Take your Bibles and turn back
with me to Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11. The title of the message this morning
is the branch of Jesse. The branch of Jesse. Behold the
scripture says in Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1, and there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. and a branch shall grow
out of His roots. He who is the eternal Son of
God, He who is one with the Father, who was God and was with God,
the One who created all things and by whom all things consist,
by the Word of His power is here promised by the mouth of the
prophet to come forth out of the stem or the roots of Jesse,
out of the lineage of Jesse, which was the father of David. And this was always God's purpose,
always God's purpose that the Messiah should come from Abraham,
from Isaac, and from Jacob's line, and now it's made clear
to us that it should also come from the root of Jesse or the
line of David. Yet notice the Lord here shows
us that the Messiah should not come from a flourishing line,
a flourishing line, but rather from a dead line. He should come forth from the
roots of Jesse, and he shall grow, as Isaiah 53 says, as a
root out of dry ground. As I was studying this passage,
I thought about these shrubs we had out in the front. We had
two big shrub trees. They were just huge, and they
kind of almost covered the whole place there. And we had those
cut down. We cut it down to the very bottom,
to the root. And then what we did is cut the
top of the roots into sections, and you can go out there even
today and you can see that there is nothing growing out of that
root. It's dead. It's dried up. There's not even
a small branch going out of that root anymore. It's a dead root. And this reminded me of what
here is mentioned and how it is mentioned that he shall grow
up out of the stem of Jesse, a branch out of his roots. Even so it was with David's line,
it was after the captivity of Babylon, the root of David no
longer had kings to sit upon the throne. From the time of
the return of the captivity of Babylon until the time of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the line of Jesse, the line of David had
so diminished in poverty that there you have two descendants
of a king, Mary and Joseph, both of which had no money or prestige
enough to get them into an inn when she was about to deliver
the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary and Joseph were in poverty
as the children of David. And it would seem impossible
then that a king should come from this line. This line was
now dead. There was no kings coming from
this line. It was impossible for them to
raise up a king from this line of Jesse. Yet God had before
purposed it and promised it by the prophets that a branch should
grow up out of his roots. He shall grow up before him,
and Isaiah 53 also, as a tender plant, a root out of dry ground. Yet behold, it was out of this
dry and dead kingly line that the King of kings should come. Now behold and wonder the wonder
of this For Jesus was not born to be king, but he was born king. He was
already king before he was born. Remember, that's what the wise
man said. Where is he that is born king? Not born to be king. but born king of the Jews. Behold, it was in this prophecy
then that Jesus is described as a tender twig shooting out
of an old tree stump, which twig, though weak in appearance, that
it should become the most fruitful tree of life, called the branch."
The branch. In Isaiah 4, in verse 2, Jesus
is called the beautiful and glorious branch, the excellent fruit of
the earth. And to Israel who shall escape,
to those who flee to this branch, to this tree that came out of
dry ground, to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
escape death, escape hell, they flee to Him and find refuge in
Him. He is Beautiful. This branch that stems out of
the root of Jesse is now not just a twig. He said he'll come
up as a twig, as a small, tender branch. And that's how he came
into the world, in meekness, in gentleness, in peace. But
now, now that he's accomplished his work, behold the tree before
you. The great and mighty work of
Christ is as a branch extending out its arms. to shelter us from
the heat and to give us the fruit of life. This is the picture
here set forth to us who believe, who have found refuge in His
branches. To us, He is the most beautiful
and glorious branch under which we find rest for our souls and
food for our life. In Jeremiah chapter 23, it talks
of this branch. He says that he shall be a righteous
branch. He said that branch, in that
day, the branch will go out. And who is this branch? It is
the Lord our righteousness. That's who this branch is. See, because of the fall and
ruin of Adam's race, because of one sin, Mark this. Because of one sin of one man,
all men were made sinners. Yet, all of us were born dead
in trespasses and sins. The righteousness of God, therefore,
was impossible for us to obtain. Seeing that we have sinned, seeing
that we were born in sin, and all we do is sin, in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. What hope then have we ever of
pleasing God? What hope have we ever of obtaining
righteousness by our own obedience? What hope is there? Behold the
word of God concerning our nature. Job said this, in Job 15 verse
16 it says, how much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh
iniquity like water. You know what? You and I by nature
drink iniquity like we do water. How easily do you drink water? How you crave it when you're
thirsty? That's how the natural man craves sin. He drinks it
like water. In Jeremiah 17, verse 9, it says,
The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who
can know it? In Psalm 14, it tells us the
same thing concerning the Holy Spirit. I'll read it to you in
Psalm 14 and verse 1. find my place. Psalm 14 and verse
1, the fool has said in his heart, no God. They are corrupt. They have done
abominable works and 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 and seek God. They are all gone
aside. They are all together become
filthy. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. In Isaiah 64, verse 6, all our
righteousnesses are as menstrual clothes. That's your best. That's your
best. The best work that you think
you have ever done, God says, is a bloody rag in his nostrils. It stinks. The carnal mind, Paul
said, is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God. In 2 Corinthians 2 and verse
14, for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God for their foolishness unto him, neither can he know
them. Because they are spiritually
judged. Spiritually judged dead. You're already sentenced to death.
Are you such a sinner? Are you such a sinner as God
has described you? God has described you this way.
I didn't describe you this way. God did. God said there's no
good in you. God says there's no righteousness
in you. God says you're dead in sins.
God says this. Are you such a sinner that you
cannot provide your own righteousness before God? Such an unrighteous man was Job
when he said this. Go to Job chapter 14. I want
you to see this. Job chapter 14. Verse 4. Look at this. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? If your parents were sinners,
do you suppose that you got out clean? No. No, not one. Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast appointed
the bounds that he cannot pass. Turn from him that he may rest
till he shall be accomplished as in hireling his day. For there
is no, 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. Behold God's righteousness. See
God in this. You, my friend, are the dead
root. You, my friend, are the sinner
in need of righteousness. And if there is any hope for
you, it must be that life springs out of death. And the life is
Jesus Christ. He is the branch that springs
out of the dry root Behold God's righteous branch, who is the
Lord our righteousness. That is the sprout of life from
the dead race of Adam. Go back to your text. Back to
your text in Isaiah chapter 14, chapter 11, I'm sorry. Isaiah
chapter 11. Look at verse 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, 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. See then, How this alone is fulfilled
in Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Son of Man. Jesus came
not to condemn the world. Why? Could He have? Absolutely. But yet the world
was already condemned. This is why He came not to condemn
you. Because you are already condemned.
Because you have not believed on the only begotten Son of God.
But Jesus came into the world as the seed of David, the branch
of Jesse, in order to do something, to fulfill righteousness. Righteousness. And to Him alone was given the
Spirit of God without measure. It was to Jesus, whose word shall
smite the earth and judge the poor, reprove the meek with equity,
with righteousness. Are you such a poor sinner? Are
you bankrupt of righteousness? I tell you, most people, if you're
lost, you have no interest in righteousness. Righteousness
to you is something that can be taken or leaving, but not
to God. I tell you, you shall in no wise
enter the kingdom of heaven except your righteousness exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. And I guarantee
you, their external righteousness was greater than ours. But I
tell you, God's measure of righteousness is Himself. If you are to enter
into heaven, you must be as righteous as God is. This is the gospel
message that Jesus came to obtain righteousness. Behold the righteous
branch that extends from the root of Jesse, the promised one. He came to provide righteousness
for poor sinners. If you're such a poor sinner,
then come and abide under the shelter of His righteousness. And you shall be made rich in
holiness and peace with God. You hard-hearted sinner, bow
down and repent of your sins and come in meekness. God says
He come and with righteousness shall He judge the poor and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth. We by nature are hard-hearted,
stiff-necked, rebellious people. And so God says, humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God, and He will in due time exalt
you. Bow down before Jesus Christ in meekness. What does meekness
mean? Does that mean weakness? No.
What that means is evenness. Evenness. In other words, a man
must come down to see that he is equally as wicked as every
other man. that he is equally deserving
of hell as every other man. He must come down to see his
need of righteousness that he himself cannot obtain. May the
Holy Spirit then reprove you to come suing for mercy. Mercy. What a wonderful word
that is. Mercy. It's a wonderful word
to someone who needs it. To someone who doesn't, it's
not important. But to us who need mercy, it
is altogether lovely. Come to Christ for His righteousness,
for His faithfulness to God. That's His strength, the strength
of His salvation. He says in verse 5, And righteousness
shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of
His reins. This morning I'm here to tell
you of one man, one man who obtained righteousness. One man alone
who did the will of God in perfection. One man alone who obtained and
merited the favor of God so that when he died and rose again,
he come to the glory of the throne of God and he took the book out
of his hand that we weren't even able to look at. He was the only righteous one. Friends, righteousness is never
a cooperation between God and men. Righteousness was merited by
the Lord Jesus Christ by His obedience alone. In Isaiah 42,
it tells us that He shall make the law honorable. Not you and
Him. Him! Not a combination of your
obedience and His. He shall make the law honorable.
He shall magnify the law. And God shall be pleased with
His righteousness. God shall be pleased with His
righteousness. Any man who believes that he
should have part in righteousness that he should be saved by the
spirit of his progressive righteousness is no different from a pagan
Roman Catholic. Did you hear me? Anyone who believes
in progressive sanctification, progressive righteousness is
no different than a pagan Catholic. I don't suggest you do this and
do not do this. I did it for my own self because
I was studying this. No less in the definition of
a Roman Catholic concerning justification or righteousness, no less than
ten times was the word progress used. Progress. Now you obtain
righteousness, but you must progress in this righteousness. You must
progress and get more righteous. There's no difference between
that and the pagan Catholics. No difference. O sinner, cast off any foolish
notion, any foolish thoughts of your progressing in righteousness
or cooperation of righteousness with Christ, and believe on His
righteousness alone, and you shall be righteous. Now, is that
not a branch to sit under? Is that not something to rest
under? He's fulfilled the law of God
for us. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. To who? To everyone that believeth.
To everyone that believeth. His righteousness then is imputed
to us in the new nature. Paul says, I declare His righteousness. And all who believe on Him are
freely justified. Freely. justified before God
through His blood. So not only was this righteous
branch, Jesus, the righteousness of God, did He fulfill it by
His obedience, but He also was faithful even unto death. Friends, Jesus did not come into
this world just to obtain righteousness, but also propitiation. It's a big word. What does it
mean? It's mercy seat. It's where the
blood was applied so that the sins would be remitted, so that
sins would be put away. Jesus came to give himself an
offering for sins. O sinner, a righteous garment
would do you no good unless justice was satisfied. Do you realize
that? If you were to put a clean garment
on a dirty body, what good would it do? The dirt first must be
washed away. The sin must be taken away. Then
the righteousness must be put on. He obtained the robe of righteousness
by His own making, and then by His own faithfulness, He was
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross for our sins. By one man, by one sin, many
were made sinners, but by the gift of one who suffered many
transgressions. You read Romans chapter 5 and
it talks about the representative man of Adam and Jesus Christ
being the representative of his people. You see that Adam sinned
once and brought us all into ruin, but yet Jesus Christ by
his one offering bore not just one sin, but many sins. Many sins. All of the sins of
His people He bare in His own body on the tree and God poured
out wrath and vengeance and justice without mercy upon His only beloved
Son because our sin became His. Our sin became His. The Father
imputing our sins to Him, He bore them. And what is the result, then,
of this righteous man, this stem of Jesse? Look at verse 6. Verse
6. Here's the result. and the young ones shall lie
down together and the lion shall eat straw like an ox." In other words, the result of
this is something very supernatural. It is not natural for a wolf
and a lamb to lie down together in peace, is it? It's not natural. It's not natural for a leopard,
a lion, and a cow, and a bear to all eat straw, is it? It's not natural. In other words,
the result of this branch is going to be supernatural. It's
going to create something that is against the nature of things. Behold now you who believe, The wolf of God's justice is
at peace with you. The law that demanded your death
now demands your life. Because through him you and I
are made righteous. The wolf of God's justice is
at peace with the lambs of Christ, the lion and the leopard of the
law, and the meek calf of God are all led by a gentle child. In other words, this is also
speaking of our unity. You know, some men have different
natures. Some men are kind of rough, and some men are very
gentle. And what does God do with these
different persons? He brings them together in the
gospel. They're together. They lie down together. They're
one together. They feed on the same gospel. They have the same Lord, the
same Spirit in them. And they feed on the same gospel.
And notice they're led by a little child. Who's that? That's the
ministers of the gospel. Those are people that God has
sent to lead. I'm nothing more than what God
calls as a little child. Isn't that how we come into the
kingdom as little children? Believing, trusting in Christ.
But yet he sends ministers to preach his gospel and to lead
them. And notice this. Notice the peace that we have
and the comfort. The sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp. Now who in the world would send
their child and let them play on the hole of a dangerous viper? But yet God says this to us.
That the fangs of the enemy, the venom of Satan, who is the
serpent, his venom is removed. The venom of accusation. Who
shall accuse us before God? It's God that justified us. It's
Christ that died and rose again. His venom is gone. He has no
accusation against us. There's no fear of Him. God has
pulled the fangs of sin out of his mouth, and he can no longer
bite us. So what is it? The children of
God. I'll tell you, there's danger
all around us, isn't there? But yet we know this, that no
one shall destroy us. Look at that. He says this, and
they shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain. Do you need
peace with God? I tell you there's peace with
God through faith in Jesus Christ. In sitting under the branch of
His tree, you shall find rest for your souls, peace with God,
safety from all harm. It was at the cross that the
complete salvation was accomplished. And all sin, death, and hell
have been removed. Now verse 10, And in that day
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign
of the people. And to it shall the Gentiles
seek, and his rest shall be glorious. This ensign, it means a banner,
a flag, a beacon shall be lifted up. Behold how Jesus Christ was lifted
up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. To you who need peace and righteousness
with God, behold, I am putting up a banner before you. An ensign,
a signal, a beacon, a lighthouse, whatever it is you want, call
this. It is a beacon of life. Come to Christ and believe now. Trust in Him and you'll find
rest for your souls. We were in bondage and yet God
has set His hand upon us the second time. And it shall come
to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again
the second time. To do what? To recover His people,
the remnant of His people, from their bondage, from their enslavement. Isn't that what He's done for
us? You, you and I are Gentiles. And praise God that He included
us in this covenant of mercy. We were in bondage, and He came
the second time. The first time He came in shadows
and types, but now He's come to reveal plainly. He's revealed plainly where salvation
is found. in His Holy Son. This morning, as I've preached
to you, have I pointed you to anyone else? Have I pointed you
to you? No, I've pointed you away from
you. I've pointed you to the Son of God, the Ensign, the only
Savior, Jesus Christ. He come to deliver His people,
and He shall deliver them from all their bondage of sin and
death. And so then it is by faith that
we are gathered to this end sign. And in verse 12 he says, And
He shall set up an end sign for the nations, and shall assemble
the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth. This is the promise of
God that He will save His people. Everyone that Jesus Christ came
to save, listen, He will, He has saved and He will save. This is a promise. This is a
sure thing. You see, Christ did no gambling
at the cross. He surely saved His people. And
they all shall be gathered from the four corners of the earth. And because we were one in Christ,
because we are one with Christ, because He has gathered us, we
are not to envy one another. He says that, that Ephraim and
Judah, they were always envying one another. We don't do that.
We don't need that. Why? Because your Savior is my
Savior. Your God is my God. Your hope
is my hope. Your assurance is my assurance.
And our assurance is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And in verse
14 he says, see that all the elect, what God's going to do. He said, verse 14, but they shall
fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west.
How precious is the thought of this, that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose? Do you not see That we are riding upon the shoulders
of even the wicked in this world. That God is moving all things
for His own glory and for our good. All things. All things. All things. Whether the salvation of some
or the damnation of others, all things will work together for
our good. Even the enemies of God shall
be used of God in providence to accomplish His will, which
is to bring His people. So don't be discouraged when
you see things going on that seem contrary, that seem obstinate
or against us. Don't worry about those things.
Those things are only going to bring us to God. They're not going to separate
us from God. We shall fly upon the shoulders
of our enemies, and we shall have victory. even because Christ
has accomplished victory. Just as Pilate and Herod and
the Jews and the Romans did exactly what they wanted to do in crucifying
our Lord, yet it was for this purpose God sent Him, so that
He should save His people. And I tell you, God is moving
all things to save His people. In verse 15, He said, The Lord
shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea. And with
his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the rivers and
shall smite it in the seven streams and make men go over dry land. O sinner, why will you die? Seeing
that Jesus Christ has raised his hand over the seven streams
of sin and dried them up. Seven is a number of perfection,
isn't it? Our sins were perfect sins. They were perfect ruin. And Jesus Christ perfectly dried
them up. Why will you die? Why will you
die? For there shall be a highway
for the remnant of his people. There is a highway. This highway
is the branch. and everyone who come to God
by him shall find rest." I tell you, there's nothing like
in a summer day to sit underneath the shade of a tree, and yet
the fruit fall down around you, and you can enjoy this. This
is the picture of the stem of Jesse. Out of that dry, dead
ground came a king, and the king has raised up a kingdom, And
everyone who believes is in this kingdom is safe and secure and
has food enough for their souls. And one thing about this, this
shall never end. This shall never end. In that day, they shall say,
O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me,
thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me." I tell you, I know that God was
angry with me. But I never saw it until I saw
the cross. And it was there God poured out
His anger for my sins. And now He comforts me. Now He
comforts me. And I just rest. Rest in Jesus
Christ, the righteous branch. May God give you grace to find
rest. I tell you, there's no rest in
this world. You want one thing, and then
you want another, and then you want another, and then you want
another, and you're never satisfied, never satisfied, never satisfied. See, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied
in Jesus Christ, my Savior. Are you? That's good if you are. I pray that you are. May God
bless this. Let's have the men come forward.
We'll partake of the Lord's Supper.