two things:-

[1.] At anything that would rival the affection.

[2.] At what would hinder the enjoyment of the object.

3. It will cause a holy waiting.

4. Another effect is a powerful command over the whole man.

[1] It will take up your thoughts.

[2] It will challenge more of your time and care.

[3.] It will put you upon endeavours.

Continuing on:

Use 2. In the next place it serves for exhortation, to press you to do otherwise than the men of the world do, and to beware of their spirit.

Men see nothing in Christ why they should desire him, because they judge with a carnal spirit. Let not any such black note be found upon you: Do you make him the desire of your souls who is deservedly styled ‘the desire of all nations.’

This exhortation hints at three duties:–

1. Long to get him into your hearts.

As all things are to him, let your desires be to him: Rom. 11:36, ‘Of him, and through him, and to him are all things;’ therefore, all creatures, — for it is the law of their creation to move towards God, especially for reasonable creatures so to do. But particularly by your desires look upon, him as summum necessariurn, as the only chief thing for your souls.

2. Be careful to keep communion with him.

If you have got him, take heed you do not lose him again. Remember the fate of the spouse for parting with her beloved, and how dearly she paid for it, Cant. 5:6,7. Whatever carnal men judge of it, the favour of Christ is worth the keeping.

3. Labour to get more interest in him.

Worldly blessings have all this lot and fate, that they cloy [satisfy, satiate] in the enjoyment. Christ is a mercy of a nobler nature; the more you see of his excellency, the more you will thirst after him. When a man hath a taste of Christ, he will labour for more of him.

The great prejudice against him is, that men have never had experience of him, Austin [Augustine] said of himself, in the ninth book of his Confessions, chap. 1: ‘That the reason why he was loath to close with Christ was, because he was to forego all pleasures, and to deny himself in whatever was delightful, and that was very irksome to him. But since,’ said he, ‘when once I had tasted Christ, quam suave mihi subito factum est carere suavitatibus nugarum [how sweet it suddenly became to me to be without the pleasantries of toys]! It was the greatest delight in the world to abstain from worldly delights.’

Christ made abundant recompense for them. Oh, how sweet is Christ to those that have tried him, and made experience of him! They will not want their old delights again.

I shall prescribe a few means how you shall bring your hearts to desire Christ, to keep him, and to get further interest in him:–

[1.] Consider nothing is a fit object for your desires without Jesus
Christ.

The creatures [generally, anything in all of creation] are beneath you. The desire of the soul is like a member of the body out of joint when it is fixed upon a wrong object.

All things without Christ are either sin or the creatures.

To desire sin was the cause of the first misery; that is, forbidden fruits. We know what that is by sad experience.

As to the creatures, to desire them for themselves is beneath us: it is, as it were, to sit upon the threshold and the door of the gate when we might sit upon the throne, — to make that our crown which should be our footstool Ps. 8:6, it is said, ‘Thou hast put all things under his feet.’ God made these things to be under our feet; and, therefore, the church is described, Rev. 12:1, to have the moon under her feet. All sublunary [earthly, pertaining to this world] things are beneath the people of God.

I should a little digress from the matter in hand, at least vary from my purpose, if I should at large discourse of the uncertainty and frailty of the creatures, and show how the desires may be lost and wasted upon them, which they cannot be upon God; or should I descant [discuss, dispute] upon the unsuitableness of the creatures, which cannot give true satisfaction to the soul; but I will only conclude this first rule with this: That sin is not to be desired at all, and the creatures only in reference to God and Christ, otherwise, we sin in the desire or enjoyment of them.

May God grant we long more for Him, and labor to have more of Him, and see and experience Christ Jesus above all things!

Go on to Part 5!

— David