Turn with me, if you would, back
to Isaiah 11. Isaiah 11, in just reading through
the scripture, for the message tonight. Sometimes
I get in that place. I've told you many times that
I just, just start searching, you know, just reading, going
through the scripture. I ran across this verse again. I have read it to you before.
I have never preached from this passage, but I've turned over
here and I've shown you this verse many times and I always
tell you how much it blesses me because it does. It blesses
me so much. But I saw something this time
that I don't think I've ever seen before. Or if I have seen
it, I've just, it's never registered with me like it did this time.
But let's read verse 10. This is our text, Isaiah 11,
verse 10. It says, and in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for and in sign of the people. To it shall
the Gentiles seek. and his rest shall be glorious. I love that. I love that. In that day, there shall be a
root of Jesse, that's Christ, which shall stand for a sign. It means a banner, something
that God's people look to and see. A sign of the people to it, to
the root, to the banner, to Christ. Shall the Gentiles seek and his
rest shall be glorious. His rest shall be glorious. Does that strike anybody like
it strikes me? His rest shall be glorious. The word glorious translates,
if you have a center margin in your Bible, the word translates
glory. His rest shall be glory. We hear about glory. We talk about glory. We refer to heaven and we refer
to eternal life with him as glory. Well, as a little insight to
what that's going to be like, verse 10 says, in that day, there
shall be a root of Jesse, the same man, the same Jesus. In
that day, there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
a sign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek,
and his rest shall be glorious. His rest. That is the title of this message. His rest. His rest shall be glorious. Turn with me over to Hebrews
4. Hebrews 4, verse 1 says, Let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into His rest. Any of you should seem to come
short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. And that's what must be for profit,
okay? We, you know, we hear men preach
all the time. You hear people read the Bible
all the time. People stand up in pulpits and
quote scripture and such on and so forth. It does no one any
good, period. unless God Almighty sends the
faith of Jesus Christ into the heart of a sinner to understand
what it's talking about, which it's all talking about Jesus
Christ. And you can say that and a person
won't understand that and won't believe that unless God-given
faith comes and causes a sinner, a man or a woman, a sinner just
like me, to understand it and believe what it's saying. Religion
does nobody any good. And preaching does nobody any
good. A person can hear preaching upon
preaching upon preaching and be in religion, religion, religion
to the point that when they die they put their name on a plaque
on the pew. and that person can end up in
condemnation with no good for their soul. If God Almighty does
not send his faith and cause that and quicken that soul and
cause that soul to see Christ, understand and believe on him. It must be. Verse two, unto us
was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it. For we which have believed do
enter into rest." That's a big line. It's so true. Everyone who has been caused
to believe totally on the Lord Jesus Christ. not Christ plus
my religion or Christ plus my decision or Christ plus my baptism
or Christ. Everybody who has been caused
to believe solely on Christ says amen to that. Amen. That's so true. Verse three,
we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, And he's
quoting the scripture right here. He's quoting Psalm 95. As I have
sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although
the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
he's quoting Genesis 2 now, as in God did rest the seventh day
from all his works. And in this place again, he's
quoting Psalm 95 again, if they shall enter into my rest. Seeing
therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they
to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, and he's
Quote in Psalm 95, today, after so long a time, as it is said,
today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Verse
eight, for if Joshua, that name Jesus is the New Testament name
for Joshua, it's Joshua in the Hebrew and Jesus in the Greek.
If Jesus, or if Joshua, the one who was called to lead God's
people after Moses died, If he had given them rest, then would
he not afterward have spoken of another day? There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did
from his. What is it to enter into His
rest? What does that mean? What is
it to enter into His rest? It is to cease from our own works
as God has from His. That's what it is. That will be glory. That'll be glory, no more work.
Eternal rest, eternal rest. Verse 11 right here says, let
us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man
fall after the same example of unbelief. I tell you every time
we read that, I love that so much. Let's let's labor. Let's let's work hard. To enter into that rest. Any
time a work in order to please God, what do I have to do to
please God? What do I have to do to fix this?
What do I have to do to right my wrongs and turn over that
new leaf? Any time a work in order to please
God or satisfy His law tries to creep into our mind or our
will or our desire, let's say, nope, we're resting. We're resting in the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are resting in his rest. And that's what really got me
this time. His rest is our rest. His rest created our rest. His rest is our glory. That's our glory. Let's take
just a minute and see that. Let's look at His rest. And once
we see it, it will create our rest. Don't turn back, but our text
said, in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David. That's who Jesse was, David's
father. Our Lord is referred to as the
Son of David. The one who was promised to come
in the line of David. Promised to stand on this earth
as the captain of his people. the conquering victor over his
people, the one who his people could look to, their sign, their
banner, look to him, look to him, look and live. He said, if I be lifted up, if I be lifted up, Our text said,
in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for
a sign of the people. This is what Job said. He said,
I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. He said, I know that Christ will
come and will finish the work of redemption for his people.
I know he will. The work of Calvary's cross. The work of death. What did Christ come here to
do? Well, he came to show the example. No, he came to die. He came to die. The work of dying for his people,
for this cause as he was headed to the cross. He said, for this
cause came I into the world. dying for you, dying for me,
dying for us. That death was His rest, the work of His rest. He labored
to enter in to that rest. He said, I finished the work
thou gavest me to do. He labored to enter into that
rest for his people and his rest, the work of his rest, the rest
of his death that he accomplished for his people, it was glorious. His death was glorious. Isaiah prophesied and he said,
he's coming. He's coming. He is coming to
accomplish a rest for His people. And His rest that He endures
and accomplishes shall be glorious. Something glorious is going to
happen. And it was. And it is. He did come in that day. The day of His time on this earth.
The day of His substitution for His people. The day of His judgment
for our sin. The day of the cross. The day of His death on the cross
of Calvary. He came and He accomplished and
it was and it is glorious. So glorious. God forbid that
I should glory saving the cross. The glorious cross. See if you
can find the book of Zephaniah. It's the fourth book from the
end of the Old Testament. And it's page 166 in my 1166
in my Bible. Zephaniah. Chapter 3, this is so good. I hope the Lord
will let you enter into this. Ask the Lord to open your eyes
and your heart to this. This is so good. Zephaniah 3,
look at verse 14. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout,
O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all
the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy
judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy. The King of Israel, even the
Lord, is in the midst of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore. In that day it shall be said
to Jerusalem, fear not, fear thou not. And to Zion, let not
thy hands be slack or faint. The Lord thy God is in the midst
of thee. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. He will rest in His love. Because of His love, He will
enter into that rest for you. Thank God, that's beautiful.
That's glorious. Look at Psalm 16. This is a prophecy of our Lord's
words from the grave. This is our Lord speaking from
the grave. Verse 8 says, he said, I have
set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and
my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. He said, I will rest here in
hope. I'll rest here in confidence,
in expectation. Verse 10, for thou will not leave
my soul in hell. Oh, what the Lord endured for
his people. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt
thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show
me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of
joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures
forevermore. Our Lord rested for us in love. He rested for us in hope. And his hope, as the scripture
words it, was not ashamed. His hope was not ashamed. Having
loved his own, he loved to the end. He finished the rest that
his father sent him to accomplish. And that's where our rest comes
in. That's where our rest comes in.
His rest that He endured and He accomplished, His rest is
our rest. His rest is what creates our
rest. Look with me at Psalm 37. Psalm 37 verse 7 says, rest in the Lord. Rest in the Lord. That's where
our rest comes from. If we rest in the Lord, we are
truly resting. A lot of times our Lord will
give us a moment in a service. Normally, it's a brief fleeting
moment. But he will give us a moment
where we really do enter into these things and get a hold of
these things. And for one moment, we rest. For one moment, we're
happy. There's joy, there's peace, there's
expectation. Our rest, our true rest, is in
the Lord and everything that he's done for us, everything
he has said to us and promised us, everything he has prepared for
us, everything he finished for us,
everything he washed away from us, Our rest is in the Lord. When it comes to the deeds of
the law for righteousness, you know what this Bible says? You
know what this Bible says? It says everything you have to
do in order to please God to be welcomed into heaven. And
I'm gonna tell you this, there's not one soul going into heaven
that does not obey this cover to cover, book by book, verse
by verse, line by line, The scripture says to break any law or commandment
in here in one point is to break the whole thing, you're a debtor
to the law, you're condemned for all eternity. A person who
is not as good and holy and righteous as God Almighty will not walk
through the gates of heaven. There's only one man that's ever
walked the face of this earth who was as good, holy, just,
and right as God Almighty. And it's because he was God Almighty,
manifest in the flesh. His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ. When it comes to the deeds of
the law to be saved, it says, if you do this, you're out. You know, we read that and we
say, well, what then? Because I've done that. If you
don't do this, you'll never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. How
many people here have sold all their goods, I mean all their
goods, and given it to the poor? All their goods. Our Lord said
without that, you're not entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. I'll
tell you one man who did, though he was rich, yet for your sake
he became poor, that through his poverty you might be rich.
When it comes to the deeds of the law, Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness. How on this earth am I going
to please God? Look to your banner. Look to
your sign. How am I going to obey what this
is telling me to obey? Look to the sign. There's one
who obeyed every word for His people. You rest in Him. You trust Him.
Cast your all on Him. That's God-given faith. Without
God-given faith, a man or a woman will say, no, that can't be right.
Surely I have to do something. When you hear that, that's a
lack of faith. Faith says, Jesus Christ is my only hope. If He
did it for me, I'm saved. If He didn't do it for me, I'm
damned. Christ is all. Christ is all I have. He's all
I have. You're telling me you've got no one else to fall on but
Him? No one else to fall on but Him. He's my rest. He's my rest. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He's already finished that work.
God's people hear that in the Scripture. They believe it and
they rest. When it comes to forgiveness
for our sin, when we say, I have a past that I wish I could
erase, but I can't. I wish I hadn't done it. I wish
I hadn't done it. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. Why did I do that? When it comes
to the forgiveness for our sin and the salvation of our souls,
Christ has already accomplished and secured that state for us.
There is forgiveness with Him. Rest. Rest. When it comes to our daily lives
on this earth, all of our providence, all of our predestinated way, Christ
has already ordered it. He's already set it all in stone.
So we rest. We just rest. Look right here at Psalm 37 verse
one. It says, fret not thyself because
of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of
iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and
wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. What is good? What is doing good?
trusting in the Lord. So shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Don't you love that? Trust the
Lord, delight in the Lord, commit your way, everything to the Lord.
Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Verse six.
And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light. He'll
bring forth your righteousness for you. And thy judgment as
the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him. Fret not thyself because of Him
who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass. Cease from anger. And forsake
wrath, fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, for evildoers
shall be cut off. But those that wait upon the
Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Those whose rest is in
the Lord, they are the ones who are going to inherit glory. And glory is going to be glorious. because glory with Christ is
going to be rest. It's going to be rest. Go back
to Isaiah 11. I'm done. Isaiah 11, the heading at the top of my
page says, the peaceable kingdom of Christ. This is all speaking
of Christ. And verse one says, 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. Now
watch this. Now I read this to South Africa
today. And I told them before I did,
if anybody can enter into this, Africans can enter into this.
Maybe not so much us Americans. But I told them, you Africans
can enter into this. Now watch verse six. 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. This is speaking of our Lord's rule and our Lord's kingdom. Christoph told me when they were
here that his family used to have a pet. panther, that big
cat, a pet panther. He said, it's just like a dog.
It's tame, it's fine. He said, now a leopard. I think
he told me that that animal was taken by a leopard. He said,
a leopard is the most vicious cat out there. He said, you cannot
trust a leopard. Verse six says, the wolf also
shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard's gonna lie down
with the kid. They're just gonna lie down together. The calf and
the young lion, the fatling together, a little child shall lead them.
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 den, or the adder's den, the poisonous
viper'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. Everything that exists in that
day is going to be full of the knowledge of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea,
Verse 10 says, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for a sign of the people. To it, to him,
shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. Glorious rest. Rest in the Lord. If the Spirit of God has given
us faith to. Then let's rest in the Lord.
Let's rest in what he endured and rest in what he provided. And thank him for that glorious
rest.