"Isaiah 11" Pt.1

Hi, this is John Ozanting, lead pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

Father, we thank you for your presence today, not just within us, but around us.

Our hearts have already been moved and impacted by your love.

And we just want to say thank you for moments like this, moments together, either in person or online, but moments that just we just feel like you're holding us, holding us close.

And God, connected to what you're doing across our city today, we just honor and thank you for Heartland Alliance Church and their pastors and leaders, Pastor Al, Andres.

God, we just ask that even today, as they connect in community together, that they would just enjoy your presence, new measures of your grace, new measures of your love.

We thank you for what you're doing here in our city and here in our room, in our lives.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

The goal, uh the big idea in this season of Lent for the next few weeks, we're just gonna sit in Isaiah chapter 11.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

We're three weeks out from Easter Sunday, and here's our prayer that we would see Jesus more clearly, that we would know Jesus more deeply, and that we would follow Jesus more truthfully.

Amen.

It's one thing to say, yeah, I'm a Christian, or or I'm in process even.

I'm thinking about becoming a Christian.

But that means we choose to come under Jesus' authority, that we we actively look to him, we actively look to who he is, was, and always will be, and say, what can I learn so that I can change?

What can I learn so that I can become more like him?

So this big idea to see Jesus more clearly, to know Jesus more deeply, and to follow him more truthfully.

For the next three Sundays, we're just gonna hang out in Isaiah chapter 11.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

And this beautiful book written by a prophet named Isaiah, here's some context.

Isaiah writes and speaks and teaches prophetically about Jesus in an age where his nation is in absolute disarray.

Politically, spiritually, relationally, an absolute mess.

His nation is in disarray and it's deeply entangled with the kingdom of this world as opposed to the kingdom of heaven.

And it's in that context that Isaiah writes in this place of where there used to be regular and purposeful and precise worship of Jehovah God, now there's this like open idolatry of the most abominable description in various forms.

That's what's going on in Isaiah's context.

His people used to worship God, but they're not now.

And there's idolatry happening was just like on the on the level.

It's crazy.

And the powers that be are intent on bringing about an end to the Davidic rule.

What that means is David was established as a king generations before, and his line, you know, they didn't always get it right, but they were constantly in this tension of bringing people back to the heart of the Father, bringing people back to worshiping the one true God under David's lineage.

And here the government's like, we're gonna put an end to this once and for all.

No more will this Israelite nation turn back to God.

The powers that be are intense on bringing an end to this.

And I can't help but wonder: can we find ourselves in that narrative for a moment today?

In this cultural moment in the city of Edmonton, in the province of Alberta, in the nation of Canada, can we find similarities to why we feel tension as Jesus followers?

Because it can get cloudy sometimes, this life of faith.

It can get shrouded and messy, the pain and the mess that we face with other people, the doubt that we hold in an unanswered prayer, the confusion of a very wide and diverse Christian spectrum in doctrine and theology and denomination, like who's right, who's wrong, a progressive worldview that like all of it seems all increasingly more and more of our neighbors are embracing as like, oh, this seems like a good idea.

But this sort of progressive worldview at odds with the truth of scripture, at odds with the presence of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus, the powers that be that seem intent on bringing the authority of Jesus to an end?

The kingdom of this world, the world that we live in, is full of open idolatry of the most abominable descriptions in various forms.

Think about it.

The religion of self, the religion of autonomy that exists in the world, opposed to the surrender that Jesus invites us into, the religion of my truth, as opposed to Jesus' truth, the religion of sexual identity being more important than spiritual identity?

Come on, this is the world that we're in.

And so the goal today, the big idea is to see Jesus more clearly, to know him more deeply, and to follow him more truthfully.

So, what does Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 11, what does this prophet from years ago living in a very similar context to you and I today, what does Isaiah speaking about our Jesus bring to light for us in the room today, watching from home, listening?

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

And we're gonna take some time over the next three weeks to just lean into this chapter from the Bible on our road to Easter Sunday, three weeks out from Easter.

Would you read with me Isaiah 11, 1 through 5?

It'll be on the screen.

If you have a Bible, you can turn there.

Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot.

Yes, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root.

It's a little hip-hop rhyme going on in here.

I don't know, like somebody needs to drop a beat to Isaiah chapter 11, but verse 2 and the spirit of the Lord will rest on him.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

He will delight in obeying the Lord.

He will not judge by appearance, nor make a decision based on hearsay.

He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited.

The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

He will wear righteousness like a belt, and truth like an undergarment.

Let's look at this together.

Isaiah chapter 11, starting in verse 1 out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

I love this.

J.A.

Motyer says, the golden king of the past foreshadows the true gold to come.

David's line can't be interrupted.

And we can trace the lineage of Jesus all the way back to David.

And so here's this picture of like generations of like learning to follow God, the tension of that, the cultural moments.

But from the stump of David's family will grow a shoot out of the stump.

Yeah, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root, from death to life.

And throughout Isaiah is this picture of Israelite, the nation being like a forest that was leveled, just like chopped down.

Because of their disobedience, because of them constantly running to idols and cultural phenomena, they turned away from the one true God.

And so there's this picture of Israelite being like a forest that was just leveled.

And in this forest, if you can picture thousands of stumps, one stump has one new shoot, one new branch coming to life.

And that's this picture of Jesus.

What was chopped down, what was diminished, what was brought to nothing brings forth newness, green life.

That's a picture for somebody in the room, and you maybe you felt like leading up to this moment, everything it took for you to sit in a chair with a community of faith.

Maybe you feel like your life has been leveled.

And I just sense the whisper of the Spirit being like, but but wait, there's new life.

There's new shoots, there's something new growing.

Be patient.

This is who Jesus is.

This is a beautiful picture of not only who Jesus is, but what Jesus does.

He brings dead things back to life.

In chapter 6, Isaiah writes, the country will look like pine and oak forest with every tree cut down.

There's that same picture a few chapters earlier.

Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps.

But there's a holy seed in those stumps.

Jesus, this holy seed of David's lineage, bringing forth new life in the middle of despair.

Wearsby writes, the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, actually describe this new shoot, this branch, as follows.

Matthew talks about David's righteous branch.

Mark talks about my servant, the branch.

Luke talks about the man whose name is the branch.

And John, the branch of Jehovah.

Thus, Jesus Christ will one day fulfill the Old Testament promises God gave to the Jews and will reign over his kingdom in glory and victory.

Jesus, this new growth, what was chopped down, what was diminished and brought to nothing, brings forth a new green budding branch.

This is who Jesus is.

This is what he does.

Jesus, a holy seed bringing forth new life in the middle of despair.

Thank you, God.

And so we see Jesus clearly, we begin to understand what not only what was prophesied about him, over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in full with his life and ministry and death and resurrection.

Isaiah painting this picture of the nature and the character of Jesus.

But then we have to take one more step and say what's required of us.

If Jesus says, Come, follow me.

Not just watch me, but watch and learn from me.

What have we been invited into?

To see Jesus more clearly and to know him more deeply, sure, but to follow Jesus more truthfully allows room for the Holy Spirit to nudge our hearts into deeper surrender today.

So what holy seed, what new growth can you have faith to bear in this season?

What new things do you sense the Spirit wanting to bring to life in you again?

Maybe it's patience.

Maybe it's a softer response to your husband.

What's felt like despair or pain, something that's been chopped down.

Maybe it's the new growth is like, okay, I'm finally gonna book that appointment with the counselor.

I need some help.

Maybe it's real FaceTime with one of your kids.

Just to just sit with the unanxious presence of Jesus and just say, how you doing?

How are you really doing?

What a new thing, what a new rhythm, what a new pattern, what a new habit.

Come on.

Isaiah 11, chapter 2.

And the spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Seven, seven spirits listed here.

It's a beautiful picture.

Seven spirits.

Number one, the spirit of the Lord.

Number two, the spirit of wisdom.

Number three, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.

Seven spirits.

I love that every piece of the nature and character of God is present right here in Isaiah, the Trinity, the Spirit, the Father, and the Son.

We see all three persons of the Godhead in verse two.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

And then the sevenfold ministry of the Spirit.

Certainly, the Holy Spirit empowered Christ in his ministry here on earth.

And get this, the Spirit shall also empower us today to enable us to serve Christ and to glorify him.

Are we making room, not just seeing and learning how did the Holy Spirit empower Jesus, but are we learning how the Holy Spirit also wants to empower us, empower our lives to live in such a way that Christ is glorified?

In reading through the narrative of Jesus through the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John, we see clearly and we learn deeply that Jesus lived empowered by the Holy Spirit with beautiful wisdom and understanding and counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord.

I'm reading a book right now called The Ah of God by John Bevere.

Has anybody ever struggled with the idea?

This is a this is a tangent, by the way.

Has anybody ever struggled with the idea of fearing God?

Like all throughout the Bible, it's like don't be afraid, fear not, don't be afraid.

And then all throughout the Bible is fear me, fear me.

Is that weird for anybody else, or maybe just me?

I'm waiting.

Okay, thank you.

I see that hand.

John Bavier's new book, The Awe of God, is is like it addresses this.

Fear, fear of the Lord, not as in I'm afraid so that I run away from.

Fear as in reverent awe so that I can't get enough of.

The fear of the Lord.

Not the like terrified fear, the holy, like, wow, am I ever safe in his presence?

Awe, reverent wonder.

He actually writes in that book, here's a firm truth.

You will never find God's wonderful presence in an atmosphere where he's not revered and held in awe.

Tangent.

Over.

Have we rested in the truth that because of Jesus, we too are empowered by the Holy Spirit, enabled to live the same way.

And so the Spirit of the Lord is mentioned here in verse 2, followed by six other spirits.

And we can break them into three categories.

They're kind of in pairs of two.

The first one has to do with your intellectual life, the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of understanding.

The second area has to do with your practical life, the spirit of counsel, and the spirit of might.

Eugene Peterson's paraphrase says, um, the spirit that builds strength in us.

Not that I am strong or that I have to be strong, but because of the Holy Spirit, I am built strong.

Okay?

And then the third area is our life in relation to the Father, the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

To see Jesus more clearly, to know him more deeply, but to follow Jesus more truthfully allows room for the Holy Spirit to just turn a light on maybe one of those areas today.

Which one of those three?

Are you struggling with your intellectual life in following Jesus?

Are you struggling with the practical side of surrender to Jesus?

Or maybe you're struggling in terms of your life in relationship with the Father.

The Holy Spirit, the same spirit that empowered Jesus, the Bible teaches us, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us.

When we make the decision to yield and submit and surrender our lives to the authority and the lordship of Jesus Christ, spirit, soul, and body, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell within our human spirit, to lead and to guide and to nudge and to counsel and to encourage and to prompt and to help.

What a gift.

And so I just maybe one of these three areas, if it's your intellectual life that you're like, I just don't get it.

I want to encourage you to continue to develop a loving relationship with Scripture.

That through the words of the gospels, maybe just start in John and just read more about Jesus.

Through the words of Scripture, that the Holy Spirit will give you wisdom and the Holy Spirit will give you understanding and settle that intellectual heart.

The practical life, the spirit of counsel or the spirit of being built strength.

I think if you're struggling with just sort of the practicality of what it means to follow Jesus, my guess is you've been trying to do it alone.

My guess is you've been trying to do it all by yourself.

Because in the wisdom, the right counselors, we find that we're built up strong, that we're encouraged in our faith.

You know, we can talk about small groups every Sunday, and in your brain you can go, check, that seems like a good idea.

But you, if you never actually take a step of faith into a room where your beliefs and your preferences and the old religious garbage that you're trying to put into a new wineskin is constantly being conflicted, then you will never find that counsel and you will never be built up strong.

We need relationship with other Christians.

We need to lean into environments and rooms where we can invite the Holy Spirit to counsel us.

We surrender to ego, we surrender to our pride, we surrender to the way we've always wanted it to be done.

This is not about your preference in the church.

This is about Jesus' authority in the church.

And the practical life is best worked out one to another.

And if you're struggling, your relationship with the Father, we've been learning about prayer together in our small groups.

What a gift! The spirit of knowledge and that awe and reverent wonder.

Maybe your prayer life has been just hindered or dampened.

Because maybe you grew up like a really good charismatic, and that spontaneous prayer where you are always talking at God and always asking him for things has left you wanting or left the void of unanswered prayer in your heart.

But you've never learned the skill of just abiding in his presence and sitting to listen.

Prayer is meant to be conversational.

We listen, he listens.

We speak, he speaks.

The week after Easter Sunday, we're gonna start a series on the Lord's Prayer.

If Jesus teaches us how to pray, why does he teach us to pray the way that he taught us to pray?

You're gonna love it.

You're gonna hear, I think, from four different voices in this community as we as we look at the Lord's Prayer together.

Um, another tangent, but Holy Spirit, which one of these three do you want us to wrestle with a little bit this week?

The the the Holy Spirit of Christ says, I've also given you the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding.

That touches our intellectual life, the spirit of counsel, and the spirit of being built up strong.

That touches our practical life.

And the spirit of knowledge and that reverent, holy, ah, fear of the Lord is our relationship with the Father.

Okay, verse three.

Isaiah goes on to say that Jesus will delight.

In obeying the Lord, he will not judge by appearance.

He will not make a decision based on hearsay.

This is beautiful.

Sit here with me for a minute.

Here's Jesus.

God made flesh, the word of God brought to life, living his life based not on what he sees, not on what he hears, but simply out of a delight in obeying his father.

Get this.

How do you mostly engage with the world around you?

And how's that impacting your heart?

Because here it mentions three eyes, ears, and obedient trust.

Okay?

It's a picture of Jesus.

Not only are we supposed to look at Jesus and learn from him, but but how what's what's what is this poking at inside of me today?

How do you engage?

How do you mostly engage in the average 24-hour period that you call a day in the week?

How do you mostly engage?

Eyes and ears, probably.

News media, social feeds, entertainment, music, eyes and ears.

And in Isaiah's writing here, we see the nature and character of Jesus so clearly.

Jesus says there's another way.

We saw this during the pandemic, right?

You know our hearts, like our heart was to like, how do we steward the surrender to Jesus as we live in Alberta?

That was our heart during the pandemic.

But how many of you know somebody that, because of eyes and ears, still hasn't recovered?

They're still living in fear.

They're still disconnected from the life of the church.

There's still residue in their heart where everywhere they go, they don't trust people and they think somebody's out to get them, and they don't trust the government, and they don't trust why?

Eyes and ears, and eyes and ears, as opposed to delight in obeying the word of the Lord.

And here's Jesus, a picture of like Isaiah speaking into the nature and the character of Jesus, not by what he sees, not by what he hears, but delight.

And here's a fabulous word that I took some time in this week.

Delight.

To delight in something, where does your brain quickly go?

Like it brings me joy or fulfillment.

Anybody else?

Like delight?

Type it in the chats.

When I say delight, like what does that make you think of?

Joy, contentment, happiness.

Anyone else?

Jace, anything good coming in on the chats?

Love?

Satisfaction?

Food?

Delight.

Here's what's really cool: the Hebrew word here.

The Hebrew word used for delight in obeying the Lord is to smell.

More than that, not just to smell, but to smell deeply, to breathe.

To breathe.

Is actually what this word delight means.

It's pretty beautiful.

In other words, would you not live your life based on what you're constantly seeing, constantly hearing, but would you order your days with a deep breath of the fear of the Lord?

A deep breath of the awe and the authority of God's voice.

The fragrance of his presence.

All of this.

You can do a Bible study this week.

Look up this word delight.

I will model Jesus by refusing to be steered by what I see with my eyes.

I will not judge by what I see.

I will not make decisions based on hearsay.

I will simply breathe.

Breathe in his presence.

If I'm honest, most of us don't pause long enough to just like be still and breathe in his presence.

We run frantically from one chaotic thing to the next, led by our eyes, led by our ears, led by our commitments.

In John 20, here's the story of the disciples being terrified.

The Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

And suddenly Jesus was standing there among them.

And as he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side, and they were filled with joy when they saw the Lord.

Again he said, Peace, peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.

And then he he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Receive the Holy Spirit.

And uh I remember standing at an altar like that and just feeling like this minister's saliva in my face.

But but not feeling like the Holy Spirit goosebumps.

It was only later that evening as I was alone and quiet that the Holy Spirit whispered and said, Do you trust that my breath is enough for you?

Do you trust that my presence is enough for you?

Because in this passage in John, it's Jesus, God made flesh, part of the Trinity.

It's Jesus doing the breathing.

How does Jesus combat fear?

How does Jesus combat the terror of like being persecuted?

Fear when our world is shattered and everything we'd hoped in has come crashing down.

Fear where we're where we're all alone and the one thing that we hoped would rescue us is gone.

How does Jesus meet that need?

He says, Would you continue, would you receive the Holy Spirit through my breath?

You know, in the prayer practice right now, this the fourth session in our small groups is just about being with God.

That's learning this like contemplative prayer, breathing prayer.

And my like my my quiet listening prayer moments in contemplation and in just like deep breathing in are some of my most profound moments alone with the Father.

Sometimes nothing needs to be said because I'm just like so aware that He loves me, and there's no fear that can shape my heart.

Laura Wall, one of our amazing women in the church, was posted something this week about the word Yahweh, the name of God, one of the Hebrew names.

How we've added vowels to what used to be just consonants.

And this word Yahweh was simply more to do with Yah.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

It was beautiful.

If you follow Laura on Facebook, you could read that there.

But it's like, be still, my soul.

The Lord is with me.

Close your eyes, shutter your ears, just breathe.

And in that, in that quiet stillness, the Holy Spirit builds strength to confidently obey the Father.

Okay, verse 4.

I'm almost done.

Four and five.

He will give justice to the poor, make fair decisions for the exploited.

The earth will shake at the force of his word.

One breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked, and he will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.

I always find it fascinating when the Bible talks about underwear.

If the big idea is to see Jesus more clearly and to know God, to know Jesus more deeply, so that we can follow Jesus more truthfully.

Happened to the Juno's this week.

I live in a city that says you don't have to wear undergarments at the public swimming pool, but you have to wear undergarments at the Juno's.

I haven't figured that one out yet.

But it's newsworthy when someone shows up without undergarments.

How are you underwriting your surrender to Jesus?

More and more Canadians are wearing mainstream media's news values as their belt.

More and more Canadians are wearing watered-down progressive ideas as their truth.

It's their underwear.

But it's to wrestle with living in culture while we choose to say, Jesus, nothing more, nothing less.

There's tension there.

It's the best tension you will ever feel.

Jesus alone is my way, my truth, my life.

Jesus, our truth, our way, our life.

Jesus alone is our righteousness, our right standing with God the Father.

Our identity as sons and daughters, and resting in the knowledge that because Jesus lived, ministered, died, and rose again, that the same spirit that raised him to life lives within us, and that Jesus alone makes us.

All of the sin conflict has been resolved, and all of the struggle in relationship with the Father has been reconciled, it's been made right, and we actually are invited in to choose and figure out and learn what it means for me to live as a daughter, as a son of the Most High God.

Our identity as sons and daughters ushers forth the word of Jesus that destroys wickedness on our watch.

Living in our identity as sons and daughters continues the mission and the heartbeat of Jesus that brings justice to poor people and helps exploited people be set free in our lifetime.

And we could also flip that and say that Jesus was, is, and always will be your justice, your fair decision, your breath that calms the wicked storm, your righteousness that holds it all in place, your truth that covers and protects the vital, life-bearing parts of your spirit.

It's always weird when the Bible talks about underwear.

But pay attention because it's for us, not just to say, oh, that's good for Jesus, but to say, how does that bring about radical change in my heart and in my life and in my thoughts and in my habits and in my home and in my family here now and forevermore?

To see Jesus more clearly, to know Jesus more deeply, and to follow him more truthfully.

Isaiah eleven, one through five.

Not just to read about you, but to be transformed by you.

You're making all things new.

Whether it's the intellectual side or just the practical life side or the confidence in your relationship with the Father.

Just say, Holy Spirit, what do you want to make new in me?

Is it a deeper authority for the voice of God through scripture that you just want to continue to equip and build and coach the intellect part of my surrender to you?

Is it perhaps just the counsel, the wisdom that you want to bring by your Holy Spirit in relation to others?

Some of us have built up walls.

We've arrived at a point where we say, I've got this, I know the answers.

This is how it's always been for me.

But that's not a soft, open heart before the Father saying, There's still more for me to learn.

There's still more that wants to be made new.

And so maybe it's on the practical side, or maybe it's just our identity as your kids.

We continually bump up against our hearts because we approach you as servants and slaves.

What do I have to do to please the master?

What do I have to do to earn his favor?

What do I have to do?

And he just says, Stop.

Just come, sit at my feet.

I love you.

I love you as you are.

So maybe it's more the relation to the Father piece that the Holy Spirit wants to just coach and help you grow.

Whatever it is, we say yes.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill us up again.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Maybe you're in the room today and we're talking through this beautiful ancient prophetic text written by Isaiah generations ago.

Helping us see Jesus a little clearer, a little more deeply.

And the invitation is not just to look at Jesus, but to like anchor our lives on Jesus.

To say, Jesus, you and you alone will be the foundation that I build on.

You and you alone will be the template that I model my life after.

Today I choose to yield and surrender every part of my life to your authority, Jesus.

Until we've settled that spiritual condition between us and God, until we've said, Jesus, I choose you as my mediator.

Your life, death, and resurrection was more than enough to reconcile me, resolve sin, restore the relationship between me and God.

I can't do it on my own anymore.

Jesus, I need you.

Like the air that I breathe, like the daily bread that I crave.

I need you, Jesus.

If you're in the room here today or watching online, and you've never made the decision to surrender your heart, mind, will, soul, body, spirit to the authority and the leadership of Jesus Christ.

If you've never said, I'm done doing it on my own, Jesus, I need you.

We're going to pray a prayer together in a moment, a prayer of faith.

And I want to encourage you to pray that prayer with us.

All across this room, watching from home, would you just close your eyes for me, bow your heads?

And if you're here in this room and you say, Pastor John, oh, I want to pray this prayer for the first time.

Just be between you and God, just slip up your hand in your seat.

Just say, Yes, Jesus.

Yes, Lord, that's me.

It's a new day.

All of me, God, all of me.

Beautiful.

Did you pray this prayer with all of us out loud?

Just repeat after me, dear God, thank you for sending your son to take my place, to pay my price, to put right which was broken, to make new, to make whole, to mend and restore my relationship with you, to resolve the conflict of sin in my life.

Jesus, I choose you every part.

Lord and Savior, would you fill me up with your Holy Spirit and your grace and mercy today and every day?

Forgive me for all that I've done wrong.

I'm yours.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit Evolvechurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.