The Victory of Christ’s Church

The Victory of Christ’s Church

By Pastor Matt Black

04 February 2007
Lord's Day morning
Isaiah 11:10-16

Introduction: Open your Bibles to Isaiah 11, and let’s read verses 10-16. The title of this evening’s message is “The Victory of Christ’s Church”. Tonight we are going to be looking at the age of the church in verses 10-16.

Isaiah 11:10-16, “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. 15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. 16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.”

Before we get to that, let’s review what we’ve learned thus far in Isaiah 11:1-9. In the last several weeks, we have looked at

Review the Incarnation and the End of the World

Ø Verses 1-4a: The incarnation of the Branch [Messiah] (His first coming).

Ø Verse 4b: Then in just a half of a verse we saw the end of the world. Verse 4b said, “he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked”

o Sometimes this analogy of judgment is expressed in Scripture as “ruling with a rod of iron. This is found in 4 places in Scripture—once in Psalm 2 and three times in the book of the Revelation, and it is always referring to the Last Day. (Note: we don’t need to read them all—just reference Revelation 19:15)

§ Psalm 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

§ Revelation 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

§ Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

The Rod of Iron—the Word (Logos) coming in Judgment

These verses all repeat the same theme, but I want you to see how the Lord judges the wicked with the Word of His mouth.

· Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

· The idea here is that he is not going to rule them as a shepherd with a kind and gentle shepherd’s staff, but He is coming in judgment with a Rod of punishment to crush them as the verse says, on “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God”.

· This ought to urge us to love sinners more and to plead with their souls warning every man of the wrath to come and of the hope and love that is in Jesus.

Ø Last week in verses 6-9, we went naturally from the judgment of the world to the new heavens and the new earth.

o We saw how sin’s curse was removed from the earth, the sin nature was eradicated, the fierce nature of animals was tamed, and all creation is totally harmonious. I’m looking forward to that day!

As we come to verse 10, we see first of all,

I. The Gentiles’ addition to God’s people.

Now we come to some pivotal words in verse 10. We read, “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” This is referring to the time of the church age. Notice how Isaiah describes it.

He speaks of “the Root of Jesse” (the Lord Jesus Christ). So Isaiah again repeats the same idea of a branch or twig growing out of this decaying, cut-down tree stump. This was a strange idea to the Jews. Even though they knew these promises, they always had in mind that the Gentiles would come to Christ when the tree was strong and flourishing.

A. The picture of the Banner (a type of Christ): Christ “shall stand as an ensign [a Banner] of the people.” The idea is the great banner stretched out over the whole earth. It is such a massive flag that all the Gentile nations can see it.

1. The Fullness of the Banner: Of course Christ is the fulfillment of this great banner. The Gospel is preached into all the world and to every creature. Every person under heaven is being brought under the sound of Christ’s voice and seeing His glorious banner wave!!

2. The Fierceness of the Banner: Notice the banner is a military illustration. Christ is conquering the hearts of men. There is a beautiful picture of this in Revelation 6:1-2. Christ is given the scroll with seven seals. 5:1, “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.” If you remember this picture, there is no one any where that can open the scroll. This is a scroll of the last part of history. One day we will get into all the comforting and amazing details that will spur us all onto holiness, but notice the first seal that Christ opens. We see this in Revelation 6:1-2, “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts [The idea of the four beasts comes right out of Isaiah 6. The word “beast” has the idea not of an animal, but of a living creature. These four beast according to Revelation 4:8 and Isaiah 6:3 are the seraphim that cry day and night “Holy, Holy, Holy” before the throne of God].

So this beast in Revelation 6:1 pauses for just a moment and invites us all to see something amazing that is going to happen. The seraphim says, “Come and see.” And then John says in verse 2 of Revelation 6, “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” The crown is Jesus dominion and authority, and so the first scroll of world history at the end of the age is that Christ is going to conquer and bring souls into His kingdom! The crown is Jesus authority and power. That is exactly what Christ says in Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

So we look again at our text in Isaiah 11:10, “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

3. The we see the Focus of the Banner. Isaiah says (verse 10) “to it [THE BANNER] shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

Christ is the Focus! He is the rallying cry! He is this VAST banner stetched over the earth. We see the Fruit of this focus as we look at the verse.

a. First, we see Christ will be preached in such a compelling way to the heart of the Gentiles that they shall “seek” the Lord Jesus Christ. To seek in the Bible is the outworking of faith. It is to cast all of your hopes and even your destiny upon Him. Are there any Gentiles here tonight that have cast all your cares upon Jesus? Do you depend on Him for your eternal destiny?!! Amen!

b. Second, we see the nations at peace. Isaiah says (verse 10) “to it [THE BANNER] shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” There is this glorious rest by the Gentiles in Christ while time is still going on.

I can’t help but mention Ephesians 2:14—that Christ is our peace! We see a wonderful principle here that there is rest for the Church in Christ!

There is rest for you and me. We are no longer under the awful labor and warfare of the world. We have found our rest in Christ. This is alluded to also in the book of Hebrews.

Look at Hebrews chapter 4, “For we which have believed do enter into rest … Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief…” Who was this that did not enter into his rest? The tree that was cut down is who—unbelieving Israel. If you look down to verses 9-10, you will see that resting in Christ is total dependence upon Him for salvation—depending on Christ work on the Cross, and not our own. Look at verse 9, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

This rest in Christ is glorious! It brings glory to God. Just look through Ephesians chapter 1, and we see this over and over.

1:7, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

1:12, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

Now that we’ve seen this picture of the Banner, I want us to look at a few more pictures in Scripture. Remember, when Christ comes, you have the restoration of the Kingdom of David. He is the Root of David, the Branch of Jesse.

So the second I want you to see is found in the book of Amos.

B. The picture of the Tabernacle or House of David.

Amos 9:9-12, “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. 11 ¶ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.”

God says, ok, at your worst point, when I have sifted you among the nations, when Israel is destroyed and no more, I am going to rebuild the House of David. In AD 70 we see the final destruction of Jerusalem, and the holy city was virtually a wasteland from that time until the year 1948. The Lord says at the time of total desolation, I will rebuild the House of David. Look at Amos 9:11 again, “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old”.

Now turn over to Acts 15:13-18, “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets” [here James quotes Amos 9:11-12]… “as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”

So there is a group of Gentiles upon whom God’s name is called? Yes this is the language that Isaiah uses also.

There is one last picture I want you to see. We’ve seen the Gentile church being added to Israel through the Christ as the Banner, the Tabernacle of David, and finall one more picture.

C. The picture of the Olive Tree. Turn over to Romans 11.

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?”

Here you see this illustration of two olive trees. One is wild—like a weed, and the other is an olive tree that is strong and pruned, and in the vineyard of the Lord. The true olive tree here clearly represents BELIEVING Israel—God’s people of the Old Testament. The idea here not that there is that Gentiles are added to the church of the Old Testament. They are added to the believing Jews. The non-believing Jews are like dead branches, and they are obviously good for nothing and pruned off. Now in the time of the New Covenant, when all the shadows and types are put aside, and now we have no longer goats and lambs, but the Precious Lamb of God, now we are the one people of God together with the Jews, even as Ephesians 2 tells us. The wall of partition is destroyed by the cross of Christ. We are all one olive tree.

So the idea of verse 10 is that the Gentiles are brought into Israel. We discussed this before. This is one of Paul’s themes in the book of Galatians.

Romans 4:11 tells us that Abraham is a “father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.”

When Christ comes to earth, he kicks all unbelievers out of Israel. Paul says in Romans 9:8, “They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” They might be physical Jews, but they are not “children of the promise” but only “children of the flesh”.

Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Paul says again in Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Ok, we’ve see the addition of the Gentiles, now we are going to see…

II. The Gentiles’ conversion

A. The timing of His Kingdom: At the Resurrection. “In that day…” (verse 12) When was Christ’s Kingdom set up? Acts 2:29-32, as we have learned before, Peter tells us that Christ set up the Kingdom of David, the Fallen Tabernacle of David at His resurrection, Peter said that “God had sworn with an oath to [DAVID], that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”

B. We see a picture of the deliverance of this Kingdom: Like Egypt. “In that day”… “the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people”. The first deliverance was something that no one could forget. When did God first deliver the remnant of His people? Look down at verse 15, “And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod”. Isaiah is using Egypt as a picture of this glorious deliverance.

C. We see here the miracle of His Kingdom. Verse 11, in that day… “the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people.” The Lord is going to take people from all nations and deliver them miraculously!!! Paul recounts his commission by the Lord in Acts 26:17. Paul was to be sent to the Gentiles… “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

There is a king that is worse than Pharaoh of old! There is a king who is the prince of darkness… “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).

D. Then we see the people of the Kingdom. Look at verses 11-14.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

Here we see the idea of recovering is gathering the remnant is clear in the NT.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Not everyone will follow Christ, but there will be a remnant of people the Lord saves.

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Jesus promises a remnant! He will gather his people among all nations—he says in verse 12 from the four corners of the earth”.

Revelation 5:9-13, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

E. The peace of the Kingdom.

The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

F. Then we see the enemies of the Kingdom. Verse 14, “But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.”

We talked about the mighty deliverance in verse 15. It’s going to be so amazing the onlything like it will be walking dryshod over the red sea! What a miracle.

15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

G. Finally, we see Way to the Kingdom

16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.”

John 14:6, Jesus Christ is the way! Jesus Christ is the highway to heaven! He’s the only way, the truth, and the life!

Conclusion: As we close, let me ask you, have you experienced this great victory? Has Christ brought you into His body? Are you on your way to heaven? The second question is, do you believe that God can save anybody—Jew or Gentile? Can God take the proud and make him humble. I want to encourage you, don’t stop praying for your lost family members. God can say them! We need to make a highway to God, and say that Jesus is our deliverance. He’s the way, the truth and the life! Jesus is our victory! If you

Closing Hymn: