Sermon #38                                                            Series:  Isaiah

 

          Title:       What A Change Grace Has Made!

          Text:       Isaiah 11:1-9

          Subject:  Isaiah’s Prophecy of Christ’s Kingdom and Grace

          Date:      Sunday Evening - March 4, 1990

          Tape #

 

          Introduction:

 

          In Chapter 10 the prophet of God predicted the complete rein of the Assyrians whom God had raised up to be a rod in his hand to chasten and afflict and purge his church.  But in that passage he promised to deliver and save his elect remnant.  He promised to gather his elect to himself and take away the yoke of the oppressor.  That temporal deliverance of his church from the Assyrians was intended by God to be a picture and a prediction of the great, spiritual deliverance of God’s elect from sin and satan by Christ.

 

          In Chapter 11 Isaiah moves from the temporal to the spiritual.  This entire chapter speaks of Christ.  It is a prophesy of the coming of Messiah, the Prince.  It describes both the character of Christ as the Messiah, our Savior and King, and the blessed influence of his grace upon men.  In these verses the Holy Spirit identifies God’s Messiah, his kingdom, and his people.

 

Proposition:  The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of grace in the hearts of men.

 

          Note: The passage is a prophesy not of some earthly, material, millennial kingdom to come at the end of the world, but of the gospel age in which we now live and of the kingdom of God into which men and women are born by grace - (John 3:3-7).

 

Divisions:  There are five things revealed in these first nine verses of Isaiah 11 to which I call your attention.

 

 

1.   The Ascent Of God’s Messiah (v. 1).

2.   The Anointing Of Christ (vv. 2-3).

3.   The Administration Of Christ’s Government (vv. 3-5).

4.   The Amazing Grace Of God (vv. 6-9).

5.   The Advance Of the Gospel (v. 9).

 

I.      First, Isaiah describes THE ASCENT OF GOD’S MESSIAH in this world (v. 1).

 

          The Prophet has already shown us the Divine origin and nature of Christ.  He is God the eternal Son.  But he is the Son given by means of his incarnation and virgin birth to redeem and save his people (Isa. 7:14; 9:6-7).  Here Isaiah is describing our Lord’s earthly parentage and his ascent from among men.  The Messiah, the Christ of God, must be a Man who in due time arose out of the house of David (Rom. 1:3-4).

 

          This text speaks of our Lord’s humiliation.  God did not send his Son with pomp and pageantry, but in humiliation.  Yet, he came from the royal house of David, as a direct, lawful heir to the throne of Israel (Acts 2:30).

 

A.  Christ is here called “A Rod” and “A Branch.”

 

          Both words represent a weak, small, tender stem, a twig and a sprig that might be easily broken (Isa. 53:2).  This speaks of our Savior’s real humanity.

 

B. Here Isaiah tells us that Christ arose from the stem of Jesse rather than David.

 

          Jesse lived and died in obscurity.  His family was of no importance or significance in the world (I Sam. 18:18).  David was ridiculed by his enemies as “The son of Jesse” (I Sam. 22:7).

 

C. And God sent his Son to us through the stem, or stump, of Jesse’s house.

 

          At the time that Christ came into the world the royal family of David had been reduced to a lifeless, hopeless, insignificant stump.  Joseph and Mary, though they were heirs of David, had nothing to inherit.  They were in utter poverty.

 

          God sent his Son into the world in such circumstances to teach us that -

 

1.   The wealth and honor of this world are contemptible to him.

2.   His kingdom is not of this world.

3.   Earthly power and riches have nothing to do with the success of his cause.

 

II.   Next, Isaiah describes THE ANOINTING OF CHRIST as our Prophet, Priest, and King (vv. 2-3).

 

          In chapter ten he told us that the means by which God would accomplish the salvation and deliverance of his elect would be “The anointing” (v. 27).  Here he tells us what that anointing is.  No prophet, priest, or king in Israel was qualified for his work without special anointing from God.  And Christ’s qualification for his work as our Prophet, Priest, and King arose from his anointing.

 

A.  “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.”

 

          The Holy Spirit with all his power, gifts, and graces came upon Christ without measure and abode upon him (John 1:32; 3:34-35; Col. 1:19; 2:9).  When he began his public ministry, he proclaimed himself to be the Messiah, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Lk. 4:18; Isa. 61:1).

 

B. It was and is by this special anointing and unction of the Spirit that Christ executed judgment in His kingdom (John 5:22, 27).

 

          As a man, our Lord Jesus needed the ministry of the Holy Spirit as much as we do, that he might know and do the Father’s will perfectly.  And he received all the fullness of the Spirit as our head and representative that we might receive the Spirit of his fullness.  The Spirit of God abode upon and in Christ throughout his earthly life as…

 

1.   “The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding.”

2.   “The Spirit of Counsel and Might” - (Isa. 42:4).

3.   “The Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord” - (Heb. 5:7).

 

          Note: Today we receive the Spirit in exactly these same areas from the fullness of Christ our Lord, to order our steps in this world.

 

C. It was this special anointing of the Spirit which gave our Savior, as a man, such wisdom and understanding in this world (v. 3).

 

·        He grew in wisdom and stature as a man.

·        As a boy he disputed with the elders in the synagogue.

·        He knew his Father’s will.

·        He judges and reproves with supernatural, spiritual discernment.

 

          Note: How much more must we, who are but weak and sinful worms of the earth, seek to be filled with the Spirit of God at all times (Eph. 5:18), that we many honor God in all things!

 

III. Thirdly, Isaiah describes THE ADMINISTRATION OF CHRIST’S GOVERNMENT as Lord and King over all things (vv. 4-5).

 

          Our Lord judges nothing according to appearance.  But his judgment is always righteous as well as wise, equitable as well as prudent.  In the administration of all the affairs of providence, and grace, and wrath, Christ always does what is right.

 

A.  With righteousness He judges the poor of the earth.

 

·        The poor in spirit.

·        Not according to outward appearance, but according to the heart.

 

 

 

B. With equity He reproves, argues and makes intercession, for the meek of the earth (I John 2:1-2)

 

·        He will reprove us for sin.

·        But he will never cease to be our Advocate.

 

C. And He shall smite the earth.

 

“With the rod of his mouth (The Word of God), and with the breath of his lips (The Spirit of God), shall he slay the wicked.”

 

·        Slay them in mercy to save.

·        Slay them in wrath to punish.

 

D. In all things Christ is both righteous and faithful (v. 5).

 

·        Righteousness is the strength of His work.

·        Faithfulness is the strength of His rule.

 

IV. Fourthly, the prophet Isaiah describes the effects and results of THE AMAZING GRACE OF GOD upon the hearts and lives of men (vv. 6-9).

 

          Here Isaiah describes the peace and tranquility of Christ’s kingdom in this world.  Grace produces peace.  Grace makes sinners peaceable.

 

A.  Where the Prince of Peace reigns there is peace.

 

1.   The church and kingdom of God is a peaceable kingdom.

 

          Christ who is our peace has slain the enmity that once existed between his people in this world and he makes us one (Eph. 2:14); Col. 3:10-11).  The wolf no longer threatens the lamb; and the lamb no longer fears the wolf - “Behold,” said the saints of Saul, “he prayeth!” 

 

          Those who are in the ark, Christ Jesus, like the creatures that went into the ark with Noah, live together in peace.

 

a.   They lie down together in the church of God.

b.   A little child (pastor) leads them.

c.   They feed upon the green pasture of gospel truth.

d.   The sucking child, the newborn babe of God’s kingdom shall not be harmed by the old serpent.

e.   The weaned child, weaned from his own righteousness, shall not be harmed by the den of iniquity - self-righteous religion.

 

2.   And God’s church in this world is as safe and secure as it is pleasant and peaceable - “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain” - (Rom. 8:35-39).

 

B. What a change grace has made in our lives!

 

1.   We were, and are, all of us by nature wild and dangerous brute beasts.

2.   Grace has changed us into peaceful, helpful, pleasant children of God.

3.   The means of this change is the knowledge of the Lord - (v. 9).

 

·        Gomer.

·        Onesimus.

·        The Gadarene.

·        The Prodigal.

 

V.  Lastly, Isaiah assures us of THE ADVANCE OF THE GOSPEL in this world.

 

          “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” - (v. 9).  We do not yet see this prophecy fulfilled.  There is today a great famine in the world, a famine for the word of God (Amos 8:12).  Today gospel preachers and gospel churches are few and far between.  But, if I read the Bible right, it shall not always be so.  In the latter day the glory of God shall be seen everywhere.  Gospel churches shall be found in every place.  Gospel preachers shall be heard in every street.  And Christ shall be known and worshipped in every corner - “The knowledge of the Lord” shall one day cover the earth - (Rev. 11:11).

·        Even now it is beginning to be fulfilled!

·        Babylon shall fall!

·        The Gospel shall be triumphant!