The title of my message tonight
is Christ the Branch. My text will be found in Isaiah
chapter 4, but I want us to begin in Ezekiel chapter 34, the 34th
chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy. Here the Lord God denounces all
self-serving false prophets, those men who feed themselves
upon the sheep. than feeding the sheep. And God
declares the certainty of His wrath against such men. In verse
3 He says, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. That is, they use their position,
their power, and their office for their own advantage, not
for the advantage of God's people. Should not the shepherds feed
the flock? Behold, he says in verse 10,
I am against the shepherds, these shepherds who feed themselves,
who use the flock of God, their position, their power to benefit
themselves and not the sheep. God says, and I will require
my flock at their hands. But this chapter at the same
time is a tremendous declaration of God's saving grace in Christ
Jesus, our Good Shepherd. It gives assurance of the absolute
safety and security of God's elect, the sheep of His pasture. Let's begin reading at verse
11, Ezekiel 34, verse 11. For thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them
out. In spite of the false shepherds,
I'll still search my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd
seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep
that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver
them out of all places where they have been scattered in the
cloudy and dark day. and I will bring them out from
the people and gather them from the countries and will bring
them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel
by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country. Verse 14, I will feed them in
good pasture and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their
fold be. There shall they lie in a good
fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie
down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost,
and will bring again that which was driven away, and will bind
up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was
sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong, I will feed
them with judgment. As for you, O my flock, thus
saith the Lord God, behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between
the rams and the goats. I separate my sheep from the
goats. I judge between cattle and cattle.
Therefore, verse 22, therefore will I save my flock and they
shall no more be a prey. and I will judge between cattle
and cattle, and I will set up one shepherd over them, and he
shall feed them, even my servant David, that is Christ the good
shepherd, David's great son. He shall feed them and he shall
be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, will be their God, and
my servant David, my servant Christ Jesus, a prince among
them. I, the Lord, have spoken it.
And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the
evil beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely
in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make
them and the places round about my hill a blessing, and I will
cause the shower to come down in this season. There shall be
showers of blessing, and the tree of the field shall yield
her fruit. and the earth shall yield her
increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know
that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke,
and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves
of them. And they shall no more be a prey
to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour
them, but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
Then in verses 29, 30, and 31, the Lord God promised that he
would raise up for his sheep a plant of renown, that he would
shelter and protect us from all danger and shame by this plant
of renown. Verse 29, I will raise up for
them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with
hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen anymore,
Thus shall they know that I, the Lord their God, am with them,
and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith
the Lord God. And ye, my flock, the flock of
my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. This plant of renown is our blessed
Savior, the Lord Jesus. He grew up before the Lord God
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground and grew into
a stately vine, a tree of renown in the mountain of the Lord,
a goodly cedar under whose shadow we take refuge and dwell in safety
always in this wilderness and in this world of darkness. The
plant of renown, our glorious Savior, our famous Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus, is set before us in the book of God as the
branch. Now, we tend to think of a branch
as a limb sticking out from the tree. The word branch, as it
is used in the Old Testament prophets referring to our Savior,
speaks of the original stock, the vine into which we have been
grafted by God's grace. And there are seven specific
references to this branch in the Old Testament scriptures.
I want us to look at them together. Our text is Isaiah chapter 4
and verse 2. Isaiah chapter 4 and verse 2. In that day shall the branch
of the Lord be beautiful and glorious. That is the branch
of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, or as the margin
gives it, the branch of the Lord will be beauty and glory. And the fruit of the earth shall
be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And
it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that
remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even every one
that is written among the living in Jerusalem. Now let's look
at the Old Testament prophets beginning back in Psalm 80. We'll
look at all seven of these prophecies concerning our Redeemer as the
branch. Psalm 80 and verse 15, the Psalm
written for Asaph to be sung in the choirs of Israel is a
prayer to God, our Savior, the shepherd of Israel. In this prayer,
an expression is made desiring that the Lord God, our savior,
the shepherd of Israel, would make his face to shine, that
he would visit us in grace, that he would visit his church, the
vine that he has planted. And look at the language of verses
14 and 15 in Psalm 80, and you'll see that we have every reason
to expect that he will indeed visit his church, his vine, with
his grace. Return, we beseech thee, O God
of hosts, and look down from heaven, and behold and visit
this vine. This is my relentless prayer,
as it is the prayer of many of my friends around the world,
as we prepare for the Lord's day every week. God, come, look
down from heaven. and visit this vine. Not just
this local assembly, but every local assembly where men and
women are gathered in the name of Christ by the grace of God
to worship our Redeemer. And the vineyard which thy right
hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. The vine God planted is his church. And the branch he made strong
for himself is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. But in this
passage of scripture, as is often the case in the scriptures, the
branch and the vine, Christ and his church are spoken of as one. When the psalmist prayed for
God to visit his vine, he was praying for God to visit his
son. If he will do that, and he most
certainly will, all is well, and all his people shall be saved.
Look at verse 17, Psalm 80. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we go back from thee. God, keep your
hand on Christ our head. God, visit our Redeemer, our
Savior, with whom we are one, in whom we live and move and
have our being. Quicken us, and we will call
upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts. Cause thy face to shine, and
we shall be saved. The Lord God says, behold the
man whose name is the branch. Oh God, how I thank you for giving
me eyes to see, to behold him, a heart to trust him, the Lord
Jesus, your darling son, the branch. The branch you brought
forth and made blessedness to my soul. The man, the branch,
whom you made strong for yourself and made strong for me. Truly,
he is beautiful and excellent, comely and glorious in our eyes. Let us sit forever under his
shadow and all is well. God, come visit this vine. Visit the branch, and we shall
be saved. Visit our God, our Savior, and
you visit us. Give him the reward of his soul's
travail, and all is well. And so the psalmist speaks of
the branch, and we who are one with him as one, assuring us
of God's great salvation in him. Now look at our text in Isaiah
four, Isaiah four. Verse two, in that day shall the branch
of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the
earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped
of Israel. And it shall come to pass that
he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall
be called holy, even everyone that is written among the living
in Jerusalem. Now look at these two verses
line by line. In that day, that's talking about this gospel day
of grace. It's called in 2 Corinthians
6 verse 2, the day of salvation. This is the day of salvation. Believe on the Son of God. Look
to Christ now. This is the day of salvation.
He says, in that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful
and glorious. In the day that God saves you
by His grace, in the day that God calls you to life and faith
in His Son, in the very day that God reveals Christ in you, he
who is the branch of the Lord is made beautiful and glorious
in your eyes and never ceases to be. unto you, therefore, which
believe he is precious. The Lord Jesus revealed to the
sinner, made known to the sinner, is glorious indeed. Oh, how beautiful
and glorious. Read on, and, and. When Christ
is revealed, once the sinner looks to him in faith. Oh, may
God do that for you this hour. God reveal Christ in you this
hour. If He does, the fruit of the
earth shall be excellent and comely for them." The fruit of
the earth? How can the Lord Jesus be called
the fruit of the earth? He is the branch who was brought
forth from the earth as the fruit of the earth, the first begotten
from the dead. And now he appears excellent
and comely in our eyes. Our blessed Savior sprang forth
as righteousness from the earth when he was delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. Hold your
hands here in Isaiah and turn back to Psalm 85, Psalm 85. Oh, how excellent and comely
he is. Look at verse 11. Mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Our Lord
Jesus, the fruit of the earth, that one who is raised from the
dead, having accomplished redemption for us, is excellent and comely
for us. Now back in Isaiah. This can't
be said of everyone, but it can be said and is most assuredly
true with regard to them that are escaped of Israel. Again,
Peter says, unto you therefore which believe, he is precious. You who are the escaped of Israel,
you who know the Lord God, he is indeed precious. Brother Merle
reminded me of an incident in Spurgeon's life. I was asking
about it back in the office a little bit ago. Spurgeon had a great
deal of difficulty struggling with what's commonly called melancholy
in his day, depression in our day, and often struggled with
the matter of assurance. And once when he was traveling,
he was caught in a bad snowstorm and had to stay with a farmer
for several days, nearly a week, and the farmer who was a friend
of his sensed that something was bothering him, and one morning
as Spurgeon was standing at the window just looking out, he said
to Spurgeon, he said, Pastor, he probably called him Captain,
I don't remember, the folks who knew him well referred to him
as Captain, said, it seems that something's troubling you. And
Spurgeon paused a little bit and said, yes, yes. He said,
what is it, can I help? He said, how can a man know,
really know, that he trusts Christ? And the farmer paused a little
bit and looked at him. He says, I suppose if you love
him, you know. Do you love him? And Spurgeon
responded with tears in his eyes, not as I should, but oh yes,
I do love him, and found great satisfaction in that. This branch
to you who know him, to you who take refuge under his wings,
he is glorious and he is beautiful. He is your beauty and he is your
glory. He is precious to them who are
escaped of Jerusalem. Who are these? They're described
in verse three as he that is left in Zion, he that remaineth
in Jerusalem. Having escaped the wrath of God,
believers are people who remain among God's people and continually
worship Him. And then we're told again who
they are, who are grafted into this branch, the branch of righteousness. They are called holy. Called
holy. Holy people. one of us would dare refer to
ourselves like that. We know what we are by nature.
We know the corruption and depravity of our hearts. But we're called
holy. Now listen to me, because we
really are. We really are. The Lord God has
made Christ our holiness. We have been made the righteousness
of God in him by blood atonement, by his perfect obedience, even
unto death, bringing an everlasting righteousness, satisfying the
justice of God, putting away our sins. And then in the gift
of life, Christ himself takes up residence in us. We are made
partakers of the divine nature, given that holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord, made new creatures in Christ Jesus
the Lord. And he is our beauty and our
glory. Who are these who have escaped
from Zion? Who are those who shall escape? They are those,
every one of them, whose names are written among the living
in Jerusalem. Again, if you'll refer to the
marginal translation, the words might better be translated, them
who are written to life. Those who are written to life. These are the ones who are God's
elect. These are the ones who have escaped
and shall escape. They escape because their names
are written in the book of life of the Lamb before the world
began. They are they who enter into
heaven, whose names are written in the book of life. And all
others cast into the pit of darkness, whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of
the world. No wonder our Savior says, rejoice, because your names
are written in heaven. How come it is that you and I
today believe God. Why is it that we have found
refuge and safety in Christ the branch? There's only one answer
that can be given. Before the world was, God Almighty
wrote us to life. He wrote our names in the Lamb's
Book of Life in sovereign free election. The question is often
asked, How can I know that my name's written in the Book of
Life? How can I know that I've been chosen of God, redeemed
by the blood of Christ? And I like the answer that a
retired British soldier gave 200 years ago. Somebody was asking
him how he could know that he was saved, that his name was
written in the Book of Life. And he said, he said, well, I know
that it is because I believe on God's Son. And this is the
evidence of faith. He said, I am a retired soldier. And there is a book in London
that contains my name. He said, I've never seen the
book. In fact, I've never been to London. But I know my name
is written in the book. Do you know how I know my name's
written in the book? He said, every month I get a
check because my name's written in that book. I'm a retired soldier
whose name is written in the book of retired soldiers in London. And I know it's there because
I get a check every month from London. I know that my name is
written in the book of life for one reason and one reason only. Not because I'm a good man. Not
because I have done good. not because I have good thoughts,
not because I feel good, not because I feel close to God,
but I trust the Son of God. He's all my hope, all my righteousness,
all my redemption, all my sanctification, all my salvation. That and that
alone is my assurance. Now turn over a couple of pages
to Isaiah chapter 11. Here's the third reference to
our Savior being called a branch. Isaiah 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. Now while I'm talking to you
about this, turn back to the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter
6. I want you to see something. And this is the only place in
these seven passages of Scripture where this is true. But the word
branch here is a unique word. The word that's translated branch
is altogether different from the word that we have been looking
at and we'll look at in the other passages. The word translated
branch here is the word from which we get our word Nazirite
or Nazareth. Yet it is without question properly
translated branch here in Isaiah 11 and verse one. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the branch. is that Nazarite described in
the law of the Nazarite here in Numbers chapter six. He is
that one who has his roots in the family of David, the royal
family of Israel. And he is the branch from whom
all the blessings of grace and righteousness and peace come
as they're described in the rest of Isaiah chapter 11. Number
six speaks of a Nazarite. A Nazirite from his birth who
remained a Nazirite all the days of his life. It speaks of a man
utterly consecrated to God. Now there are many who took a
Nazirite vow. I think of Samson in particular.
But he wasn't much of a Nazirite. Read his history. He didn't behave
much like a Nazirite, but he had taken the vow. He was to
be a Nazirite from his birth. No man in history fulfilled the
law of the Nazirite and the Nazirite vow except one man, the God-man. And on the basis of this Nazarite's
obedience, on the basis of Christ's perfect obedience to God, as
our God-man mediator of the substitute, God commands Moses to speak to
the children of Israel and bless them through Aaron because of
the obedience of this Nazarite. Look at the end of Numbers chapter
6, verse 22. And the Lord spake unto Moses
the law, saying, Speak unto Aaron the priest, and his son, saying,
On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto
them, The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his
face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord
lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Oh,
bless God, all the blessings of grace flow to sinners freely
by God's law and justice, as well as his mercy and grace because
of Christ the Nazarene, the branch, who obeyed God for us. Now, look
at Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah 23. Verse five. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
the king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby
he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. Now in just
a minute, we're gonna look at chapter 33 and see a very similar
passage. In chapter 33, the language is
almost exactly the same as it is here. But there are slight
differences that are very significant. Both passages are talking about
this gospel day. Both passages are talking about
God's salvation, the salvation of his elect in Christ. The Israel
of God announcing that they shall be saved. In chapter 33, the
Lord speaks of his son as the branch of righteousness. Here
he calls him the righteous branch. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both.
He is the branch who is our righteousness, and he is the branch through
whom righteousness flows to us. In chapter 33, we're told that
he shall grow up under David. Here he says, I shall raise unto
David. In chapter 33, the Lord Jesus
was promised as one who would grow up unto David, speaking
of his own accomplishments as our mediator. Here he is promised. He will raise under David a righteous
branch Raised to God's elect a mediator who is our righteousness
in chapter 33 He shall execute judgment and righteousness here
in chapter 23. The prophet says he shall execute
judgment and justice the words however are exactly the same
in both places and He shall execute judgment and righteousness. That is, he will fully satisfy
every demand of God's law, and he will act accordingly in justice
and in righteousness. This cannot be stressed adequately. Everything God does, he does
in justice, in righteousness, in equity, in truth. If God sends
a sinner to hell, it's because he fully deserves it before the
law. And if God takes moral heart
to glory, it's because you fully deserve it before God's law.
Not by your obedience. Oh, no, but by the obedience
of what? infinitely worthy our mediator
Christ the branch of righteousness This matter is of truly great
significance. I want you to see this in verse
20 verse 6 of chapter 23 We're told that as the result of Christ
finished work of righteousness We're called to behold the man
whose name is the branch Every sinner is called Christ alone. Everyone who indeed beholds Him,
every one of us are called Jehovah Sidkinu, the Lord our righteousness. Our Lord Jesus is called the
Lord our righteousness here. And in verse 16 of chapter 33,
we are told that as the result of His finished work, who is
Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. This is the name
by which she, God's church, God's elect, every sinner who trusts
Christ, this is the name God calls him, Jehovah Sidkenu, the
Lord our righteousness. The wonder of our oneness with
Christ, I don't even to use the word unity with Christ, or union
with Christ. We're one with Him. It's a mystery
no mind can comprehend, and certainly no tongue can explain. But real,
oh how real the wonder, all that Christ is, we are in Him. Did you get that? All that Christ
is, we are in Him. We are righteous because He's
our righteousness. We are holy because he's our
holiness. We are sanctified because he's
our sanctification. We are justified because he's
our justification. We are redeemed because he's
our redemption. We are accepted because he is
our acceptance. Jesus Christ our Lord, God's
son, is one with us and we with him, bone of his bone, flesh
of his flesh, truly one with Him as He is one with the Father. So that all He did as a man,
we did in Him. All that He suffered as a man,
we suffered in Him. All that He earned and obtained
as a man, we have earned and obtained in Him. And the glory
which God gave Him, the God-man, He has given us. All who behold
the man whose name is the branch. Now look at chapter 33 of Jeremiah.
Chapter 33, verse 15. Here the prophet tells us exactly
what I've been saying to you. In those days, and at that time,
I will cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. That is God's
elect, God's church shall be saved and dwell safely. this
is the name wherewith she shall be called Jehovah Sidkenu, the
Lord our righteousness. He who has made sin for us has
made us to be the very righteousness of God in Him. who suffered all
the wrath of God until justice was fully satisfied for us gives
us life eternal freely in Him and there is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now, turn back
toward the end of the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter 6, chapter
3, chapter 3, Zechariah chapter 3, verse 8. Hear now, O Joshua, the high
priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee. Get a picture
now. Jerusalem is being rebuilt. Israel has returned from Babylon.
Joshua, the high priest, had defiled himself, taking for himself
a wife among the Babylonians, and now he sits before the Lord
in filthy garments. And God speaks and says, here
now, oh Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit
before thee, you who are escaped with your priest. For they are
men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant, the branch. We who are God's, sinners saved
by God's grace, are called here men, wonder that. Wonder that. If you should go
back to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and find any of my
high school teachers, or junior high school teachers, or elementary
school teachers, principals or vice principals, neighbors or
friends, and tell them what I've been doing for the last 50 years,
they'd nod Don Fortner. Not Don Fortner. Not Don Fortner. Men wonder that. Wonder that. Look what God's done for him. Wonder that forever. when God
Almighty spreads us before wandering worlds and says, look what my
grace has done, and we stand before him forever, clothed in
white garments, men in clean, pure, and white, robed in righteousness. perfect righteousness, the righteousness
of the saints. Righteousness we have earned
by the obedience of our substitute. Righteousness freely given us
by Jesus Christ the Lord. Men wondered at because of Christ
the branch who made us righteous, the very righteousness of God
in him. He closed poor sinners with a
change of raiment, even garments of salvation. He removed the
iniquity of Israel in one day, and he sets this fair miter upon
the heads of all his people, making us kings and priests unto
God, holiness unto the Lord. Now turn over just a page to
one more passage. Zechariah 6, verse 12, And speak unto him, saying, Thus
speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is
the branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall
build the temple of the Lord. Again God calls us to faith. Behold the man whose name is
the branch. Mark the wonderful features of
his person and his work and behold him. Oh, God help you to behold
him now. He gives us reason to behold
him. Behold the man. The man God promised. The man God promised. In the
Old Testament scriptures, Every woman who was barren felt herself
under the judgment of God. Every woman who believed God
expected that a woman would bring forth a child whose name is called
the Christ, the Christ of God, the woman seed. And they all
hoped it might be me. It might be me. And so the women
in Israel were delightful in having children, one after another,
hoping that one of their sons might be him whose name is the
branch, the man God calls for all to behold. He is that one. to whom all the Old Testament
saints looked. The woman's seed, Abraham's seed,
David's seed, the branch, the man whose name is the branch.
That one out of whom flows all life and grace and salvation.
They looked to him and hoped in him. He is that one who is
called the man. The man who is himself God. This man who comes into the world
without the aid of a man being born of a virgin, And he shall
grow up out of his place. Certainly that speaks of the
virgin birth, but more than that, it speaks of his eternality,
his going forth from eternity. He is that one who comes to us
from heaven itself, from the eternal counsels and purposes
of God. And he shall build the temple
of the Lord. Even he shall build the temple
of the Lord. Twice stated. Twice stated because
we tend to forget the building of God's house is God's work. The building of God's house is
God's work. Not God's work and ours. God's work. Not the preacher's
work, not the church's work, not the work of soul winners,
not the work of tricksters, God's work. He will build his temple. The Lord will build his temple. I will build my church, the Savior
said, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. How can I stress this adequately? God give me grace and I make
you this promise. As long as I stand in the position
I'm in now as pastor of this congregation, we will not budge
one inch from the way we began. We will gather in this place
to worship God and preach his word and give ourselves to the
preaching of the gospel. If you want entertainment, if
you want your children to have a good time and you want to have
a good time, If you want games and parties and all the frills
and nonsense that go along with the religious world, you'll have
to go somewhere else. It ain't happening here. It ain't
happening here, no matter what. It ain't happening. Well, but
we gotta do something to build the church. Anything you do to
build it is just taking wood, hay, and stubble, stacking it
up to be burned. The Lord builds his church. It's
called his temple. because this is the place where
his people come together in his house to worship him. And this
is the place where the Lord God has said, I'll meet you there,
and I'll commune with you there. I'll speak to you and commune
with you from the mercy seat, from between the two cherubs,
overshadowing the ark of the covenant. I'll meet with you,
gathered in the name of my son, and meeting with you, I'll make
myself known to you. I'll show you my word, I'll show
you my law, I'll show you my way, I'll show you my son. And
thus the Lord God promises his grace and his mercy to him who
is the branch, who builds his temple. The church of God is
that church of which Christ Jesus is the foundation and the chief
cornerstone. It is he who builds the church
and he alone shall have the glory of the building. He alone praised
in the building because he's the branch and he shall bear
the glory. You see that? And he shall sit
and rule upon his throne. This one who is the branch, he's
a priest and he's a king. He's a priest interceding before
the throne of the triune Jehovah. But he's a king. He's a king
whose priestly intercessions shall be executed because he's
the sovereign of the universe. He who is our priest, our branch,
is that one into whose hands the Lord God, the triune Jehovah,
has given the reigns of the universe. And the counsel of peace shall
be between them both. That is Christ Jesus the branch. causes the council of peace between
the triune God and chosen sinners to be fully accomplished. And he gives us peace as we behold
the man whose name is the branch. He shall save his people from
their sins. Oh, may God give us grace ever
to behold the man whose name is the branch. I looked in vain
after finishing my preparations for tonight for a song from one
of the old hymn books about the branch, and I couldn't find one.
So I wrote one. I think it'll capsulize what
I've been trying to say to you, and you'll get it in the bulletin
in a couple of months, Lord willing. Behold the man who is the branch,
the true and living vine, both beautiful and glorious. Jehovah's
branch is mine. All life and grace and righteousness
I draw from Christ divine. Jehovah's branch of righteousness,
Jehovah's branch is mine. Quickened and kept alive by grace,
from him my fruit I find. The branch God made strong for
himself, Jehovah's branch is mine. His vineyard under his
own care is fenced and with power divine. The branch of God, plant
of renown, Jehovah's branch is mine. Oh, may God make him yours. Amen.