Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching today from Isaiah
chapter 61. Isaiah chapter 61, the Old Testament
prophet. This is another prophecy. of the person and work of the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've entitled this message,
out of chapter 61, verse 3, Trees of Righteousness. Trees of Righteousness. Now this passage is interesting
It's recorded in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, where the Lord
went into His hometown synagogue in Nazareth, and how part of
this passage was read. And the Lord stood up and told
the people there that it was on that day with His presence
that that prophecy that Isaiah had prophesied 700 and some years
before that it was fulfilled before their eyes. And what he
was doing, he was showing them that he himself is the Messiah,
the Christ, the Savior of sinners. And of course they got angry
and they took him outside and they were going to throw him
over a cliff, but he walked safely through them. It wasn't his time
to be killed yet, to die yet. And so this prophecy was fulfilled. And listen to what it says in
verse one of Isaiah 61. It says, The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me. The Bible tells us that Christ
had the full measure of the Spirit. He is God manifest in the flesh,
God-man. But in His humanity, He had the
full measure of the Spirit. And it says, Because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, The Lord
not only was the Savior, is the Savior of His people, but He's
a preacher. He preached the gospel. He went
forth telling them, repent and believe the gospel. And it says,
He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. Now, these are
spiritual issues here. Bind up the brokenhearted. He
didn't come to write and send Hallmark cards. He came to take
those whom the Holy Spirit under the preaching of the gospel,
had convicted of sin, brokenhearted over sin and depravity, and he
binds them up with the preaching of the grace of God, the almighty,
sovereign grace of God to save us, to preserve us, to bring
us to glory, all based upon his work, his obedience unto death,
his righteousness, And he said, he has sent me to bind up the
broken heart to proclaim liberty to the captives. By nature, we're
all captive to sin and Satan and the curse of the law. We're
in darkness. But Christ gives sight to the blind spiritually.
He gives us ears to hear and eyes to see, gives us a new heart
and liberates us. from the bondage that we're in
naturally, and shows us the liberty and the freeness of the gospel.
Paul wrote in Galatians 5, one, stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath set you free, made you free. And he says, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound. So it's the same
thing in liberty. Verse two, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. God
said, vengeance belongs to me. His vengeance, towards His chosen
people, was taken out upon Christ on the cross. Christ stood in
my place as my surety, my substitute, my redeemer. My sins had been
imputed to Him. charged to him, and he died in
my place, paid the redemption price, and his righteousness
is imputed, charged to me. That's the great exchange in
the gospel of God's grace. And so, he proclaimed the acceptable
year of the Lord, that's the time of his coming into this
world, obeying the law unto death, and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn. again, mourn over their sins
and their spiritual death and depravity. But look at verse
three, to appoint unto them that morn in Zion. Now there was a
physical hill called Zion. It's where David built a home.
But this Zion is the church. Zion, the city of our God. You
can read it all over the scriptures, but Hebrews chapter 12 is one
of the passages I would direct you to, to understand what Zion
represents. It's not a physical nation. It's
not a physical geographical area. It's the church. the called out
ones who've been brought by God, the Holy Spirit, to faith in
Christ and repentance of dead works. And it says, to give,
to appoint unto them that morning's eye, to give unto them beauty
for ashes, Instead of the ashes of sorrow and being sad, beauty. And what is that beauty? It's
the righteousness of Christ. It's the grace of God. It's the
garments of salvation we'll learn in just a moment. The oil of
joy for mourning. That oil, the oil of the Holy
Spirit, what causes us to joy and have peace in Christ. The kingdom of heaven is not
meat and drink, but joy and peace and believing. We rejoice in
Christ, and that's our joy. The garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness. Instead of going around with
our heads down all the time, we can rejoice in Christ. His
grace and it says that they might be called trees of righteousness. Now the only way that a sinner
can be called rightly and really a tree of righteousness is only
by God's grace, God's goodness, God's power, God's mercy shown
toward him in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. You can say today
that you're going to start trying to keep the law, and you're going
to do your best. And even if you could do that,
first of all, you're going to fail. At some point in time,
you will fail. You've already failed. Oh, I
have too. But as good as we may do, we still could not be trees
of righteousness in God's sight. Those trees of righteousness,
they are clothed in or have imputed to them a righteousness which
they did not produce. And it says that they shall be
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
He might be glorified. This is God's work. This is God's
planting. This is God's work of His grace,
His goodness, His power to His people in Christ. You see, if
you can be a tree of righteousness or a righteous person based on
your works, you'd have a reason to glory in yourself. But a true
believer doesn't glory in himself or glory in his works. Paul wrote
in Philippians 3, verse 3, he said, we're the circumcision,
which means spiritual circumcision, talking about the new birth,
being born again, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice
or glory in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.
He said in Galatians 6, 14, God forbid that I should glory, have
confidence or boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
1 Corinthians 1 and verse 31 says, let he that glorieth glory
in the Lord. I have nothing to glory in. I
have nothing to boast in. I have nothing to brag about
except Christ crucified and raised from the dead, who is my righteousness. who is my Savior and my Lord. And these trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. This is
the whole work of salvation. It's the whole reason for salvation,
that God might be glorified. And how is God glorified? In
all of his attributes, his sovereignty, his holiness, his individual
uniqueness, His power, His justice, as well as His mercy and His
grace and His love. But His mercy and grace and love
have to be in line with His righteousness, His justice, His truth. He must punish sin. God must
be both a just God and a Savior. If you're going to a church and
all you're hearing about is the love and the mercy and the grace
of God, without His justice, without His truth and righteousness,
my friend, you're in the wrong church. You need to go somewhere
else. You need to go where a person,
a preacher, preaches everything that God reveals about Himself
in His words. And in the book of Isaiah, one
of the phrases that covers that is in Isaiah 45, I believe it's
verse 20 or 21. He says, look unto me and be,
he said, who a just God and a savior, one who is both a righteous judge
who punishes sins, whose justice must be satisfied, as well as
a loving, merciful, gracious, heavenly father. He must be both. And the only way He can be both
is by His free and sovereign grace in the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, salvation is not conditioned
on you or me. Thank God! If it were, it would
fail. But it's all conditioned on Christ.
Well, you know, the Bible uses trees in a lot of ways to describe
God's people and even to describe Christ. You remember the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life in
the garden? Well, that tree of life is Christ.
Over in the book of Revelation, it talks about those who are
found when Christ comes again. In Christ, they have a right
to the tree of life. Those who are not in Christ have
no right to it. They're dead. and they'll experience
eternal death and damnation. Over in Psalm 1, listen to this.
He's talking about sinners saved by grace. In the very first Psalm,
he makes a distinction between the people of God and the people
of the world. And he says the people of God,
a believer, a sinner saved by grace, in Psalm 1-3, he says,
he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Now the first application
of that is to Christ himself. Christ is the tree of life. And
he, whatever he did, prospered. Christ did not fail. Do you know
that many, many, many, in fact, we might even say the majority
of preachers preach Christ as a failure? Now they won't say
it that way, but whenever they tell you that God loves everybody
and Christ died for everybody upon condition that you believe,
They're preaching that multitudes will perish and be eternally
damned for whom Christ died. But that's not what the Bible
teaches. The Bible teaches that all for whom Christ died shall
be saved. Well, doesn't the Bible say he
died for the world? Yes, but that doesn't mean everybody
without exception. That means that God has a chosen
people all over this world out of every tribe, kindred, tongue,
and nation. They're His elect. Romans 8, 33 says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. They're called His church, the
redeemed ones. He redeemed His church with His
own precious blood. And who is the church? Those
who are called out of the world to faith in Christ. They're called
his brethren. They're called the sheep. He
said, I lay down my life for the sheep. In John chapter 10,
he said, my sheep hear my voice. They won't follow another. I
know them. They'll know me. No one can take
them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. They're
called the seed of Abraham. Because Abraham is an archetype,
as you might say, of true believers. A sinner saved by grace. How
God justifies the ungodly. And it says we're made trees
of righteousness here. But Christ, everything He does
prosper. And His people are prosperous
and fruitful in Him. And because of Him. And that's
the only way they are. If you look back at our text,
Isaiah 61, It says in verse four, they shall build the old waste,
they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair
the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. Now, a lot
of people restrict that to physical Israel, but that's not what it
is. First of all, whatever they do in physical Israel, where
they build up and repair and all of that, eventually it's
all going to come down. Now, why do we know that? Because
this world is not going to last forever. And that includes that
physical, geographical area of Palestine. It's not going to
last forever. 2 Peter 3 tells us it's all going
to be burned up and made new. He says in verse five, and strangers
shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall
your plowmen and your vinedressers. Now what is he talking about
strangers? What he's talking about is spiritual Israel, the
church, who is filled with both elect among the Jews and among
the Gentiles. That's the strangers. God has
a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
I quote this verse just about every message where Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Romans 1 16, for it
is the power of God and the salvation to every, the one that believe
to the Jew first and to the Greek also that Greek there means Gentiles
and they'll stay. He says in verse six, but you
shall be named the priest of the Lord. Now, how's that possible? In Israel, under the Old Covenant,
according to the temple law, there was only one tribe who
were the priest. That was the tribe of Levi. They
were the priest. Moses and Aaron were members
of that tribe. And any of the priests that came
down through lawfully were from the tribe of Levi. So how could
I, a Gentile, be called a priest? Christ himself is called the
great high priest of his people. We have a right to go to the
throne of God and find grace to help in time of need because
we have such a high priest, Christ, who passed through. So how is
that possible? He's talking about the priesthood
of believers. You can read about that in the
book of Hebrews chapter 10. If you want to look at that,
it speaks of how God brings his people to the point in Christ
and by Christ to where we have free access into the holiest
of all. You remember in the old covenant,
tabernacle and temple, only the high priest had a right to go
into the holiest of all and come to the mercy seat, the ark of
the covenant. He had to be from the tribe of
Levi. But he was a picture. of the true high priest, which
is Christ. And the other priests were pictures of the priest of
God, believers. And here's what he says in verse
19 of Hebrews chapter 10. Now this is the priesthood of
the believer. Having therefore brethren, now brethren are believers
of the gospel, believers in Christ, boldness or liberty to enter
in the holiest, the holy place, the holy of holies. How? On what ground? By the blood
of Jesus. By a new and living way, not
the old way under the Old Covenant which restricted it to the priest
of Levi, but a new and living way which He, Christ, hath consecrated
or made new for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh,
His death on the cross, And having a high priest over the house
of God, which is Christ, let us draw near with a true heart,
that's the heart of faith, the sincere heart, the heart, the
mind, the affections, and the will. And he says, in full assurance
of faith. What is the full assurance of
faith? It's the full assurance that I have of my liberty to
go into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus. Not based
upon my works or my efforts, Not because I've had a good day
today and haven't sinned. I've sinned every day. But because
of the blood of Jesus, full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience. Sprinkled by the blood of Christ
in the application of the spirit of truth. And an evil conscience
is a legal conscience. Do you know if in your conscience
you judge that you're worthy to go into the presence of God
and meet Him face to face in the holiest of all, based on
your works or based upon your sincerity? That's an evil conscience. The conscience is the seed of
judgment in the mind. How do I judge myself worthy
to enter into the holiest of all and commune with a holy God? I'm a sinner. How can my conscience
be clear and cleansed? only by the blood of Christ and
that's how I made a tree of righteousness the planting of which is the
Lord and he said having your heart sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water cleansed by the
blood of Jesus Christ so look back at Isaiah 61 verse 6 but
you shall be named the priest of the Lord men shall call you
the ministers of our God messengers Witnesses, you shall eat the
riches of the Gentiles and then their glory. Shall you boast
yourself? Talking about spiritual things.
Verse seven, for your shame you shall have double. That is double
of the confidence in Christ. And for confusion they shall
rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their lands they
shall possess the double. Everlasting joy shall be unto
them. The Lord hath then given us double for all our sins. And
he says in verse eight, for I the Lord love judgment, justice. I hate robbery for burnt offering."
That's idolatry. Robbery for burnt offering. I
will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. Last week I talked about the
everlasting covenant of grace. All conditioned on Christ who
is the surety of that covenant. And it says in verse 9, and their
seed shall be known among the Gentiles. God's got a people
all over this world. And their offspring among the
people All that see them shall acknowledge them, and they are
the seed which the Lord hath blessed." They're the offspring,
spiritual offspring of Christ. The Bible speaks of that in 1
John 3, his seed shall remain, his offspring. They can't lose
their salvation because they're saved by grace. You know, anyone
who teaches that you can be saved by grace but then lose your salvation,
they're preaching a false gospel. The gospel of Christ says they're
the seed of the Lord, which He's blessed. And then look at verse
10. This is right in line with this trees of righteousness.
He said, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. I'm going to boast
in God, in Christ. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. My joy is not in myself. It's
in God. For he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation. What are the garments of salvation?
That's a metaphor. All spiritual blessings. Ephesians
1.3 says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. That's the garments of salvation,
the garments of God's grace, the blessings, the benefits,
all that God has for his people in Christ. He that spared not
his own son, how shall he not with him freely, unconditionally
give us all things. all things in Christ. So he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, going on in verse
10, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels. What is that robe of righteousness?
That's the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
heart of the gospel. That's the justification of God's
people, based upon a righteousness that we did not and could not
produce, but one that Christ produced for us in His obedience
unto death. David described, as Paul wrote
in Romans chapter four and verse six, the blessedness of the man
to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Oh, blessed is
the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. God, I'm a sinner,
but God does not hold my sins against me. He placed them on
Christ. He bore my iniquity. He died
for my iniquity. The chastisement of my peace
was laid upon him, and he drank damnation dry. And in the power
and grace of God, he planted me as a tree of righteousness
in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 11 of
Isaiah 61 says, For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as
the garden calleth the things that are sown in it to spring
forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring
forth before all the nations. Again, God has a people out of
every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. You might be sitting there thinking,
well, that doesn't seem fair. Well, read Romans chapter 9.
Paul deals with you there. Somebody says, well, how can
I know if I'm one of the elect? Well, the book of 2 Thessalonians
and other books tells us that those who are elect of God, they
will eventually be brought by God in the power of the Spirit
as Christ sends him forth to be brought under the gospel and
believe the true gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith. Do you believe in the Christ
of the Bible? And that's important now because
there are counterfeits. There are false Christs. Paul
dealt with that, for example, in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 when
he warned the Corinthian Believers, those who profess belief in the
true Christ. He said, I'm afraid that you
would be deceived by false preachers just as Satan in his subtlety
deceived Eve by coming and preaching another Jesus, another gospel
by another spirit. And what did he say was the issue? The simplicity that's in Christ. What is that simplicity? It's
the message of the singularity of all salvation and all blessings
and all righteousness that is found in the glorious person
and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and found nowhere
else. Don't add your works, don't add
your will, don't add anything to it. It's the simplicity that's
in Christ that makes us trees of righteousness, the planting
of which is the Lord's. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.