So let's turn back in our scriptures
to Zechariah chapter 3. Last week we looked at the glorious
picture of Zechariah having Joshua come before him and the Lord
dealing with Satan on behalf of his people and Joshua verse
3 is clothed in filthy rags and stood before the angel. And he
answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying,
Take away his filthy garments from him. And unto him he said,
Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. Where did
it go? It went to the Lord Jesus Christ
from before the foundation of the world. And I will clothe thee with a
change of raiment. And it speaks to this high priest
that he's put a crown upon his head and clothed him with garments.
And the angel of the Lord stood by. But now I want us to look
at what it is now for this Joshua, the high priest. Thou and thy
fellows that sit before thee. that sit before you. Our great
Joshua has many companions. Joshua, of course, is the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God's salvation, God's
saviour revealed. And all of those that are there
together with Joshua the high priest, For they are men wandered
at, they are men wandered at. The world will never understand
the children of God. They will never understand the
children of God. Men can understand religion.
They can understand all the schemes of religion. They can understand
why men do all the things they do in religion. They can understand
why men cause other people to start their work and they walk
before God with an activity that they do and then they can build
on that activity and they can build on those activities with
other people who have done more activities and you send people
off to Bible college and you send people off to mission environments. You can understand how religion
works, isn't it? This is what men are doing to
get right with God. Supposedly so. And the great,
great problem with man-made religion is the absence of the presence
of God Almighty. exactly what was happening in
Jerusalem, wasn't it? In the days before the destruction
of the temple in Jerusalem, in the Babylonian captivity, these
men had all that religion and God was not there. If you read
Ezekiel, God took his presence away from them and left them
to themselves, and then he destroyed that place. men wondered at. Wherever the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ is raised up and wherever the gospel does a work
in the hearts of God's people, they are men wondered at. The
world will never understand us. He says in 1 John 3, Behold what
manner of love the Father has bestowed on us. Don't you love
that word? He bestows his love on us. that we should be called the
sons of God. Behold what manner of love, that
we should be called the sons of God, Joshua and his fellows,
the sons of God. And then listen to what he goes
on to say, therefore, because of that work of God, that love
that he's bestowed, that calling of us being his sons. He says, therefore the world
knoweth us not. Therefore, the world won't understand,
the world won't know. The world will understand religion
well enough, but they won't understand the children of God, because
it knew him not. To go back to Zechariah 3, the
men wondered at Men will never understand. Men
in religion will never understand how God can raise up a church.
I'm going to Kingsport in a few weeks' time. And that little
church is now growing in Kingsport. But if you look at the birth
of the church in Kingsport and the birth of our church here
and the birth of the church in San Diego and the birth of the
churches that we are in fellowship with wherever they gather throughout
this world, all of them had almost exactly the same story. You sit
and chat to those fellows about the things that happened there
in Kingsport, or the things that happened in San Diego, or the
things that happened in New Jersey or other places, and it's just
remarkable how the Lord is doing exactly what He promised to do
in raising up His people. Then men wondered that. This is what the men of the world
never see, and it's what we see, it's what we behold. For behold,
I will bring forth my servant, the branch. Behold, fix your
eyes upon him. Gaze upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at who he is and look at
what he's done and look at where he is now. From eternity to eternity,
see him, behold him, look. Look in wonder and look in awe. I'll bring forth my servant,
the branch. I'll bring forth my servant.
I just wanted to look at several verses that relate to the branch.
And the servant, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the servant of God. He is the elect one. Isaiah chapter 42 speaks of the
Lord Jesus Christ being this one. He says, you behold, you
look at him. He says, behold my servant. Whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul the light of I put my spirit upon him, and he shall
bring forth judgment unto the Gentiles. I'd love to have us
look at these things in light of the verses in John chapter
12 that we're looking at regarding this grain of wheat that falls
into the ground and this judgment that comes upon these people.
But he's a servant, isn't he? He does all that the Father sent
him to do. His first recorded words from
his lips were, I must be about my father's business. And at
the end of his life, he says, I've finished the work. I've
finished the work that you gave me to do. And on the cross, he
cried out, it is finished. It is finished. Oh, what it is for us to be servants
of the servant, thus to serve, to be able to minister His glory
to this world out of love and gratitude. The Lord passes by
this world and he comes to his own. Do not
pass me by, O gracious Saviour, when you're working in others'
lives, when you're working, when you're building. Let me, let
me be and make me a willing bondservant. The Lord Jesus Christ served
his Father perfectly, didn't he? This is my servant. He honoured
the Father in everything that he did. He honoured his name.
He honoured his law. He magnified the law of God and
made it honourable. Someone had to keep the law of
God, otherwise the law of God is a nonsense that God would
give a law that could never be obeyed. No one's perfect, people
say all the time. Well, hold on a second. Hold
on a second, you're a little bit too hasty. There is one who
was perfect, and he perfectly kept the law of God with love,
and he kept it spiritually, and he kept it physically, and he
kept it on behalf of all of his people. He served perfectly. He served his people perfectly. He served his people as a sacrifice. And God says, my name is in him. My name is on him and he bore
my name to my glory. And he, like the people in the
days of Zechariah, he's bringing his people out of the wilderness. people. When he's lifted up he'll
draw his people to himself and he'll draw his people to heaven.
And that's the great work of Joshua, isn't it? That Joshua
was the one that spiritually took the people of Israel into
the promised land. Moses never took anyone into
the promised land. It was Joshua that crossed that
flooded Jordan River with the Ark of the Covenant stopping
the flood. And he took the people into the
promised land. My servant, behold my servant
the branch. The branch. Turn with me to Jeremiah
chapter 23 and we'll see something else about the branch. And one
of the things that's good for us to see as we go through these
various pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ is to remember that
in spiritual pictures that the Lord is drawing, he continues
to add and add and add and the picture becomes more and more
full and more and more complete. And so not that any one picture
is incomplete in itself, but all of them together just give
this glorious picture, this glorious portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 5, he says, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch. a righteous branch. The branch? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
servant of God. The branch is righteous. Righteous simply means
to be perfectly obedient. He's the perfectly obedient one.
And listen to what he goes on to say of this one who is the
righteous branch. And the king shall reign and
prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. A righteous branch, what are
the righteousnesses of men? Just filthy rags. There is just
one righteousness in this world, isn't there? There is just one
righteous one in this world. What are men doing by nature
in this world, and especially religious men? Romans 10 is a
remarkably descriptive picture, isn't it? Paul prays and his
heart's desire is that Israel, they might be saved. He says,
I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness. That's
the description of every religious person in this world. They are
ignorant of God's righteousness. And what do they do? The ones
that are ignorant are going about. They never stop going about.
You speak to someone who has some religious righteousness,
and the first thing they'll want to tell you is what they're doing.
and then tell you how good you are for doing the things you're
doing, so that you can pat them on the back in return. It's a
continual going about to establish their own righteousness. And
what's the problem about those who go about and establish their
own righteousness? They don't bow. They simply do
not bow. They have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. He kissed the sun. He kissed
the sun. All this time. Back to Jeremiah
chapter 23. In his days, In his days, in John chapter
12, we're looking at this hour, this particular day, in that
day, in his days, Judas shall be saved and Israel shall dwell
safely. And this is the name whereby
he shall be called. He's the righteous branch and
he shall be called the Lord, our righteousness. the Lord our righteousness. Later on we'll go and see in
Jeremiah chapter 33, that's the name of his bride, the Lord our
righteousness. Let's go on reading in Jeremiah
23. Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they
shall no more say the Lord liveth which brought up the children
of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth which
brought us. up, were brought up, which led
the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and
from all the countries whither I have driven them, and they
shall dwell in their own land. The righteous branch, who is
the Lord our righteousness, who is the servant, is in the business
of gathering He's come to do, isn't He? Gather the scattered
ones, and in doing so, to bring glory to His name. Let's turn back in our Bibles,
just to book into Isaiah, and let's look at a couple of verses
in Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 4, the branch is spoken of again. The branch is a servant. The
branch is righteous, perfectly obedient. The branch is involved
in gathering the scattered people of God to Himself. In Isaiah
chapter 4 verse 2, We speak of the branch again.
It says in verse one, it says, in that day, seven women shall
take hold of one man. Seven is the number of completeness.
The woman is a picture of the bride of Christ, isn't it? The
church of God shall take hold of one man. Which man do they
take hold of? There's only one man they take hold of. Saying,
we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel. Only let
us be called by thy name. glorious glorious cry from the
Church of God let me be called by your name the Lord our righteousness
let me be called by your name to take away our reproach this is just all speaking of
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in that day shall the branch
of the Lord be beautiful and and glorious, and the fruit of
the earth shall be excellent and comely, beautiful for them
that are escaped of Israel. We need to have his name on us
for our approach to be taken away. And the branch here as we worship the Lord in the
beauties of holiness. If you've seen him, if you've
beheld him, you've beheld his glory. The glory of the one and
only forgotten of the Father. And how do you behold his glory?
You behold his glory through new eyes. You hear of his glory
through new ears. It's a new creation that sees
the beauty of his glory. Men wonder at us. beautiful and glorious and we
find that which demeans his beauty and his glory offensive to us. While you're in Isaiah turn over
to Isaiah chapter 11 and we'll see another picture of this branch
in 11 verse 1 and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem
of Jesse. Jesse is the father of David.
And of course, there's nothing written very much about Jesse
in the scriptures other than in relation to David. And it's
a picture of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ draws his people
out of that which is insignificant in the eyes of the world. And
Bethlehem was insignificant and Jesse was insignificant. The
one thing that matters is who is present with them and who
puts his name upon them. Shall grow out of his roots.
Out of his roots, the picture of course is a tree that's cut
down and new life has sprung out of what appears to be dead.
The seed is going to be sown into the ground, it says in John
chapter 12, and out of that will spring forth much fruit. But
new life springs out of death. And listen to what he goes on
to say about the branch. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. You might remember at the baptism
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came down in the
form of a dove and it abided on him. He was full of the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him. The Spirit, and this is what
the Holy Spirit is, isn't he? He's the Spirit of wisdom, spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Without the Holy Spirit you are
none of him, none of his, and the Holy Spirit's work is to
take the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and to reveal them to
us out of the Old Testament, out of the New, out of the Scriptures. I love the promise that the Lord
Jesus Christ made to sinners in Luke Chapter 11. You can turn
there or I'll read it to you, but it's a remarkable promise.
He says in Luke Chapter 11, and he's speaking to the apostles, he says, Know how to give good gifts unto
your children. How much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? What's the answer to that, brothers
and sisters? Ask. Ask. Don't you love what the
Lord said to the woman at the well? He said, if you knew the
gift of God and who it is that's speaking to you, what would you
do? You'd ask. How long will you ask? You'll
never stop asking. You just keep asking. If you
knew the gift of God, you'd ask. A spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the world by its wisdom knew not God. The world doesn't understand
the things of God, doesn't understand the people of God, that's why
they're meant to be wondered at. The spirit of the Lord rests
upon him and it's the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of power, and it's the spirit of knowledge and fear of the
Lord. A fear of the Lord. It's the
gift of God to cause his people to be in reverential awe of who
he is and not to play games with him and not to play games with
his word. How we need the blessed Holy
Spirit to come upon us and be a spirit of wisdom and understanding
and counsel and might. How much we need the Holy Spirit
to show us the branch who is righteous. Isaiah 11 verse 3 goes on to
speak of this one who judges not. He judges. And he shall not judge up to the
sight of his eyes, neither approve up to the hearing of his ears.
Aren't you so thankful that our God clothes us like he clothes
Joshua in the very righteousness of God and takes away his filthy
garments? And he doesn't judge us on account
of what we are, but he judges us on account of who we are in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's taken away the iniquity
of the land in one day. He's taken it away. He clothes
his people with his righteousness. He clothes his people with his
faithfulness. And then he says to his people,
well done, now good and faithful servant. We have a glorious gospel. And someone told us some years
ago, it's too good to be true. Your gospel's too good to be
true. Well, our gospel's good. And our gospel is true. Let's
see, in closing, go to a couple of verses at the end of Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter 60, verse 21 speaks of this branch. The branch is
a servant. The branch is righteous. The branch is glorious. The Spirit of the Lord illuminates
the branch and rests upon the branch. Isaiah chapter 60 verse
21. Thy people shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever. the branch of my planting, the
work of my hands, that I may be glorified. This is the work
of the servant, isn't it? This is what the servant does.
My people shall be all righteous, righteous in his righteousness.
They are the branch of my planting the work of my hands, that I
may be glorified. This speaks of the union with
the Lord Jesus Christ, the union of his bride with him. The union
How do these people know that they are the planting of the
Lord? How do these people know that they are all righteous? Because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good tidings. This is the good tidings, isn't
it? Our union with him. That our great Joshua is the
branch. "'Preach good tidings to the
meek here, "'send me to bind up the brokenhearted, "'to proclaim
liberty to the captives, "'and the opening of the prison to
them that abound, "'to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
"'the year of Jubilee, when everything that you had lost "'through your
own sin and rebellion against God "'is completely restored
to you.'" There's a Jubilee trumpet to be sounded. And that's the
sound of the gospel is a Jubilee trumpet. the day of vengeance
of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that
mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of
joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. They might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord. The planting of the Lord. We
bear his name. In those days, And at that time,
Jeremiah 33, 15, 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 a name wherewith
she. Do you remember earlier in Jeremiah
23, it's a name that he is called. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. This is the work of our God.
This is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall build, he shall build
the temple of the Lord. Listen to, we'll close in Zechariah
chapter six. These people have come back out
of captivity, if you read the rest of that chapter, saying,
And speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold,
the man whose name is the branch, he shall grow up out of his place,
and he shall build the temple It's the Lord Jesus Christ in
the very presence of his people we worship God. the children of God. Even he
shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory,
and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest
upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them
both. He is a king and a priest upon
his throne. The servant, the branch, is a
servant of God. He's a righteous servant. He's
beautiful and glorious. He creates new life from what
appears to be dead. people. He is a judge. He builds and he plants and men
wonder and his people inside his temple see his beauty and
his glory and they rejoice. They rejoice to have his name
upon them. May the Lord bless his word to
our hearts. Let's have a break. Thank you.