Let me ask. Amen. I'll take your
Bible and turn back with me to Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter
11, I've entitled this message, The Righteous Branch. The Righteous
Branch. Scripture says, And there shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, a branch that shall
grow out of his roots. Now, here we have a promise of
God concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the eternal son of God. John says he the word, the word
in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and
the word was God. And all things that were made
were made by him. This one who had made all things
is now prophesied to come. And notice how he's to come.
He's to come as a rod out of the stem of Jesse. And this was always God's purpose
that the Messiah should come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We know that he should come as
the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We know that he should come out
of Jesse's stem. He is the root and the offspring
of David. We knew this. This was prophesied
over and over again. That he would come out of David's
kingly line. Yet notice the Lord shows us
here that the Messiah should not come during a flourishing
time. The line of David when Christ
should come was not a flourishing line. You see there his mother
Mary and Joseph, they were both of the kingly line of David and
yet they had not two pennies to rub together. They were in
poverty. That line was as good as dead. Scripture says in Isaiah 53,
He shall be as a root out of dry ground. A dead root. Remember in our old building
we had those two shrubs, sitting out in the front there, and they
were bothering people. We cut those things down, cut
them down. I got down there so close, I
tried to get to the dirt. And you know what? After a little
while, man, they started sprouting little little spuds out of it.
That ain't going to work. We want to kill that tree, right?
So somebody told me, said, if you just cut that tree in section,
that root into sections, it'll kill. Sure enough, it did kill
that root. This day, you can go there. Ain't nothing coming
out of those dead trees. That's exactly how God describes
the line of Jesse and David. It was a dead root. dead root, line of David, was
dead after the captivity of Babylon until the coming of Christ. His line was like a dried stump. But this promise here, yet God
had before purposed it, promised it, by the mouth of his prophets,
a branch shall grow out of his roots. Isaiah 53, He shall grow
up before Him as a tender plant, a root out of dry ground. Behold, it is out of the dry,
dead line, kingly line of David that the King of kings should
come. This is God's promise. This is God's way. This is God's
way. Behold then and wonder at this,
that Jesus was not born to be king. He was born king. I was watching a show the other
day about a king, old English king, and he had a boy, and this
boy was to be king. And sure enough, he grew up,
and yet it wasn't sure that he was going to be king. They all
hoped he would, but you know, he had a bastard brother, and
he had other people didn't want him to be king, so you know what?
He didn't become king. That's not so with Christ. Jesus
Christ came out of a kingly line because he was born a king. And now with those wise men said,
Where is he that is born king? Born king. Behold, in this prophecy,
Jesus, as described as a tender twig shooting out of an old dead
stump. And this twig, though weak in
appearance, that he should become the most fruitful tree of life. Notice he is called the branch. The branch. Look at Isaiah chapter
4. Look at Isaiah chapter 4 and
verse 2. It says, In that day shall the
branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious. And the fruit of
the earth shall be exalted, shall be excellent and comely for them
that are escaped of Israel. This tender branch coming out
of this dead root God says is going to be a huge glorious tree. It's going to be a tree. It's
going to be so beautiful that it is the fruit of the whole
earth. In other words, there ain't no other fruit but this
one. The whole earth right here. This is all the fruit of the
whole earth. Christ, it's excellent. And we who are escaped, it is
beautiful, isn't it? He said to those who have escaped,
this tree is beautiful. This branch is beautiful. Is
this not so with you who have fled to Christ for refuge to
us? Christ is the most beautiful
and glorious branch in which we find rest for our souls. Rest,
peace for our souls. The branch under which we find
refuge and eat of the tree of life. Over in Jeremiah chapter 23 and
verse 5, it says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that
I will raise up under David a righteous branch. And a king shall reign And listen,
and prosper. He's not going to fail. He's
going to prosper. And shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. And in his days Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name,
whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. So behold, this branch of David
then is a righteous branch. It is a branch, a righteous branch. And now, because, listen, because
of the fall of Adam's race, consider the root of every one of us,
the root of humanity when Adam's sin died. There's no life in
it. There's no life in it. All of
us are born dead. Dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, listen, the righteousness
of God is impossible for us to obtain. Just like after I cut
that root down. It is now impossible for life
to come back into that root. It's dead. You take a branch and it may
be pretty, you break it off a tree and you throw it over there by
itself. It is dead. There's impossible for that branch
to give itself life. That's exactly what it is with
us. It's impossible for us to obtain
righteousness by our doings. I tell you what, anybody that
knows that, a believer in Christ understands that. In my flesh
dwells what? No good thing. So what then is
the hope of ever pleasing God or obtaining righteousness by
works or obedience? What's the hope? It's impossible.
It's impossible. And I want you to see this because
for the righteous branch to be of any value, this has to be
true. That you cannot, by your works, produce any righteousness. You believe you see the righteous
branch and you value him. Because yourself in yourself,
there is no life, there is no ability. You know what Job said,
Job 15, verse 16 says. That. Let's see, I got the job
15 and verse 60. It says, how much more abominable
and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water? How often
do you drink water? You know what you need every
single day of your life? Water. This is how men view iniquity. Iniquity is refreshing. It's
life sustaining. They drink iniquity like water.
That's you and me. Just as naturally as you drink
water, you see it. Jeremiah and Jeremiah, I believe
it's 12 verse 9 says the heart is deceitful above and above
all things. Now listen, there is nothing
more deceitful than this. It is deceitful above all things. How Satan, how deceivable is
Satan? And yet your heart is even greater
the deceitful than that, more deceitful than that. And desperately wicked so you
can't even know it. You know what Jesus said? He
said this, you don't need, you don't need to turn over a new
leaf. He said, you need a new tree.
You need a new heart. You don't need to reform that
one heart in you. You need a brand new one. That's
what we need. And so God, God, God repeated
this twice. Uh, Psalm 14, Psalm 14 and uh,
verse one, listen, how depraved and how wicked the heart of man
is. The fool has said in his heart, no God. There he is. That's it. That's
an italic. It's not even there. It says, no God. They are corrupt, they have abominable
works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that
did understand or seek God. You know what he found? You know
what his report is? Listen, he said they are all
going to side, they are all together become filthy, there is none
that doeth good, no not one. You know what, God, he said that
in Psalm 14 and he felt so compelled that it was so necessary for
you to hear it, he said it again in Psalm 53. There is no spark of life in
man, no good, no desire to seek God, no ability for man to choose
Christ, even because we, by nature, are unrighteous. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. Here's proof. It is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, here's the conclusion. That no flesh can please God. that they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. So then, what does God's words
say about man's ability to attain righteousness? What does he say?
It is impossible. God said that. It is impossible
for you to attain righteousness. And yet men will not receive
that They build whole denominations
and churches on it The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness You know
what I just said to 99.9999% of religion today They call themselves
Christian You know what I just said? They say that's foolish Well, surely God has given us
a free will. No. Well, preacher, you're just
a fool, whatever. Surely God's given us some ability
to please him. Nope. To them, that's foolishness.
Neither can he know them. You shouldn't be mad at them
when they reject you because they can't. They can, neither
can they know them because they're spiritually discerned. Now let
me ask you tonight, are you such an one that I described that
can't obtain righteousness? Are you a dead root? Are you
a dead root? Are you such a sinner that's
unrighteous before God? Where then is there hope? Job
said, can a Unclean thing bring forth a clean
thing. What was that? Job Job 14 verse
four. He said, can a clean thing who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Not one. For seeing his days are determined,
his number, his months are as are with thee. Thou hast appointed
his bounds, and he cannot pass, turn from him that he may rest
till he is accomplished, as in hireling his day. For there is
hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. You know what
man needs to be? He needs to be cut down. There's
any hope for a sinner. He has to be cut down. Why? So
that God might produce a new branch, a new life, new heart. Behold, God's righteous branch,
who is the Lord Jesus Christ, that should sprout life from
the dead heart. Go back to your text, look at
this here. Look at verse two. The spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of fear of the
Lord. And he shall make him quick understanding of the fear of
the Lord, and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. is what he's going
to do. But with righteousness, shall he judge the poor and reprove
with equity the meek of the earth? He shall smite the earth with
the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, shall
he slay the wicked? The righteous righteousness shall
be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness, the girdle of his
reins. Now, we see how this is fulfilled
in Jesus Christ, the son of God, when he became the son of man.
When Jesus Christ came, He came not to condemn the world. Why's that? Because the world's
already condemned. It was not necessary. It was
not necessary for Him to come to condemn the world. If He wanted
to condemn the world, all He'd do is just stay up there. He'd
just stay in heaven. He didn't have to come down.
But no, He came into the world that He might save. That's what
He came to do, to save. You who believe not, you are
condemned already. Don't you know that? Because
you have not believed on the name of the Son of God, you are
condemned already. Jesus came in the world as the seed of David,
the branch of Jesse, to do this one thing, to fulfill all righteousness
for His people. He came to fulfill all righteousness
for his people. And to do this, what God did
is gave him the Spirit of God without measure. You remember
what John saw when he was baptized, right? He said, I saw the Spirit
descending upon him like a dove. And so all that he spoke, all
that he testified and every action and every word and deed, he was
righteous. He was righteous. And it was this word. By this word of God, he would
smite the earth and judge the poor with righteousness and equity
with the meek. You know, we preach to sinners. We preach to the poor. Because
that's who Jesus Christ came to preach to. He said, They that
are whole need not a physician. Isn't that just clear? Is that
not a spirit of wisdom? I'm feeling pretty good. I guess
I'll go to the doctor. That's not what happens, is it? They that are whole need not
a physician, but who? They that are sick. He came to save the poor, those
who are bankrupt of righteousness. Those are the ones to come to
Christ and abide under the shelter of His righteousness. And listen,
everyone who does is made rich. He said He reproved with equity
the meek. You know, those that are meek
are low. God brings us low. You know what
He does to the lowly? He raises them up. I like this
word meekness because it means level. You know, usually we think
of meekness as low. Really, it means to level out. When a sinner comes to Christ,
he sees himself on a level playing field. Unworthy. Unable. He sees himself as a sinner.
And what does God do with a sinner? Raises him up. He gives him righteousness. He gives him righteousness. That's
what he does to a poor sinner. He gives him the shelter of his
righteousness and he is made holy and has peace with God. All who are hard-hearted sinners
bow down and be reproved of Him. Come to Him in meekness and He
will lift you up. May the Holy Spirit rebuke you
so that you should come suing Christ for mercy. Why? Look at that in verse 5. And
His righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of His reins. When Christ should come, He should
be both two things, righteous and faithful. Righteous and faithful. This is the strength of His salvation. You want to know where salvation
comes from? It comes from His righteousness and His faithfulness. Behold, Jesus Christ as a man
has obtained righteousness by His own obedience. This was prophesied in Isaiah
chapter 43. He said, Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, mine elect,
he shall come and bring forth judgment and justice to the Gentiles. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Well, what's his work? What's
his perfect work that he's going to do? He's not going to be discouraged.
It's to obtain righteousness. In that same chapter, he said,
the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness. For he shall
magnify the law and make it honorable. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world, he had a purpose and he was not going to be moved
from that purpose. His purpose was to be righteous. Righteous. Man who believes that he should
have some part in his righteousness, that man should somehow be saved
by some progressive holiness, by some outward actions, or his
obedience to the law differs nothing from the Roman Church.
I don't care what you say. They're all the same. They all
say that, well, God saves you, but you're going to have to add
something to it. You've got to do something to
make it effectual. Make it powerful. Oh, that sinners would cast off
such foolish and vain hopes. That they should believe on Christ
alone. Because he has fulfilled the
law of God by himself. He did it all by himself. and to all who believe on him.
God both imputes his righteousness and imparts his righteousness
to us. I thought of this progress at
this thought of progressive sanctification. Some of the old divine, some
of the old writers used to use this term and the intention they
had was spiritual growth. that we would grow in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the intent. And
they were foolish to use that term progressive sanctification.
I wholeheartedly agree. They were foolish. They didn't
know where it was going to lead to. But it has led to this to
a progressive holiness. that God started this work, but
by your obedience, you should become holier. Now, let me give
you a little tidbit of information. That word holier is only used
one time in scripture. Isaiah 65 and verse 5, listen
to what it says. This is what they're going to
say. For I am holier than thou. Isn't this what Preston's sanctification
does? It causes the man that does it to say, Look, I am holier
than you. And you know what God says about
that? That smoke in my nose. Anybody who is holier is nothing
but smoke in the nostrils of God. No, our righteousness, our holiness
was obtained by Jesus Christ. Romans chapter three in verse
twenty two would that tell us it says even the righteousness
of God which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ where'd you get your righteousness
from who made it who earned it if Christ merited it and earned
it how could your obedience add to it And this righteousness is unto
all and upon all them that believe. I declare then the righteousness
of the righteous branch. The righteousness of the righteous
branch and all who believe on him have his righteousness given
to us. So not only was he the righteous
branch to produce righteousness, as he obtained it for all, but
he was also faithful. I said he was two things. He
was righteous and he was faithful. What was his faithfulness? He
was faithful unto death. He was faithful unto death. So set was the heart of Jesus
Christ to save his people that he would not take his eye or
move his heart from the cross. Remember when Peter said, Lord,
be it far from him. And he said, get thee behind
me, Satan. Thou desirest not the things
that be of God. Christ set his heart like a flint
to calvary's tree, and behold, He who is righteousness is also
become our propitiation, our mercy seat. I thought about the
mercy seat this week as well. That little that box. I thought
about that box, that wooden box overlaid with gold, the lid solid
gold. You remember what was inside
of that? What are the three things inside of the Ark of the Covenant?
The law. The manna. Aaron's rod that budded,
the branch, the branch that produced life. All of those things, picture
who? Christ! He is the manna, He is
the branch that budded, He obeyed the law of God. And you remember
it was all contained inside of that Ark of the Covenant, which
pictured what? Christ! The box, wood and gold,
pictures his humanity, his deity. The lid, solid gold, his deity. That lid standing between God
and the law. Then you have the priest. Who
does that represent? That represents Christ, doesn't
it? He's taken the blood of that goat and He's sprinkling it.
Well, whose blood is that picture? It pictures Christ. He's the
mercy seed, He's the ark, He's the keeper of the law, He's the
rod that budded, He's the manna, He's the priest, He's the offering.
Don't you see everything is Christ? Everything is Christ. He is the
propitiation for our sins. If he provided righteousness
for us, but did not die, what good would that do you? You would
still go to hell for the guilt that you did commit. Atonement
must be made. Justice must be satisfied by
one man. Sin entered into the world and
death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
even so by the gift of one. What was this gift? He gave himself. He gave himself. Isn't that what Abraham told
his son? God will provide himself a ransom. That's what Christ did. Provided
himself. He was faithful to provide himself
A ransom by the gift of one shall many transgressors be made what
righteous, righteous. Oh, that sinners would hear the
message of wisdom. Why will you die? Seeing Christ has made everything
you need. Why would you push him aside? But to you that believe. To you
that believe. To all, he is made righteous
by his faithfulness. Look at what happens as a result
of this righteous branches work. Look at verse six. Something
miraculous happens. The wolf shall dwell with the
lamb. That don't seem natural, does
it? The wolf shall dwell with the
lamb, the leper shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the
young lion and the fatling together, and listen, little child's going
to lead them all. Little child's going to lead
them all. And the cow, And the bear shall
feed and the young one shall lie down together. And listen,
the lion's going to eat straw like an ox. Something very unnatural is going
to take place. Because of his work. You that believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. I think there's a couple of ways
to look at this. One of this is, is this that the wolf of
God's justice is at peace with Christ's lambs. It's just natural
for the law to kill you. But because of what Christ has
done, both you and the law can lie down together. The justice of God is satisfied.
Satisfied with the offering of Christ. The leopard and lion
of the law shall be as with the meek calf. And they're going
to be led about with like a child. And this child is a preacher
of the gospel. Ain't nothing but like a child. Leading them around. With what?
The gospel of Jesus Christ. Aren't you led by this gospel? Aren't you now meek? You that
were wolves. Aren't you just led around by this gospel? I
also look at this as different characters of men. Some men are
like wolves. Some men are like lambs. And
you know what? In God's church, all types of
people. And what? They all have peace.
And you know what? They all eat the same thing. What does a lion eat? What does a lamb eat? What does
an ox eat? We eat the gospel. Isn't that
what happened on Noah's Ark? They all ate straw. Something
unnatural happens. When God saves His people, they
all lie down together. They love one another. And notice
this. Look at that back here. He says,
And the suckling child shall play at the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his head in an adder's den. And
what's going to happen when they do this? Something that's not
natural. They shall not hurt. nor destroy them in all my holy
mountain. What does this tell everyone
who believes on Jesus Christ, if he is your righteousness and
he is your atonement, what does this say? We're safe. There is nothing that is ever
intended to hurt you. At Calvary, you see what Christ
did is he drained the venom of Satan's accusations and pulled
his fangs out. He cannot hurt you. You got that? He cannot hurt
you. Because of what Christ has done. Matter of fact, it tells us that
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. It's though God is defying him
to say one word. You see old Joshua, the high
priest, remember that in Zachariah, Joshua, high priest, all covered
in those filthy garments, he's coming before the Lord. And Satan
was ready to accuse him. You know what he said? Remember
what Satan said? No, because he didn't say anything
at all. He didn't say one word. He was not allowed. He said,
is this not a brand pluck from the burning? Is this not mine?
Take those filthy things off of him and you put my robe on
him. You put my crown on his head. And you know what it says? And
he stood by to make sure it was done. He stood by. This is what the righteous branch
shall do. He shall make his holy mountain a refuge of safety and
peace. Now behold, in verse 10, it says,
In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he shall stand
for an end sign for the people, and to it shall the Gentiles
seek. and his rest shall be glorious. This word ensign, you know what
that means? Beacon. You know what a lighthouse is? It's a beacon. A beacon of light, a banner,
a flag. When Jesus Christ said, I am
the light of the world, what would he say? I am a beacon.
I am a beacon. Jesus said, when as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be
lifted up. And if I be lifted up, what am
I going to do? I will draw all men, Jew and
Gentile unto me. It was at the cross that the
Gentiles should seek it is to the cross that the Gentiles should
seek and find rest, his rest glorious. Have you seen Jesus
Christ crucified? Do you believe on him? Then you've
seen this beacon, haven't you? You've seen this inside. And
you found what? What did you find when you came
to Christ? You found what he promised. Rest. You found rest. and see that Jesus Christ is
speaking to us, we who were Gentiles of the flesh, yet we were made
by the election of grace to spiritual Israel. Now look at verse 11.
It says, 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. And it shall be left from Assyria,
and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elim,
and Shinar, from Hamath, from the islands of the sea. and he
shall set up a beacon for the nations and shall assemble the
outcasts of Israel and gather together dispersed of Judah from
the four corners of the earth. What is he promising here to
do? I like this. I just thought of
this when I was reading this earlier today. Remember when
Jesus Christ was, Pharisees were asking those questions, what
are you going to do with that woman taken in adultery? And he, what'd he
do? He stooped down and he wrote in the ground. And then what'd he do the second
time they asked him? He stooped down a second time. When God stooped down the first
time, what did he have? He had the law. When God came
down the first time, He wrote with His finger, He wrote the
law. What did that do? That condemned
us. When God, to Israel, He stooped
the first time to condemn them to captivity. But here He promises,
I will stoop down a second time. And when He says that, that is
a second time of grace. It is a time of grace. The second time he stooped down
to write was when Christ came into this world to save sinners.
And what'd he say? He said, you that without sin
cast the first stone. And they all just, he stooped
down. And they all, they all left. Who was the only one sitting
there? The woman. He said, woman, where are thine
accusers? She said, no man, Lord. He said,
neither do I condemn thee. When God stoops down the second
time, he's talking about a stooping of grace to save the remnant
of his people from the four corners of the earth. And by faith, he
gathers them. He gathers them to this inside. We were dispersed among all nations
and people, and yet what Christ gathered us, he gathered us from
the four corners of the earth. So then, believers, we are one
in Christ. What's what he what happens then? when he gathers his people. Well,
they love one another. Look at this. The envy of Ephraim
shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim
shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. What is
this? We don't envy one another. You
know why I don't envy Eric? Because he's just as great a
sinner as I am. And he's saved by the same grace of God that
I am. Why would I envy Him? I love Him. You know, I identify
with Him. We are sinners saved by grace. How can we ever elevate ourselves
above one another? We can't. We won't. And notice this. He says in verse 14, And they
shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the
west, and spoil them of the east together. And they shall lay
their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall
obey them. What is this saying? This is telling us that all providence,
that God is using even the enemies of the church to do His will. Just as they fly on the shoulders
of the Philistines guess what all things right now of evil
men trying to destroy this gospel now make no mistake we I think
that we're a little bubble here where we're at where we live
not so much being attacked yet but it's coming friends this
world wants nothing more than to destroy this book to do away
with the gospel of Jesus Christ they've wanted to do it ever
since the beginning when Cain slew Abel But you know what they're doing?
They're only furthering the gospel. They're not hindering it. Is this what the Jews and Pilate
and the Romans thought and the Pharisees? Isn't this what they
thought? That they were killing Christ.
They were destroying this gospel. What were they actually doing?
Fulfilling it. What do you think these idiots
are doing around us? They're simply fulfilling the
will of God, even though they don't know it. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. That's what's happening. This is what the righteous
branch has accomplished, and the Lord shall utterly destroy
the tongue of the Egyptian sea. With his mighty wind shall he
shake a hand over the rivers and smite into the seven streams,
and they shall make men go over on dry land. Isn't this exactly
what happened in Egypt? He's just saying it in another
time. This is what the righteous branch
is going to do. He's going to smite the rivers
of sin and judgment and justice. And what are we going to do?
We're going to walk over on dry ground. He destroys our enemies. He destroys
our enemies. And there shall be a highway
for the remnant. A freeway. And, you know, there's
no obstacle in this way. You know, they had this tradition
in the concerning the. They cities of refuge, that they
had to make those highways plain, clear of all obstacles. Listen
to me, sinner, sinner, what keeps you from coming to Christ? What
obstacle keeps you from coming to Christ? Other than you don't
want to, what is it? Who's to blame here? The highways
open. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man comes to God but by me.
It's a very plain way, isn't it? The highway. And notice then
the response of everyone who comes. In that day thou shalt
say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me,
thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Isn't this
true? Because of my sin. I see he was
displeased. But I know by Christ it is now
forever turned away and he comforts me. Behold, God, then is my salvation. I will trust. And not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song and is become my
salvation, and he was always my salvation. But I'll tell you
this right now. He's become my salvation. Everyone who comes to Christ,
everyone's chosen and redeemed experiences this. This salvation,
therefore, with joy, shall you draw waters out of the well of
salvation, the well of salvation, a well of salvation, a never
ceasing supply of mercy and forgiveness and pardon and peace and life. What do believers do? Just keep
drawing. You need it? Keep drawing. This well never runs dry. It is a well of salvation. And in that day you should say
praise the Lord. Call upon His name. Declare His doings among
the people. Make mention of His name that
His name is exalted. And that's what we do, and that's
what we're doing right now. Declaring the what the righteous
branch has done. Declaring who he is and what
he's done, this is what we do and sing unto the Lord, for he
hath done Now what he told that demoniac
of Gadare, he said, go home and tell your friends what great
things God has done for you. Now you, the ones for whom the righteous
branch has saved, go tell thy friends what excellent things
He has done for you. Don't you have a story to tell? Don't you have something to say
about this? Not what excellent things you
should do for him. I ain't got nothing to say about
that. There ain't nothing you can do for him. There's a lot
he can do for you. Excellent things. This is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout. Thou inhabitant of Zion, for
great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Where is
He? Where is this righteous branch
we've been talking about? He's right here. Isn't that where
He swore to be? In the midst of thee. That's
where the righteous branch is. Yeah, he's seated upon his throne.
But I know this, he's just as much here as he is there. In the midst of his people, constantly
watching over us, constantly protecting us. Oh, may God exalt
his righteous branch. Who saved us by his righteousness
and faithfulness. And we who are saved are at peace, absolutely safe from all harm. He called us, didn't he? He saved us. He keeps. Therefore, I'm going to tell
people what excellent things he has done for me. I know his
church will. Pray God will bless this.