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Please remain standing for the reading of God’s word
as we continue our study and consideration
of the book of the prophet Isaiah.
We are today in Isaiah chapter 11.
We will consider Isaiah 11, verses one through nine,
and you’ll find that beginning on page 683
in your Pew Bibles.
I’m gonna begin reading at the end of chapter 10, verse 34,
and read through verse 10 of chapter 11,
just to kind of fill out the bookends of this passage,
but let us hear with reverence and awe the word of our God.
Beginning at chapter 10, verse 34.
He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon will fall by the majestic one.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from the 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 judge 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,
and 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 the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together,
and the 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 the waters cover the sea.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God endures forever.
Let’s pray.
Lord and Father in heaven,
we thank you for raising up prophets and apostles,
such as the prophet Isaiah.
We thank you that Isaiah was carried along by your spirit
to pen these words of holy scripture.
And so we would pray that as we give our attention
to this portion of your infallible word,
that your spirit would apply these truths to our hearts
and to our lives and to our congregation today.
Open our minds and our hearts
to behold wondrous things from your word,
and set a guard over my lips
that I might speak only that which is faithful to your word.
We pray these things in Jesus’ name
and all of God’s people said, amen.
You may be seated.
There are sermon outlines available
if you’d like to follow along in the foyer.
And you’ll notice if you’re following along
in your sermon outline, there are six words
that I encourage the children to listen for
in my sermon today.
Branch, rule, peace, messiah, spirit, and anointed.
Well, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
our faith in Jesus is precious to us
because Jesus is precious to us.
But our faith in the Lord Jesus is often attacked today
by the forces of secularism and unbelief.
Unbelievers within our universities, within the media,
within the entertainment industry,
sometimes within our own government
and within our culture as a whole
will often scoff at and mock at and ridicule us
for believing things such as
that the Bible really is the word of God,
that Jesus Christ really is the divine Son of God
and the Lord who literally rose from the dead,
and that faith in Jesus Christ as one’s savior and Lord
is the one and only way to heaven,
just as Jesus said it was, and so forth.
We are often attacked for believing
these basic Christian truths, Biblical truths,
and other central truths of our faith.
You know, when you find yourself on the receiving end
of constant attack and criticism,
even if that attack and criticism
is untrue and unjustified,
if you find yourself on the receiving end
of such attack and criticism, such persistent attack,
it can be tempting to start believing
that these criticisms and attacks might have some validity.
As a result of these almost constant attacks
against our Christian faith,
we can sometimes find our faith wavering,
the result being that our faith in Christ
is not always as firm, not always as steadfast,
not always as robust as it ought to be.
Well, dear ones, if you are looking for ways
to strengthen your Christian faith
so that you can stand strong
in resisting these kinds of attacks
from the forces of secularism and unbelief,
and so that you can gain a deepened confidence
in your savior and in the truth of his gospel,
one of the most effective faith-strengthening exercises
is to study the messianic prophecies
that are revealed by God in the Old Testament scriptures.
Well, I bring up messianic prophecy
because what we have today in our passage for today
is one such messianic prophecy.
In fact, our passage for this Lord’s Day morning
is one of the clearest Old Testament prophecies
about Jesus, the promised Messiah.
This passage of God’s word has a great deal
to teach us about Jesus, as the theologians would put it.
Here in this passage of Isaiah,
penned hundreds of years before the birth of our savior,
here we have Isaiah’s high Christology,
a high doctrine of the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So this passage has much to teach us about Jesus,
the promised Messiah, and about his righteous rule,
as well as about the peace that he would bring
to this world during the messianic era
that would be inaugurated by his coming.
Now, it’s important for us again
to understand this passage
within its broader context and setting.
And you’ll note that our passage for today
follows a section of judgment oracles
that began back in chapter nine, verse seven,
and ran all the way through the end of chapter 10,
in verse 34.
That’s why I began my reading today
at the end of chapter 10, in verse 34.
Our passage is immediately preceded
by a stern oracle of judgment
against the pagan nation of Assyria and its arrogant king.
And in that judgment oracle,
the Lord compares the Assyrian army to a great forest
that he, the Lord, the divine forester,
would completely cut down.
Go back to chapter 10 and let me read verses 33 and 34,
where again, this is an oracle of judgment
against the pagan nation of Assyria
and against its mighty army.
It says, behold, the Lord God of hosts
will lop the boughs with terrifying power.
The great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon will fall by the majestic one.
So the Lord has brought his vengeance,
his destructive judgment,
against the wicked nation of Assyria and its king,
and especially against the Assyrian army.
But while Yahweh had used Assyria as an ax
in his sovereign hand to judge and to chastise
his faithless covenant-breaking people, Israel,
nevertheless, Assyria itself was to be judged,
and like a forest,
it was to be completely cut down by the Lord.
However, while the Lord was going to cut down
the royal line of David,
which is compared to a tree that leaves but a stump,
while the Lord was going to cut down
the royal line of David,
like a forester cuts down a tree,
in contrast to the forest of Assyria,
God would cause new life to arise
from the fallen stump of Jesse.
And that’s the point he’s driving at
in verse one of our passage for today, verse one.
It says, and there shall come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse.
Picture a stump in the ground,
the remains of a tree that has been cut down.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.
Who’s Jesse?
What’s that talking about?
Well, Jesse was David’s father.
And by referring to the stump of Jesse,
he’s referring to the royal line of King David.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
This is a messianic prophecy.
This is a prophecy that great David’s great,
greater son, the Messiah would indeed come.
As one commentator explains,
the Assyrians all but destroyed Judah,
but it was the Babylonian exile
that brought the kingdom of Judah to an end in 586 BC.
The Messiah will grow as a shoot
from the stump of David’s dynasty.
And so as we examine and study our text for this morning,
the first thing I wanna draw your attention to
is what we learn here about the promised messianic branch.
The promised messianic branch.
Again, as we look at verses one and two,
it says, there shall come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
This was imagery and very idyllic and picturesque imagery
that Isaiah’s contemporaries would be able to relate to
on a very palpable level.
And it goes on to say in verse two,
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.
Now, what is this passage teaching us?
Well, one of the things this passage teaches us, beloved,
is that in regard to his human nature,
the Messiah, this promised messianic branch
will be from the royal line of David, as I just mentioned.
We see that again, especially highlighted in verse one.
This imagery reflects the historical situation
that would come about with the Babylonian exile.
Even though Yahweh, the Lord,
Israel’s faithful covenant-making, covenant-keeping God,
even though Yahweh would cut down the tree
of David’s royal dynasty,
and that took place during the Babylonian exile,
and even though there would be no Davidic king
ruling on the throne of David for hundreds of years,
and so even though it looks like God’s promises
of a promised Messiah from the house and lineage of David
would fail, even though that’s the case,
nevertheless, in God’s amazing providence and plan,
even though there would be no Davidic king
ruling on the throne for hundreds of years,
the Lord would revive the royal tree of David
through the promised Messiah,
and that Messiah would be, again,
of the house and lineage of David.
Who do you think that’s talking about?
That’s talking about Jesus.
That’s pointing forward to and prophesying Jesus,
for Jesus himself, with respect to his human nature,
was of the house and lineage of David.
And all of this points to the fact
that the promised Messiah would indeed
be truly, fully human.
Now, back in chapter nine, verse six,
we learned that the promised Messiah
would also be fully and truly God.
Let’s go back and let me remind you
of what we’ve already learned from chapter nine, verse six.
This is a very well-known passage, a messianic prophecy
that is often read around Christmas time,
and in that verse, it says this of this royal child,
this messianic child.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
He’ll be royalty, he’ll reign, he’ll rule, he’ll be Lord.
The government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called.
Now, let me pause.
In the Bible, someone’s name was not just a designation
or something to mark out one person from another.
Your name was supposed to be reflective
of your attributes, your character.
And what is this child, this son who is given by God,
what is his name to be called?
Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father,
Prince of peace, beloved, these are titles of divinity.
The Christology, the doctrine of Christ presented
by the Spirit’s inspiration in the book
of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah’s Christology,
his doctrine of Christ recognizes that the promised Messiah
will be divine, he will be God, but he will also be human.
And his humanity is highlighted by the fact
that he would be as a shoot coming forth
from the stump of Jesse.
Our passage for today underscores our Lord’s true humanity,
that he was indeed to come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse as great David’s greater son.
And that’s very important because the only way
that Jesus was qualified to be our savior
is if he was able to perfectly represent us.
And so Jesus was like us in all things except for sin,
he was the second Adam, the last Adam, he had no sin,
he was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary,
born without a sin nature, and yet he was truly human.
He had a human body and a human soul,
and it is because he is truly man
that he’s able to represent us as his people.
And so messianic prophecies such as this one
underscore the need for an incarnate Messiah,
one who is truly God and truly man,
united in one divine person.
And of course, once again, my friends,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior,
Jesus Christ is the only one who is qualified
to fulfill prophecies like this one.
I appreciate the fact that Jesus is revealed here
as truly human as well as truly God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one
who fulfills these prophecies.
But notice next what we learn about the Lord Jesus
in verse two.
We learn next that the Messiah will be endued
or anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure.
With respect to his human nature,
the promised Messiah was to be filled with the Spirit,
anointed with the Spirit, endued with the Spirit
beyond measure, that he might be equipped
to be a perfect, all-sufficient savior
of sinners such as us.
And it says in verse two, notice the number of times
a reference is made in this one verse to the Spirit.
The Spirit of Yahweh, the word Lord in all capital letters
that is an indication to English readers
that the translators are translating the Hebrew term
for the Lord, Yahweh.
And Yahweh is God’s covenant God, a covenant name.
It points to the Lord as the faithful covenant-making,
covenant-keeping God.
The Spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon him,
shall rest upon the Messiah.
And notice how this Spirit is described
and the kinds of things that he produces.
He is described as the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.
He grants wisdom and understanding
so that the Messiah will reign
with justice and righteousness.
The Spirit of counsel and might,
the Proverbs tell us that there is wisdom
in many counselors.
The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
It is the Spirit that produces holy reverence and awe
and fear for the Lord.
The repeated reference to the Spirit in this passage
emphasizes that the Messiah would be endued
and empowered with the fullness of the Spirit.
David, of course, was empowered and anointed
by the Spirit of God to conquer and to govern wisely.
And of course, what did Solomon pray for
when the Lord asked him what he wanted?
Solomon prayed for wisdom.
And Solomon’s wisdom is, pun intended,
proverbial, is it not?
And we think of other leaders in Israel.
We think of prophets and judges and kings
who were empowered by the Spirit
to perform various tasks
that God had called them to perform.
But the thing about these Old Testament leaders
who were endued by the Spirit to fulfill their tasks,
they were only endued in a limited measure.
We see, for example, King David empowered by the Spirit
as the sweet psalmist of Israel,
enabled to pen the inspired psalms,
enabled to conquer and to govern as the theocratic king.
And yet, we look at David’s history, his life.
Was he a perfect man?
Was he a model of moral integrity?
Hardly.
He was endued with the Spirit, but not beyond measure.
And we think the same thing of Solomon.
Solomon was empowered by the Spirit
to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
He was empowered and strengthened
to do mighty works for Israel.
And yet, Solomon himself,
though he was very wise in governing the theocratic nation,
his wisdom did not extend to things
such as his relationship with women, for example.
How many hundreds of wives did he have?
And those marriages were very likely
simply political alliances.
And some of his pagan wives, sadly,
drew his heart away from the Lord and towards idolatry,
as you will find if you read his history.
So these leaders were endowed in a measure by the Spirit
to perform their God-given tasks.
But they were endowed only in a limited measure.
But the promised Messiah,
the promised Messiah would be endued
with the fullness of the Spirit
to accomplish his messianic mission
and to rule perfectly in peace and in righteousness.
While Jesus the Messiah is indeed divine
as the anointed one,
and that’s what the word Messiah or Christ means.
To say that you believe that Jesus is the Messiah
or the Christ means you believe He is the anointed one,
anointed with the Spirit beyond measure.
While Jesus the Messiah is indeed divine
as the anointed one,
He is anointed with the Spirit above measure
with respect to His humanity.
I think our Westminster Larger Catechism
is very helpful and instructive
as it summarizes the biblical teaching on this fact.
I’d encourage you to turn in the back
of your psalter hymnal to page 944.
And let me read to you from Larger Catechism
question and answer 42, question and answer 42.
Page 944, the question is,
why was our mediator called Christ?
Christ, by the way, that’s a title, means anointed one.
Our mediator was called Christ
because he was anointed with the Holy Ghost above measure
and so set apart and fully furnished
with all authority and ability
to execute the offices of prophet, priest and king
of His church in the estate both of His humiliation
and exaltation, praise be to God.
You may say, okay, well, this is interesting, pastor,
but where does this speak to me?
How does this apply to me?
Well, a couple of things.
First of all, we learn in this passage
that Jesus is indeed great David’s greater son,
the promised Messiah who fulfills this
and other Old Testament prophecies.
So this ought to strengthen our faith greatly.
This was penned hundreds of years
before the coming of Jesus,
and yet it was fulfilled perfectly
in the Lord Jesus Christ, great David’s greater son,
the promised Messiah who has come.
Dear listener, do you believe
that Jesus is the promised Messiah?
Do you believe that He is the anointed one of God?
Have you received and rested upon Him
and Him alone for your salvation from sin?
Also, the fact that our Savior was fully equipped
by the Spirit for His messianic mission
should be a great comfort to us,
especially when we struggle with sin and doubt
and temptation and discouragement.
What this means, beloved, for you and for me
and for His church as a whole,
is that Christ is fully equipped
and fully able to forgive, to renew, and to restore us
since He has been anointed and endued
and empowered with the Spirit above measure.
Christ is not merely a partial Savior,
He is a full Savior, and He is a Savior
who is able to meet you where you’re at by sovereign grace.
And so if you’ve taken the pathway of the prodigal,
if you’re in a far country playing with the pigs,
rolling about in the muck,
and the Lord has brought you to your senses,
and you think, oh, I’m too dirty to return,
I’m too far off, remember,
Jesus was endued with the Spirit beyond measure.
So He is fully equipped to save even the worst of sinners,
including me, including you.
And so we learn here about the person
of the royal branch, the Messiah.
We also learn in this passage
of the righteous rule of the royal branch.
This is your second main point in your outline,
the righteous rule of the royal branch.
In verse three it says,
and His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge 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,
and 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.
Let me have you focus first of all on verse three.
Speaking of the promised Messiah,
this royal branch, this righteous branch,
who is fully endowed with the Spirit,
what does it say of Him?
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
Jesus delighted to do His Father’s will.
If you’re born again by the Holy Spirit,
the Lord has implanted within your soul
a basic delight in the Lord and in the things of the Lord,
but you still have that old sin nature hanging around,
and so you don’t always delight in the Lord,
delight in the things of the Lord as you ought to,
but not so Jesus.
I’m reminded of the words of our Lord Jesus
that are recorded in the Gospel of John,
John chapter four, verse 34,
where we read these words, it says this.
John four, verse 34.
It says, Jesus said to them,
My food is to do the will of Him who sent me
and to accomplish His work.
That was His sustenance.
That was His joy.
That was His delight.
And what does it mean in verses three and four
when it says that He shall not judge by what His eyes see
or what His ears hear,
but instead with righteousness
He shall judge the poor and so forth.
What’s He getting at there?
What’s Isaiah getting at?
Well, Dr. E.J. Young, I think, explains it well.
He says of Christ that His judgments will not be based
upon the ordinary sources of information open to men,
namely what men see and what they hear.
For absolute justice, there must be absolute knowledge.
One cannot be derived merely by these two regular
and ordinary sources of information.
In other words, Christ will be able to rule
and reign perfectly because He has perfect divine knowledge
and perfect divine wisdom.
So again, this speaks to the perfection
of our Lord’s messianic rule.
And then what about this imagery in verse five
about righteousness shall be the belt of His waist
and faithfulness the belt of His loins.
Some have suggested that perhaps the apostle Paul
got some of his imagery for the whole armor of God
from passages like this one, and that is a possibility.
Well, friends, in the world of the ancient Near East,
when men prepared themselves for vigorous action,
whether it be some kind of physical labor or for battle,
or as Dr. Young argues for a wrestling match
with an opponent, a man would tie up his loose garments
with a belt.
He would prepare himself for actions.
And this verse, verse five, points to the fact
that the Messiah would not only be equipped
to fulfill His messianic mission,
but that He would actually gird Himself up
and would actually accomplish the mission
that the Father had sent Him on.
But we also read in this passage at the end of verse four
of the Lord striking the earth with the rod of His mouth,
and with the breath of His lips, He shall kill the wicked.
This is pointing to God’s word of judgment.
Beloved, the Messiah’s word of judgment is powerful
and efficacious in bringing His righteous wrath
against the unrepentant wicked.
So these are fearful words, and perhaps Isaiah here,
under the Spirit’s guidance, supernatural inspiration
is reflecting upon the judgment oracles
that he has just recorded in the previous section of Isaiah.
But in any case, the point is that God’s word is effective.
His word of judgment is effective.
It will accomplish that which it goes forth to accomplish.
These are not empty words, these words of judgment.
These are words that will stick,
that will accomplish that which they declare.
But friends, if God’s word of judgment is efficacious,
we can also be assured that so too
is His word of grace in the gospel.
That word of grace in the gospel
is powerful to save all of those who through grace believe.
I’m reminded of what Paul writes
at the beginning of Romans in chapter one,
verses 16 and 17.
You should be familiar with these words,
but think about it in view of the effectiveness,
the efficaciousness of the word of God.
Paul writes, for I am not ashamed of the gospel,
the good news of Jesus.
I’m not ashamed of the gospel, why?
For it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith for faith as it is written,
the righteous shall live by faith.
Oh friends, let us rest in His efficacious word of grace
given to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let us believe by grace that we are saved through Christ,
who was crucified for the forgiveness of our sins
and raised from the dead for our justification
that we might receive the gift of everlasting life.
I think another takeaway or lesson
from this particular section of our passage
verses three through five is that unlike the kings
of Israel and Judah, whose reigns were sadly often corrupt
and who had best only approximated
genuine righteousness and justice,
unlike them, the promised Messiah would reign
in perfect righteousness, in perfect justice,
equity and faithfulness.
Praise God that in the end, our Lord Jesus Christ
will judge all of His and our enemies.
Our Lord Jesus Christ will one day right all wrongs.
He will one day vindicate His suffering persecuted people
and He will one day put all things to rights.
Jesus died not only to redeem us from sin
and to save our souls, but He died and rose
in order to renew the entire creation,
in order to bring about a new creation
wherein righteousness dwells.
You’re looking forward to that day.
Some of Isaiah’s contemporaries had experienced oppression
and had felt in their own lives the effects of unjust rule.
And this passage would have been so comforting to them
that the Lord through His promised Messiah,
this royal branch, will indeed right all wrongs
and bring justice to bear in the end.
But not only do we learn here of the promised Messiah,
the royal branch of David, not only do we learn
of the righteousness of His peaceful rule,
we also learn of the peace of the messianic age.
This is the final point in your outline.
The peace of the messianic age.
Again, notice this powerful vision,
this powerful vision of the natural order.
It says the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.
Now what’s odd about that?
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb?
Under ordinary circumstances,
what’s a wolf gonna do with the lamb?
Ah, dinner, right?
But notice the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.
And the leopard shall lie down with the young goat.
Again, what does a leopard ordinarily do with a young goat?
Leopard’s a predator.
The young goat would be its prey.
And the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together.
And a little child shall lead them.
A helpless little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze.
And their young shall lie down together.
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra.
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
Again, we have this imagery,
this idyllic vision of predator and prey
dwelling together in peace.
But then it gets to the point
of what Isaiah’s getting at here.
And that’s verse nine.
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.
Here, friends, we have an idyllic vision
that depicts the peace that would characterize
the reign of the Messianic branch, our Lord Jesus Christ.
This peace that is to prevail in the Messianic era
is represented by the peaceful coexistence
of predators and prey.
Now, how are we to understand this vision?
What is this vision intended to teach us?
Well, in other words, are we meant to interpret this
in a literalistic manner to mean that,
say, in the new heavens and the new earth,
God will literally alter the digestive systems
of carnivores, which I’m told is quite different
from the digestive systems of herbivores.
Is God gonna turn the digestive systems of carnivores
into herbivores so that all animals might exist
in the new earth, that might exist in the new earth
will all be herbivores?
Is that what this is meant to teach us?
Well, dear ones, while this passage certainly seems
to point us to the truth, that the Messiah will indeed
bring in a new creation, a radically transformed
new creation, we miss the bigger point of this passage
if we read into it questions that the passage
is not trying to answer.
If we read into this passage the idea that it’s meant
to teach us about animal diets in the new creation,
that’s not the point.
Within the broader context of this passage,
what have we been learning about?
Well, we’ve been reading about predatory foreign nations
that threatened the people of God,
foreign nations such as the Assyrians.
It’s interesting that sometimes in the scriptures,
the fierce gentile adversaries and persecutors
of God’s people are depicted as predatory animals.
Think of, for example, the visions in the book of Daniel.
So friends, since this passage seems to be a vision,
we should be cautioned against reading it
in an overly literalistic fashion.
Instead, it would seem that the main point of this passage
is that in the Messianic era, and we’re in that Messianic age,
at least in the initial phase of that Messianic age,
in this period between our Lord’s first coming
and his future glorious second coming,
in the Messianic age, our Lord will cause gentile nations,
nations that had formerly persecuted
and been hostile toward his people,
like predatory animals towards their prey.
In the Messianic era, Gentiles and Jews
will dwell together at peace in the church of the Lord.
Verse 10 would seem to support this view
since verse 10 speaks of Gentiles
inquiring of the root of Jesse.
Look at verse 10.
In 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.
This is talking about Gentiles
who had formerly persecuted God’s people.
Now that the Messiah has come,
these Gentiles are now seeking the Messiah
and are living at peace with God’s ancient people.
So I would suggest to you, brothers and sisters,
that this passage is pointing us to the truth
that in the new covenant age of the Messiah,
both Gentiles and Jews who believe in Jesus
will dwell at peace with one another in the church.
And this was a major theme
in the teachings of the apostle Paul.
Beloved, as we close our time in the word today,
remember that in Christ, we have peace with God the Father,
and praise God, at least in principle,
we have peace with one another
as brothers and sisters in Christ.
And this is true whether we are Jew or Gentile
in our background, whether we are male or female,
rich or poor, educated or uneducated,
if we are in Christ, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let us therefore strive to be at peace with one another,
to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
As we close our time in the word,
I leave us with an application from Ephesians chapter two.
Let me read Ephesians two, verses 11 through 22,
and then we’ll close our time in prayer.
Ephesians chapter two, beginning at verse 11.
Here, Paul is addressing Gentile believers in particular,
and he says, therefore, remember, you Gentiles,
you who once were pagan Gentiles,
far off from the people of God,
remember that at one time, you Gentiles in the flesh,
called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision,
which is made in the flesh by hands.
Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,
alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel
and strangers to the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off
have been brought near, how?
By the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one
and has broken down in his flesh
the dividing wall of hostility
by abolishing the law of commandments
expressed in ordinances,
that he might create in himself one new man
in place of the two, so making peace,
and might reconcile us both to God in one body
through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off,
that would be you Gentiles, you were far off,
and peace to those who were near,
that would be the Jews who believe in Jesus.
For through him, we both have access
in one spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone
in whom the whole structure being joined together
grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
In him, you also are being built together
into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The predator and the prey abide together
in the one body of Christ at peace.
We were once, brothers and sisters,
we were once far off, most of us I imagine
are from Gentile stock, this is fulfilled in us today.
We’ve been brought near through the gospel,
we’ve been brought near, and we belong because of Christ.
Praise be to God.
Let us rejoice in the royal branch of David,
our promised Messiah Jesus, amen.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your amazing grace
given to us in Christ.
We thank you that you have indeed fulfilled your purposes
in redemptive history, that you have sent the Messiah,
Jesus your son, our savior, the shoot from the stump
of Jesse, and that he has come and that his peaceful reign
is over all.
We pray, Lord, that his reign might become more
and more evident in our hearts and lives
and in our congregation, and we pray that you would hasten
the day when Jesus will come again in glory
to set up his perfect reign, indeed to consummate
his kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth
wherein righteousness dwells.
We pray these things, Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name
and all of God’s people said, amen.
Let’s rise and sing as our closing psalm number.