Let us turn to the chapter that
we've read and to the opening two verses Isaiah chapter 11
and I'll read again verses 1 and 2 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. Last Thursday I sought to say
something from what we are told there in Genesis 9 concerning
the sons of Noah after God had visited upon a wicked world,
that's great judgment of the flood, the universal flood, and
how the earth was to be peopled again by the sons of Noah and
their generations, their descendants. And I took for a text those words
in Genesis 9.27, God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in
the tents of Shem. The enlargement of Japheth and
then in chapter 10 we observed how There we read of his generations,
the beginning of chapter 10, the descendants of Japheth, and
how they are peopling and dividing the isles of the Gentiles, it
says. And I sought to say that what
we have there is not just the peopling of the earth after the
flood, but really a promise of the day of the gospel, how God
himself would enlarge, or as the margin says there, persuade
Japheth that those Gentiles descended from Japheth would be such as
were persuaded, not of men, but persuaded of the Lords, those
people that were given to Christ, the ones who would be made willing
in the day of Christ's power. And I think on that occasion
I didn't make some a reference to this particular chapter that
we've read tonight here in Isaiah 11, referring to what we have, for
example, there at the end of verse 11. We're at the islands
of the sea. These are equivalent to those
isles of the Gentiles spoken of in Genesis 10.5, the descendants
of Japheth. And what does it say there in
that 11th verse? It shall come to pass in that
day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to
recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria,
and from Egypt, and from Pathos, and from Cush, and from Elam,
and from Shina, and from Hamas, and from the islands of the sea. And what is the Lord God doing
with these various people. I know he speaks in terms of
Israel, the remnant of his people, but we know they're not all Israel
that are of Israel. And in the context there in verse
11 we have mention of what he's spoken of here at the beginning
of the chapter. Jesse, verse 10, In that day
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an end
sign of the people, to which other Gentiles seek and Israel
shall be glorious and again verse 12 he shall set up an ensign
for the nations all of this is speaking so clearly of the gospel
this whole chapter not just speaking of the restoration of the children
of Israel but speaking of the the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ that is to go out to the ends of the earth when God will
call to himself that spiritual Israel And having made some reference
then last time to this chapter, I thought we might consider these
words at the beginning of the chapter for a little while this
evening. And what we have here of course is the anointing of
the Savior. The chapter is clearly speaking
of the great day of grace. As we see there at verse 10,
in that day In that day there shall be a root of Jesse which
shall stand for an ensign of the people to each other Gentiles
seek and his rest shall be glorious. That day is the last day, the
gospel day, the day in which we are living And we have no
doubt of that because when Paul writes there to the church at
Rome, remember he is the apostle to the Gentiles, and there in
Romans 15 he speaks somewhat of his ministry and he actually
makes mention of Isaiah 11 and verse 10. in Romans 15 verse 12, but seeing
that word in its context, I'll just read the passage from verse
8. Paul writes in, Now I say that
Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth
of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. There
is the Jew to whom the promises were made. and he continues and
that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy as it is written
for this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and
sing unto thy name and again he says rejoice ye Gentiles with
his people and again praise the Lord all ye Gentiles and Lord
him all ye people Paul quotes these verses from the Old Testament
then at verse 12 again Esaias where Isaiah says, There shall
be a root of Jesse, and he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles. To him, or rather in him, shall
the Gentiles trust. And so on that authority, we
know that what we have in this particular chapter in Isaiah's
prophecy ultimately refers to the Day of Grace. I have heard
thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have
I suckered thee. Behold, now is the day of salvation,
now is the acceptable time. Well, I want us then to consider
these verses at the beginning of this chapter. There shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesson, 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 to consider then as our subject
the anointing of the Savior, the anointing of the Savior. And dividing the matter into
just two sections, first of all I must say something again with
regards to the person who is being spoken of, the person of
the Lord Jesus and then secondly to consider that anointing, that
anointing of the Spirit that is here promised to him. First
of all the person that he's spoken of and this description that
we have of the Lord Jesus there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Christ is that one who is a rod,
a branch out of Jesuit. Isn't he called the branch? Isn't that one of the names that's
given to the Lord Jesus? Zechariah 6.12, Behold the man
whose name is the branch. Also, Zechariah 3.8, Behold,
God says, I will bring forth my servant, the branch. And who is he a branch of? Well, he is a branch that has
grown out of Jesse. But he's not only a branch, that's
grown out of Jesse's roots, but more than that, he himself is
the root of Jesse, as we see in verse 10. In that day there
shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of
the people. Jesse, of course, the father
of David, Jesse begats David we're told at the end of the
book of Ruth and we say that also in the genealogies that
we have at the beginning of the of the New Testament. The Lord
Jesus is that one who comes of the line of David who was the
son of of Jesse and right at the end of scripture of course
The Lord Jesus declares himself there in Revelation 22 and says,
I am the root and the offspring of David. He is both the root
of David and he is an offspring, as it were, out of David's roots. And we're familiar with those
words at the end of Matthew 22 where the Lord Jesus challenges
the Pharisees who were always wanting to entangle him in his
own words, and he asks them that question concerning Christ, whose
son is he? And they say that he is the son
of David, which is true, but the Lord says, why then doth
David call him Lord? And refers them to the 110th
Psalm. Here then we we see the two natures of the
Lord Jesus Christ. A root is one thing, and an offspring
is quite another thing. He is the root of David, the
root of Jesse, in that he is their God, he is their Creator. We have reference then to his
eternal Sonship, but then also He is that one who, in his human
nature, is descended from Jesse and from David. That's the remarkable
thing that we see here in Holy Scripture. And, in many ways,
that's one of the great truths of the Gospel. When Paul is defining
the Gospel as he begins to address the church at Rome there in the
opening verses of that epistle he speaks of how God has separated
him unto the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and then he speaks
of what that gospel is and how does he define it? Well he says
that it is concerning his Son that is concerning God's Son
concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord who was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh and declared or marked
out, designated the Son of God by the resurrection from the
dead. Right at the beginning of that
gospel epistle Paul speaks of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the two natures. which is the same thing that
we have here in Isaiah 11. There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. And yet, that one is also himself
a root of Jesse. He is Jesse's root, as well as
the stem proceeding from Jesse. Oh, it is a blessed truth in
concerning Christ's person, how He is God-man. He is never anything less than
true, almighty God. And yet, at the same time, He
is a real man, a true man. And how Christ the man is one
who is able to empathize with his fellow men, how he feels
for men. We have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity, says Paul,
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. We see him in all the frailty
of human nature. We see him as one who grows weary
and must rest at the well at Syca in Samaria there in John
chapter 4. And then later we see how as
a man he's stirred in his spirit. Chapter 11, he's at the grave
of his friend Lazarus. He sees Martha and Mary grief-stricken. He's about to demonstrate something
of his deity and to raise Lazarus from the dead, but as a man,
how he is moved. Jesus wept, it says. Well, here
is one then, a man who is able to sympathize with men. He is a real man. When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman. Why he was conceived in the womb
of a woman was a miraculous conception, yes, but it was a real conception. The virgin was with child of
the Holy Ghost. But besides the human nature,
are we not also there reminded of the truth of him being born
under the law he is made of a woman he is made under the Lord it
says he is under the Lord of God or when he is born into this
world he is spoken of as as one that grows out of that root of Jesse, that root
of David also. Think of the language that we
have later here in Isaiah 53, he shall grow up before him as
a tender plant. And as a root out of a dry ground
he hath no form nor comeliness when we shall see him there is
no beauty that we should desire him. He is a man despised, he
is a man rejected even as we see him in the Gospels. And yet,
what are we told concerning this root? Well, Proverbs 12, 12 we
read of the root of the righteous. This is a righteous root. He
is made under the law. Why is he under the law? Because
he must be submissive to that law, he must honor that law,
he must magnify that law, he must obey that law. And so he
does throughout all his human life. He obeys every commandment,
every precept, every statute. He fulfills all righteousness.
and honors it not only in its precepts by living but also of
course honors it in his death. There he honors it in respect
to all its terrible penalties. He bears the punishment that
was due to the sinner, he dies as a substitute. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, Paul says. being made a curse
for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
trough. Oh, this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, what a man is this, who comes to live and to die for
men, as their surety, as their substitute. And yet all the time,
in all this great work, he is never anything less than God. He is true Almighty God. What
does God say in Psalm 89? I have laid help upon one that
is my son. I have exalted one chosen of
the people. I have found David my servant
with my holy oil have I anointed him. Who is this one spoken of
there as David? It's not David the king, it's
David's greatest son. It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so he is able, able to save them to the uttermost that come
to God by Him. All who would come to God by
Him are saved. He says, I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. Oh, He has
accomplished something with the sheep. He has died as their substitute. And that precious blood, of course,
can never lose its power. He is the sea of the travail
of His soul. This is the one then that is being spoken of,
the person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the rod and
branch out of Jesse, yet also that one who is the root of Jesse
Christ in his person as God-man, Christ in that great work that
he has accomplished as he is made under the law of God. and
having stood in that law place of his people, he has answered
for them in every particular of the law, delivered them from
that law of God. But whilst we are able to identify
the person he's spoken of quite clearly here in the first verse,
we must then go on to see what God promises concerning this
one, the unction of the Spirit that is to be upon him. Really, the promise runs from verse 2
right the way through to verse 5. All of this is evidence of
that blessed ministry of the Spirit. 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 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. And
righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of his reins." What a remarkable description it is
of that that has come upon him who is the appointed Saviour. Here we have the anointing of
the Saviour. And I just want us for a while
to consider what is being said here in the second verse. First
of all it says, "...the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him."
And are we not told there at the end of John chapter 3, "...O
God, giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." there was
such a remarkable effusion, outpouring of the Spirit upon the Lord Jesus
Christ as he comes to execute this great work that the Father
had committed to him in the Eternal Covenant. We've already referred to his
conception How is he conceived? Well, Mary is told, the Holy
Ghost shall come upon them. The power of the highest shall
overshadow them. Therefore also that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. He
has no human father. He has a human mother from whom
he receives his nature, his human nature.
She was a sinful woman rejoicing in God her Saviour, but here
is the miracle of the birth. The Holy Ghost so comes upon
her that though a sinner herself, what is conceived in her womb,
that holy thing, is the sinless human nature of the Lord Jesus. That holy body, that holy soul,
conceived of the Holy Ghost. and then remember how subsequently
as he begins his public ministry at his baptizing the heavens
open and the spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove
as the father himself speaks from heaven and declares this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased but how the spirit
is upon him and immediately after his baptizing he is he is led
of the spirit into the wilderness and there he is tempted forty
days tempted of satan and then we read of him returning in the
fullness of the spirit having resisted all those temptations
having overcome the tempter for that season though he will come
again and again and as he returns he goes into the synagogue there
in Nazareth as was his wont it says it was his custom to observe
the Jewish religion to keep the Sabbath guy and there in the
synagogue he reads the words of Isaiah 61 the Spirit of the
Lord is upon you because he has anointed me to preach the gospel
and so forth. There was such and the fusion of the Spirit
upon that man without measure the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him and so he did and so he did he performs miracles
how does he perform the miracles he tells us himself if I by the
Spirit of God cast out demons then the Kingdom of God has come
among you It's by the Spirit. You know, in that human life,
there's a sense in which he is ever always dependent upon the
miniature of the Spirit. That's his humiliation. I know that it is the second
person in the Godhead. It is the Son who is the Savior.
But don't we see all the persons in the Godhead involved in that
great work that the Son came to accomplish? It's by the Spirit
that He performs His miracles. And when He comes to die, what
do we read? In Hebrews, Hebrews 9.14, "...who
through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot unto God."
Surely there, there is some reference to God the Holy Ghost. I know the commentators say that
the reference is also to his divine nature. That's referred
to sometimes as the spirit through the eternal spirit. But I think
one can say that both those things are true. It is that divine nature
that is so important when he comes to die. This is what gives
such efficacy to the precious blood that he sheds. But the
Spirit is there, and the Spirit is certainly there when he is
raised again the third day, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit, says Peter. Oh yes, he raised himself
from the dead, but also at times we read of the Father raising
him again from the dead, but also the Spirit is there, raising
him from the dead. Here then is one who is blessed
with that ministry of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him. And then we have some description
of that ministry of the Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of wisdom. Remember, even at the age of
12, in Luke 2, there at verse 45 following, we see him with
the Jewish doctors, reasoning with them, quite remarkable really,
at that tender age, how he was favoured with such a spirit of
wisdom, and of course when we see him exercising his ministry
on many occasions he's disputing with the Jewish leaders, with
the Sadducees or with the Pharisees. Matthew 22 is quite a remarkable
chapter really, I've already referred to what we have at the
end of that chapter when the Lord challenges the Pharisees
concerning who Christ is. and they can't really answer
him adequately and he silences them but previous to that there's
some disputing with the Pharisees over the matter of the law and
what is the greatest of the commandments they're always trying to entangle
him and not just the Pharisees also the Sadducees are spoken
of in that 22nd chapter of Matthew verse 31, He silences them. They denied the truth of the
resurrection of the dead. What does the Lord say? Oh, that
God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He's not the God of
the dead, He's the God of the living. Oh, He silences those
rationalists. He's granted such wisdom and
also such such understanding, the spirit of wisdom and understanding. And it says in verse 3 that the
spirit shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of
the Lord. And the margin is interesting, it says the word quick literally
means scent or smell, make him of scent, smell. Well, what does that mean? John
Gill says the reference is to a spirit of discernment. That's
how Gill understands and interprets it. And he did have a spirit
of discernment. He needed not that any should
testify of man, he knew what was in the hearts of men, how
discerning he was. Before Nathaniel's brought to
him, he sees Nathaniel afar off, he knows everything about Nathaniel.
I saw the Oh, when we read that fourth
chapter of John, the Samaritan woman. Oh, he must need to go
through Samaria. He must meet with this woman.
There's a work of grace to be done. There's a great purpose
of God to be accomplished in that woman. And what does she
say to her fellow citizens? Come see a man which told me
all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? or what
discernment he has. He needed not that any should
testify of man. He knew men's heart. It was said
of Luther that in his preaching he could preach as if he had
been within the hearts of men. But if that was true of the Protestant
Reformer, how much more so of him who is the Prince of all
preachers, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again there in Matthew 22 and verse 18 it says Jesus perceived
there that is the Pharisees wickedness and said why tempt ye me ye hypocrites
they were trying to entangle him he sees what they're about
he has that spirit of true discernment the spirit of wisdom the spirit
of understanding and then it says also the spirit of counsel
and of might. Is he not that one who is really
the great counsellor? When here in chapter 9 Isaiah
speaks of him and the promise of him. Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon
his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the Counselor. And how
we are to look to Him for all counsel, that He might be our
Teacher and our Instructor. He is that One who comes to reveal
the Lord's eternal counsel. And how we see that worked in
the Gospel, at 16th chapter in Matthew, where Peter initially
makes his great confession, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. The disciples are brought to
see and to understand something of the wonder of the person of
Jesus of Nazareth, that he is the Christ. He is the promised
one, the Messiah, He is the Son of God. And then subsequent to
that, the Lord begins to speak more clearly to them concerning
the purpose of His coming, the work that He must accomplish.
We have Peter's confession and then verse 21 from that time
forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must
go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and
chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again
the third day. Oh he is unfolding now that eternal
counsel of God that he must come to make the great sin atoning
sacrifice and Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying,
Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And he
turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou
art an offence unto me, for thou savest not the things that be
of God, but those that be of men. Oh, even Peter, who had
just previously made his confession, and was pronounced blessed, flesh
and blood had not revealed it, but the Father in heaven, and
now how the Lord addresses him so severely. Get thee behind
me, Satan. Or the Lord says that he does
not say that the things will be of God. The Lord is unfolding
the purposes of God. He is coming to unfold God's
eternal counsels. And he is favoured then with
this Spirit. The Spirit of counsel and of
mights. And we see something of his might,
something of his power, something of his authority as he ministers
the word of God, as he speaks the truth, he is, as I've said,
the prince of all preachers. And the people were astonished
at his doctrine, we're told. He taught them with authority
and not just the scribes and the Pharisees. or there was such
an unction upon his ministry. And then also here it speaks
of the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. The spirit of knowledge and the
fear of the Lord. What is the knowledge that he
comes to make known? Well he comes to make God known. He is the image. of the invisible
God. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is
in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared it. Oh, this is
that fall and that final revelation of God. He is the greatest of all the
prophets. No more any prophets after this prophet. He whom God
hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto him. Already referred to those words
at the end of John 3. Here is the reason why he is
so anointed by the Spirit, that he might speak the words of God,
his unction. He says my doctrine is not mine,
my teaching is not mine, but his that sent I have not spoken
of myself, but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment
what I should say and what I should speak. He is the Lord's messenger. He
makes known God. He reveals God to me. and what
does he say at the end in his great high priestly prayer this
is life eternal that they might know then the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent the spirit of knowledge the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord oh the fear of the
Lord that reverence it is such a hallmark of all his life that
strict regard for the honour of God for the will of God we
need to remember in Hebrews 5.7 who in the days of his flesh
when he had offered up prayer and supplication with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death
and was heard in that he feared he was heard in that he feared
though he were a son yet learned the obedience by the things that
he suffered oh what was that fear? it's reverence it's all
What a man is this? He's the God-man. And as man
here upon the earth, he constantly acts in the fear of God. This
is the spirit that is upon him. And you know, it is this spirit
that must come to us and teach us and instruct us. Remember
how John in the second chapter of his general epistle speaks
of that unction, that anointing. You have an unction from the
Holy One, he says, and ye know all things. It doesn't mean because
we've got the Holy Spirit that we know all things about every
subject on the face of the earth. It doesn't mean that at all.
He's speaking of spiritual things, the anointing. which teacheth
you of all things, and is true and is no lie." And how that
comes by the Spirit and it comes through the Word of God. Look at what it says here in
verse 4, "...he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lip shall he slay the wicked." He smites the earth with the
rod. What is this rod that's being spoken of? It's the preaching
of the Word. And then the breath of His mouth.
Isn't that the Spirit? When He breathes on His disciples,
He says, receive ye the Holy Spirit. Oh, it must be the Word
that comes by the Spirit and with the Spirit. It's the preaching
of the word and he is that one, as I've said, who's also spoken
of later in verse 10, there shall be a root of Jesse which shall
stand for an ensign of the people to which other Gentiles seek.
Now what is an ensign? Is it not a banner? The colors? It's that that would
be familiar to soldiers? in the battlefields, they would
look out for the colors, that's their rallying point as it were.
And here is the Lord, he shall be an ensign for the nations,
it says in verse 12, and shall assemble the outcast of Israel
and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners
of the earth. This ensign, this great banner, this standard
is to be unfurled. And how is it unfurled? It's
unfurled in the Gospel, in the Word of God. And that Word, when it comes
with the blessed unction of the Spirit, or that Spirit that was
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Spirit that we need to be
upon us, that we might truly understand these truths, embrace
these truths, live by these truths 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 or that
the Lord would grant that we might also know what it is to
have that blessed anointing of the same Holy Spirit of God. Oh, the Lord then be pleased
to bless these things to us. Amen. Now, before we pray, let
us sing the hymn 120. The tune is
Evangelist 138. With joy we meditate the grace
of our High Priest above. His heart is made of tenderness.
His bowels melt with love. 120.