Jesus - The Hope of the Nations

Isaiah chapter 11 on page 696.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

We're going to think together for a few moments about King Jesus,

the hope of the nations.

So we've spent three Sunday evenings looking at the pictures,

the promises of God's Messiah in this section from chapter 7 to 11 of the book of Isaiah.

We find that in the middle of promises of judgment and exile to come,

we find these beams of hope as we're presented with this king who will come.

So once more, let's look at what Isaiah says to us about who is this king

and what will his rule be like.

So read with me again verse 1.

Let's remind ourselves about this promise of a king to come.

It simply says there,

a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse from his roots.

A branch will bear fruit.

So we've seen in this section the context that God's people are facing the threat of exile,

being sent from their own land because of their disobedience to God,

because of their false worship.

And one of the things that will happen then as they're taken away to a foreign country

is that their line of kings will come to an end.

So this is a promise of hope that from the stump of the royal family,

a shoot or a branch, a new king is going to come.

So it's an image drawn from gardening, I guess.

In our garden at home, we had a small tree that we cut down,

left the stump in the ground,

imagining that it would stay like that, having cut the life out of it.

But this year, there was some new growth.

The visible signs of life had gone,

but the hidden life remained.

And that's the idea here,

that the stump that's being talked about is Jesse,

the father of King David, the great king.

And there's this promise that growth will come from the roots.

David, the promised one isn't going to be just another in a line of bad kings.

The people have got used to bad kings.

This is a return to the roots.

This is a return to the good days.

This is Isaiah, God through Isaiah saying,

this will be another son of Jesse.

This will be another David, a king after God's own heart.

The imagery here actually gives us a reminder of God's grace.

So in chapter 10, if you look up a couple of verses,

chapter 10, verse 33, it says,

See the Lord, the Lord Almighty will lop off the boughs with great power.

The lofty trees will be felled.

This is God saying that he's going to cut bad kings down to size.

And that includes Israel's king.

But despite Israel's failure,

and despite the failures of Israel's kingship,

God would still send his chosen king.

God will be faithful,

even when his people have been unfaithful.

One of the reasons why Matthew in his gospel is so careful to highlight Jesus

is in the family line of David.

He's born in Bethlehem, where David lived.

It was to remind us that he comes as the promised one,

Jesus, the true king after God's own heart.

And as we look at what Isaiah says about how this king will rule,

we discover that no other king could possibly bring about this kind of fruit.

No other king would ever be described in this way,

being spirit-filled, being perfectly righteous,

bringing true peace and having global rule.

This is none other than Jesus who's being talked about.

And it reminds us from the beginning

that what we're talking about here is a king we all owe honor and loyalty to.

This isn't just some small king.

And we can say, well, that's the king for the people over there,

but not for me over here.

All of us, as we'll see, owe devotion and loyalty to this king.

And it's a reminder to us as a church.

Our purpose is to live to worship this king

and to serve him so that others might come to know him too.

Now we pray your kingdom come

because Jesus is the king we live to honor.

So let's look at the qualities of the king that we find in this section.

First of all, we'll see that this is a spirit-filled king.

Look at verse 2.

The spirit of the Lord will rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the spirit of counsel and of power,

the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

So in the Old Testament, where we are,

the first part of the Bible before the coming of Jesus,

the Old Testament, if someone was filled with the Holy Spirit,

that was a sign that God was giving them both help

and authority for a particular task.

So if God wanted to raise up a ruler to rescue the people,

then he would fill the judges, for example, with the spirit.

Or God's prophets, whose job it was to speak for God,

they would be filled with the spirit.

For some, like King David,

the spirit seemed to take up residence in their hearts.

It wasn't just for a season.

But there's something unique about the king who's being described here.

This king will be spirit-filled in a perfect way.

And there's a clue for us

in the number of times the spirit is referred to.

If you were to count in verse 2

how many times the spirit is mentioned,

you'd find he's mentioned seven times.

Seven being the number of perfection and completeness in the Bible.

So this is God's way of saying,

through Isaiah, there is a king coming

and he'll be perfectly filled with God's spirit.

The spirit would rest on him.

And of course, that's what we find at Jesus' baptism.

Jesus comes to John the Baptist to begin his public ministry.

And when he is baptized,

John sees the spirit of God coming down on Jesus like a dove,

like a bird.

And he hears a voice from heaven,

this is my son who I love.

Those three pairs that we find are interesting,

worthy of our attention,

the spirit of wisdom and of understanding.

This is a king who will be able to govern and rule well.

He's given the spirit of counsel and of power.

This is a king who will know the right course of action.

He's given the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

He's able to apply God's truth to everyday life,

to walk in perfect obedience.

This king will be devoted to God.

This king will have the wisdom of God.

This king will know God,

unlike any other.

And so because of that, there's hope.

This is the king God's people,

this is the king all people need.

Because this king,

because he's perfectly spirit-filled,

will perfectly represent to us the rule of God.

And he'll give us the perfect example

of how to live in obedience to God

and to give him glory.

And when we understand that this is then applied to Jesus,

we understand something of the uniqueness of Jesus,

that he comes bringing in the kingdom of God

because he is God, the son in human flesh.

That he alone is sinlessly perfect.

He alone has this perfect spirit-filled wisdom.

But then Jesus also comes bringing the gift

of the Holy Spirit to his church.

There's this wonderful reality that by faith,

we are filled with the Spirit.

So Peter, when he was preaching,

shortly after Jesus returned to heaven,

he said, repent, turn from your sin,

and be baptized, every one of you,

for the forgiveness of your sins,

and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

One of the ways that we have greater privileges

than an Old Testament believer

is that we now have the Spirit living in us

as the people of God.

That's really important for us practically

because it means that God lives in us

and God is looking to transform us

to make us more like Jesus.

And because God's Spirit lives in us,

we actually can change

to reflect more and more the character of Jesus.

That we are able to love what he loves,

to truly delight in God.

One of the stories I was reading in the Bible this week

was the story of Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus, the tax collector

who'd always lived for money,

wanted to make more and more money,

had cut himself off from society,

really, because of his desire for money.

But he meets Jesus,

and his heart is changed.

And as soon as he meets Jesus

and his heart's changed,

he gives away half his money.

And he promises to repay four times

if he's cheated anyone.

Zacchaeus was given a new center to his life.

The Spirit came,

saw the glory of Jesus,

was changed.

The Spirit is the one

who enables us to be obedient.

It's the Spirit who enables us

to go on mission as we're called,

to witness for Jesus in our family,

in our workplace,

among our friends.

Jesus is perfectly Spirit-filled.

Jesus gives the gift of the Spirit

to his church

so that we might live for our King.

The second quality of this King

that Isaiah draws our attention to

is the fact that he is righteous.

We see that in verses 3 to 5.

I guess we're,

maybe most of us,

familiar with the statue

of Lady Justice.

You go to some law courts

and you'll find a statue of a lady

and she's blindfolded

and she's carrying the scales of justice

in one hand

and the sword of justice

in the other hand.

But she wears a blindfold

to say that justice is blind,

that justice is supposed to be impartial.

That whoever we are,

we're supposed to get a fair trial.

And here in a democratic country,

one of the things that we value

and we're thankful for

is our justice system.

We're thankful for democracy

and a justice system

that means that by and large,

we find justice.

But all too often,

when we look around the world,

we discover that justice is not blind.

We discover that those with money,

those with influence,

those with power,

those with status,

they can buy justice for themselves

through corruption,

through intimidation,

through the sharing of favors

with the impact that the weak

have no voice

and they have no defender.

That was one of the things happening

in Isaiah's time.

That was one of the reasons

why God was judging the people

because of their injustice,

because of their corrupt legal system.

And so Isaiah is saying

to a people that were living

with that corruption,

that will not be the case

when God's true king comes.

Verse three,

he won't judge by what he sees

with his eyes

or decide by what he hears

with his ears.

He's not going to make

a superficial judgment.

His judgments will be deeper.

But with righteousness,

he'll judge the needy.

With justice,

he'll give decisions

for the poor of the earth.

He won't have a bias

towards the rich.

He won't discount

the needs of the poor.

This courtroom will be marked

by a perfect keeping

of God's standards

of justice and fairness.

That thing that we value

so highly,

justice is the thing

that God sent Jesus

to bring.

Verse five,

is that lovely image.

Righteousness will be his belt

and faithfulness,

the sash around his waist.

Clothes that we wear

can be a marker

of identity

and our role.

So think about a judge

in a courtroom.

You know,

you walk into a courtroom,

you see somebody

with a wig and a gown,

you know,

there's the judge.

His job is to provide

justice.

Clothes indicate

capacity and value.

This king

represents

righteousness

and faithfulness.

When you look at Jesus,

you see someone

who doesn't shift

from God's perfect standards.

You see a king

who is trustworthy.

If you read the gospels,

you read the accounts

of the life of Jesus,

you discover that

righteousness

and faithfulness

are markers

of his life.

That he was the one

who went into the temple

and he cleared the temple

from all those corrupt

money changers

who were taking

extra money

from those

who came to worship God.

He is the one

who made sure

that the weak

and the helpless

received mercy

when others would send them

to one side.

He is one

who is positively

for the outsider

because Jesus

is righteous

and Jesus

is faithful.

These are qualities

that we look for

in a society.

So something we should

pray for

when we think about

our national

and local authorities,

when we think about

our justice systems,

we should pray

for those with influence

and authority

that we would see

righteousness

and faithfulness

being exercised.

the next quality

that we see

of this king

is that

of peace.

I think in verses

six to nine

we probably have

the clearest evidence

that this is no

ordinary king

that's being talked about

because this is no

ordinary peace

that's being talked about.

This is peace

promise

that takes us

to the hope

of when God

makes everything new

at the end

of time

for his people.

So you look

at the imagery

and it's really striking.

Verse six,

the wolf

will lie

with the lamb,

will live

with the lamb.

The leopard

will lie down

with the goat.

The calf

and the lion

and the yearling

together

and a little child

will lead them.

What's that saying?

There is a time

coming

when there will be

perfect peace

and perfect security.

When threat

within

the natural world

will be

no more.

In fact,

it goes further

in verse seven

to suggest

that nature

has been forever

changed

to ensure this peace.

The cow

will feed

with the bear,

the young

will lie down

together

and the lion

will eat straw

like the ox.

The imagery

continues

in verse eight.

The infant

will play

near the hole

of the cobra

and the young child

put his hand

into the viper's nest.

The most innocent,

the most weak

can live in safety

around these animals

of danger.

Biblically,

we can think about

Genesis chapter three,

Adam and Eve

in God's perfect garden.

But then the snake

came,

the devil came

and led them astray

and everything

began to go wrong

and curse came

on the world

and curse came

on the environment

because Adam and Eve

listened to the devil,

to the snake

instead of listening

to God.

Well,

there is a time

coming

when that curse

will be reversed.

There is a time

coming

when perfect peace

will be secured,

when the snake

will no longer

be a threat

to his people.

There will be

a return

to Eden,

only better

because it will

be permanent.

Verse nine,

they will never,

they will neither harm

nor destroy

on all my holy mountain

for the earth

will be full

of the knowledge

of the Lord

as the waters

cover the sea.

The holy mountain

was always the place

where God met

with his people.

Garden of Eden,

most likely,

the imagery

seems to point to it

being a mountain garden

and then you've got

God meeting

with his people

at Mount Sinai

to give them

the Ten Commandments

to make them

his covenant people.

Jerusalem

and Mount Zion,

the mountain

is really significant

as the place

where God

and his people

meet

and enjoy relationship

and here

there is this promise

there is a day

coming

when the whole earth

will be God's

holy mountain

because all the people

will know God.

Alec Motier,

a Bible commentator

says this,

when the true order

of creation

is restored,

the whole earth

is the Lord's hill

indwelt by his holiness.

His people

enter into personal

and intimate

communion

with him.

This is the goal

of life.

This is what we were

made for.

We were made to know

and enjoy

friendship

with God

and here

is this promise

that for God's

people,

for those who

trust in Jesus,

the day is coming

when we will enjoy

that relationship

forever

and it will be

unspoiled

and unbroken.

this is one

of these places

where the Bible

promises to us

the kind of world

that we all want.

We would all

love to live

in a world

where fear

and uncertainty

were gone,

where we switched

on the news

and we didn't hear

of tragedy,

where threat

and danger

were a thing

of the past,

where we could live

with peace

and joy

and hope

and security

and here

is God's

way of saying

that day

is coming

for those

who are trusting

in the Lord

Jesus

as their

King.

It takes us

to the end

of the Bible.

We get this

wonderful promise

at the end

of the Bible

that when Jesus

comes back again

at the end

of history

there will be

no more death

and there will be

no more tears

and there will be

no more pain,

no more will

God's people live

with a fear

of death,

no more will

we've troubled

by sin,

that guilt

that we experience,

that anxiety

that people

will find out

what we're really

like.

There will be

no more broken

or lost relationships.

All will be

goodness

and joy

and love

and peace.

And that's

something that we

can experience

now.

We can experience

the peace

of God

now.

The peace

of God

that passes

all understanding

we can look

forward

to enjoying

that peace

with God

for all

eternity

but it means

that we need

to bow

and submit

to this king,

this promised king,

to Jesus

the king.

We need to

recognize

that our

sin and our

rebellion

is what

breaks peace,

it's what

causes relationship

to break down

between us

and God.

and so we

need the work

of Jesus

the king,

the one who

came to

reconcile us

to God.

That he takes

our sin,

he takes

our guilt,

he takes

our failures

and he dies

on the cross

for them

to secure

for us

peace

with God.

When we

think about

this theme

of peace

we want

to remember

to pray

for the global

church that

suffer a lack

of peace

in ways

that we

can hardly

begin to

imagine.

Millions of

our brothers

and sisters

who are

in prison

cells and

in labor

camps because

of their

faith in

the Lord

Jesus.

But perhaps

too when

we think

about the

longing that

we have in

our hearts

for peace

and security

perhaps we

can think

how we can

speak the

gospel,

how we can

speak good

news to

people living

in an

uncertain age,

to people

with

uncertain

futures,

that we

can present

solid hope

in the

Lord Jesus

Christ to

those who

feel like

everything is

shaking and

unclear.

The last

quality of

this king

that Isaiah

brings our

attention to

is the fact

that he is

an international

king.

He's a king

for the

nations.

Verse 10

to 16

really is

on this

theme.

Another image

of the

king.

Verse 10,

in that

day the

root of

Jesse will

stand as

a banner

for the

peoples.

So this

is a

battlefield

image.

If you've

ever seen

battlefield

scenes,

often kings

would ride

out on

their horses

and they

would have

a standard

bearer

beside them,

a flag

bearer

saying this

is where

the king

is.

There'd be

flags,

there'd be

banners,

so the

people would

know.

He's the

one who's

leading us

into battle.

That's the

flag that we

need to

rally around.

But notice

this isn't

just the

king for

the nation

of Israel,

that he

comes as a

banner for

the peoples

and the

nations

will rally

to him.

So this

is a message

of hope to

the nation

of Israel,

but it's a

message of

hope beyond

them to

all nations.

Verse 12,

same idea,

he will raise

a banner

for the

nations and

gather the

exiles of

Israel.

So there's

this promise

to those

in Israel

who've been

sent away,

one day

you'll be

restored to

relationship

with God,

but not

just you,

the nations

will be

gathered in

under the

rule of

this great

king.

And then

in verse

15 and

16,

we're given

a picture,

again similar

to what we

were thinking

about in

Matthew 2.

The imagery

here is of

a second

exodus.

So there

was a time

when Israel

were in

slavery and

God by

his power

worked mighty

miracles to

set them

free.

And one of

the things

that he did

to secure

their freedom

was he dried

up the Red

Sea so that

was a path

that the

people could

walk to

enjoy their

freedom to

become God's

people.

And if you

look at

verses 15

and 16,

you see the

same imagery

employed.

With a

scorching wind

he will sweep

his hand over

the Euphrates

river.

He will break

it up into

seven streams

so that men

can cross over

in sandals.

There'll be a

highway for the

remnant of his

people as there

was for Israel

when they came

up from

Egypt.

God is going

to work to

make sure

that all his

people from

many nations

will enjoy

their freedom.

They will

enjoy their

freedom as

they follow

Jesus the

Savior,

Jesus the

rescuer,

Jesus who

comes to be

like Moses

for us,

setting us

free so that

we can become

the people of

God.

Jesus,

this banner

reminding us

that he is

the king who

has gone

into battle

for us.

He's fought

against the

devil and

sin and

death for us

and he's

defeated those

for us.

So he's

come to be

this great

king that's

promised,

this spirit

filled king,

this righteous

king, this

king that

brings peace

and he's

the king for

all kinds of

people, for

all the

nations.

Our God

is a

missionary

God.

God.

So today,

over a

billion people

would have

gathered together

in different

locations,

in different

languages,

different cultures

to worship

Jesus as

Lord and

Savior.

We're part,

a tiny part

of God's

global church.

But because

God is an

international

God, we

also remember

that there is

a task

unfinished.

So while

one billion

are worshipping

Jesus as

Lord,

over three

billion people

today are

completely

untouched by

the message

of Jesus,

have never

heard of

the love

of God

in the

sending of

his own

son Jesus

into our

world.

And so as

people of

the king,

we are

called into

mission to

make Jesus

known.

Sometimes that

means going

to different

parts of the

world.

Sometimes that

means sharing

the good news

with a

neighbor,

with a

friend,

with someone

in our

community.

Towards the

end of

January,

in church,

we're going

to have a

missions day.

And one of

the things

we'll be

thinking about

are the

opportunities

that we

have for

sharing the

gospel,

sharing the

good news

of Jesus

across different

cultures,

as God

brings people

from lots of

different countries

into Edinburgh.

But as we

are given

this wonderful

picture of

God's

Messiah in

Isaiah 11,

God's

Savior,

we appreciate

Jesus is

this long

expected king.

We're invited

to worship

Jesus as

God's unique

and universal

king.

The one who

is both

spirit-filled

and spirit-giver.

The one who

is truly

righteous and

faithful.

The one who

brings peace

with God

and promises

life marked

by peace

forever

one day.

And he is

the king

for all

the nations.

This is the

Jesus who

came into

the world

as a baby,

a baby born

to be king,

born to be

God's

Savior king.