Good evening everyone. The name of the message tonight
is A Rod Out of the Stem of Jesse. A Rod Out of the Stem of Jesse. Our text will be in Isaiah chapter
11. Isaiah chapter 11. Now throughout
the book of Isaiah is the message of the Messiah coming. the messianic
hope and comfort for the people of God. The prophet Isaiah, by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, brings forth in numerous
places in this book the fact that our God reigns. It's found
very often in this book, that he is absolutely sovereign and
in control of all things. And Isaiah brings before us the
fact, again, that our God is sovereign and that he oversees
and controls the affairs of the world. Now that can bring us
great comfort today as we see whatever goes on in the world,
knowing that the Lord is in full control, that nothing, absolutely
nothing, causes our great king, or catches our great king by
surprise. Nothing, nothing. He doesn't get anxious like we
do in situations, no. He's in full control. He's an
absolute sovereign. And this can bring great comfort
to the blood-bought child of God, because we travel through
this world seeking a better country, don't we? We do. We're looking
forward to being in glory with our great king. We're looking
forward to being there in his presence. And scripture says
we seek a better country. We seek a better country. Now
in chapter 10 of Isaiah, the nation of Assyria, which God
used to punish the northern kingdoms of Israel, will suddenly collapse. Let us always remember that the
nations of this world are only a tool in the hands of our sovereign
God. They're only a tool in the hands
of our sovereign God. And they are used to accomplish
his sovereign purpose. And again, what great peace that
can bring us, as the children of God, to know that our God
is in full control. He does what he pleases. And
with Assyria, he did what he pleased. And he used them to
chase in Israel, and then he destroyed them. In contrast, the death of the
nation of Assyria, to what we will see here in chapter 11,
that God will raise up a king who will sit upon the throne
of David throughout eternity. Here's some history for the time
of this writing. At the time Isaiah is writing,
it's around the 8th century BC, and there were only stumps of
dead trees which had been mowed down by the invaders from Assyria.
The acts of divine judgment had chopped among the trees and there
was nothing but stumps left standing. So when they came through, they
just took everything down. Now we see a word picture here
used that when the Messiah will arrive,
and we'll look at this text, that when the Messiah will arrive
700 years later, that the house of David will be nothing but
an insufficient, insignificant stump in Israel. And yet, the rod shall come forth. The
rod shall come forth. Let's read Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 to 5. And there shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of
his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding
in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after hearing of his
ears, but with righteousness So he judged the poor, and reproved
with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. So we see here a word picture
being used in verse one See, it says there, stem. It says a stem, the rod shall.
And there shall come forth a rod of the stem of Jesse, which is
like a stump. Stump and a branch shall grow
out of his roots. Judah and Assyria will fall under
the heavy hand of God's judgment. When Assyria fell in 609 BC,
she never budded again. She's a dead, lifeless stump. God has destroyed the destroyer.
Let us always remember again that Assyria was just a tool
in the hands of our sovereign God. Now contrast that with the
stump here before us in chapter 11. It has a stem, a twig of life. You ever seen a stump cut down
and all of a sudden a twig will come out of it? Well, this stem here, the stump
has a twig of life in it and it shot forth and it will bring
forth a righteous ruler in Israel. So marvel at this, beloved of
God, that from this stump, which was once a great tree, who will shoot forth the Redeemer
of Israel. The lineage of David is not completely
dead. Beloved of God, remember our
God is absolutely sovereign. And the branch here spoken of
will reign over his people. And he does, he does. Note in verse one, out of the
stem of Jesse, the stump of Jesse, from him in the lineage of David,
now this family was like a tree cut down and its stump only left
in the ground, which was the case when Jesus was born. Jesse's
family was at one time very illustrious. In David's time, in Solomon's,
yet from the Babylonian captivity until the time of Christ, it
was bought very low. Very low. Think upon this, that at the
birth of Christ, his supposed father, Joseph, who folks thought
he was this father, but we know that the Holy Ghost overshadowed
Mary and that Christ is the seed of the woman, but Mary is also
of the lineage of David. Think upon this, though. His
supposed father, Joseph, was a carpenter and his real mother
was a poor virgin. They were dwelling at Nazareth,
and it seemed very unlikely in man's eyes that from Mary would
spring the King, the Messiah. Very unlikely in man's eyes. The one who was foretold to have
all power, all authority, all wisdom, and
who would do mighty works as he did, and who would be the
author of eternal salvation. All that's left of David's, the
tree of the family of Jesse is just a stump. Royalty runs through the veins
of Joseph and Mary, royal blood. And yet they live a life as paupers. Common people. Common people. Their home was not a palace. They lived in a common home. But yet from Mary would come
he who is called in the book of Genesis, the seed of the woman. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter one, Romans chapter one. And I'll read Isaiah 11 again,
and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and
a branch shall grow out of his roots. Look at this in Romans
1, verses 3 and 4. Concerning his son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was what? Made of the seed of David according
to the flesh. Here he is. Here's the rod out of the stem
of Jesse, beloved. and declared to be the son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. Now let's go back to Isaiah chapter
11, and we'll read the first five verses once again. And there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, remember over
there in Romans, which was made of the seed of David according
to the flesh. And a branch shall grow out of
his roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge, the fear of the Lord. Remember what
it said in Romans 1-4, and declare it to be the Son of God with
power according to the Spirit of holiness. And to make of him quick understanding
in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge after the
sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth and with his breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins and faithfulness, the girdle of his reins. Now
we see the branch mentioned various times in the Old Testament. Turn
if you would to Isaiah chapter 4 verse 2. And then put your
finger in Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah 4.2. And then I'll read
Isaiah 60.21 and then we'll turn to Jeremiah 23. We're going order here. We can just go forward through
our Bibles. Isaiah 4-2, in that day shall the branch of the Lord
be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall
be excellent and calmly for them that are escaped of Israel. Here
is mentioned the branch of the Lord. The branch of the Lord. Now turn, if you would, to Jeremiah
23. I'll read Isaiah 60-21, which says this, thy people also should
be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever.
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified." And then in Jeremiah 23, verses 5 and 6, it says this,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto
David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. his day
Judas shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is
his name and whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness and in Jeremiah 33 and then put
your finger in Ezekiel 17 Jeremiah 33 verses 14 to 16 Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have
promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In
those days and at that time will I cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David. And he shall execute judgment
and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be
saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
wherewith she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now
remember what we read in Isaiah 11, 1, and there shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, a branch. And it says, and a
branch shall grow out of his roots. Now look in Ezekiel chapter
17. Ezekiel 17. And then we'll go
to Zechariah after that. Ezekiel 17, verses 22 to 24. I know I got us turning a lot
tonight, but I think this is important that we look these
up. Ezekiel 17 verses 22 to 24, Thus saith the Lord God, I will
also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set
it. I will crop off from the top of the young twigs a tender
one, and will plant it upon a high mountain, and eminent. In the
mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall
bring forth brawls, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar.
And under it shall dwell all the fowl of every wing, and in
the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And that's
where we dwell, beloved. He's the vine, more than the
branches, and of all the trees of the field, shall know that
I, the Lord, have bought down the high tree, and have exalted
the low tree, and have dried up the green tree, and have made
the dry tree to flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken and
have done it. Now turn, if you would, to Zechariah chapter 3,
verse 8. Zechariah 3, verse 8. Hear now,
O Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before
thee, they are men wounded or men wondered at for behold I
will bring forth my servant the branch and in three more chapters
over in Zechariah chapter 6 look at this here in verses 12 and
13 same same one who's spoken of is the roots or the rod of
the stem of Jesse same one spoken of as a branch in Isaiah chapter
11 Verse 1, Zechariah 6, verses
12 and 13, and speak unto him, saying thus, speaketh the Lord
of hosts, saying, behold the man whose name is the branch.
Notice the singularity of it too, the branch, no other branch,
the branch. He is the one, again, who is
the rod out of the stem of Jesse, the branch, and he shall grow
up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.
Remember? We are, he's the foundation,
isn't he? We're built up in him, we're
living stones built up in him, beloved. Even he shall build
the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory. He gets
all the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and
he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the council of peace
shall be between them both. Now turn, if you would, to Romans
15. Romans 15. Romans chapter 15. New Testament
now. Verse 12, again Isaiah saith,
there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign
over the Gentiles, and him shall the Gentiles trust. Who do the
Gentiles trust in? Well, they trust in the root
of Jesse. The one spoken of in Isaiah chapter
11. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now turn, if you would, to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter
5. Look at this marvelous verse. There we saw there shall be a
root of Jesse in Romans 15, 12. Look at this in Revelation chapter
5, verse 5. And one of the elders saith unto
me, weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, who is
he? The root of David. There he is, beloved, the branch,
the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose
the seven seals thereof. Now turn to Revelation 22. And
then we'll go back, then we'll go back to Isaiah chapter 11. Revelation 22, verse 16. Look
at this. The words of the master. Look
what he says here. And remember, remember our verse,
and there shall come forth a rod of the stem of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. Look at this in Revelation 22,
16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I am what? The root and the offspring
of David. There he is, beloved. He's just
identified himself. and the bright morning star,
the root and the offspring of David. So the one spoken of in
Isaiah chapter 11 is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved.
None other than him. Put your finger in Acts chapter
10 since we're in Revelation there. And I'm going to go back
to Isaiah 11 and read that text again. In light of those verses that
we just looked at, in the Old Testament and in the New, Isaiah
11.1 says this, And there shall come forth a rod of the stem
of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. So we
can clearly see that he who is spoken of in Isaiah 11.1 is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He proclaimed this himself in
the book of Revelation. We looked at the Old Testament
verses which talked about the branch. And we looked at the
New Testament verses which talked about it being the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the rod out of the stem of Jesse. The branch
who would grow out of the stump of Jesse. And in Isaiah chapter 11, verse
2, we see that the one who is the rod, let's go there quick,
but we're gonna go right to Acts 10. I'll read this here in verse
2 of Isaiah 11, but we're going to go right to Acts chapter 10. The one who is the rod of the
stem of Jesse, the one who is called the branch, will have
the Spirit of the Lord resting upon him. And we know this is
the Holy Spirit of God, as he's here described. Look at verse
2. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Again, in the spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and
of the fear of the Lord. We know this is the Holy Spirit
of God. Now turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter
10. I love going from the Old Testament
to the New, and it just unveils who he is. It's absolutely wonderful. We need to do this. We need to
do this. Look at this in Acts chapter
10. The scriptures proclaim this of Christ in Acts chapter 10,
verses 37 and 38. Acts 10 verses 37 and 38. That
word I say you know, which was published throughout all Judea
and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached,
and how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost
and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that
were oppressed of the devil. Now we know that this same spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God, overshadowed Mary. Luke 1.35 proclaims this,
And the angel answered her and said unto her, The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow
thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God. Now turn to Luke, chapter
4. Now, remember in Isaiah, I'll
read Isaiah 2 again, 11-2, Now look at this in Luke, chapter
4, verses 16-21. And let's read our Master's words here. Look what it says here. And he
came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood
up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he opened the book,
he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, and hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the
blind, and sent at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he
gave it again to the minister, and sat down, And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is the scripture fulfilled
in your ears. He is the one spoken of in Isaiah
chapter 11 verse 1 and Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2. It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter
11. Let's look at verses 3 and 4
now. Isaiah chapter 11 verses 3 and
4. Scriptures declare of the branch,
of the roots, The one who would spring out
of the stump of Jesse, scriptures declare of him, and shall make
him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he
shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall
he judge the poor and reprove with equity the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth. And with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. Now these verses here brings
forth that our Lord can distinguish between the one who fears God
and the one who does not fear him. Because he's God incarnate. So
the one spoken of in this text will be able to discern because
he's God, who's real, And who's false? Turn if you would to John
chapter 2. John chapter 2. And the reason he can do this
is because he's God incarnate in the flesh. John chapter 2. Our Lord discerns
the thoughts and intents of men. He sees where we cannot see. He sees where we cannot see.
Into the thoughts and intents in the heart of men. Look at
John chapter two, verses 23 to 25. Now when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did, which he did. So reading
that verse, you think, oh, they believed on him. You think that,
reading that. You think, oh, all these people,
they just trusted the Lord. That's not the case. Look what
it says here, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because
he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of men,
for he knew what was in men. They followed him, and they proclaimed
that they believed in him, but it was because of the miracles
that he did. Now a dear friend and brother
in Christ who used to live in Oregon and now lives in Texas
once bought forth that from the Greek here that the word commit
there in verse 24 means that he did not reveal himself to
them. He did not reveal himself to
them. And we've often talked amongst each other about how
the gospel is a revelation. Knowing Christ is a revelation
from God. He must reveal himself to us
or we'll never know him. We'll never know him. These people
again saw the miracles of Christ. They saw the miracles of Christ.
They claimed to believe on him. And they joined themselves to
him, but they were only dazzled and impressed by the miracles
which he performed. And they soon departed from him. Their profession was not from
the heart. And he knew it. He knew it. These men were stony ground hearers. Stony ground hearers. They were
intellectually convinced. But no hard work had been done.
They were not born again. And our Lord clearly discerns
this. And think of this. How our Lord's deity is here
bought before us right there in John chapter two. His deity
is only God can know that. You and I can know the the thoughts
and intents of each other, but God knows. So Christ is revealing
right here before us that he's God. He's God incarnate in the
flesh, beloved. And so his deity is brought forth
because who can know the thoughts and intents of men but God? And man's affections may be stirred,
man's intelligence may be informed, man's consequence Our conscience
may be convicted, but God must give him a new heart, which we
looked at today this morning. You must be born again. You must
be. You must be. The Holy Spirit must run a work.
And we're we're granted faith and repentance to believe on
Christ, and we flee to him. We flee to him. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter
11. Let's look at verses 3 and 4 again. And shall make him of
quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the
hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall
he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Take
note here in our text that it proclaims that our Lord will
not judge as man judges. He'll not judge as man judges.
Again, we look on the outside, but God looks on the inside.
He does not judge based upon man's outward appearance. And earthly judges do that, right? We do as humans too sometimes.
We all do. We judge on the outward appearance
of a man sometimes. God doesn't do that. Again, he
reads the thoughts and intents of man, of the heart. And note
also in verse four, he judges with righteousness. He judges
with righteousness, pure righteousness. The born again child of God is
well aware of our own spiritual poverty, aren't we? That's one
of the things the Lord shows us. Our utter inability to save
ourselves, like Brother Neil brought up. We cannot save ourselves,
and it's all through the scriptures, isn't it? we cannot save ourselves. And we bow to that. We know that.
We've been taught that by God. And we've also been taught that
Christ is the only Savior for sinners. And so we're quick to acknowledge
our spiritual poverty. We're quick to acknowledge our
sins and our transgressions, and we're quick to acknowledge
that we've sinned against God and God alone, haven't we? But
we didn't think that way before the Lord saved us. But now we
do. Now we do. Now that we're born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, we cry out for mercy, just as
the publican did. God, be merciful. Do you find
yourself crying out all the time? Oh, Lord, forgive me. Forgive
me. We pray for pardoning grace and
mercy. We who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and
we hunger and thirst after righteousness, don't we? And it is the born again bloodwashed
believer who is justified by Christ and who is clothed in
his righteousness. It is they who the Lord acquits. He discharges them from all their
sin and condemnation. Marvel in that, beloved. If you
are one of his people, marvel in that fact that all your sins
are forgiven, every single one of them. Covered in the precious
blood of Christ. We can't even begin to speak. of how that feels to we who are
sinners by birth, nature, and choice, by we who have been shown
by God our states, we who are born again. We can't even begin
to tell how much that thrills our heart to know that all our
sins are forgiven, to know that we are clothed in the perfect
righteousness of Christ. Marvel at that, beloved. Just
marvel at it. that all your sins are forgiven
and you shall never come into judgment, be brought into judgment.
There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, none
at all, none. We stand before God, we're sinners,
we know, but yet we're clothed in His righteousness. And we
have the privilege to be able to approach the throne of grace
all because of Christ and Christ alone. and we find grace to help in
time of need. What a merciful God. Not only
does he forgive us for all our sins, not only are we justified
before him by Christ, not only do we have peace with God through
Christ and Christ alone, but we are allowed to approach the
throne of grace. and obtain grace to help in time
of need. All through Christ and Christ
alone. All through the one who is spoken
of in Isaiah 11 here. He has purchased us, beloved.
He has redeemed us with His own precious blood. He gave His life
for us. And he protects us. And he defends
us against all our enemies and against our oppressors. And think
of this, the one who is administrating absolute justice must be in possession
of absolute knowledge. And our Lord Jesus Christ has
infinite knowledge of all things. He's God. He was God before He
came to this world. He was the God-man while He was
upon this world, and He's the God-man mediator in glory right
now. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He never changes. Praise His
name. Because if He never changes,
then our salvation in Him never changes either. Our forgiveness
in Him never changes. The fact that we're justified
before God never changes, because it's all in Him. The fact that
we have peace with God never changes because it's all in Christ. Mercy. Oh, what mercy we've received,
beloved. And note here in verse four that
Messiah brings before. before us by inspiration of the
Holy Spirit of God, the great judgment which will occur when
the Lord comes back. Notice here, but with righteousness
shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And
he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. The word of God. will be upon that throne. The
one who will be upon the great white judgment throne is the
word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because remember, we looked at
a few weeks back, all judgments being given to him. And we know
from what we've seen, he's got all power. All power. Praise God. Think of this. I
want you to think about it. I want you to go home and think about
this through the week. We who are his people, we will not face
him in wrath. There is therefore now no condemnation
for those in Christ Jesus. Mercy. But for those who are
not in Christ, there face him as a righteous judge. Oh my. And they will have no hope. Those who trust in their own
works on that great day there have no hope. And they die in
their sins with no hope and they will find themselves guilty before
God and the sentence of condemnation will fall upon them and be pronounced
upon them by Christ. And this is as sure as the sun
is going to rise tomorrow. Some folks say, oh, I don't believe
that stuff. You're going to one day you're going to see him.
I pray you see him in mercy. I pray that he saves you. Oh, my. And what will they hear? Depart
from me, you cursed, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew
you. My goodness, nothing to trifle
with. This is serious. Preaching the
gospel is serious. Having the gospel go forth from
here is serious. Oh, we pray the Lord will gather
his sheep, don't we, through the preaching of his word. Oh
my. Now let's consider verse five
and we're closed with that. Let's look at this. Look at this
here. It says in the righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins
and faithfulness, the girdle of his reins. Now consider the
divine perfections that are bought forth here in this verse right
here and behold in the security of them as our Lord is adorned
with righteousness. Look at this and righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins. and faithfulness the girdle of
his reins. He's adorned with righteousness, beloved. He's
adorned with righteousness. And we who as blood-bought people
are clothed in that perfect, spotless righteousness. And our
Lord, again, is said here to be adorned with righteousness
and ready at all times for his people to approach him. He is
God incarnate in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he loved
righteousness. He did acts of righteousness,
didn't he? He did acts of righteousness his whole life here. And by his
active and passive obedience, he rather than everlasting righteousness
for his people. When he lived that perfect life,
he wasn't living it for himself. Before the law of God, he's sinless.
When he died upon that cross, he was dying for us. We who are
sinners, the just one for the unjust. And then we have to think that
God incarnate in the flesh has wrought out an everlasting righteousness
for His people. Leaves us in awe. Let us never forget that our
Lord is the King. And He is a King who reigns in
righteousness. He does, right now. He's not
waiting to reign. Like some folks say, He's not
waiting, He's reigning right now, beloved. He reigns in righteousness. And righteousness is the scepter
of His kingdom, beloved. And His government is righteous. And all His ways are just and
true. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. There is no other way to glory
to the Father but through Christ. He is the truth. He is truth
incarnate. He is the true redeemer, the
true savior of sinners. And he's the life, beloved. We
only have everlasting life in and through Christ and Christ
alone. And see, it says here, and righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of
his reins. A man's girdle in biblical times
went around the whole loins and may be taken hold of from the
front or from the back. So the figure here set before
us is one that is beautifully chosen for God's people. It teaches
that we who are poor, trembling sinners Believers, born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, who fear to come before the face
of the Lord by reason of any renewed transgression because
of our sin, this brings forth that we can lay a hold of Him,
beloved. And hang on. And just hang on. Cling to His girdle. Cling to
it. The girdle of His loins and the
girdle of His reign. grab a hold of them, and just
cling. Thankfully, we're in His hands,
aren't we? And not in our own. But oh, we
cling to our Savior, don't we? We cling to Him. And righteousness
shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of
His reins. Our God is the faithful God. Our Redeemer is the faithful
one. The faithful one. Praise His
mighty name. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for allowing us to gather together tonight. And oh Lord,
we are in awe of who You are. The root out of the stem of Jesse. Oh, and as we saw in the Old
Testament, the proclamation of the Messiah, we saw in the New
Testament that it is Thee, oh Lord, who are the one true Messiah. You are the one Savior of sinners. We pray that if it's your will,
that one of your lost sheep would be drawn to Thee, O Lord. Oh,
that they would be regenerated by Thy Holy Spirit and flee to
Thee, O Lord. We love you and praise you. Let
us remember these things that we've learned today. Let us think
upon them this week. And may they comfort our souls.
In Jesus' name, amen.