Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world.
so that all may know Christ. Join us now. For a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church. Located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Isaiah chapter 11.
Brother Frank read it.
Now, this is kind of a big one.
Sometimes at Christmas, And this is a prophetic statement in Isaiah.
Now we were just in. And Isaiah chapter 9, and that gave us a lot of detail about the prophetic that our king is coming, and that our king would be born of a virgin, that he would be a son, and the government would be upon his shoulders. He's going to be king, he's going to rule. We saw all that, but just two chapters later, we have another prophetic statement. And here is at a time when things are bad.
Judgment is coming, captivity is coming, and here is this encouragement that even though things are bad right now, that there is a promise to come. But here's what's interesting. I think a lot of people, and I am included in this. Maybe have never fully understood these five verses here in Isaiah chapter 11. These verses make it very clear.
That our king is coming. And this is a prophetic statement that the Messiah is coming. And it gives us great character traits: the nature of our king, the character of our king, and all these things. But here is what I have never seen. And I hope that you will be able to see this morning as we talk about the fact that Jesus, our King.
Not only that he came, but that he's coming back. You need to understand something. These verses are not just about who our king is. These verses are about what should be in our lives also. What's interesting?
is that these character traits are not something that's only in Jesus. What we're given here are things that should show up in your life. You see, what you need today is not just something from God. here this morning. Today you need to see your God.
You need to see your king. You need to see his character traits, his nature, because it's the very nature and character traits. that should show up in your life. This passage has always been a prophetic statement to show that Jesus is coming. It's true.
But once we dig into it, you're going to clearly see this is also showing that followers of this king. should have these same traits.
Now with that in mind Let's dig in, okay? Look at Isaiah chapter 11, and we're going to begin in verse 1. And let me just remind you of the fact: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Remember that there was the promise to Abraham, God said, You're going to be my people, I'm going to be your king. Then we have all the way the promise to David that God said, David, I'm going to establish your kingdom, but out of your lineage, out of your line, I'm not just going to establish your kingdom, but I'm going to establish my kingdom, and I'm going to send my king through your lineage.
And then we come all the way to Isaiah, and we start to hear about this king that is coming. Notice, if you would, number one, I want you to see the Spirit bestowed on our Savior.
Now here's where it begins to click with you. Look at verse 2. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might.
Third, the spirit of knowledge. And of the fear of the Lord.
Now let's think about this. Isaiah proclaims That the Spirit of the Lord is going to rest. on the coming Messiah.
Now, notice the correlation here.
Now, think with me this morning. It is God in the flesh. Jesus, the Messiah, God in the flesh. That the Holy Spirit is going to rest on. How many of you remember the story that Jesus is baptized by John, and as he comes up out of the water, God the Father said, This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased.
But guess what else happens? The Holy Spirit, like a dove, descends. Exactly what we said is going to happen. But think about this correlation. Here we see that the Spirit of the Lord is going to rest.
Jesus.
Now look at me. This is 2025. Jesus came, he died, he rose again.
Now the Holy Spirit does not rest on you, he resides in you. Everybody got it?
So everything that the Holy Spirit allowed the man side of, remember Jesus was all God and he was all man. Everything that the Holy Spirit did in the life, the man side of Jesus, as it's getting ready to tell us the spirit of things that's going to happen is exactly the same Holy Spirit that you and I have living inside of us if you've been saved by the grace of God.
So everything described here should be in your life too. Isn't this interesting?
Now, notice first, we see the Spirit bestowed on our Savior.
So let's look at the first one. The first one is this: a spirit of wisdom. and understanding. You see, this spirit is not just a mere mortal insight. It's divine endowment.
It's something that only comes from God. The Holy Spirit is God, it's something that only God can give. Notice, verse 2: The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding. Preacher, what does that mean?
Well, the spirit of wisdom and understanding refers to divine attributes that are granted by God, and it triggers in us, notice on the screen, it triggers in us discernment. Insight. the ability to apply knowledge correctly. He said, Preacher, I don't fully understand.
Well, hopefully, now you will. Notice the first one's wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to to make righteous decisions. and see things from God's perspective. It's more than just intelligence.
Wisdom is not just knowing facts.
Okay? It's more than just intelligence. It involves moral and spiritual. Insight. It means that you know what the Holy Spirit does in our life?
The same thing He did on the life of Jesus. He allows not just knowledge, He allows wisdom. God gives us moral insight, spiritual insight. It's not just us learning a bunch of facts. Look at me, the Bible is not just a bunch of facts.
What it is, is the Holy Spirit allows us to have a spirit of wisdom and understanding.
So we know what wisdom is, what is understanding? Understanding refers to discernment. And comprehension. Listen to me. The ability to grasp the deeper meaning of things.
And to apply wisdom effectively. Let me make it real simple for you. Wisdom is knowing how to apply knowledge. Understanding is knowing how to apply wisdom. And here's what we are told all the way back in the book of Isaiah chapter 11.
This is how you're going to know it's Jesus, it's the Messiah, is the fact that he will have a spirit. of wisdom and understanding.
So, you and I need to see this not only as something that is in the life of Jesus. You and I need to see that this is something that can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And if you've been saved, He lives inside of you. You say, well, how do I apply this to my everyday life? Listen.
You and I ought to get up every day. and pray and say, God, please grant me. Right. Yeah. of wisdom and understanding.
Not just knowing how to apply knowledge. But understanding how that wisdom that you give me to not just know things, but to know what they really mean. the understanding to know when it's useful, how to use it. How to say something, when to say something, how to be a blessing, when to back off, when to advance. When to speak up, when to shut up.
You see, this is what the Messiah has. This is what our king has. Here's what's the good news today is this. Our king, you and I serve a king that has the spirit of wisdom and understanding. But here's the even better news, so can you.
Yeah, so can you. Notice number two, not just the spirit of wisdom and understanding, but notice secondly. He says, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of counsel. and might.
So we have wisdom and understanding, and that leads to the second thing: counsel and might. This refers to two aspects of the Holy Spirit's empowerment. Listen to me. First is counsel. What does this mean?
It means divine guidance. strategy, the ability to make sound decisions. It implies the wisdom to give the right advice to somebody. To plan effectively, to lead others with discernment. This is the kind of counsel that only comes...
from God. Listen, you and I serve a king who knows how to advise us. By the way, how does he advise us? Through the word. I met with somebody last week.
And was sitting talking with them about some things, and they have a family member that has hooked up with a guy who was homeless. Started living with their family member in the basement, started eating their food. He started paying his bills because he believes this guy is a prophet. This guy showed up and started Declaring future events, things that would happen, and of course, he probably got three out of a hundred. But because something he predicted happened He believes he's a prophet.
So they were talking to me about this. You know, how can we help our family member? You know, he's kind of yoked up with a guy that he thinks is a modern-day prophet, and this guy's just taking money from him and all this thing, but he is so convinced of that.
So, you know what I did? I took him to the book of Hebrews. And in the book of Hebrews, it says, God who in sundry times And diverse places listen. Spoke to us through the prophets. Hath in these last days Spoken to us through his word.
Look at me, there are no prophets anymore. I hate to tell you. We might have to edit that out for the TV broadcast. There's not a prophet, there's not a prophetess. Anymore.
Why? God used to speak through the prophets. But once the canon of scripture was complete, now God speaks through his son. Which is the word. Everybody got me?
So that's why you and I can have the spirit of Council. You know what? Every time that you talk with somebody, every time somebody comes to you, you ought to say, God, please give me. The spirit of counsel. I can't tell you how many times I pray to God for that.
Somebody, hey, can I meet with you, preacher? Hey, can I talk with you a little bit, preacher? And God, you know, many times beforehand, it's the whole thing. I always pray, God, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. be acceptable in thy sight.
O Lord, my strength, my Redeemer. But it's, God, would you give me this spirit of counsel? Look at me. We don't have it. That only comes from through the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of counsel, but notice what it says here. He has the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and he has the spirit of counsel and might.
So we know what counsel is, what is might. Might refers to strength, power, and the courage to carry out God's plans. Listen to me. It's not just talking here about physical strength, but it is spiritual and moral strength. It is the ability to act decisively, to overcome opposition.
Listen to me, I want you to get this. Might. is the ability to do what God's asked you to do. What God has shown you in his word to do, when God gives you wisdom and understanding and he gives you counsel, look at me, that doesn't do you any good if you don't follow through and do it. You and I serve a king that not only shows us what we need to know, tells us what we need to know, guides us in how we need to know, look at me, but then he also gives us the strength to do it.
Let me put it this way, counsel and might means that our coming Messiah would have both wisdom to guide and the power to act. Listen to me. This combination is crucial for leadership. Listen to me. Wisdom without strength is ineffective.
If you have all the wisdom in the world, but you don't have enough strength to go out and do it, it's ineffective. Wisdom without strength is ineffective, and strength without wisdom can be reckless. If all you do is have wisdom but you don't ever act, that doesn't do anybody any good. But if you don't have any wisdom and all you do is act, that's going to hurt people. Are you with me this morning?
Say amen.
So all the way back in the book of Isaiah chapter 11, we are told this is what the Holy Spirit should do in your life. Because it's what he did in our king. And the king is who we follow. The spirit of counsel. And might not only knowing the decision to make But the power to make it.
Right. Before we go on to the next point, I gotta make this clear. Kerrwoman Baptist Church, listen to me.
So many times you can sit in a church service, and God, through His Word, will show you what you need to change. But when you walk out, listen, it's really good right now, but when you walk out of that building, If you don't have the might to act on it. then that counsel didn't do you any good. Look at me coming to church. doesn't help you if what God tells you to do you don't do.
If what God tells you to change, we don't change. We need the spirit of counsel and might. Counsel to know what we need to do, might to carry it out.
So guess what? God says. I'm going to give him the spirit of wisdom and understanding so that he can give the right kind of counsel. and has the power to do it. That's our keen.
Notice number three. We have the spirit of knowledge. and fear of the Lord. What an odd combination.
So the Holy Spirit shall rest upon him. Notice The spirit of knowledge. And of the fear of the Lord.
What does this mean? Well, it probably means what you don't realize it means. This word knowledge is the Hebrew word da'at. That's where it's da at. Anyway.
What does this Hebrew word mean? This is, listen, this is a different word. It means. An intimate Experiential understanding of something. When he says he has a spirit of knowledge, it means this: it's not just knowing about God.
it means that our Messiah would know God. Here's my wish for you as your pastor. is that we don't want to just preach so you know a lot of things about God. What I want you to do is to know God personally. to experience him.
So what it says is the Holy Spirit, look at me folks, the Holy Spirit allows you. to know God. He gives you a spirit of knowledge, which means what? He allows you to know your king. intimately.
personally. It's not about facts. It's not about just knowing things. It's about knowing the person. It's about knowing him intimately.
passionately, fervently. Personally.
So what is the fear of the Lord here, preacher?
Well It means reverence. It means ah. And by the way, it says the fear of the Lord, Yahweh, here. What does this mean? It means a deep respect for God.
What does the Bible say that when Jesus our Messiah came, what does it say that he proclaimed? I came to do the will of my father. Look at me, Coron Baptist Church. Wake up just a minute. Let me ask you something.
Why did he say that? If he's God and God the Father's God, Doesn't he already? Why did it say he came to do the will of his father? Can I ask you something? Do you think there's anything Jesus would do that would go against the father?
Yeah. Don't you think that they would be in the same mind and heart about things?
So why did Jesus say that? Look at me. for you. Yeah, yeah. Jesus didn't say that for him.
He's our king. He's our example. And this goes all the way back to Isaiah chapter 11 and these first few verses. The characteristic traits in Jesus should be in you. And Jesus said, I came to do the will of my Father so that you in 2025, when the Holy Spirit does a work in your life, it should produce a willingness on your part and my part.
to do the will of my Father. That's what it means to literally here, to know him intimately, and then to obey him, to follow him, to do his will. To reverence him and to respect him. By the way, the more you get to know God, the more you're going to reverence him. The more you get to know God, the more you're going to respect him.
What does it say here? The Messiah that's coming. Here Isaiah says. It's going to have the spirit. Not just of knowledge.
He's going to know. God in a different way. than any other person. But not only that, he is going to have a fear. of the Lord.
He's going to know God intimately. And reverence him, respect him. and obey him. Are you with me so far? Say amen.
So this is a picture in Isaiah chapter 11, not just of our king. but of how you and I should represent our king. Look at me. In 2025, everywhere we go, we ought to be a picture, a portrait of our king.
Well, how do we look like our king? By these things. These things are not just something that only our king has. He had them because of the Spirit of the Lord. And guess what?
You and I were given the Spirit of the Lord.
Okay, so let's go to number two.
So we have the spirit. that rested on our Savior. Number two. We see judgment. that is rooted in righteousness.
This describes our Messiah.
Now think about this. Look at verse 3. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor.
and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.
Now hold on, we're not far from being done, but you gotta hear me out on this. Do you understand what's going on here? Isaiah tells us that this is how you're going to know it's the Messiah. That he is going to have a judgment that is rooted. in righteousness.
At this point of Israel's history and Judah's history, look at me. Every political leader and almost every king was not righteous. They were very self-serving.
So here's what the Holy Spirit resting on Jesus did. It created him to have a judgment that did not judge based on what he heard. Look at the verse. And he does not have a judgment based on just what is seen on the outside. Do you see this?
We serve a king that doesn't just judge on what he hears and doesn't just judge on the outside. He judges in righteousness. And it goes even further. Look at the verse. It says that he shall judge the poor.
and reprove with equity the meek of their... It says this, that our king doesn't judge people on the outside. Our king doesn't judge people on what he hears about him. Our king doesn't judge just based on what everybody thinks. Our king judges with righteousness.
And not only that, our king stands up for the lowly. Our king stands up for the poor. Our king makes sure that the meek of the earth. are not getting run over.
Now can I tell you what's going on in America right now? The exact opposite. You see, you and I don't judge this way. Our whole system here on earth is not judged this way. You and I judge based on what we hear.
and what we think we see on the outside. I know what you're sitting there thinking. Not me, preacher. Oh yeah, it's what we call gossip. It's what we call you looking at something.
hearing something about somebody. Passing judgment about that. Guess what? That's not a character trait of our king. Our king's not the one that somebody comes over in the corner and says something about somebody, criticizes them, and he believes it.
Our king is not one that pulls up something on social media and believes it. You see, when the Holy Spirit gets a hold of your life, You end up judging rooted in righteousness. Not judged on what you see or what you Here. God helped Curling Baptist Church to be this kind of church. Look at me.
Let me say this again. I've said it over and over and I'm going to say it again. God makes sure we are a church. We don't judge anybody by how they look when they walk in these doors. Because I don't want you judging me on how I look when I walk in these doors.
You got no clue what's going on. You got no clue what's gone on in a person's life. Don't you judge them by color? Don't you judge them by dress? Don't you judge them by social status?
Don't you judge them by looks? Don't you judge them by actions? Guess what? We have a king that doesn't judge based on just what he sees. We have a king that doesn't judge just based on what he Here's Can I tell you something?
We're in the south. I was thinking this morning, I was sitting here and. You know, we have an orchestra over here and stuff. And we have some bass guitars, we have some rhythm guitars. Let me tell you something.
I have preached in many churches that would get up and walk out because we have a guitar. Yeah, I may have read a church. I have many churches that say, well, you got a bass guitar. Never would we allow bass guitar in our church. Never.
I preached in them. Guess what? We got some within 10 miles that feel that way. And I'm sitting here thinking just I'm so thrilled. I'm thrilled.
Guess what? Yeah, I got more scripture for it. Then you have against it.
Now I'm going to tell you what, listen, it's not the instrument, it's how you use it. You all agree? Listen, we got Tiffany's bring.
Some people would die.
Some people laugh that that's all we have.
Some people would cringe, you know why? But there's a lot of people that are against a guitar. There's a whole lot of people who get. Can I tell you what? Let's not judge.
Let's not judge based on what we see. Let's not judge just based on what we hear. Let's not judge just based on what I've. Let me tell you something, dear friend. We don't serve a king like that.
We serve a king that looks at the heart.
Now I'm the first one to tell you when the heart changes the actions do. But that's the kind of king we serve. Judgment. Rooted in righteous. Can I ask you something?
Could it possibly be said that maybe you've been judging incorrectly lately?
Now I don't know your life and I don't know, but could could it possibly be That you're judging based on the wrong criteria. You never thought about that? I want you to notice number three. The power of the word. Let me just say this.
I know I've already given you number three, but. For sake of time, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Years ago, my wife is from Shining Light Baptist Church in Greensboro, that's where she grew up. And I came off the road in evangelism, worked at Shining Light almost two years to help out there and try to build some things back up. Then I went back to evangelism, and then God called me here to pastor.
While we were there at Shining Light, there was a man that walked into the church one day, an older guy, kind of tall, skinny. He was homeless. Had a real long beard, real long Matted up hair. Just kind of walked in. I mean Smelled Just, you know.
You think it is that's what he was. And he started coming, showing up. And You know, for the most part, everybody treated him kindly. There were some that probably avoided him. My brother Jimmy Dillon was a pastor there and You know, Brother Jimmy was a a single pastor and His wife had passed away.
And talking to this guy, this guy was homeless and Finally, he said he got in a room in a motel. And if you get on Interstate 40, going out of Greensboro, like you're going towards Burlington.
Somewhere, I think it's before the whole Death Valley interchange, there's this old motel. It might have been knocked down now, but you talk about rough. I mean, this is a rough, rough, rough. This is worse than Oyo Motel in Kernersville or whatever the case. I'm so sorry if you worked there.
I apologize. And um You know, you got a lot of police staying at your motel from what I can see. Police cars there all the time. Anyway, so. But this old motel right off of 40.
And I mean, you talk about rough, rough, rough. And this guy was staying at the motel, and Brother Jimmy. Probably for I don't know how many times over a space of time, he'd go pick him up on Sunday mornings. Go pick up this guy at that motel and bring him to church. and just struck up a friendship with them and Then every once in a while different people at our church would come and they'd go pick them up at that motel or something if they were on that side of town or whatever the case might be.
He came for a few months, got real sick and died.
So I went into staff meeting one day and Brother Jimmy and it was there. We were talking a couple of the deacons. Brother Jimmy was crying. A little bit. I said, what's going on?
And he said, you know, so-and-so this guy. And I said, Yeah, I'm just so sorry. I said, you know, Passed away, didn't get to come very long. He said, I know. He said he just left our church $40,000.
Be careful judging. But what you see. Be careful judging by what you think. Be careful judging based on your opinion. Let me tell you why you need to be careful about that.
Because that's not what our king does. And you're telling the world that's what your king does. Number three, look at verse four. We're almost done. The Bible says this.
Here's another thing about our Savior. He shall. He's coming. The Messiah is coming, the king is coming, he shall smite the earth. With the rod of his strength.
It doesn't say that. With a rod of his what? Mouth. Notice this. And with the breath of his lips shall he slay.
The wicked. Do you notice the vivid imagery here? He strikes the earth with a rod of his mouth. He slays the wicked with the breath of his lips. This is talking about the formidable power of the word of God.
This language reveals the power. of God's word. It is through God's spoken truth that darkness is dispelled. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast.
The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192. or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app.
Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
