I'm just going to read our text
tonight, because it would be good to see it all, and then
we'll go through it in the points afterwards. But I'll read, and
then Joe will come and sing, and then our brother will read,
and the order of service will be the same. I just sometimes
like to read the text. So it's going to be in Isaiah
11. Isaiah 11, and we're going to
look at the first nine verses. And there shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of
his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord. and shall make him of quick understanding
in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after 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. The
wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together, and a little child shall lead them, and the cow
and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together,
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the sucking
child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child
shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den, They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the earth. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
Father, we thank you for gathering your people together here this
night. Lord, we are thankful for your mercy and grace for
the provision of salvation in your son, not as Hawaii, but
For He is the only way of salvation and the only means by which any
of us sinners can stand before You, holy and righteous and accepted
of You. We are thankful for the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray that Your Spirit
would be upon us this night. Lord, that You would teach us
and guide us and lead us, that You would show us the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, that You would help us.
We have many concerns and many cares and many worries in this
life. But Lord, we're so thankful that
You provided salvation in Your Son, Jesus Christ. And we pray
that You would fill our hearts with faith and fill our hearts
and minds with joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this in
Jesus' name, our Lord and Savior. Amen. We're going to stand and sing
page 134 out of your softback. It's a new one for our group,
but I'm sure most of you have sung it before or heard it. 134,
I once was a stranger to grace
and to God, by Robert Murray McShane, sometimes also called
Jehovah's Akenyu, the Lord our righteousness. I once was a stranger to grace
and to God. I knew not my danger and felt
not my load. Though friends spoke in rapture
of Christ, tree. Jehovah said, can you? Was nothing to me. Like tears from the daughters
of Zion that roam, I wept when the over my soul. And thought not that my sins
had fell to the tree. Jehovah said, Can you? T'was nothing to me. And three graces I lied from on high, and legal
fear shook me, I trembled to die. No refuge, no safety in
self could I seek. Jehovah said, can you? My Savior must be. My terror's all banished before
the sweet name. My guilty fears banished, with
boldness I came. To drink at the fountain, life-giving
and free, Jehovah said, Can you? His all thanks to me. Jehovah said, Can you my treasure
and boast? Jehovah said, Can you my ne'er
can be lost? In thee I shall conquer my flood
and my field, My cable, my anchor, my breastplate and shield. The next song we'd like to sing
is 118, Vast Beyond Imagination. so Thus beyond imagination is the
host of God's election, More than all the sands of ocean,
More than all the stars of heaven. Here they seem a small assembly,
Weak and poor and ever-needy, But when all are brought to heaven,
What a mighty congregation. Mighty through the land they
conquer, Lord let me be in that number. Fixed in your predestination,
Savior grant me your salvation. Thank you. I'm going to read Luke 24. starting
in verse 27. Luke 24, starting in verse 27. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them and all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village,
whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone
further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for
it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went
in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat
at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break, and
gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and
they knew him. And he vanished out of their
sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within
us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened
us to the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour,
and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together,
and them that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed,
and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were
done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of
bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus
himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace
be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted,
and supposed they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are
you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold,
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. And
when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy and for wonder, he said
unto them, Have you any have you any meat? And they gave him
a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before
them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer,
and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things. And behold, I send the promise of my father upon you,
but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power
from on high. And he led them out as far as
to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And
it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them
and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple,
praising and blessing God. Father, we're thankful for this
blessed scripture that you brought to us tonight. Father, we're
thankful for the one that you sent to fulfill what we couldn't
and can't and wouldn't if we could. And father, we, we ask
that you just continue to bless this congregation and father,
the pastor that you've sent to us. Father, we ask that you give
him the words that you would have us to hear. And father,
we ask that you open the hearts of everyone here to hear and
to receive and to understand the words that you bring into
us. And father, again, we ask that
you just watch over and care for us in Christ's name. Alright, so let's be turning
back there to Isaiah 11. Isaiah 11. Now the Lord's been showing us
as we go through Isaiah, we can see the foolishness and the folly
of man and the Lord's been warning that he's going to judge. He's
going to bring the wicked into judgment. He's going to punish
them for their sins and those In Judah, which say one thing
with their lips, but their heart is far from them, he warns there's
going to be a chastening. The Lord's going to bring his
people back and turn their hearts back to him. But what's so sweet
in Isaiah, and that's why he's called oftentimes the Gospel
of Isaiah, is because woven thickly throughout this book is Christ. And when I say that, I mean Christ
is in all the scriptures. But what I mean is that you could
see such clear pictures of Christ and the salvation that the Lord
has provided through the psalm. And that's what we have here
in our text in the first nine verses of chapter 11. And the
Lord is faithful to declare righteousness, to declare truth, and to show
that he himself is faithful. When he was speaking to self-righteous
ones, the Pharisees in Matthew 22, those who trust in their
own works, he said there, While the Pharisees were gathered together
around him, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And the Lord
did that often to teach the people. He did that with his disciples,
as we saw last Sunday, when he asked them, Who do men say that
I, the son of man, am? And it causes us to think. And
so he asked them, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?
And they say unto him, the son of David. So they knew the scriptures,
that the scriptures said, this is David's son. And he saith
unto them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord? If he's his son, how does the
father call him Lord? And in verse 44, the Lord said
unto my Lord, this is David, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man
was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that
day forth ask him any more questions, because they were self-righteous.
But Christ is showing us that he is the one who is anointed
of the Father. He is the one that is spoken
of throughout the scriptures to provide salvation, to do as
our brother was saying before, that which we could not do for
ourselves. We can't save ourselves. We're
full of unrighteousness, full of darkness, full of wickedness.
This flesh cannot please the Father. So we're seeing that
Christ in Christ alone is the one who makes his people righteous.
We are only presented to God perfect and without blemish and
without spot in Christ, in His blood, in His righteousness.
So tonight I want to point sinners to the salvation which the Lord
has provided for His people, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our title is Christ Righteous and Faithful. Christ Righteous
and Faithful. So first, let's look at how the
Lord raises up a Savior for the people. Our text reveals to us a little
more about what we've been seeing in Isaiah about the son, that
not only is he coming forth of a virgin, and not only is he
going to fulfill all those offices which were laid out so beautifully
for us in Isaiah 9, 6, about a son, a child being born and
a son given, but here we read in verse 1, Isaiah 11, 1, And
there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
a branch shall grow out of his roots. So this is describing
for us a humble beginning. He has a humble beginning, just
as David's beginning was humble in Jesse. Jesse was unknown.
He was an unknown man and obscure and nothing special about him.
And David was the last of his sons and the smallest of them.
But here we see Christ, a description of Christ, that His beginnings
would be very humble as well. Isaiah, writing of Christ, in
Isaiah 53, verses 1 and 2, he asks, For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, he hath
no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him." That's how it's going to
come forth. Now turn over to Luke 2. Luke
2. In Luke 2, 7, when Christ was
born, we read, And Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because
there was no room for them in the inn." He found no place there
in the inn when he was to be born. Now look over at Luke 3. Luke 3, verse 23. And this shows us the lineage. So in Luke and Matthew, they're
describing that lineage through Joseph. But this here, Luke,
is of Mary's lineage, and I'll show you why and how you can
remember it as well. In verse Luke 3, 23, And Jesus
himself began to be about thirty years of age, being as was supposed
the son of Joseph, which instead was the son of Mary, the daughter
of Eli. So it was well known that among
the Jews that Mary was the daughter of Eli. And that's what you see
there, that's Eli. So he was the daughter of Eli.
He's the son of Mary, the daughter of Eli. So verse 31, Luke 3,
31. And it goes through the whole
lineage, which was the son of Malia, which was the son of Menon,
which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan,
which was the son of David, which was the son of Jesse. So here
we see Christ's lineage. And if you look at Matthew, you
see that Joseph came from Solomon, David's son. So regardless of
which lineage you're looking at, Christ is the Son of David. He came from David's loins through
Mary and his son Nathan. So our Lord and Savior, he confirms
his lineage to us in Revelation 22, 16. He says, I, Jesus, have
sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning
star. So this one, of whom I stand
here before you, proclaiming and directing your hearts to
him, that he, I'm declaring that he is the Messiah. He is the
promised one sent of God to save his people, and we are to hear
him. And the reason why we're to hear
him is that God sent him. The Father sent Him. We see Him
outlining for us in Isaiah all the trouble of man, all the wickedness
in man's heart. We see Him always going into
that which is evil and wicked. He's always departed from the
Lord. He's always lifted up in pride. He's always doing that
which He wants to do and refusing to do the good because there's
no desire in Him. There's no heart in Him to do
that which is right before God. And so the Father sent salvation
into the world through the line of David, which is Christ, his
son. Now in Isaiah 11 2, this is how
we'll know that this is the Christ. Verse 2, and the spirit of the
Lord, Isaiah 11 2, 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." Now
turn over to John 1, so we can see that this is exactly, the
Lord is showing that we're going to know this one because He has
the Spirit of God resting upon Him. So in John 1, just for example,
we can look at any of the Gospels, but in John 1 verse 29, And the next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. and I knew him not. But that
he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing
with water." So the Lord purposed to make Christ known to his people
by raising up John to come and baptize, so that this work could
be done right here. And John bear a record saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. This happened when Christ was
raised up out of the water. When he came up out of the water,
being baptized, when he was brought up from beneath the water, the
Spirit of God came down like a dove and rested upon him. And that's how John was told,
this is how you're going to know, this is my son, the one whom
you were sent to come before to make straight the path before
him. And I knew him not, verse 33,
but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto
me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
on him, the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw on bare record that this is the Son of God. the Lord sent John, and John
bear testimony, and the Lord himself bear testimony that this
is Jesus, this is the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ
sent of God. And so, the Spirit, as Christ
ministered among the people, the Spirit continued to bear
witness that He is indeed the Christ. So that in John 3, verse
2, look over there in John 3, verse 2, we read that, at night
Nicodemus Nicodemus came and said unto Christ, Rabbi, we know
that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. So amazing were
the miracles, the healings which Christ was doing, and all that
they saw, not even counting what the disciples saw, but just what
the Pharisees and the religious establishments saw, they had
to admit, How can this man be doing this? Except God be with
him. He must be of God. Now, they
didn't say that publicly because there were many that envied him
and they would throw you out of the church, but that's why
Nicodemus came at night. But even they, those that were
honest, at least had to admit, this is of God. We can't even
explain what this guy is able to do. And the reason for this
witness in the ministry that we're seeing here is because
Christ was filled with the Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit
as we saw there in Isaiah 11-2. He's filled with the Spirit without
measure because of the greatness of the work that he's doing.
He's no ordinary man. This is no simple task that he's
coming to do to deliver all of his lost sheep out from the condemnation
and being lost and being destroyed and having done their wicked
works. He's coming to work salvation
for his people. So God just isn't raising up
any old person to do this. He's sending his son to do a
very particular work for people that cannot do it themselves.
That's how bad off we are. That's how full of sin and iniquity
we are. And in John 3, 34, if you're
still there, look at verse 34. And so that's why Isaiah tells us there in verse
2 that he has a spirit of wisdom and understanding of counsel,
might, and knowledge, and he fears the Lord. Look there at
verse 2 again. 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 that's that he might work
salvation for his people. He is wise beyond anything we
know, and he has the Spirit of God to do this work. In Isaiah
53 11, which describes that whole salvation work that Christ did,
he says, by his knowledge, he better have the Spirit of knowledge,
because by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many, for he shall bear their iniquities. So we see this is
not a simple work. that Christ is coming to do.
It's a work that we can't do ourselves. So turn over to Isaiah
61. And in Isaiah 61, look at verse
1, and the Gospels also quote this work of Christ. It's in
Luke 4, but we'll read it in Isaiah 61, 1. The Spirit of the
Lord God is upon me. This is Christ speaking. The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed
me. To preach good tidings unto the
meek, he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound. So Christ didn't come to tell
us what we need to do to get ourselves saved. Christ didn't
come to set an example and He didn't come so that we could
look to Him and hear what He says and then get to work and
start doing what He's telling us to do. Christ is declaring
to us that He is salvation, that He is our hope, and our life
and our joy, that he is the one who saves his people. To proclaim,
verse 2, the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance
of our God. That day is when the Lord conquered
all our enemies and when he delivered us out from under the dominion
of sin. To comfort all that mourn, to
appoint unto them that morn in Zion, to give unto them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. That's the oil, that's
speaking of the Holy Spirit which He gives to His people and makes
them alive whereby they know Him and understand that it's
not my works. God provided Him. He is my righteousness
and He's my hope and my all. The garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness. And that's His righteousness
whereby we worship God. That garment of praise because
we come before God, not in our own works of righteousness, but
in the righteousness which He's wrought. and it's called the
garment of praise. Why? Because we're praising and
glorifying him for his righteousness and for his works which have
delivered us from the prison and have brought us out. And
to you, brethren, well, let me just finish here, that they might
be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Not
the planting of our flesh, but the planting of the Lord that
he might be glorified. And so we see through that that
Christ delivers his people. He opens that prison door. So
those of us who came up through different congregations, where
they teach you that you continue to mourn, that you continue to
be sorrowful and you continue to be beat down. But doesn't
it say that Christ opens the prison and sets the prisoner
free? Doesn't he release the captive
so that you're not just kept down in that continual mourning
and suffering and being beat down and not rejoicing in Christ
and wondering, are you his? He makes known to you. the joy
of His salvation and teaches you that. It's not that you don't
sorrow over your sin and think about it at times, but the Lord
always brings you back to see He is your hope and your salvation
and He brings you out of that mess. So the apostles even declare
what Christ accomplished. In Colossians 1.14, we read,
"...in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins." So that when Christ went to the cross, he was bearing
us in his own body. He was bearing our sins in his
own body, and he redeemed us. He paid the purchase price with
his own blood to make us his own, his own people, and he obtained
for us forgiveness of sins. Again, he's no ordinary man.
The only reason why he could do this is because of what it
also says in Colossians 2.9, for in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's why he's able to work
this work of salvation. That's why he was perfect himself,
so that he was a perfect sacrifice, able to lay down his life for
the people. That's why we believe him and
trust him, and that's why we continue to declare and praise
his name, Christ, Christ, Christ. When Paul wrote to Timothy, In
1 Timothy 3.16, saying, without controversy, great is the mystery
of godliness, you notice that everything after he said, everything
he spoke of after that phrase is Christ. So that we read, God
was manifest in the flesh, that's Christ. Christ was justified
in the spirit. Christ was seen of angels. Christ
was preached unto the Gentiles. Christ was believed on in the
world. Christ was received up into glory. So everything Just
as everything in Paul's ministry was about Christ, so everything
there in that verse is praising and glorifying and lifting up
the salvation of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so,
that's why we continue to praise and glorify Him. Now, our next
point, let's look at the manner in which he governs. So we know
that this is this Jesus of Nazareth. He is the one that was promised
there. He's the son of David. He's the one who's promised and
sent of God to do this work. Now let's look at the manner
in which he governs in verses 3 and 4 of Isaiah 11. Isaiah 11, 3 and 4. And God shall make him his Christ
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. So the Lord is showing us in
his word that the one whom he sends is not like other men.
He doesn't judge as other men because God is not impressed
with the things that man is impressed with. God isn't moved by the
things that man is moved by. God isn't looking at the stature
of men and the rank of men and the wealth of men and the influence
of men. He's not impressed or moved by
those things. He's not moved by the things,
those are the things that our eyes are impressed with. And
there's always something about the way somebody does something
that impresses us, but God isn't moved by those outward appearances
of men, because he looks on the heart, and he knows what's in
the heart, and that's why he didn't commit himself to any
man, because he knows what is in the heart of man. He asked
this in Mark 8, 37, God's not going to be bartered with. You're
not going to be able to trade anything with God, He's God, and anything that is
made, that is here, is His. Anything that's created, He's
created it, and He can create anything. So there's nothing
that man can barter or negotiate with God. You've probably spoken
with people about that and ask them and they say, I'll be all
right, I'll be able to talk with God and he'll see, we'll come
to an agreement. No, you won't. You won't come
to an agreement. It's like when you were a little
kid and you had to stand before your dad and before he got home,
you're thinking in your mind what you're going to say and
you're convincing yourself, this is going to be good, I think
this is going to work. As soon as you get up there and the words
start coming out of your mouth, They just fall hollow, and even
you hear how foolish they sound as they're coming out of your
mouth, and you realize you get real quiet and silent because
there's nothing more to say. It doesn't have the same punch
that you thought it did in your own mind, and that's how it's
gonna be when people stand before the Lord God. Now, turn over
to Mark 2. Mark 2. Mark 2 in verse 5. You're familiar
with this. This is that man sick of the
palsy who was let down through the roof by his friends. And
it says in verse 5, Now here's a man who can add nothing to
Christ. He can He's not going to profit the
kingdom at all from our opinion, our sense of things. And looking
at this man, and he says, Thy sins be forgiven thee. And just hold your place there
in Mark and go over to Luke 6. I want you to see this. See this
love and the mercy and the kindness of Christ toward them that are
poor and weak and can do nothing. for him. Luke 6, verse 31. He's forgiving this man sick
of the palsy who can't even move that he has to be brought and
carried by friends. And he says in Luke 6, 31, And
as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love
you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that
love them. And if ye do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even
the same. And if ye lend to them of whom
ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend
to sinners to receive as much again. I remember I worked with
a woman and I never met her husband. and she was telling me about
him and I don't know why she was saying this but she was telling
me that She said if he looks at you and he doesn't think he
can gain anything by you, he can't be profited by you in his
business dealings or there's nothing there, he doesn't even
acknowledge you. You're nothing to him. You're
just completely dead to him. There's really people that think
like that and look upon people like that. And if we're honest,
in some way we do the same thing. We cut off people and have people
that we despise and don't have any time for those people, and
it really shows what's in our heart and the evil that exists
there. But he says there in Luke 6.35,
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend hoping for nothing
again. And your reward shall be great,
and ye shall be the children of the highest. For he is kind
unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful,
as your Father also is merciful. Because you think about how unthankful
we are, and how evil we are, and you see how God, who is perfect,
and doesn't do anything offensive, how gracious and kind and merciful
he is to us, and that should really influence how we are towards
others, and not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought.
We read of him, if you can turn back to Mark, we read of him,
you know, that the Lord shall make him of quick understanding. And that refers to the sense
of smell, actually, and it suggests Christ's ability to perceive
and his ability to anticipate what's in the heart of man. And
in Mark 2, verses 6 through 9, we see it. But there was certain
of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive
sins but God only? Exactly. God only. This is the
Son of God. And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? So the Lord was
dealing with many of these and he was of quick understanding.
The Lord gave him that perception to know what was in the heart.
There was several occasions where he healed men and women on the
Sabbath day, on purpose, to reveal what was in the heart of man.
And he made a sinner every hole and healed a child of Abraham. on the Sabbath day and the Pharisees
looked on it and they charged Christ with sin and doing that,
which is wicked. And he said in John 7, 24, judge
not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Be merciful. Be kind and generous
and merciful with others, he's saying. So this is a blessing. When we see this, it's a blessing
to those that are poor in spirit, to those who know they've come
up short. to the righteousness that God
requires. It's a blessing to see how merciful and kind the
Lord Jesus Christ is. It says in Psalm 72, verses 2
and 4, He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor
with judgment. Not to be harsh and cruel, but
to make them righteous and so that they receive judgment that
is for their righteousness which he gives to them he shall judge
the poor of the people he shall save the children of the needy
and shall break in pieces the oppressor so that is very good
news to us who are needy sinners who have nothing to bring before
God, who can't do any works to make themselves righteous. They're
so poor, they're so destitute, they are just dirt poor. Last week when we were going
to visit the girls and we were driving through Illinois, you
see those oil things there in the land? I've seen them in Texas
and they're kind of large, but in Illinois They're pretty small.
I don't even think they're as tall as me. They're just about
this tall. Little mini things going up and down, pumping oil,
and they're making a little something on their property. Maybe, I don't
know, 5, 10, 15 bucks a day in one of those little things. They
have something. We don't even have that, brethren.
When it comes to the Lord and the righteousness that he requires,
we have nothing to earn any righteousness to bring before God. We are dirt
poor. We don't even have land to work,
to bring forth anything for the Lord to please Him. That's how
desolate we are. And that's why it's such a mercy
and a grace that Christ would do that for us who can add nothing
to Him. He doesn't need us. He loves
us nonetheless, and he's sent the Son to save you, to deliver
you and me from our sins, to make us clean and to make us
righteous so that God imputes to us righteousness to stand
before him. And he said it, he said, I'm
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And all of religion I don't know
what they were saying, because all I came away with is, what
do I got to do to get myself to a savable state? What do I
got to do to get myself righteous so that Christ will save me,
in spite of the fact that that verse is right there throughout
the scriptures, constantly showing to me, it's not your righteousness,
it's not your works, you're never going to be good enough, you're
never going to do that which pleases the Lord. And that's
why Joseph Hart wrote that sweet song that says, come ye sinners,
poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands
to save you. full of pity, joined with power. He is able." He's able and He's
willing, brethren. That's such a mercy when you
can see He's the one who's righteous. None of us are righteous, and
yet He's merciful to His enemies and those that hated Him and
despised Him and wanted nothing to do with Him and thought we
were good enough. But in mercy, He showed His light. He shone
His light upon us and showed us the darkness in our hearts
and made us to see it so that we understood, it's me, Lord,
I'm the problem here, I'm the wicked one, and you are the Savior. You're the one who came to fix
it. Thank you. And he showed us that, and that's
such a mercy. So I want us to see the security
that we have in Christ. He's showing us that he is sent
for this very purpose, and that those whom he saves and draws
to himself, showing them that they're sinners, it's not just
to beat you down and leave you there, it's to show you, to encourage
you to come and keep looking to Him, and we are secure in
Christ. Christ is faithful. He's faithful
to the fallen, to the lost, and to the bankrupt sinner. He's
faithful. Look at the next verse there
in verse 5, Isaiah 11 5. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. So that
he stands in righteousness. Everything he does is righteous.
And when it says the girdle of faithfulness shall be his reins,
he's saying that he's guided by faithfulness. Everything he
does is in faithfulness. Faithfulness to the Father, and
faithfulness to secure our salvation. He's faithful to fulfill all
the covenant requirements. He made sure he did everything
necessary to obtain salvation for his bride. to make them his
own. So he's faithful to his name,
he's faithful to his word, and he's faithful to his people.
This Jesus of Nazareth is the promised seed of woman. This
is the one that God promised a woman in the garden, and he
is the one who has come to do that word just as God said that
he would. So he came to save sinners. And
that girdle of righteousness isn't to keep you out, it's to
keep you secure in Him, that we might stand before God in
perfect righteousness, so that God imputes to us, His people,
righteousness. That means God doesn't call,
when He says He imputes, He's declaring you and I. to be righteous. If we weren't righteous, God
wouldn't impute it to us. He wouldn't say, you're righteous.
That means Christ made us righteous. It's not as if we're righteous.
We are made righteous by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God
now imputes to us righteousness because that's what we are. That's what we are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's how much He has obtained
salvation for His people. Now, in Isaiah 51, verse 8, there
were many that trust in their own righteousness, and that's
what keeps us from coming to God. They're confident in their
works. They don't need the Lord Jesus
Christ for everything. They might use Him a little bit
in their speech, to make it sound good, but they don't need him,
and that's the self-righteousness that prevents us from coming
to the Lord, which he must break in his people. In Isaiah 51,
verse 8, to the righteous he warns, for the moth shall eat
them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. And that gives us a picture of
exactly what it'll be when those people who think they have on
the wedding garment, that they're going to enter into that wedding
between the lamb and his bride, and they're confident that their
robe of righteousness is going to gain them entrance in with
the Father. But he's saying to us, your righteous
robe is full of holes so that when you stand before God, he's
going to make you to see, you're going to look down and you're
going to be full of holes in all the wrong places and you're
going to be ashamed because everyone's going to see your nakedness.
It's like that dream that we all had when we were, you know,
when you wake up and you're late for class at school and you run
down and you finally get into class and suddenly you show up
there and you're naked. You look down and you don't have
your pants on and you're ashamed. And that's how it's going to
be for everyone who comes in their own righteous works. They
think everything looks good. They think everything's fine
until they stand before the light of God that's going to show them
your garment is full of holes. It's been eaten by moths and
eaten by worms. But to us who have no confidence
in our own righteousness, who have no confidence in our works,
who he's made to see that he is righteousness, he says, my
righteousness, that's the righteousness we're coming in, my righteousness
shall be forever and my salvation from generation to generation. And that's all because of the
faithfulness of Christ to do this for his people. He's faithful
to the end. Romans 8.4 says that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the spirit. And that's why religionists,
they get angry because we're not giving any place for the
sinner to boast in. There's nothing, there's no works
that we have of our own to stand before God and earn some favor
with God, and we're declaring that our works of righteousness
which we trusted in have no place. We will bring forth works, but
they're and thankfulness not to obtain anything but because
of what Christ has done for us, that he has justified us, that
he has sanctified us and made us even now this very day to
be able to stand before him in perfect righteousness, having
no need to add anything. We could die and be in glory
with Him forever right now. So the sinner rejoices because
they know the best work I ever brought forth is at best a filthy
rag. And if I've done anything that
I'm supposed to do, it's only because I'm supposed to do it.
It's my duty to do it. So I haven't earned or advanced
any of my stature before God. Now turn over to Psalm 89. We
see this is why the Father sent His Son in Psalm 89 and look
in verse 27. Psalm 89, 27. And I will make
him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy
will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him. His seed, that is the Christ's
offspring, the church, his seed also will I make to endure forever,
and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake
my law and walk not on my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression
with a rod and their iniquity with stripes." See, it's chastening,
but there's no punishment and no judgment there. Nevertheless,
my love and kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer
my faithfulness to fail. Because God is faithful to Christ,
his faithful son, my covenant will I not break, nor alter the
thing that has gone out of my lips, once I have sworn by my
holiness that I will not lie unto David and Christ is the
true David. He is the promised son the eternal
son of God We read in Revelation 19 11 I saw heaven open and behold
a white horse and he that sat upon him was called Faithful
and true and in righteousness he doth judge and make war so
we see he's faithful and he's righteous This is Christ our
Savior the faithful and the righteous one. All right. Let's look at
our final point. It won't be long This is the
result of Christ's rule. The result of Christ's rule.
So as a result of Christ being righteous and faithful in all
his work and making us righteous as well, Isaiah gives us here
figurative expressions that reveal to us a spiritual truth, a spiritual
blessing that we have in Christ, because Christ is the Savior
of the world. And by that I mean, as Paul used
it in Titus, that there is no other name given among men under
heaven whereby we must be saved." It's Christ and Christ only.
He is the Savior. And He's the Savior not just
for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. So, we who come before
God come in Christ alone. And it says in Isaiah 11, 6-9,
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the
cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the
sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall
not hurt nor destroy in all my mountain, for the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea. And it just reminds me that imagery
there, you know, as the waters cover the sea there, it just
reminds me of, you know, all those animals entered the Ark
of Noah and they dwelled together in peace. No animals got eaten
by another animal. They were changed to the Lord.
And they all ate straw, and they all ate the provender that Noah
gathered together for them, and the Lord preserved them. And
none of them died, none of them were eaten. And you just think
about that how, that's what Christ has done for his people. He's
brought all his people from different places, different backgrounds,
and he's made peace between them. And he first started it between
the Jew and the Gentile, where there was no relationship with
them, except maybe a money trading type thing. He removed that middle
wall of partition. Turn over to Ephesians 2 and
we can see this. I think the imagery or the way
Paul words it in Ephesians 2 is so beautiful because it shows
us what we have in Christ. Ephesians 2, 13 through 19. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, for to make in himself of two one new man, so
making peace. and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to you which were far off and to
them that were nigh. For through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God. so that Christ, his work
has accomplished our salvation and in Christ we will come before
holy God sitting on the throne and we shall not be judged as
this world will be judged and destroyed because we've already
been judged in Christ and he satisfied the justice and the
wrath of almighty God and put that away forever, because he
put away the sins of his people forever. And so Christ is in
him, we have perfect righteousness, and he is our shepherd. For in
Christ, as it says in Galatians, there is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So be thankful to the Father
because He's provided salvation for you needy sinners. He's provided
His Son, Jesus Christ, to put away all our sin and to provide
abundantly everything, everything we need sufficiently for us that
we might stand before Him. So I urge you get to Christ. If you're a needy sinner and
you have no hope and you have nothing to bring to God, get
to Christ. Look to Him. Just look to the
Son. He gives it to you. He's the one who gives you that
faith to come before Him, trusting in Him. I pray the Lord will
bless that to your heart. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you for Christ your Son, for the salvation you've
provided in Him. Lord, help us to hear it. Help
us to see our need. Shine your light upon us, Lord.
If we be stuck in the prison and in the dungeon of darkness
and under the dominion of sin, deliver us from it, Lord. Send
your Son to break us free out of that dungeon. Lord, for you
sent your Son to set the prisoner free. Help us to hear it, Lord. Help us to hear it by the spirit
of faith and by the work that you do in the hearts of your
people. And Lord, we pray for your people here, those of us
that are sick or troubled or struggling with various things,
Lord, please have mercy. Remember that we are but flesh.
And Lord, draw us to Christ and sweetly fill our hearts with
love to him. And let us see and rejoice in
the salvation you provided in him. Lord, you know the many
other concerns and Those that are looking to move here, we
pray, Lord, that you would bring all things together and continue
to orchestrate things that we don't even know or see that are
going on. We're just thankful for that. Lord, we do ask that
you would begin to teach us, give us a heart and a mind for
even finding a place that is a place where we can meet regularly,
Lord, and we can't make that happen. We don't even know where
to begin, but we ask, Lord, that you would begin to teach us and
guide us and bring things together that it would all come together
perfectly. Lord, we pray this in the name
of your son, Jesus Christ. And we ask also, Lord, for Stephen,
that you would be merciful, Lord, as he goes into the procedure
next week. Lord, that it will be successful,
that you would give the doctors wisdom. Let no infection come
about as a result, and Lord, just keep them well and safe,
and bring them back to us safely. We pray this in Jesus' name,
our Lord and Savior. Amen. Our closing hymn is going to
be 101. If you'd like to stand, we can
sing that as a closing hymn. 101. electing love. O glory to the
great I AM, Who chose me in the blessed land, Oh, millions of this fallen race
Shall never no more taste His grace. Praise, honor, power,
and glory be To Christ the Lamb of Calvary. who gave his life's atoning blood
and reconciled me to my God. Praise to the Spirit, must be
given, who frees from sin and leads to heaven. Chosen, redeemed, and called
by grace, To God alone I give my praise. Thank you.