The Holy Seed in the Leafless Tree

Q: What does the Bible say about the holy seed in Isaiah 6:13?

Isaiah 6:13 refers to a holy seed that serves as a remnant amidst desolation, symbolizing Christ and His people. In Isaiah 6:13, the holy seed represents a remnant of God's chosen people who are preserved despite the desolation around them. The imagery of a leafless tree emphasizes the spiritual barrenness seen in Israel at the time, yet within this apparent lifelessness, God guarantees hope and sustenance through the holy seed, which ultimately points to Christ. This concept ties into the assurance of salvation for the remnant, who are regarded as holy because of their connection to Christ. Such themes resonate throughout the Scriptures, highlighting God's sovereignty and faithfulness to His promises, even in dire circumstances.

Q: How do we know God's promises are true?

God’s promises are sure and steadfast, fulfilled ultimately in Jesus Christ, the holy seed. The certitude of God's promises comes from their realization through Christ, who embodies the holy seed spoken of in prophetic Scripture. Isaiah’s assurance of a remnant and God's faithfulness is fulfilled in the person of Jesus, who was born as a virgin's child, known as Immanuel. This truth is supported by passages such as Luke 1:35, where the incarnation of Christ is linked to the promises made to the patriarchs. The presence and work of Christ solidify the foundation upon which every believer stands, confirming that God's Word will not return void but accomplish what He pleases, assuring us of His eternal faithfulness.

Q: Why is understanding the remnant important for Christians?

Understanding the remnant highlights God's grace and the assurance of salvation for His elect. The concept of the remnant is crucial for Christians as it emphasizes God's sovereignty in choosing a people for Himself, preserving them through trials and tribulations. This idea is deeply woven into the fabric of scripture, showing that while many may reject God's message, a specific group will respond in faith because of His grace. The remnant signifies hope within despair, illustrating how God's purpose perseveres through history. It reassures believers that they are part of a larger narrative of salvation and redemptive history, which is fulfilled in Christ, the holy seed.

Q: What does the holy seed teach us about Christ?

The holy seed signifies Christ as the source of life and hope for believers. The holy seed as presented in Isaiah serves as a profound declaration of Christ’s role in redemptive history. He is not just a descendant of David but the very life and substance that gives hope and vitality to a spiritually desolate world. This seed represents God's promise to Abraham that through his lineage, all nations would be blessed. It illustrates how Christ fulfills the law and prophets, affirming His divinity and authority. It teaches believers that their hope rests solely in the work of Christ, who indwells them by His Spirit, ensuring their ultimate salvation and glory.

This morning, I'm going to go
through this verse by verse. Last time we began in Isaiah
6, and we went from verse 9 through verse 13. And I'd encourage you
to go back and listen to the message titled, Go and Tell This
People. That was the message we looked
at last week. This week, we're going to be
looking at the holy seed in the leafless tree. the holy seed
in the leafless tree. Now, we begin here in Isaiah
6.13. The Lord had told Isaiah to go
and preach to a people. They weren't going to hear Him.
Their heart was fat and their ears were dull of hearing of
the Holy One of Israel. And they were going to shut their
eyes and they weren't going to listen to a word He said. Too
wise to listen to the Word of God. And he said, go and preach
this gospel to them anyway. And he said, I'm going to leave
their lands desolate. I'm going to leave their houses
desolate until there be a great forsaking in the land. And he
says, but yet in it, verse 13, shall be a tenth, and it shall
return and shall be eaten And he says, as a teal tree and
as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their
leaves, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. The
hope of glory for every believer for the church of God is Christ
in you. We don't know God. We don't know
our Savior. We don't even know our need of
God or our need of a Savior until the Spirit of Christ takes up
residence in our heart. And our hope of glory is His
presence, His indwelling Spirit within us, knowing that He's
in us and in our midst. He's constantly with us. And
He's going to bring us to glory. We know that. The Lord tells us here that it
is for the good of His remnant. It is for the good of a people
that He has chosen and given to Christ. And it is for the
sake of Christ, the holy seed. And that people who are holy
in that seed, that He's going to spare a remnant in the nation
of Israel. He said this in another place
in Isaiah. The Lord said, for my name's
sake, This is why the Lord made this world. This is why the Lord
overrules everything in this world. This is why the Lord predestinates
everything that takes place in this world and moves everything
right on track as it should go according to His will and purpose
in this world. It's for His name's sake. It's really not for you. And
it's really not for me. It's really not so you can have
the things you think you want or think you need in this life.
Consume it upon heap it and heap it heap it upon your lust to
have whatever you want in this world. It's really not about
you It's about his namesake. That's what it's about and he
says for my namesake. I'll defer mine anger from this
people and For my praise I'll refrain for thee that I cut thee
not off You know the only reason that you haven't been cut off
and I haven't been cut off is You know the only reason that
God has deferred His anger upon this world in destroying this
entire world? For His name's sake. For His
name's sake. He has a people He's going to
bring to behold His Son. And for His Son's sake. For His
name's sake. For His glory. And because He's
going to have that people behold His glory and glorify Him, He
didn't wipe this world into nothing when Adam sinned and plunged
the whole human race into spiritual depravity in the garden. He said
that in the garden. He said in Genesis 3.15, because
of the seed of woman. That's why I'm not destroying
you right here, right now. You know who the only woman who
ever had a child without knowing a man? the one who brought forth the
seed of woman, Christ Jesus the Lord. And he said way back there
then, this is the only reed for my namesake that I'm deferring
my anger. Oh, I'm going to pour out my
anger, he said. I'm going to pour out my anger in him as the
substitute of a people, and I'm going to pour out my anger on
a people who willfully reject me and disobey me. My anger is
going to be poured out, but I'll defer it for my namesake till
I bring that people to behold my glory. Well, Isaiah was sent
to preach this gospel to a people whose heart was fat with pride
for the glory of man. And from their hearts to the
Lord's house, throughout their streets and into strange countries,
their rebellion spilled out and they became more hardened against
the voice of the Lord and against His prophets. And they wouldn't
repent. They would not turn. They would
not believe the Lord. And the Lord told Isaiah they
wouldn't. And Isaiah asked him, Lord, how
long? And he said, I'll harden their
hearts. Or he said, how long will they
harden their hearts against thee? How long will your wrath be upon
them? And he said, until the cities
be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and
the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men
far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the
land. That great forsaking took place at Calvary when God in
human flesh hung upon the cross and said, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? That's the glory of His name
and why He deferred His anger. He said, I'm going to continue
preaching this Word, have you preach this Word. I'm going to
leave this people alone until this great forsaking in this
land. And when Christ hung on that
cross and said, with the sin of His people upon Him, He said,
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He says, in it shall be a tenth,
and it shall return and shall be eaten, or almost totally consumed
itself. As a till tree and as an oak
whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves, so the
holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Now this is a pretty
simple illustration. of a tree whose leaves have fallen
off. You know, in the past couple
of weeks, you've watched what's happened. As the temperature
got colder and as the winds have blown, the leaves just have fallen
and fallen and fallen. And now these trees that once
looked so green and vibrant just a few months ago, they look dead
now, don't they? They just look dead. He said
this nation is going to be brought to the point where it looks like
a leafless tree. And he said, I'm going to bring
it to that point. I'm going to bring it to the point where there's
no truth in it. There's no stance for truth. There's nobody that
wants to hear my word preached. They're full of pride. They're
full of hatred towards God. They don't care about anything
about my word whatsoever. All they care about is the economy. They want to have an economy.
A little with a righteous man is better than plenty with the
wicked. There's a whole lot more than a good economy. And that's just an illustration. He said, I'm going to leave this
nation that way. And so, wind after wind, war
after war, the leaves fell off of this tree called Israel until
it became as if it looked like a barren, leafless tree. And
it looked dead. It looked like there's no life
there at all. But the Lord said, in it shall be a tent. In it
shall be a tent. A tent that I've reserved. in
it shall be the holy seed, and the holy seed shall be the substance,
the life thereof." There was a people that would hate God,
that would rebel against God, but they're going to give birth
to someone God chose before the foundation of the world. And
God said, because a man must first be born of water and then
born of the Spirit, I'm not going to destroy, I'm going to defer
mine anger off of that one that hates me and rebels against me,
so mine elect child can be born. And because He promised Abraham,
and He said, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed. He said, Abraham, of your stock,
there's coming a seed. And because of that seed, In
that seed, a people chosen by me out of all the people on the
earth, out of every nation of the earth, not all the people,
but a people out of every nation, I have chosen to bless that people
in thy seed. And because these children in
the midst that Isaiah preached to, because they were these sons
of Abraham, Because that seed would come from the stock from
the family tree of Abraham God said I deferred my anger I'm
gonna leave a tent there so that that holy seed that's gonna come
out of come out of this tree my seed my son and All that holy
seed that I've put in him because of them I'm gonna spare some
people from from utterly destroying them Now that's why God didn't
destroy this world in the very beginning. And that's why He
didn't destroy this nation, this physical nation, Israel, when
they rebelled against it. It's just one more example of
why He didn't destroy it in the garden. And He shows us here
with this nation. Now, let me show you this, because
I don't want to move on further without you seeing this for yourself,
so that if you have to accuse somebody of lying, you can accuse
your own eyeballs. Because I'm going to show this
to you in God's Word. Now, look to Genesis 22.18. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You look
to Galatians 3. I'll read you Genesis 22.18 while
you're on your way over there to Galatians. The Lord said to
Abraham, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
Now, the nation Israel did not exist then. That nation didn't
even exist yet. And He said, in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed. Now turn to Galatians
chapter 3. You're there and look at verse
16. Now to Abraham, and his seed
were the promises made. He saith not." The Lord didn't
say, and two seeds as of many. He wasn't talking about, Abraham,
I'm making this promise with you and all your children. He
said, I'm making this promise with you and with one, thy seed,
which is Christ. Now, look down with me at Galatians
3.28. He said, Your true sons and daughters
are going to be a holy people made so by this holy seed. And they're going to form a nation,
which I've made, which is going to be above all the nations of
the earth. It's not a nation that we know
as national Israel. nor any more than it is England,
or it is a people of Germany, or a people of America. He said
it's going to be a people blessed in Christ out of all nations. Now look here what he says in
Galatians 3.28. He says, In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's children. His true children. You mean,
even though I'm not a Jew? Even though I'm not born of a
natural descendant of Abraham, I'm Abraham's child? That's right. When He said, In thy seed shall
all nations of the earth be blessed, He wasn't talking about Israel.
In Isaiah here, I have to lay this groundwork before we get
into our message. I want you to see this. In Isaiah 1 and
verse 9, Isaiah was preaching and he said, Except the Lord
of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have
been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. He's
referring to Lot. who was down in Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the Lord told Abraham, He said, if there's one man down
there in that land that I've chosen and put in My Son, Christ
Jesus the Lord, then I will not pour out My wrath on that land,
if there's one down there. And Isaiah said, and if He hadn't
left us a remnant, just like He left Lot in Sodom, we'd be
destroyed right now. Now let me ask you a question.
Was Israel around when Lot was down there in Sodom? It wasn't.
Israel wasn't even a nation yet. He was God's child because God
chose him and put him in Christ. And the nation he's speaking
of here, that he's forming for himself, that his remnant in
Israel is going to return to, is not a Mount Zion over there
in Israel. It's Christ. Read Hebrews 12.
We've not come to Mount Sinai. We've come to Mount Zion, to
the heavenly Jerusalem, to the city of God where Christ sits,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to just men made perfect. It's a spiritual kingdom. It's
a spiritual heavenly land. The place where Christ dwells
where he'll be the light. There won't be any Sun. There
won't be any moon He'll be the light thereof. This is he says
they're gonna return to me this remnant. I'm gonna bring them
to me. He said Look over in Isaiah 65 8 one more place. I have to
show you this This is Isaiah saying the same thing in another
way Isaiah 65 8 You take a cluster of grapes,
and it looks like it's bad. It looks like there's nothing
good in it at all, and you're going to throw away the whole
cluster of grapes because there's nothing good in it. But thus
saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and
one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so will
I do for my servant's sake. that I may not destroy them all. Now listen to this. And I will
bring forth a seed out of Jacob. That's one seed now, not many.
That's Christ. Out of Jacob I'm going to bring
forth one seed and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. That's his son, Christ the Lord.
And mine elect shall inherit it. That's Christ the seed. That's
this holy seed we're talking about. Then now look here now. We come to plural. He said I'm
doing this for my servants sakes and my servants shall dwell there
This holy children that I put in him in that holy seat They're
gonna dwell there. They're gonna dwell there now
Isaiah 7 1 all right And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the
son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that reasoned
the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Himalaya, king of
Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could
not prevail against it." In chapter 7 here, in these 16 verses that
we're going to try to go through, the Lord gives us an illustration
of everything that He told Isaiah in chapter 6. It's interesting
that after Isaiah saw the glory of Christ Jesus the Lord in Isaiah
chapter 6. After the Lord told him, go now
and tell this people that are going to harden their hearts
against you, they're going to reject you, they're going to
reject my word, they're going to reject my Redeemer. He said,
but I'm going to save a people. I have a people reserved for
me that I've put in my son. And because of him and for his
sake and their sakes, I'm not going to destroy the whole cluster
of grapes. I'm not going to destroy the whole, the tree's going to
look dead. But there's going to be some life in it. And that
life's going to be my son and the people I've put in my son.
Then it jumps from... That's the end of King Uzziah's
life. And it skips King Jotham altogether and jumps to King
Ahaz. And we don't have anything in the Word here that Isaiah
ever said preached during King Jotham's day. For 16 years, it
jumps to King Ahaz. It does it on purpose because
it begins with these words. It ends telling us that, that
he was going to do that, reserve a tenth in it, and then it begins
here and it says, and it came to pass in the days of Ahaz. Now, I'm not suggesting that
this prophecy was totally fulfilled in the day of Ahaz. That's not
what I'm saying. It was very much illustrated
in King Ahaz's day, though. And it was illustrated using
King Ahaz and Isaiah and a couple of enemy countries. Now, let's
see what happened. 2 Chronicles 28, verse 1. 2 Chronicles 28, verse 1. If you'll look there with me.
Something had already happened during King Ahaz's reign. And
we need to look at it before we pick up here in this verse
in Isaiah 7, verse 1. It tells us a little bit about
Ahaz and it tells us what had taken place. 2 Chronicles 28,
verse 1. Ahaz was 20 years old when he
began to reign. and he reigned sixteen years
in Jerusalem. But he did not that which was right in the sight
of the Lord, like David his father. For he walked in the ways of
the kings of Israel, and made molten images for Balaam. Moreover,
he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and he
burnt his children in the fire." That's awful, isn't it? You think,
that's terrible. That's the same thing folks do
in our day when they proselyte their children to believe a God
that can't save anybody. You might as well be burning
them in the fire. Ain't no different. And he did after the abominations
of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children
of Israel. He sacrificed also burnt incense
in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
He's just the kind of person that the Lord told Isaiah, he's
not going to hear you Isaiah. He won't hear a word you say.
Wherefore, the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king
of Syria, and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude
of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was
also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote
him with a great slaughter. For Pekah, the son of Remeliah,
slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were
all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of
their fathers. and Zechariah, a mighty man of
Ephraim, slew Masiah, the king's son, and Azraqam, the governor
of the house, and Elkanah, that was next to the king. And the
children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two
hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters, and took also
away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria."
So, these two kings that that we're dealing with in Isaiah
7-1. Because Ahaz was an idolatrous king, because his heart was full
of pride of self-made religion, ears dull of hearing of the Holy
One of Israel, eyes heavy, he'd shut his eyes to the truth of
God. Wherefore, just as the Lord told Isaiah he would do, the
Lord his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Syria
and the king of Israel and began desolation, began to destroy
him. Just like the Lord had just told Isaiah he was going to do.
And the desolation began on a smaller scale than what it will be. He
only moved these enemy kings against King Ahaz, and only killed
120,000 people in one day. That's all. It's going to be
a much greater desolation than that, and a much greater desolation
when he returns. But it says here, women, sons
and daughters were were slain and then in this desolation. 200,000 though, not everybody
died. 200,000 men and women, sons and
daughters were taken captive by Israel and carried to Samaria.
A little remnant of folks were carried out of there by these
captives. Taken away. Just like the Lord
said He would do. Just like the Lord said He was
going to do on a grander scale. And having succeeded as they
did in that first battle, the king of Syria and the king of
Israel said, all right, let's go to Jerusalem now. If we did
this well here, let's go to Jerusalem. We can do the same thing there.
And so we pick up here in Isaiah 7-1, back there in our text. And it came to pass in the days
of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah,
that reasoned the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Ramaliah,
the same two kings, went up towards Jerusalem to war against it,
but they couldn't prevail against it. Because the Lord God of glory,
the sovereign God of glory, the same one that moved them to go
up against Damascus in the first place, said, now let's just pause
it right there. And he paused it. You got that,
what's that thing we got now on the TV, DVR, where you can
just pause it? The Lord God just paused it. He said, just stop
them right there. They can't go any further. Now,
Isaiah, I'm gonna show you about these
leaves on a tree. And he says this, verse two,
it was told the house of David, that is King Ahaz and all his
people, Judah, It was told them saying serious confederate with
Ephraim. Now look here. Here's these leaves
on the till tree. That teal tree, the oak tree
loses its leaves fast. That's the ten and a half tribes
of Israel. They were already done turned
and coming up against Judah. Judah hadn't cast its leaves
off just quite yet. Judah is like the teal tree,
it holds its leaves a little longer. So here it is, and when
it was told them, it says, and his heart was moved in the heart
of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
Well, what happens when you've been watching that wind blow?
What's happened when that cold wind's been blowing through these
trees? The leaves have just been falling
off, haven't they? Just been falling off. They heard
about these two kings, and just like those leaves on those trees,
their hearts just began to melt within them, fall off. They're
falling away. Well, let's see Isaiah's Gospel
to an unbelieving people. The Lord said, They're going
to fall away. I'm going to bring desolation."
And immediately he started doing it to show Isaiah exactly what
he was going to do. Now, Isaiah was sent to an unbelieving
people. And the Lord said, go tell this
people that in the midst of desolation there shall be a tent and it
shall return because the Holy Seed is the substance in the
midst of them. Go tell them that. And the Lord said, and you watch
as you tell them. He said, their hearts are going
to be fat with pride. and hatred for me, and they're
going to shut their eyes, and they're going to turn away their ears,
and they're not going to hear you. And I'm going to harden their heart,
God said. Now look here, Isaiah 73. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah,
Go forth now to meet Ahaz. Thou and Sher-Jazub thy son at
the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of
the fuller's field, and say unto him, Take heed and be quiet. Fear not, neither be faint-hearted
for the two tales of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger
of reason with Syria and of the son of Ramaliah. Because Syria,
Ephraim, and the son of Ramaliah have taken evil counsel against
thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us
make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of
it, even the son of Tabeal. Thus saith the Lord God." Now
listen. Ahaz, this is what God has said,
and I'm trying to tell you what God has said. It shall not stand,
neither shall it come to pass, for the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is reason. And within 65 years, Ephraim
is going to be completely broken, that it won't even be a people
anymore, and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria
is Remilia's son. They're going to fall. All they
are is smoking now. Where there's a lot of smoke,
there's not much fire left. And he said, they're just the
last little tails of some smoking firebrands. Don't fear them.
And he says here, if you will not believe, surely you shall
not be established. Just as Isaiah was told to go
and tell this people, the Lord sends Isaiah forth. And he goes
forth and he tells Ahaz, the gospel. He says, Ahaz, take heed. Take heed and be quiet. Sit still. Stop moving. Stop trying to find a way out.
Stop trying to help yourself. Stop trying to save yourself.
Stop trying to run here and there and make a confederacy with anybody
that will make a confederacy with you. Take heed and sit still,
Ahaz. Fear not, neither be faint hearted. Have you heard that the enemy
is trying to come up against you? Has the enemy of righteousness
gathered his troops to besiege you? Is your sin a troubling
army to you? Does the fear of death weigh
heavy on you? Hear ye indeed, Ahaz. See ye indeed, Ahaz. And be quiet, be at peace. Don't fear what these men can
do to you. Don't fear what these enemies
can do to you. Do you see the law of God as
an enemy of you right now that you can't keep it? If you don't
see it that way, you're in the delusion of thinking you can
keep it. Of course you can't. But if you've been made to see
it and to behold that you can't keep it and it is a fearful enemy
that you can't overcome, He says, fear not. Don't be fainthearted. Be still. If you will not believe,
you will continue to be tossed to and fro. You will continue
to be fainthearted. You will not be established.
Trust the Lord, he said. Have you seen your sin and that
you can't put it away? That as hard as you've tried
to reform your life, as hard as you've tried to turn over
a new leaf, all there is is the same old rotten leaf on the other
side? He says, then be quiet and be
still and watch what the Lord will do. See what the Lord is
about to do. And you'll be established. You
won't be tossed here and there. You won't be floating away with
the cold wind of this evil, evil winter that's coming upon you
like a leaf off of a tree. Wait and be still, he said. Verse 4, he says, Fear not, neither
be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands.
Don't rejoice in what seems like power in this king Raisin and
in Remeliah's son. Rejoice in the power of the Lord.
Don't exalt your sin and your rebellion by looking to your
flesh and thinking you can somehow with your own will and wisdom
in doing, overcome it. Because ourselves, we are the
sin. We're exalting ourselves to think
that. We're showing reverence to ourselves
to think that. We've got to bow to the feet
of Christ and show Him reverence. He said, don't give them reverence. Don't give these evil ones that
are coming upon you, don't give them reverence. Reverence your
Lord. Look to Him alone. Now look,
Isaiah 7, 7. Thus saith the Lord God, It shall
not stand, neither shall it come to pass. The counsel of the Lord
standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
But thus saith the Lord, These two evil kings have taken counsel
against thee, but it shall not stand, neither shall it come
to pass, the Lord said. He that sitteth in the heaven
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. It shall not
stand, neither shall it come to pass, the Lord said. Would the Lord have sent his
prophet to Ahaz to declare that this was not coming to pass if
the Lord had not intended to bring it to pass? It's true what Isaiah is telling
him. Would the Lord have declared
in His word that this was not coming to pass if the Lord had
intended to destroy this nation with these two kings? Believing
God is taking God at His word. God says, fear not, but trust Him. Would you be established? Would
you be settled? Would you be at peace? Would
you know that there is no enemy in this world, yours or the Lord's,
that can overcome you, that can have any effect on you, that
can do anything to you whatsoever, that can harm you whatsoever?
Would you be established in that fact? The only way to be established
is to trust the Lord's Word on that. Look anywhere else. Look to yourself. Look to me
as your preacher or your pastor. Look to one another to try to
keep each other from the evil. Look to anybody in this world. Look to the counselors and the
wise men of this world who are telling you ways that you can
find peace and happiness and overcome in this world and you
shall not be established. Look to Him alone and trust Him
alone. Believe Him alone and you shall
be established. Now, in verse 10, Moreover the
Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy
God. Ask it either in the depth or
in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask,
neither will I tempt the Lord. Ahaz was one of the most wicked
kings ever to sit upon the throne of David in the house of Judah. He wore his idolatry with pride. He was proud of his religion. He filled Jerusalem with graven
images to show everybody, even if they didn't want to, they
had to look and behold just how religious Ahaz was. And he even burned his own son
as a sacrifice to his God. And he did so pretending that
he reverenced God. This to him was how you worship
the true and living God. This to him was how you approach
the true and living God. This to him was believing God. He heard Isaiah indeed, but he
didn't understand what he said. He saw indeed, but he didn't
perceive what Isaiah said. His heart was fat with the pride
of everything that he had done, that he had imagined how his
God was, how his God would be pleased, how his God would be
accepted. And when God's messenger came to him telling him the truth
of how God accepts sinners, he would not heed God's word. And he did all of this in pretense
of piety, saying, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the
Lord. Knowing full well, all the while,
that he had looked to the wisdom of his own mind, and the strength
of his own hand and gone to the king of Assyria and made a confederacy
with the king of Assyria to protect him instead of trusting the Lord
God. And in his mind, he thought,
I have really trusted the Lord. The Lord opened up this way to
go to king Assyria. The Lord opened this door for
me to go to king Assyria and make a covenant with him to protect
me. Isaiah said, Ahaz, be still. Stop doing. If we haven't stopped doing,
if we haven't frozen in our tracks to behold our God and our King
and our Savior, to see that we cannot help ourselves, that we
cannot do anything to get ourselves, if we've looked somewhere else,
We can pretend in our piety that we're trying our best not to
tempt the Lord. But that's exactly what He had
done. That's exactly what He did. And so Isaiah says, Hear ye now,
O house of David. Verse 13. Is it a small thing
for you to weary men Is it a small thing for you to put on this
pretense of piety before Isaiah, my prophet? Try to fool him. But will you weary my God also? Are you pretending to be righteous
when in fact you think you're more wise than God? Are you refusing
to ask God to give you assurance because your assurance is really
in something you've already done? Those whose religion is like
Ahaz are the very zealously religious people whom the Lord promised
to destroy and save His chosen remnant from. Well, how can I be sure I can
trust the Lord? How can I be sure I can believe
on Him? What assurance is He going to
give me that if I trust Him, He will not bring my enemies
upon me, that He will save me from all my enemies, that He
will preserve me and keep me, and I will be among that remnant
who He promises to save? How can I have that assurance?
He said it's going to be because there's a holy seed that's going
to be the life in that dead-looking tree. Well, look here, Isaiah
7.14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Here's
where my word is all summed up and all fulfilled and sure and
steadfast. Here's where it's all yes and
amen. There are no maybes, ifs, ands, or buts about it. Behold,
a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name
Immanuel. butter and honey shall he eat
that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good." This
was the Lord's sign. This was the assurance. This
was the surety of God's promise to preserve and deliver His covenant
people. Isaiah knew this surety. This
substance, this life was in Isaiah. The Holy Spirit was in Isaiah
and he knew for certain This is how I know it has. This is how I can tell you of
assurance that if you will believe on the Lord, you shall be established.
Because if you believe on Him, it's going to be because this
life, this substance is in you and that He has fulfilled all
God's Word on your behalf. And you can't be lost. Your enemies
can't triumph over you. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. The Lord said
there in Isaiah 6.13, the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Though this tree looks dead,
from it is going to come a holy seed. And it's going to be the
life thereof of this remnant that I'm going to preserve and
save. Listen to Luke 1.35. The angel answered and said unto
Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
highs shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." This
is the seed of woman. This is the seed promised to
Abraham. From a seed comes a root, doesn't
it? This is the root out of that
dry ground that would It was called the nation of Israel.
This was the rod, the tender plant, the stem that came out
of the stem of Jesse. The branch growing out of his
roots. This is the one that would come
of the house of David. The King and the Savior promised
that it would sit upon the throne of David. You know where David's throne
was? It wasn't in Jerusalem. David's throne was in glory. He set upon a throne in Jerusalem
because his God set upon His throne in glory. And the throne
David worshipped at was the throne in glory. And that's where this
king sits. And he rules and there's no end
to his government. There's no end to the increase
of his spiritual nation. This is the substance and the
life in what otherwise would appear as this leafless, lifeless,
dead tree that God's going to destroy called that physical
nation of Israel. But not before He brought out
His remnant. Not before He saved His people. Not before He preserved
them from all their enemies. And the one He's going to do
it in is this one whose name shall be called Immanuel. Listen
to Isaiah 8, verse 9. Look over there with me. This
name Immanuel, this is His namesake. It means there's not the remotest
possibility that God's chosen remnant shall go unsaved. Or
that once He's brought you into saving union with Him through
faith, there's not one possibility that He'll leave you to yourself,
that He'll forsake you from your enemies. Listen, associate yourselves,
O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Give ear, all
ye of far countries. Gird yourselves, and ye shall
be broken in pieces. Gird yourselves, and ye shall
be broken in pieces. Now, I believe the lesson to
learn there is if you try to gird yourself, you shall be broken
in pieces. Try to clothe yourself in the
righteousness that only the Lord our righteousness can clothe
you in, and you shall be broken in pieces. Attempt to fulfill
the law of God that only the Lord, our righteousness, can
fulfill, and you shall be broken in pieces. Attempt to come to
God any other way but in this Emmanuel, and you've girded yourself,
and you shall be broken in pieces. Associate yourself with others
just like you. Join in a host of others that
agree with you. There's safety in numbers, surely.
God said you'll be broken in pieces. You'll be broken in pieces. He said, I don't care if the
whole world gathers together against my Son and against His
people. Ye shall be broken in pieces. Read on. Verse 10. Take counsel together, and it
shall come to nothing. Speak the word, and it shall
not stand. For Emmanuel, God, is with us. This is Isaiah
preaching. This is Isaiah's message to a
people in his day that wouldn't hear him, that grew dull of hearing. They said, I wish he'd tell us
something else. I'm tired of hearing about this
one. He said, Ahaz, you want to know how you'll be saved?
You want to know how to be established? Trust this one. Look away from
yourself. Trust Him. And he says, Butter
and honey shall he eat. These are things that are made
and gathered during times of peace. Aren't they? The wars of desolation had ceased
just for a little moment. You know what happened right
before our Lord came to this earth? Same thing that happened
right here when the enemies came up to Ahaz. He put it all on
pause. Isaiah came forth just declaring
it. Isaiah came forth just saying, let me tell you, Ahaz, about
this one, about this Emmanuel. When it got time for him to come
forth, the Lord stopped all the wars and all the desolation so
that he could walk through this earth himself in the midst of
his people and say, here I am. Here I am. Butter and honey is the grace
on His lips, His gracious intercession for His people. The will of God
would be His delight. The law of God would be the girdle
of His loins because of truth and meekness and righteousness.
Emmanuel, the right hand of God, came teaching mighty things.
He came teaching that truth requires that mercy can only be given
to the guilty when the guilty have been pardoned, when their
sins have been paid for, In other words, God won't forgive
you until somebody has borne the wrath of God and the justice
of his law, the penalty of his law. And he said, but my son,
he's borne it on behalf of this remnant. He's the substance and
the life thereof. And he's made them my holy children.
And he came declaring that just like good butter and honey on
the lips. Just sweet and good to taste.
That's good news to the believer. He said he'll eat butter and
honey. Are you besieged with sin? Has
the enemy surrounded you? There's but one who can come
to his chosen nation and free his people from the wrath of
God, from sin, from death, and from hell. And this one is the
one who knows to choose the good and refuse the evil. Ahaz was
king in Judah. Are you king? Are you king? As
sure as I'm sitting here today, there's somebody here that has
exalted themselves to the throne of God, and they think they're
king. As sure as I'm sitting here.
There's somebody who, right here today, thinks they're king. They're ruling, and they have
everything under control, and they know how their God will
accept them, just like Ahaz did. Well, you want me to tell you
what Ahaz did? when a king of Assyria made him this little
bitty promise and said, you know what Ahaz, I'll make a covenant
with you. If you'll turn from your God
to me, if you'll look to your wisdom, if you'll look to the
strength of your hand, if you'll trust in your own way and make
a confederacy with me, I'll deliver these kings into your hand. You
know what this Emmanuel did? You know what this king did?
The king of Babylon came to him The devil himself came to him
and showed him all the kingdoms of all the earth out of all time
at one time and said, I'll give all these to you if you'll turn
from God. If you won't trust Him, if you'll
look to me, I'll give you all of this. Ahaz chose the evil
and said, I'll take that deal. This Immanuel said, get behind
me. I'm not serving you. You're serving
me. You misunderstand how this thing
is arranged. I'm not serving you. You're serving
me. Well, let's look here. An immediate thing happened here.
A sign immediately happened that the Lord gave to show proof that
His promise is ordered in all things and sure and that He would
bring this to pass in Christ years and years and years down
the road. Isaiah is standing there talking to Ahaz in chapter
7, verse 16. He's told him all this, preached
this gospel to him, and he's told him about this one that's
going to come forth that's going to be the one born of a virgin,
the Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us, who's going to justify
His people and declare God the justifier of His people. And
he says, now, you see this boy I brought with me? You see this
child of mine that I brought with me? Before this child right
here shall grow up and know to refuse the evil and choose the
good, the land that you abhor, Ahaz, shall be forsaken of both
her kings." Within a very short while, you're going to see both
these kings that you're so scared of right now, they're going to
die. Before this child right here even gets old enough to
know to choose the good and refuse the evil. And Ahaz said, What
did you say that boy's name was again, Isaiah? And he said, his
name is Sher Jezebel. What does that mean? The remnant
shall return. His name means the remnant of
God shall return. It means his chosen people shall
not be destroyed. You want to see that it happens?
You want to see it happen? Look with me. Look with me over
it. 2 Chronicles 28. And the children
of Israel carried away captive of their brethren 200,000, women,
sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them,
and brought the spoil to Samaria. Now, when you get down to, I'm
just gonna throw this in, when you get down to verse 16, you're
gonna see it says, at that time, King Ahaz made a confederacy
with King of Assyria. It's at this time right here
that he had made that confederacy. It's at this time right here
that Isaiah was sent forth to declare to Ahaz, this is not
gonna come to pass. How did the Lord say, you remember
when the temple was destroyed and it was being rebuilt and
Zerubbabel was the governor? that was overseeing the project.
And the Lord said to Zerubbabel, that temple is a picture of his
church. It's a temple of his kingdom, of his people, just
like this remnant here. And he said, you know how it's
going to be? You know how it's going to be saved? Not by power,
not by your strength, not by might, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord. That's how I'm going to do it.
I'm going to send forth somebody to preach this gospel and I'm
going to preserve my remnant that way. My Son's going to come,
the Word incarnate, and He's going to save them, the seed,
the Holy Seed. He's going to save these children.
And then I'm going to send forth people, and they're going to
preach it, and the remnant's going to return to Me, to Him.
They're going to come to Mount Zion, looking to Him, trusting
Him. Now, He says, now look, Ahaz,
this boy right here of Mine, before he gets old enough, this
is going to come to pass. Now look here, look how the Lord
did it. But a prophet of the Lord was
there. God put one of his messengers
there, whose name was Oded. And he went out before the host
that came to Samaria and said unto them, Behold, because the
Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered
them into your hand. And ye have slain them in a rage
that reacheth up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep under
the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto
you. But are there not with you, even
with you, sins against the Lord your God?" He's just preaching
the gospel to them. He said, God's not with you.
God's against Judah. That's the only reason He gave
them into your hands. Sins at your door. You're guilty. Now
hear me therefore and deliver the captives again which you
have taken captive of your brethren for the fierce wrath of the Lord
is upon you. This is what happens when the
gospel goes forth. The gospel convinces men of sin.
It convinces them of the Lord Jesus Christ, our righteousness.
Now look what happens next. This is what happens when that
preaching goes forth. Then certain of the heads of
the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johan, Berechiah the
son of Meshillaboth, and Jezekiah the son of Shalem, and Amasa
the son of Hadley, stood up against him that came from the war. He
always gathers up some people. And said unto them, Ye shall
not bring in the captives hither. For whereas we have offended
against the Lord already, ye intend to add more to our sins
and to our trespass. For our trespass is great, and
there is fierce wrath against Israel. So the armed men left
the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.
And the men which were expressed by name rose up and took the
captives with the spoil Enclosed all that were naked among them
and arrayed them and shot them and gave them to eat and to drink
and anointed them and carried all the feeble of them upon asses
and brought them to Jericho the city of palm trees to their brethren
and Then they returned to Samaria How the Lord said Isaiah you
just go preach You're going to come into contact with fellas
like Ahaz. They're going to be scared to death of enemies that
don't amount to anything that I'm going to save my people from. But I'm going to show you right
here now. Go down there to Ahaz and watch how he won't believe
you. But go down there and declare Christ my Son to him and that
in this holy seat I'm going to save a remnant. And while you're
down there preaching to him, I'll save this 200,000 people
that have been carried captive by these enemies and I'll deliver
them back to their home just so you can say, see this boy
whose name the remnant shall return before he ever gets old
enough to even know the good from the evil. Just like God's
promised you in Christ, He's going to deliver His people.
He's going to deliver His people. And there'll be some who hears
this word and they'll say, I don't believe it. It'll be a saver
of death unto death. They'll shut their ears to it.
They'll be dull of hearing. Their hearts will swell up in
pride at their self-righteousness. They'll go on their way. That's
what the Lord said would happen. But there'll be some that will
hear it. And they'll hear it by the Spirit of God's grace,
by the Holy Spirit working irresistibly in their hearts. And they'll
see their sin. They'll see their rebellion.
And they'll call out on Christ Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with
us. And He'll feed them with that
same butter and honey that He is. And they'll be delighted.
They'll be thrilled with the fatness thereof. And He says,
in doing so, I'll bring the remnant to myself. They'll come to me.
Look over at Isaiah 45.20 and we'll be done. Here's the Lord's Word to that
remnant that was carried away. Are you part of that remnant
that was carried away? Are you looking for an earthly
kingdom, an earthly tabernacle? That's not what the Lord said
they're going to come to. Look now. Assembled Isaiah 45 20 Assemble
yourselves and come Draw near together ye that are escaped
of the nations. This is the remnant he's talking
to They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven
image and pray to unto a God that cannot say Tell ye and bring
them near yea, let them take counsel together Who hath declared
this from ancient time who hath told it from that time have not
I the Lord I? And there is no God else beside
me, just God and a Savior. There is none beside me." Now
look, here's what he said. Look under that land over there
in Israel. Look under that earthly city
named Jerusalem. I'm going to draw everybody to
that place, to that land, to that dirt. No, he says, verse
22, look under me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for
I am God and there is none else. I have sworn by myself." That's
what he told Isaiah to say. Isaiah told him, here's the sign.
I'm going to take human flesh. There's the sign. There's my
word. I've sworn by myself. I'm going to do this thing. The
word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not
return. It shall not return void. That unto me every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall swear. And that's going to happen. Are
you going to make us do it now or are we going to do it in judgment?
Surely shall one say, in the Lord have our righteousness and
strength. Even to Him shall men come. That's where this remnant is
going to return to. And all that are incensed against Him shall
be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. That's all that seed,
that remnant out of Israel, and that remnant from among the Gentiles. All the nations of the earth
shall be blessed, Abraham, in Christ thy seed. They're my Israel. They're my chosen people. And
to show you how great my power is to save, I'm going to make
a temporal nation called Israel and use them as an illustration
to show you just how powerfully I save. And that's what God did. Now, if God could do all that,
if He could do all that, just His sovereign power to orchestrate
those nations, to show Isaiah how successful and triumphant
he would be in preaching this Word, do you not think, after
He's given His own Son who purged the sin of His people, do you
think there is one that He's that his hand is short that it
can't save? You think there's one that he
can't establish in righteousness and in truth? If you will believe, you should
be established. The holy seed in the leafless
tree.

The Holy Seed in the Leafless Tree

What does the Bible say about the holy seed in Isaiah 6:13?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is understanding the remnant important for Christians?

What does the holy seed teach us about Christ?

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The Holy Seed in the Leafless Tree

What does the Bible say about the holy seed in Isaiah 6:13?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is understanding the remnant important for Christians?

What does the holy seed teach us about Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Clay Curtis

Comments

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