All right, if you will, please go ahead and turn your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 11, Isaiah chapter 11. And I will be reading, actually all of it, verses one through 16. As you see the title of our sermon this morning, the Christ of the Prophets. Hear the branch of the Lord. Isaiah chapter 11, beginning at verse one. Hear ye then the word of the Lord. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 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 the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not pass by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear. But with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness, the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with a lamb and the leopard shall lie down with a young goat. and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the whole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as a waters cover the sea. And that day, the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples of him, shall the nations inquire and his resting place shall be glorious. And that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people from a Syria, from Egypt, from path Ross, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart and those who harass Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah and Judah shall not harass Ephraim, but they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the West and together they shall plunder the people of the East. They shall put their hand against Edom and Moab and the Ammonites shall obey them. And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt and will wave his hand over the river with a scorching breath. and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals, and there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant, the remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever and ever. Father, we do thank you for thy holy word. Grant us understanding, O Lord. Grant us illumination by thy Holy Spirit. We ask, O Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Now this morning, again, we look to the Christ of the prophets as we did the last Sunday morning as well, but as Christ we see as revealed in the prophetic writings here specifically and the prophet Isaiah. Now, certainly we have heard, we've held the many great and wonderful prophecies concerning the Messiah who has come. And we know that he would be God as well as man. We know that He will be born of a virgin. We know that he will be the son of Abraham, the son of David, the son of God. But here we see the Messiah called the branch. And yes, this is recognized among the Jews as a messianic prophecy as well. But it's called the branch in a picture of a tree that has been chopped down to the ground, leveled and grazed or raised down, however you phrase that properly. And even there, even then, there will be a small green shoot. beginning to rise up from the barren stump that is there. This, we are told, is the branch of the Lord. To him the nations shall come, and to him the remnant shall be saved. Hear the remnant of Israel, but hear the remnant shall be saved as promised in accordance with the word of God. Now Isaiah, reminder for you, Isaiah lived and he prophesied in the year 780 to 690 BC. He received a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and maybe even Manasseh. But he was called to be a prophet in the year when King Uzziah died, and he would prophesy the exile of Israel, which did occur in 722 BC. It happened exactly according to the word of God, and he saw it come to pass. Israel was exiled to Babylon, and so Isaiah strove to encourage them. in their affliction. He will have many prophecies, and we're not going through all of it today, but he will have many prophecies including, of course, a suffering servant, the salvation of the remnant, naming even Cyrus the Persian as God's agent to restore the remnant to the land, which also occurred even as the word of God foretold. But Isaiah will prophesy the one who is greater than Cyrus, the one who is a servant and the Savior who brings justice and righteousness to the nations and brings the new covenant. And this will be the incarnate Savior, the God-man. This is the branch of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So with that as our background, we look at verses 1 through 5. First of all, the branch of the Lord revealed. Verses 1 through 5, as I make reference, but we shall go along as we do so. Isaiah was prophesied, he has prophesied, to the fall of Israel, Assyria, and to the nations, all which did come to pass. But the Lord will continue to call the people to repentance, to turn from their constant and blatant idolatry. And you'll have to read the earlier chapters to see they were so caught up in idolatry. And so yes, God warned them. They did not repent and judgment fell. So here the Lord extends hope to his people, but not just any hope, unless they be completely, you know, downtrodden, but not just any hope, but hope of the Messiah, a messianic hope. This is the hope of the coming deliverer, the redeemer and the savior. And we read, there shall come forth a shoot, from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from those roots shall bear fruit. Even though the sons of Israel, they've been cut down to the ground, the sons of David, they've been cut down and it looks as to be a dry and barren, lifeless land. If you go see where they've chopped all the trees down and acres and acres of it, it looks very barren and lifeless. But it looks that way among those of the sons of David here. The kings of David appear to have come to a complete and certain end. That's the way it seems. That's the way it looks. It looks like they have been grazed to the bottom. They have been cut down. Surely the people will be in great grief. Surely they'll be in distress and yet they would not repent. They would not repent. Nevertheless, God will remember his covenant with Abraham and with his covenant with David. And God will keep his word because even though man may be unfaithful, God is always faithful. He keeps his word. He keeps his promise. And there will be a son of David to sit on the eternal throne. there will be the son of Abraham to bring blessing to the nations of the world as prophesied all over the Bible, even in Genesis. But though the tree is cut to the very dirt, Behold, a small, green shoot begins to rise from the dead, dry-looking stomp. Because what man could not do, God certainly can. This stomp, we are told, is the stomp of Jesse. The stomp is Jesse, the father of David. And the enemies thought they destroyed all of the godly line. They thought that basically that they had put an end to it. But behold, a little shoot, a sprig, a twig. begins to grow up from this barren stump. And what seems to have been such a small little thing, and it grows and becomes a great and mighty branch from the roots of Jesse. And he bears the innumerable fruit. He bears the greater than the sands of the seashore. He bears the greater than the stars of heaven. This is the mighty branch of the Lord, the great and mighty, powerful one, the majestic one. because he is the king of kings. His fruit, his kingdom extends all around the entire world. Fruit from every nation, from every tribe, from every tongue, from every peoples. Where men thought the line of David had become extinct. God proves that he is sovereign and not man. The hope of Israel is not in man. The hope of the nations is not in man. The hope of all is the righteous branch who is the Messiah, the Savior, and the Deliverer. He alone is the hope of the nations. And so let's look at the nature of this branch that is before us. The spirit of the Lord rests upon him. It doesn't rest upon Hezekiah. It rests upon this Messiah, not upon David, but upon this promised branch who was to come, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember Jesus said, quoting from Isaiah, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, quoting from Isaiah in reference to himself. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor we read. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. That is what Jesus quoted from concerning himself. The spirit is upon Christ and all of his fullness. not for a season, not for a while, not briefly as we see occurring in the Old Testament, but always. The fullness is upon Him always. And this can speak of no one else. It cannot speak of Hezekiah. It can't speak of anyone else, but only of the Messiah. Because Christ has the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and fear of the Lord. He has all of the attributes of the divine judge, the righteous one. He will judge in perfect righteousness, not by what his eyes may see, for he looks on the hearts. He looks in the heart, not by what his ears may hear, because he knows the thoughts of man. He knows their thoughts and why they do it. But here, Israel, Israel is suffering and sorely afflicted. But the great judge of all the earth, he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. He will vindicate the poor and the oppressed, but he will kill the wicked with the breath of his lips. Make that a nice sermon title. The Lord's going to kill the wicked. It'll be a real popular one, right? But he will, according to the word of God. Revelation 19, verse 15, from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. Isaiah 11.5, righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness. the belt of his loins. Even the ungodly kings of the earth will stand before him. They will stand before him and he will judge every thought, every deed, everything that may enter into the hearts of man, but he will judge it in perfect righteousness. absolutely give an account for everything ever thought, said, or done upon this earth. Even the ungodly kings of the earth, not just a general wicked, but all of them. But here Isaiah encourages Israel because hope is being extended to them even in their affliction, even during this time. But They need to repent. They still have not repented. They must turn from their wicked ways or the righteous branch of the Lord shall be their judge as well. He'll be their judge on that great and final day. Okay, so he gives a warning to them. He said, you must repent because it's going to continue to fall until that great day when you will give an account before the King of Kings, the righteous branch of the Lord, which leads to our second point in verses six through nine. Here we see the branch of the Lord reigning himself, the branch of the Lord reigning. Let me go ahead and read that again or briefly here. The Lord, the wolf shall dwell with a lamb and the leopard shall lie down with a young goat. the calf and the lion, the fatted calf together and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze. The young shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the whole of the Cobra and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den and they shall not hurt or destroy and all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. By the way, I almost titled the message this morning as the waters cover the sea. But this branch of the Lord, okay, the shoot that comes from the stomp of Jesse is filled with the spirit of God without measure. And he's ruling with wisdom, with counsel, with knowledge, ruling with righteousness, perfect and judgment, all powerful, all knowing, and he's faithful, absolutely faithful. And he brings in the rain of perfect peace. Because he is the prince of peace. Even the very animals of his creation will live in perfect peace and harmony among the people of God, the church, his perfect body in those days. But the wolf dwells with the lamb, the leopard and the goat, and I read all that before you. But the Lord says, they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. So yes, after we have the new heavens and the new earth and all the animals will graze on the land and there will be a harmony, there will be a unity, as they were before the fall of man, okay? They did not go after trying to eat Adam and Eve. They were not trying to bite them and poison them and kill them. They're going to be harmless. They will eat grass and graze, even as they had to do while they were on the ark. However, even saying all that, as much as that would be a wonderful, beautiful picture, a delight to see, these speak of even far greater things than cows and lions and leopards, or lions and tigers and bears. It speaks of far greater things than that. Because in the eternal reign of the Messiah, there will be a perfect peace all around the world. So it's not about wolves and lambs and cattle and all this. Not what that's about. Even though there will be this beautiful, idyllic peace and harmony, the focus really here is upon what God is going to do with this perfect peace brought in by the branch of the Lord all around the world. So those who are barbaric, those who are cruel, They will be converted by the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel must go forward. The gospel continues to go. The fierce and the violent, they shall be at peace by new birth, by the working of the Holy Spirit of God. People like Paul, the apostle who persecuted the very church of the Lord Jesus Christ, persecuted, dragging them off to jail and prison and in irons. And yet he'll bring peace. by the new birth, bringing repentance and faith and the Messiah versus six or nine is a picture of this idyllic eternal state of the redeemed of the earth. There, there is love and there's compassion. There's no harm. There's only beauty and all this. But there, there is love for the Lord, the Lord our God with all of our hearts. It will be like that forever and ever and ever. Amen, right? There, there will be love. Love for our neighbor, whom we love as our very selves. There is a love for the family of God. There is Christ, our Redeemer, who is there. Our King is the one who is reigning in majesty. He's the light of the world himself, lighting the hearts and the souls of men. This is the branch of the Lord. This is the kingdom of the blessed ones. Okay, the blessed ones. These are the peacemakers. These are those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, for they will be filled. These are the meek of the earth who inherit these things. The meek of the earth. These are the poor in spirit, those who used to mourn. These are the merciful, the pure in heart. These are those made sons of God by faith in God the son. the Messiah, the Christ, and they have received their eternal inheritance with the saints of God and Christ and they are blessed. And that'll be your destiny as well on that great day. These will all be seated together at the great feast with Christ himself, who is the head of the body, his church, seated at the head of the table, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there will be nothing wicked, there'll be nothing unclean, there'll be nothing dangerous or deadly that is in the eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, because the world will truly be full of the knowledge of the Lord, even as the waters cover the sea. That is how it shall be. This is what happens as the gospel of Jesus Christ fills the earth. This is why we must constantly be speaking of Christ to the lost who are around us. They will be called through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the branch here in Isaiah 11 that comes up as a shoot from the stump of Jesse. What the Jews could not do, the Messiah can do. He is the light for the nation, the blessings of Abraham, the light goes forth to the nation because of the branch of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is the gospel for all men everywhere, every nation, tribe, and tongue. The gospel must go forth to every creature, every man, woman, and child. They must hear, and they must repent, and they must believe. And finally, we see in verses 10 through 16, we see the branch of the Lord extending his mighty hand. Extending his mighty hand. Because the branch of the Lord extends his might, his great and powerful hand. He extends it, if you will, to the Gentiles. He extends it to the remnant of the Jews. And in that day, the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the people, we read. Of him shall the Gentiles inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious." Beautiful and wonderful. Now the word Gentile or nations, essentially the same word. To the Messiah will the Gentiles come. To Messiah the nations will find salvation. And great is the multitude of them as we saw last Sunday. The branch shall be a signal or an ensign, right? and ensign, becoming a great and mighty tree, a great and mighty tree. And under his branches there will be rest and peace and salvation and glory for the nations. The gospel will be proclaimed to the Gentiles, calling his sheep out from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Because there's only one sheepfold, and only one, one body of Christ. The sheepfold that consists of the converted Gentiles and consists of converted Jews, the promised remnant. Jews and Gentiles, one body of Christ. One who has been drafted into the original branch, the Lord Jesus Christ. One sheepfold and one Messiah. And here Isaiah tells them that God will save a remnant of the Jews, bringing them out from all of their enemies a second time. Now this time deliverance from Babylonian exile, the first time delivered from Egypt. Now some would phrase it like this. It being the first time was being delivered from Babylon, and the second time being delivered together in the days of Messiah. You can look at it either way. However, the remnant, we are told, will be saved. And on that day, when Jesus returns to judge this world, the remnant shall remain. These are believing Israel. Here you're talking about true Israel, not just the national Jews, but the rather Jewish and Gentile believers, though they've been born again by the same Spirit of God, who are all united as one body of Christ. These are Christians who have faith in Christ. This remnant that's spoken of, saved, even as the Gentile Christians are. One sheepfold, believing Jews and Gentiles together as one body of Christ. These will all find rest for their souls. These will find shelter under the great and mighty branch of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the branch of the Lord. Well, here in verses 11 through 15, the Lord gathers his people from the four corners of the globe, delivering them from all other enemies. There will be a true pace. There will be a true unity as the body of Christ gathered together. The enemies of God, they will be gone. They will not be there, but they will be gone and they will be destroyed by the breath of his mouth. We see that picture very clearly. There will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt. Remember they were being held essentially in bondage over in Assyria as well. But every impediment, he says, will be removed. and a way will be made for all the people of God. Assyria was a place where the 10 tribes were carried off to, and so we had the idea of the highway coming out from there in the immediate context. Ultimately, where does this highway lead? Does it lead simply out of Assyria into Israel? Where does it lead? It leads to the branch. who is Christ. Yes, the remnant of the Jews shall be called and shall be converted to Christ. They will be Christians because they have faith in their Messiah. And they, like the Gentiles, will be and must be saved by grace through faith in this Messiah. That is the order of things. That is what we see. And that is what will happen. That is the branch of the Lord. That is the Christ of the prophets. As we approach this Christmas season, the Christ of the prophets, are you, are we on this heavenly highway, not of literal Assyria, but are we on the heavenly highway that leads to the Lord Jesus Christ? Because only by faith in Christ will you be on this heavenly highway. Would you say I would desire and long to rest in the cool shelter in the shade of the branch of the Lord upon that day, then we must come to Christ, we must be trusting in Him, looking to no other for salvation but Christ alone, not our works, not our deeds, because we fail all the time. Our deeds, our works fail and they're filled with unrighteousness. But in Christ we are declared holy and righteous and clean. The branch, even today, the branch is still producing mighty fruit and we see the probably More Jews who are believers in Christ today than there was at any other point in history. More of them have embraced Jesus Christ in faith today than any time. And we see many, many who are coming to him and yet still a remnant. And we see Gentiles by the boatloads as well coming to faith in this Jewish Messiah. And they're receiving the salvation of their souls. But the branch is still producing fruit today. The gospel is still being offered today to everyone, the world all around. The gospel is freely offered. But will you believe it? Will they believe it? Because we must believe upon him. We must take shelter in the branch of the Lord who is Jesus Christ. If we'll have that forgiveness, if we'll have that life, if we'll be safe from the cares, the concerns in the world that is all around us, because our hope is nothing less than Christ and his cross. And him, the Gentiles turn to. To him, even the remnant of the Jews shall come and be saved by God's holy grace. Father, we do thank you, Lord, for thy word. Father, we pray that you would bless it to our hearts or to our understanding. Lord, we know that can be difficult passages sometimes in the prophetic literature, Lord. But Father, we pray that we might take rest in the branch, Lord, that holy branch, who is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. Lord, the one who is the promised son of David, who will sit upon the eternal throne. Oh, Lord, he is the one that you call us to believe upon, that we are drawn to by your spirit. Oh, Lord, I pray for those who know not Christ today. Father, I pray for those who make professions of faith, but they have no true faith. Lord, I pray, convert their hearts, open their hearts that they may hear and believe, oh, Lord, and use us, Father. help us to reach out to the lost around us. Lord, that we might love them to Christ. Lord, not affirming sin, but Lord, that we might call them to repentance with gentleness and loving kindness. And Lord, that they might try and see by your spirit, Father, to rest in the arms of Christ, even our shepherd, our good shepherd. Father, we do ask and we do thank you in Jesus' holy name. And now receive the Lord's benediction. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all even now and forever. God bless you saints. Be careful on the way out. And don't forget about tonight as well.