Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. and of the fear of the Lord, 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 he shall judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. An interesting passage of Scripture, obviously this is a prophetic telling of the coming of Christ. And we were told that obviously that Christ would come out of the lineage or the line of David. And in verse 1 the Bible says that there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse who was David's father, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

Quickly today I want to deal with this subject, a tree for Christmas. You'll understand here in just a minute before we pray another sermon, another day. If you want to write this down in your Bible and maybe go back on your own and look at it through these eyes. As far as you and I are concerned that there are three things that are given that apply to us directly. Number one, we see the life of a Christian in verse 1.

If you want to write that down and you say what does that mean? Because literally God obviously through the giving of His Son, Christ came and died. Christ is literally the vine, we are the branches. And we're told here that Christ came out of the root of Jesse, you and I have come from the root of Christ.

He is the vine, we're the branches. So there's our life as a Christian. Verse 2 is the spirit in the Christian. It talks about what it means to be living in the spirit of God. And then number 3 verses 3 through 5 is the walk of a Christian. The life of the Christian, the spirit in the Christian, and the walk of the Christian.

More we can say about that, another day, another time. And let's pray and talk about our subject today, a tree for Christmas. Lord we love you. Thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you for a good full house today. Lord for all the folks that might be visiting from out of town, visiting family. Lord we're so thankful they're here. I pray that they feel welcome. And Lord you are what brings us all together. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Notice as far as what's going to be on our screen for today, for you to understand. First I want to talk about our Messiah Christ as it is foretold is coming. First I want to look at his roots.

His roots. Very interesting stuff here. You might not see it right off the bat as maybe I didn't at times. But I want you to look closely. Look at verse 1 if you would again. The Bible says that literally Christ our Messiah would come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. It literally means this. This word rod means basically a budding green plant. And it literally is springing from the stem or a word that you and I would more understand would be stump. From the stump of Jesse. Literally that Christ would be a branch out of his roots. And not just that but the Bible says that that branch coming out of that stump would bear fruit. The Bible says it would grow out of that stump. And so we understand that this is the foretelling of Christ that out of the lineage of Jesse there would be a budding green plant that Christ would literally grow from that line that was now just a stump.

And you say what in the world does that mean? Well Israel, and we're foretold this in the Old Testament, Israel literally had become a field of burned out stumps. As far as the landscape of the world at this time was concerned. Judah and Assyria had both literally been dealt with by the hand of God. The Bible says that God would destroy the destroyer. So Judah and Assyria two great powers God had dealt with and literally their authority and leadership had been wiped out.

You say what does that mean for me? That means this as we look here at these verses that the line or the lineage of David, literally the lineage of Jesse the Bible says now there was no fruit, there was no trees, it had literally like a forest had been knocked down, burned out, literally a royal family like King David that we talk so much about in the Old Testament. By the time that Christ would come literally that lineage, that royal family would be reduced to nothing more than common people.

Now I know that might not be interesting to you this morning but it should be. It means this that literally a dried up family, literally a royal family that had kind of been wiped out was no longer in prominence. But God had foretold in the Old Testament that the line of the Messiah would come from this family. And although it looked bleak and there had been hundreds of years of literally nothing happening out of this family. In fact if you remember the Bible says that was spoken when Jesus was coming from Nazareth and literally you remember they said can anything good come out of Nazareth. What had literally a family and a life that had once been royal and grand, now after hundreds of years had literally been reduced to nothing. So we find here the roots of our Messiah.

Now here's what's interesting. If you'll notice in verse one the Bible says that literally that there would be a small green almost just a little bit of a plant with a little bit of green leaves would begin to spring forth off the side of the stump literally the dying stump of Jesse. There is only one Jesse mentioned in scripture and that is the father of King David. You all know the story how David and his brothers that literally Samuel obviously was foretold that obviously there was going to be a next king and Saul obviously wasn't and then obviously all the sons of Jesse came and the prophet was told this is where he'd come and he looked at all the other sons and thought they were big and grand and able and capable and then there was that young David that was out keeping the flocks and was a little shepherd boy basically we would call him just a young man at that time and yet that's exactly who God chose out of the family of Jesse.

You say preacher what in the world does this mean? Isn't it interesting that in Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 it was not prophesied that there would be a stem out of the family of David. David became king. David is the one that literally royalty came to this family. David was a man after God's own heart and yet in Isaiah chapter 11 the prophet doesn't even mention his name.

You say preacher why is that important? Because Jesus would come at a time when the descendants of David had reached their greatest humiliation and obscurity. It means this that Isaiah simply says the house of Jesse because literally the house of David had been reduced even lower than it was when he was just a common shepherd son. Although he had been king and a man after God's own heart and had conquered kingdoms may I remind you folks that God lifts one up and brings down another.

You and I should never get too big for our bridges. We kind of sometimes in our own society and in our own churches we create royal families. And I'm here to tell you there's only one royal family. And if you've been saved by the grace of God you have now been birthed into that family.

The family of God. Here all these years later it's simply referred to as the house of Jesse. A royal family whose descendants now get this were literally common people traveling with a donkey going to be taxed like everyone else.

In fact this former royal family out of the lineage of Joseph literally now couldn't even find a room to stay in. Now this precious Messiah would be born not in a small what we would call hotel room or anything like that. He was literally born in a meaningless stable.

You and I have to understand something today. The roots of our savior are humble roots. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Because he literally came from the lineage of a family that had been lost too. This reminds me though when God makes a promise he keeps it.

His roots. Let me show you a verse this morning so you can understand more what I'm talking about in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 1. Notice this verse on the screen. Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Good question. Listen. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a what?

Dry ground. He hath no form or comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire of him. Literally our Messiah came from a family line that was nothing more than dry ground full of dead stumps. So don't you dare say well I don't think Jesus could save me. You don't know where I'm from, what I've been through, the things I've done. Oh dear friend if he can come out of this kind of family he can birth you into his family. His roots were humble. Now this brings me to my point and I want you to understand this that the title is A Tree for Christmas.

There was kind of a, not a movement, I guess it's gone on for years and I obviously do not mean to offend anyone here. We have made this statement numerous times here that if you have a Christmas tree, have a Christmas tree. Decorate it up.

Enjoy it. If you don't think that you should have a Christmas tree then don't. Have a wreath.

Put a fire hydrant there if you want. Whatever you want. However you want to celebrate.

There was a movement for a while that preachers got on. You're not supposed to have a Christmas tree and it's a pagan ritual and all this junk and they're getting on everybody for everything and dear friend may I tell you something you can have a Christmas tree and you can enjoy it and I'll tell you why. Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1. Every time you have a Christmas tree in your house and you decorate that tree you need to be reminded that our Messiah was literally just a small evergreen plant that drew and grew out of a dead stump. That Christmas tree represents the life of Christ that grew from nothing. That's why we use an evergreen tree. It's literally that Christ is a picture of a tree that grew out of a dead stump. Enjoy your tree.

Nah. Don't you love the Bible? I don't think you're out of a Christmas tree. Well what about Isaiah 11 verse 1?

I look at my tree as a reminder that Christ grew from nothing. Wow. Number 2. We only got three things. Number 2 we've seen his roots. Number 2 in this verse and verse 2 we see his representation.

See what do you mean? Well we are literally told in verses 1 through 5 we're told about the coming of Christ, the life of Christ, the ruling and reigning of Christ, and the second return of Christ. It's all in five verses.

Wow. But let's look number 2 at his life, his representation. You say preacher what do you mean his representation? Notice if you would verse 2. The Bible said about the Messiah that would come as he would literally grow as a small little shoot, just a little growth out of a dead stump. That literally the Messiah's roots would come from that. The Bible says in verse 2 that when he would be born and he would be on earth and his life here on earth, notice what it says. That the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon him. By the way when the Spirit of the Lord rests upon you that changes everything.

And notice what that means. It means that Jesus came to represent the Father. He even said I am come not to do my will, but to do the will of the Father.

Although Jesus was God, he came to represent the Father. Do you know what it means for you and I to live in the flesh or to live in the Spirit? To live in the Spirit means that the Spirit of the Lord is able to rest on us. We don't do things in our life and constantly have habits that grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of the Lord is able to rest on us. It means that you and I now realize I am here not to represent my desires, my feelings, my agenda, but I am here to represent Christ. So what does it mean to have the Spirit of the Lord rest upon you? What a wonderful study into the life of a Christian that even Jesus, because the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him, how did that manifest itself? Notice in the verse. Number one we see here, the Spirit of wisdom. The Bible says that the Messiah would come and that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon him and that obviously would enable the man side of God. Remember Jesus Christ was God and man. It allowed that man side of God literally to have the Spirit of wisdom.

What does that mean? This word wisdom literally means this, to take all things into account. Do you know when you and I are led of the Spirit of God, we're not easily led astray by things. Because God gives us wisdom, we are able to take all things into account and show discernment in our life.

We're not affected by every little negative thing we hear or every little thing that we hear somebody say because we have wisdom from the Spirit of the Lord. Notice secondly the Bible says that as he represented the Father that he would have the Spirit of understanding. You say what's the difference between the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of understanding? Well the Spirit of wisdom literally means to take all things into account. The Spirit of understanding literally here has the idea of knowing the meaning of things, to understand where they come from, to understand why they're here. That's why Jesus literally when he would come across sinners that the religious people would avoid, Jesus would sit and eat and fellowship with them.

Why? Because he understood where they came from. He understood that they were flesh. You know you and I as religious people I guess we tend to be ourselves and you know I don't really care a lot for religion but as we look and we consider ourselves religious people you and I sometimes need to be reminded not just where people have come from but where you and I came from. We need to continue to understand that.

Instead of us having a spirit of judgment about everybody and everything that doesn't do it like we do you and I need to understand where our roots are from. Third the Bible says that the Messiah would have the spirit of counsel. This is literally to advise or to have a plan. Jesus obviously every place he went, every town, every village he went to he always gave good counsel. Get this, it starts with wisdom and that wisdom allows you to then begin to understand those around you and situations around you and what does that then turn into? It turns into the ability now to give good advice.

It means somebody comes to you in a negative spirit, a bad spirit, about somebody, something else because God's given you wisdom and you're understanding maybe where this criticism, these comments are coming from and now you can give good advice back. Well I know you might feel this way but remember the Bible says, y'all dead this morning. I'm right, isn't I? Just because the Bible, I'm not right, the Bible is.

Notice the fourth thing. He was gonna have the spirit of might. This is the word for victory. That means wherever Jesus went he had the victory. You say well it's because he was God.

Wait a minute, he was also man. But through representation or literally the act of representing God the Father, God had given him the spirit of victory. God says I am come that you might have life more abundant.

Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. Listen to me dear friend, when you and I are led by the spirit of God, God gives us the spirit of victory. We don't have to be controlled by habits and addictions and all these things. We don't have to give in to that.

We don't have to be controlled by that because God's given us victory. Notice next the Bible says he would have the spirit of knowledge. You say well wisdom, understanding, knowledge, they all kind of sound like the same thing to me. What's interesting here is these very different Hebrew words.

This word for knowledge literally means this, to be aware, to be aware. Do you know how many times you and I mess up in our life because we just simply weren't looking? We weren't watching. The Bible says that Christ, because the spirit of the Lord would rest upon him, would literally be aware. That's how Jesus would go into a town where people would reject him and there would be just a few sick folk over there on the side and somehow Jesus would notice them, be aware of them and heal them. Although an entire town had rejected, he still had time to help a few sick folk.

Why? Because he was aware. God help us to be aware. I noticed last the Bible says that he would have literally the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He said he would have the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Now, you say, well, he's God. Why does he have to fear God?

He is God. You gotta understand this word here, fear, literally means reverence. It's respect. It's a spirit of respect.

I don't know about you, but those are some pretty good qualities in life. The Bible says that not only would Jesus come from humble roots, but he would honor the Father in his representation. Oh, if you and I would walk around life and live our Christian life realizing we are representing the Father and we need his help to correctly represent him. You know why we can't get a lot of people in church sometimes? Because they've been around people that so-called represented the Father.

And the representation they saw wasn't very nice. That's what the Father's like. I don't want the Father. Because if the child's that bad, if he represents him, last, we wanna see his reign. His reign. You say, well, preacher, what in the world do you mean by that? Look at verse three. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.

And it's as if Isaiah with one stroke of the pen goes from the birth and life of Christ and he jumps directly to the rule and reign of his kingdom. Look at verse three. He shall not judge.

That word judge means to rule. And he says he shall not judge or rule after the sight of his eyes. He is not gonna be fooled and taken by what he sees.

You and I are. We see what we see, but we miss what we don't see. The Bible says about the Lord when he reigns, he's not taken by what he sees or fooled by what he sees. Notice secondly this.

Neither will he reprove after the hearing of his ears. You and I jump to conclusions because somebody comes and tells up something about someone else. Oh, he really, he did that? Huh, well.

Let me tell you something. That's hurt our churches. It's because somebody says one thing about some preacher or some whatever. Oh, is that really? And yet not one time do we ever call, go, check, find out.

We just believe what we hear or we jump to conclusions about what we observe. This isn't a Christmas message, is it? Merry Christmas.

I'm still bitter about people saying I couldn't have a tree, but anyway. Notice if you would, the Bible says during his reign, notice first that this king will rule with integrity. Look at verse four. But with righteousness shall he judge or rule the poor. Righteousness. Listen to me.

I want you to get this. We're almost done. That means that this Messiah, when he rules and reigns, when Christ does, he will be different from all presidents and kings that the world has ever known. Amen to that. The fear of the Lord will not just be lip service with him or political talk. This king is gonna be a superhuman righteous king who is faithful even to the humble. This king will love even the poor.

Notice this. He will not conduct his government by popularity polls because he's not taken by what he sees. He's not gonna have personal biases and decision making and have a whole bunch of elite lawyers because he's not really taken by what he has heard. He will not lie every time his mouth moves, but he will speak in absolute integrity.

His life and character will be full of integrity. That's our king. Isn't it gonna be great when Jesus rules and reigns?

You say, preacher, I just get so discouraged by things I see. His kingdom is not set up yet. One day, you're not gonna have to worry because when he shows up to rule and reign, he's gonna rule with integrity. Notice this secondly that this king will rule with equality. Notice what in verse four the Bible says that with righteousness he shall judge the poor.

Notice this. He can prove with equity for the meek of the earth. That means he's gonna treat the poor, the meek, the lowly equally with people that have a lot. You and I are blessed that we serve a God that treats us equal.

He will be absolutely fair and will show no partisan favoritism when he reigns. You say, what? Listen, this all started when just as a lowly, humble baby, just a little green plant out of a dead field of stumps, humble roots, and he grows to be a king that loves humble people.

Not just that. The Bible says God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. As we're almost done, notice the third thing. This king will rule with authority. Look at verse four.

Not just he'll rule with righteousness and not just he's gonna do it with equity, but notice this. He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. Just his very words will destroy the earth. What would those words be? Depart from me, ye that were iniquity.

I never knew you. With his words, he created the heavens and the earth, and with his words, he can wipe it all out. Just because he's meek and lowly and humble does not mean he will not rule with authority. Let me give you this last.

This is my favor. This king will rule by example. Look at verse five. The Bible says that righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness will literally be the girdle of his reigns. Now, if you're like me, you don't maybe understand everything right at first, but you gotta dig in a little bit, and what's interesting is the Hebrew word for loins here that's used means the small of the back. It's literally the lower back area and this verse teaches us that when Christ rules and reigns that his back will be covered and protected with righteousness. Then it says this, that faithfulness would literally be the girdle or the garment or protection of his reigns. God bless you. .