Okay, back to Isaiah 61. Let's read again at verse 1,
down through verse 3. And the Spirit of the Lord is
upon me. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me. Because the Lord, now notice
that's capital L-O-R-D. You see that? Whenever you see
that in Scripture, it's talking about Jehovah, the Eternal God
Almighty. I am that I am. Because the Lord,
Jehovah, Hath anointed me, that is, God the Son, God manifest
in the flesh, and this is what he's talking about. Hath anointed
me to preach the gospel, to preach good tidings unto those who are
meek. He hath sent me, sent on purpose. God sent God on purpose. I didn't misspeak there. God
sent God on purpose to accomplish our salvation. He has sent me
to bind up broken hearts. Anybody know anything about a
broken heart? Broken over sin? Broken over depravity? Broken
in heart that you've sinned against God and come short of the glory
of God? Anybody know anything about that
kind of broken heartedness before God? He has sent me to bind up. You see, He's the great physician.
to proclaim liberty to those who are held captive by nature. I'm a captive to my sin, to my
sin nature, my depravity, and I cannot set myself free. But He opens the prison house
by His grace, by His gospel, by His power. He has the right
and power to do so. He sets us free. Free. Free from the curse of the law. Free. We have liberty to serve
God in Christ. To them who were bound. Bound. To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord. Accepted in the Beloved. And
this goes back to the year of Jubilee. If you have a reference
there, it should say Leviticus 25 verse 9. The year of Jubilee. And the day of vengeance of our
God. To comfort all that mourn. to
appoint unto them that morning, Zion, to give unto them beauty."
Which would you rather have? Beauty or ashes? Hmm? Beauty? Or would you rather have
burnt up, old, ground up ashes, black ashes? Would you rather
have beauty, wouldn't you? The oil of joy. Would you rather
have joy or mourning? Huh? In the gospel we have joy,
rejoicing in the Lord. The garment of praise is a garment
of righteousness and salvation. The garment of praise, instead
of the spirit of heaviness. Would you rather have the spirit
of praise and worship than that of heaviness? That they might
be called. That they might be called. We're
the called of God. Called of God. Trees, here's
what they're called. And here's what every believer
is called. You're a tree. Do you know that? You're a tree.
Trees of righteousness. How did you become a tree of
righteousness? Well, the planning of the Lord. That He, in all
things, and here's the bottom line, in all of salvation, here's
the bottom line, that He might be glorified. No flesh is going to glory in
God's presence. God is determined in salvation
that He must have all the honor and all the glory in salvation. Now, there's no doubt, there's
no doubt who this Scripture is talking about. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, He went to His hometown, His home church, and He received
the book of Isaiah and He read this very Scripture and He said,
this day, This day, right now, this Word is fulfilled in your
ears. No doubt this Scripture is talking
about the blessed Savior, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
All the prophets of the past give witness to Him. Isaiah,
Jeremiah, the beginning of Moses, and all the prophets, they give
witness to one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole Old Testament
has one message. You know what it is? Someone's
coming. Someone's coming, the Lamb of God, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the King out of David's house. Someone's coming. No doubt who this scripture is
talking about. No doubt as to why he came and
what he came to accomplish. Well, he came to do the will
of God. He was anointed of God. He was anointed of God in all
of his office as prophet, priest and king. He was anointed, chosen,
blessed of God in all of his office to do the will of God. He said on several occasions,
my meat is to do the will of God and to please Him and to
please Him. An obedient child enjoys pleasing
and seeks to have the approval of mom and dad. And the Lord
Jesus Christ, as God the Son, He said, My very being is to
do the will of God. He came to accomplish God's will
in the saving of His people. The Lord Jesus, as God's Messiah,
Son of God, Anointed of God, Blessed of God, He came to fulfill
all Scripture. Not part of the Scripture. He
came to fulfill all Scripture. He lived, He came, He died according
to the Scripture. He fulfilled all Scripture. He said there in Luke chapter
24, beginning of Moses and all the Scripture, He expounded unto
them in all things in the Scripture concerning Himself. The Scripture
is all about the Lord Jesus Christ and how He fulfilled the Scriptures
in accomplishing our salvation. He came to save. He came to seek
and to save his elect. He didn't come to make an effort to save. He didn't
come to try to put us in a savable state. He didn't come to try
to make salvation a possibility. No, my friend, the scripture
said in John 10, 15, that he laid down his life for the sheep.
The messenger from heaven said, call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sin. Now make no mistake, he can't
fail. In all that God sent him to do,
he's anointed. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because the Lord hath anointed me. Jehovah God Almighty, he
can't fail. Failure is not a possibility.
He came to finish salvation. by the sacrifice of Himself.
And He came out to call. He came to call and to gather
together the elect and to draw them and call them to Himself.
He said, come to Me and I'll give you life. I want you to
turn over to Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62, verse 12. Look at
this here. They shall call them, that is,
the holy people, The redeemed of the Lord. That's a good name.
I like that. The redeemed of the Lord. Delivered
by God. Delivered. How are we redeemed?
Well, we're redeemed with the blood of Christ. The redeemed
of the Lord. And thou shalt be called sought
out. You see, I was lost. He sought
me out. He's a good shepherd who goes
out and seeks his sheep. He came to seek and to save that
which is lost. Sought out a city not forsaken. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never, never, never forsake you. So what he came to do, he
accomplished in all that he did. The bottom line in Isaiah 61,
verse 4, that He might be glorified. He said, He prayed that way in
John 17, Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth. I finished
the work that You gave Me to do. Now, how was the Lord Jesus
Christ fit and qualified for this work? Well, He had the Holy
Spirit upon Him without measure. Without measure. Now, I know
as God, He is Spirit. But this is talking about the
God-man mediator. Turn in your Bible to John chapter
3. John the Baptist, his testimony
of the Lord Jesus Christ was that he must increase, I must
decrease. John chapter 3. Look at verse 34, "...for he
whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son,
hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
God Almighty ordained and sent and anointed the Lord Jesus as
man, as the God-man mediator. He is the Messiah anointed in
all of His office. Threefold. What's the threefold
office of the Messiah? What's the threefold office?
He's that prophet that God said in Deuteronomy, told Moses, I'll
raise up a prophet from among the brethren, and he's going
to speak my truth, and you're going to hear it. He's anointed. as the prophet of God to reveal
God's will to us. Secondly, he's not only the prophet
to represent God to us, but he's the priest of God, isn't he?
He's anointed as the priest of God. Aaron of old was the anointed
of God to officiate and to represent the people under God. The anointed
of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, you
read the record in the book of Hebrews. all through the book
of Hebrews, talks about the high priest, saying that we have such
a great high priest, Hebrews 4, 12. He is the mediator, the
surety of the covenant. He is that high priest that I
must have, that's blessed of God, sin of God, anointed of
God, to represent me. What does a priest bring? He
brings a sacrifice. And the Lord Jesus Christ brought
that perfect sacrifice, His own blood, that represents me justified,
sins gone, cleansed completely before God Almighty. You see,
He's the anointed, the sent one of God in all of His office.
Prophet, priest. What's the third one? King. Prophet,
priest, and king. Or prophet, priest, and potentate.
Do you want three Ps? He is the potentate. He is the
great King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You remember Psalm
2? God said, I've set my King upon
my holy hill Zion. God's King. God's King can't
fail. As prophet, priest, and King,
He's the surety of the covenant. He's the sin offering of the
covenant. And He's the Savior of the covenant. And because
of God's anointing on Him, as our Mediator. Now, I have to
have a Mediator. You have to have a Mediator before
God, and there's just one. There's one God, one Mediator
between God and men, and that is the God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only one Son of God, blessed of God, anointed of God,
in all of His office to represent me, to rule and reign over me. and absolute wisdom and absolute
authority. Now, in Isaiah 61, we see here
a description of that work the Lord Jesus Christ was appointed
to do. The first one is this. The Lord
Jesus Christ was ordained in sin of God to be a preacher. He is that prophet of God, the
gospel of God. No matter where he was, Or what
he was doing, he was always about his father's business doing what? Preaching, preaching, preaching. Preaching the gospel. I want
you to find Matthew chapter 4. Notice this, Matthew chapter
4. Preaching, preaching, preaching. He was a preacher. He went to
his hometown, his home church, and he stood up with the Word
of God to declare the gospel of God, the preaching of the
gospel. Notice Matthew 4, verse 23, And
Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, preaching salvation in Christ,
healing all manner of sicknesses, all manner of diseases among
the people. He was God's preacher, son of
God. He lived as the prince of preachers,
He died to become the message of all preaching, didn't He?
God forbid we should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul said, I'm determined to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He arose as a victory message
of all gospel preaching. He said, I'm He that liveth and
was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. Delivered for our offenses and
raised again for our justification. He lives. He lives as a power
and message of all preaching, doesn't He? He's a message of
all preaching. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Christ is the power of God unto salvation. And my
friend, He's coming again as the end of all preaching. It
would just be worshiping that day unto Him who loved us and
washed us from our sin in His own blood. It says here in the
text that He came to preach He hath anointed me, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me without measure, because He hath anointed
me, blessed me, and sent me to preach good tidings." You know,
that's what the gospel is. Good news. Good news. Gospel. It's a good spell. Good news. That's what gospel
means. Good news. Good story. Good tidings. To preach good
news unto those who are humbled by God's grace. To the meek.
To the meek. They want to hear about the good
news of how God saves sinners in Christ. He has sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, to preach the gospel, to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. To preach
good tidings to those who are afflicted, to those who are poor,
to those who are centered. The gospel is good news to those
who are in need. To those who are in need, the
gospel is good news to those who are needy. You know who is
interested in drinking water? Those who are thirsty. Who is
interested in sitting down at a good meal? The man who is hungry. If you ever get hungry and thirsty,
for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They won't have to ask
you to come and listen. You'll be eager to go to the
house of the Lord. The gospel is good news to those
who are needy. Christ supplies all my needs.
The gospel is good news to those who are guilty. I've ever confined
a guilty man who knows that he's guilty before God and he's sinned
and comes short of the glory of God. I've got good news for
him. Christ died for the ungodly.
The gospel is good news to those who are hungry, to those who
are thirsty. Turn over to Isaiah 32. Look
at this. Isaiah 32. You see, he's a proclaimer
of good news, good things, salvation by grace. Isaiah 32. Look at this. Verse 1, Behold,
a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment,
and a man, shall be a hiding place from the wind." Well, He's
our refuge. A covert from the tempest. He's
our covering in the time of storm. And He's rivers of water in a
dry place. He's the water of life. He's
the shadow of a great rock. He's the foundation in a weary
land. You see what He's saying here?
The Gospel's good news to those who are thirsty. Find Isaiah
55. Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55-1. Now look at this. Isaiah 55-1. Ho! That just simply
means stop. You stop and listen to this.
Everyone that's thirsty, our God said, come to the waters.
He that hath no money, no money. This is strange economics here.
You have no money? Come ye buy and eat without Money
and without price. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. You see, salvation is free. Free
for the asking. Come unto me. So he is God's
preacher. Now here, secondly, is this.
He's a proclaimer of good news, good tidings. So he's God's preacher. He's anointed as the prophet
of God, son of God, raised up of God, with God's proclaiming,
God's will, God's salvation. This is God's gospel. concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's the preacher. Secondly,
it says there that he's the healer. The healer. He has sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted. He is the healer. The healer. The healer. To bind up the brokenhearted. This is what the preaching of
the gospel of grace reveals to us. How He takes our diseases,
our infirmities to Himself, wounded for our transgression, bruised
for our iniquities. Turn back to Isaiah 53. He is
a great physician. You know who needs a physician?
Those who are sick. You don't go to the doctor when
you're well. You go when you're in trouble. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the great healer. He is the physician who has every
remedy for every disease. He has the remedy. It's perfect.
It's a perfect remedy. It's Himself. Look at Isaiah
53, verse 4. Surely He hath borne our griefs,
carried our sorrows. We did esteem Him, stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53, verse 4. He was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
we are healed." Now what would you think? Now you listen to
me. If you went to the doctor one day, and you were very, very
ill. I mean, you were so sick and
so, so just, I mean, just sick you couldn't hardly walk and
couldn't stand up. And you walk into that doctor.
And he's told him all your problems. And what if he just took all
those sicknesses to himself, and he took his strength, health
and beauty, and gave it to you? And you walked out in the health
and the strength of that physician. You know, that's the gospel.
The Lord Jesus Christ is that great Physician who takes all
the infirmities and sicknesses, our diseases, to Himself, and
presses them to Himself, and they become His. He calls them
in Psalm 40, mine iniquities. And then He gives us His beauty,
His glory, His vitality, His strength, His health. In Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ
you are Complete. Complete. You see, He's the great
healer. He's the physician. He's the
doctor who has all and the only remedy for my disease called
sin. Turn over here to Matthew chapter
9. Matthew chapter 9. Some of those Pharisees, when
he went home with Matthew the publican, Matthew was a notable
sinner. In Matthew chapter 9, when he
called Matthew, verse 9, and told Matthew to follow him, well,
he followed him. And he went home with him. And
it came to pass, as Jesus said at meet in the house, behold,
his house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down
with him and his disciples. You know, he had some of his
co-workers, other publicans, and his family. Old Matthew wanted
them to hear the gospel. And when the Pharisees saw this,
they said unto the disciples, what is your mastery with publicans
and sinners? Why does he hobnob around with
those low folks? When Jesus heard that, He said
to them, they that behold don't need a physician. but those who
are sick. Go learn, go ye and learn what
this means. I will have mercy, not sacrifice.
I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. Sinners to repentance. You see, He is our physician.
He is our healer. With His stripes, His atonement,
His blood, we are healed. He's God's anointed preacher,
number one. Number two, He's the healer,
okay? Number three, Turn back to Isaiah
61. Number three is that he is the
deliverer to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of prisons to them that are bound. He's our deliverer. I need a
deliverer. He's a prophet to preach, a priest
to heal, and a king to deliver. A king to deliver. Now, there's
two proclamations made here. He's peace to his friends. Peace
to his friends. To proclaim liberty to the captives. The opening of prisons to them
that are bound to proclaim the acceptable day. To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all that
mourn. The Lord Jesus Christ, He came
to preach peace to His people. It's liberty to the captives.
Freedom in Christ. Being justified by faith. We
have peace with God. It's peace to His people. Peace
to those in Christ. Peace that was purchased with
His blood. Reconciled unto God through His
blood sacrifice. He took our punishment and set
us free. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. So He proclaims peace
to His friends, liberty to the captives. Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. We've been set
free from the curse of that law. That law of God said, Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. But Christ redeemed us from the
curse of that law being made a curse for us. He set us free,
and we're to stand fast in that liberty. You see, He proclaimed
liberty to the captives, peace to His friends, peace to His
people, and the opening of prison to them that are bound by sin. I can't loose the fetters of
sin. I can't break the reigning power of sin, but He does. He
does when He saves me by His grace. This liberty we have in
Christ is pictured here by this year of jubilee. You see it in
verse 2? To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord. You go back and read about that
in Leviticus chapter 25. Every 49 years, all things were
set free. Every 49 years under the law.
On that day of jubilee when the trumpet was sounded, every slave
was set free. If you sold yourself into slavery
to pay your indebtedness on that 49th year, jubilee, debts paid. Not only that, but all land was
returned to the original owner. If you had lost your land in
a bad deal on the year of jubilee, it came back to you, came back
to your family. Every slave set free, all land
returned, all debts forgiven. And you know on that On that
49th year and the year of Jubilee, this proclamation was made under
the law on the day of atonement. They sounded that gospel trumpet.
And my friend, we have liberty because the Lord Jesus Christ
set us free with His atonement for our sin. His atonement. All that was lost in Adam, was restored in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Where sin abounded, grace does much more abound. He is
our year of jubilee. He is our acceptance before God.
All debts cancelled. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? You see, He is our preacher. He is our healer. He is our deliverer. Set us free. Proclaiming liberty
to the captives, opening of the prison to them that are bound.
To proclaim what is acceptable unto God. What is acceptable
unto God? Huh? Best you can do? Christ! That's
what's acceptable unto God. Accepted in the beloved. So he
proclaims peace to his friends, but there's a second proclamation
here. And the day of vengeance of our God. The day of vengeance
of our God. There's a proclamation of war
against his enemies. Peace to his friends, I'm going
to set you free. But it's a proclamation of war
against his enemies. The day of vengeance of our God.
Vengeance against sin, against death, against Satan, the powers
of darkness. Christ confronted them and he
went forth conquering to conquer. Vengeance against all those who
refused to bow to Christ. One day you will. You might not
think you'll bow to Christ now, but one day you will. You'll
be made to bow to Him. God has highly exalted Him. God
has given Him a name above every name, that name. You're going
to bow, and you're going to worship, and you're going to honor, and
you're going to say, He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Now, here's the fourth point. He was sent to be the Comforter
to His people, the Comforter. Notice in the last part of verse
2, to comfort all that mourn. To comfort all that mourn. He's
our comforter. The comforter. What does he comfort
with? Turn back to Isaiah 40. I like to be comforted, don't
you? I like comfortable things. I don't like to be uncomfortable.
I like to be comfortable. I'll just tell you plain. The
Lord Jesus crying. How can this sinner feel comfortable
before God who is holy? Only in Christ. He's my comfort. Look at Isaiah 40, verse 1. Comfort
ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, crying to her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned. Boy, that's comforting, isn't
it? Your iniquity. All your sin. Pardon. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double, double, for all her sins. Double. You don't
pay your debts double, do you? When your credit card company
wants $100 a month, and you owe $100, you pay in double? No,
you send $100. The Lord Jesus Christ paid double
for all our sins. He put them away completely forever. And that's comfort to God's people.
Christ not only provides comfort, proclaims comfort, but He also
applies comfort Christ Himself is that comfort. Now listen to
me. When the Lord Jesus said, when
He went away, He said to His disciples there in John 14, 15,
16, I go away, I'm going away to the cross to prepare a place
for you by my death, by my blood, and when I go away, I'll send
a comforter to you, and He'll comfort you. He's talking about
the Holy Spirit coming, who takes the things of Christ and shows
them unto you. What does the Holy Spirit comfort His people
with? Christ! He takes the things of Christ,
the Word, and reveals that to you. It's not that He makes us
feel all gooey and gushy. The comfort of the Holy Spirit
is to reveal Christ unto it. His beauty, His glory, His strength,
His righteousness, His blood to atone for sin. You see that? Christ Himself is our comfort.
He's the God of all comfort. Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort. Look what He gives us here. Do
you want some comfort? And I tell you, this will comfort
you right here. If you look at verse 3. Isaiah 61-3, to appoint unto
them that morn in Zion. This is by God's appointment.
You see, the trials that we undergo, not an accident. God appoints
these trials for us to help us, to wean us, to teach us, to appoint
unto them that morn in Zion. Morn in Zion. To give them... He doesn't leave us in that state
of mourning. He's going to bless us. through
that grace to help in time of need to give unto them. Now,
look, look what it says here. Beauty, beauty for ashes, beauty
for ashes, beauty. Christ takes our death and gives
us his beauty, his beauty. Look what he says in verse 10
of Isaiah 61, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord For my soul
shall be joyful in my God. He hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and the bride adorneth herself with jewels." Beauty for ashes. He is the Lord our righteousness. He took our sin. He gives us
Himself, the Lord our righteousness. He took our death. He gives us
life. He took God's justice. The wrath
of God fell upon Him as a sinner's substitute. He gives us mercy. Mercy not at the expense of justice,
but mercy because justice has been satisfied. This is how God
can be a just God and Savior. Beauty for ashes. That's comfort,
is it not? Look what it says there also.
The oil of joy. The oil of joy for mourning. The oil of joy. Grace in our
hearts received by believing, trusting, and resting in the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Notice Isaiah 61 verse 7. For your shame you shall have
double. For your shame you shall have double. And for confusion
they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they
shall possess the double. Everlasting joy shall be unto
them. That's what we have in Christ.
Everlasting joy. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ
always and again I say rejoice. Turn over here to Psalm 103.
There's a lot of Scripture that talks about the joy and the blessedness
we have in Christ Jesus, but this is one of my favorites. Psalm 103, verse 1. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy
name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of His benefits,
who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases,
who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness
and tender mercy, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so
that thy youth is renewed like the eagle. Look at verse 10.
Psalm 103. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgression from us." Beauty
for ashes. The oil of joy. The oil of joy
for mourning. The garment of praise, it says
here in the text. The garment of praise instead
of the spirit of heaviness. Back to Isaiah 61.3. You see
it there? The garment of praise. I tell
you, we have something to praise the Lord for. All salvation. Instead of being burdened with
guilt and heaviness and anguish of sin not covered, we've been
given the garment of praise. Thank you, Lord, for pardon,
for redemption, for reconciliation in Christ Jesus. Find Ephesians
chapter 1. Look what it says here. Bless
the Lord. Ephesians 1. Look at verse 3. Bless the Lord. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless God, we praise
God who has blessed us. Boy, if anybody's motivated to
bless the Lord, and to honor and to worship the Lord, it's
those redeemed and chosen by God's sovereign saving grace.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who
had blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly in Christ,
according as He had chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy without blame before
Him in love, all according to the good pleasure of God's will."
You see, He's our preacher. He's our healer. He's our deliverer. He's our comforter. You see what
a great Savior we have? And then, fifthly, In fact, Isaiah
61, He is the planter. He is the cultivator. Look what
it says there. That they might be called trees
of righteousness where the planting, the planting of the Lord. Now
look right up in the chapter before, Isaiah 60, verse 21. Thy people also shall be all
righteous. They shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my planting. You see, He's divine. Where's
the branch? The branch in my planting, the
work of my hand, that I may be glorified." Again, that's the
bottom line in this thing. God must have all the glory.
Every believer is a planting of the Lord. Now, a tree doesn't
plant itself. Someone has to plant that tree.
In a nursery I'm talking about, in a cultivated environment,
the church is God's vineyard, God's orchard, that He may be
glorified. Believers are often compared
to trees. Did you know that? often compared
to trees. Let me show you a few scriptures.
Psalm 1. Psalm 1. Psalm chapter 1. Look at this here. Psalm 1. Blessed
is the man that walketh not, verse 1, in the counsel of the
ungodly. nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is
in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day
and night. He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water that bringeth forth fruit in his season. His
leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he does will prosper."
Trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Now turn over here
to Psalm 92. You see, we're His garden. We're
His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Psalm 92, look at verse
12. The righteous shall flourish
like a palm tree. Who does? The righteous. Ever
watch them palm trees when those hurricanes come up the coast
and on the Gulf, how those palm trees, they'll bend and bend
and bend, and then they come right back up. The righteous
shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar."
The cedars of Lebanon. That cedar wood is special wood.
God's planting. God's doing. Those that be planted
in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our
God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Fruit of the
Spirit. You see, it's Christ in us. They
shall be fat and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright.
He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. And one
other, Jeremiah chapter 17. And he makes a comparison here
in Jeremiah 17 between the blessed man and the cursed man. Jeremiah
17 verse 5, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man, that maketh flesh his arm, whose heart is departed
from the Lord. Jeremiah 17 verse 5, For he shall be like a heath
at the shrub in the desert, shall not see when good cometh, but
shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land
not inhabited, but blessed is the man that trusteth in the
Lord, whose hope the Lord is." Is that your hope? The Lord? "...For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters that spread out her roots by
the river, shall not see when the heat comes, but her leaves
shall be green, and shall not be careful or anxious in the
year of drought, Neither shall cease from yielding fruit." You
see, we are His planting, His vineyard, His garden. Look at Isaiah 61, verse 11,
"...the earth shall bring forth her bud, as the garden causes
the things that are sown it to spring up to the Lord. God will
cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations."
His garden. He cultivates it. You see, the
believer's soul is God's watered garden, Jeremiah 31.12. Walled
by His grace, planted by His instruction, visited by His love,
He cultivates His garden. You cultivate yours, don't you?
Why? You expect some fruit. If you don't cultivate it, the
weeds will take it over. But the soul redeemed by the
blood of Christ is His watered garden, walled by grace. walled
by the grace of God. You know, years ago, when they
planted gardens, they let the livestock run loose, and they
built a fence around the garden to keep the animals out. We took
one of those walking tours in Williamsburg, Virginia, and they
explained to us how all the animals and livestock just run loose.
And they fenced the garden, and they made it horse high, bull
strong, and pig tight. So none of the livestock could
get in. And that's God's garden walled by His grace. Horse high,
bull strong, pig tight. Planted by His instruction, visited
by His love, weeded by His heavenly discipline, guarded by His divine
power. And the bottom line, trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He, that He, might
be glorified. Christ is all and in all, especially
in salvation. Now, can you remember those five
things? He's the preacher. He's the healer. He's the deliverer. He's the comforter. He is our
comfort. He put away our sin. Boy, that's comfort to me. And
He's the planter. He plants His garden. He visits
His garden. And He specks fruit out of His
garden. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, meekness, temperance, these things. Again, that he
may be glorified in all things.