[0:00] Our God and Father, in the loveliness of this day, we thank you for all the glory of your holiness and righteousness and majesty that is reflected in nature around us.
[0:16] And we ask that through this we may have a glimpse of your greater glory. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[0:26] Now the passage that we're reading has a number of parts to it, and I'm going to get you to read them with me one at a time.
[0:39] And because they're fairly picturesque, I want to give you the picture, then we'll read the part. Isaiah chapter 11, all about the stump.
[0:51] And we read verse 1 together. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
[1:02] And I want you to imagine one of what they, I guess if you walk through the university endowment lands, you can see one of the huge yellow cedars or Douglas firs, which was cut down 50, 100 years ago perhaps.
[1:18] And out of its stump is coming another tree. And that's not a bad picture. Some people might quarrel as to whether how accurate it is.
[1:28] But it's a stump with something growing out of it. It becomes a nurse stump. So that the family of Jesse is the family from which something brand new begins.
[1:42] The brand new thing that begins is found, if you turn back to Isaiah chapter 9. And that's only two pages back.
[1:53] And you'll see what the branch that grows out, who the branch is. And it's chapter 9 and verse 6.
[2:04] And you could read that with me. And so that's the shoot out of the stump of Jesse.
[2:27] That's the new thing. That is, Emmanuel, God with us. A totally new kind of rule. A totally new order.
[2:40] Now you have to picture the wind blowing. And probably it would be more graphic if we live in the hard, hard, hard cold of northern Canada.
[2:57] And the first, well, okay, maybe it could be a Calgary Chinook. After you've, everything is frozen hard for weeks and weeks. And then apparently you get what they call a Chinook arc appears in the sky.
[3:12] And under the arc comes the wind. And suddenly everything is transformed by the wind. And the wind is the word for spirit. And so you find a new king.
[3:24] And with him comes a whole transforming spirit. And read down to the end of verse 3, 2 and 3 with me. This is the picture of the Chinook.
[3:36] The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
[3:49] And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. Now, this is, and if you want to look at it closely, you can start counting.
[4:02] These are the, apparently, the seven mystical gifts of the spirit. The seven things that the spirit of the Lord brings.
[4:13] And if you look at them, they are wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord.
[4:24] The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. You only got six, didn't you? Well, apparently, the seventh is piety.
[4:37] And in the Septuagint version, the second fear of the Lord is piety. So it's, the seven gifts are wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord, and piety.
[4:52] And so this is something brand new. A whole new kind of wisdom and understanding. A whole new kind of counsel and might.
[5:03] A whole new kind of knowledge. And a new fear of the Lord. And a new devotion or piety to him. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
[5:15] Now, most of us don't consider the fear of the Lord to be the cause of very much delight. It's a rather onerous task, which we suspect in times of extremity we should give some thought to.
[5:30] But don't hope to get wound up in it too early in life, since it's a heavy concept. The fear of the Lord. But the reason that you have the lilac is because this word, delight, is a word which in its Hebrew root implies a lovely and totally satisfying smell.
[5:58] And so as you breathe deeply of the lilac, I want to use that to illustrate that the joy you find in that passing phenomenon is the joy that is described here as being the delight you take in the fear of the Lord.
[6:21] That you find delight in that. And so it's this strange and wonderful delight in something altogether new as the gifts of the Spirit of the Lord are given to his people.
[6:37] So that they have wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge, the fear of the Lord and piety. And they take delight in that.
[6:50] It's a delightful provision. It's a serendipity. It's a whole new reality. A whole new awareness. Which comes from, it comes with Emmanuel.
[7:05] The stump, the shoot from the stump of Jesse. The branch that grows out of that root. And it's those gifts. Well then you get judgment coming.
[7:18] And so the picture of the judge that's to come. And this is in verse 3 and a half down to the end of 5. Read if you will about this judge.
[7:32] About Emmanuel as just. He shall not judge by what his eyes see. Or decide by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he shall judge the poor.
[7:45] And decide 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 he shall slay the wicked.
[7:57] Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist. And faithfulness the girdle of his loyens. Now we so often tend to think that the judgment of God has been suspended.
[8:11] And that life will gradually dissolve into a vast spiritual orgy. Where there is no such thing as judgment. But the reality of the absolute truth of God.
[8:25] And the absolute love of God. And the absolute holiness of God. This brings judgment. It doesn't bring judgment with a sword. It brings judgment in this sense.
[8:39] That the rod of his mouth shall smite the earth. In other words.
[8:50] His word given. Will have the result of a steel rod crashing down on someone. Just the word that he speaks. That's all he will have to do.
[9:02] This king. With a word. He will bring absolute judgment. And then it says with his breath. As though his breath was fire.
[9:14] And consumed all the dross and all the impurities. And so this rod and this fire. Which are the breath of his. Which are the words of his mouth.
[9:26] The breath of his lips. That will be the agent by which the judgment of God comes. He will simply have to say the word. You see how this king is appointed.
[9:39] The spirit of the Lord comes. The spirit is one of judgment. And with this word of judgment. The actual reality of it is carried out.
[9:50] Just as in the beginning of creation. God spoke. And let there be light. And there was light. Now in the time of the Messiah.
[10:00] The reign of Emmanuel. God will speak judgment. And judgment will fall. Just by his word alone. And people will be able to hear it.
[10:13] You won't have to take a two by four. And hit them around the ears. To get them to see. They'll hear it. Their hearts will be open. And sensitive. And they will be deeply sensitive.
[10:24] To the judgment of God. And his word will speak it. And the result of that is. You see that. When we're still talking about the judge.
[10:36] That righteousness he shall judge the poor. You know how we've had these lovely cartoons. That always follow the budget.
[10:46] You know. Of the Ottawa bureaucrats. Riding rough shod. On the backs of the broken and stooped taxpayer. As he has to carry.
[10:58] The enormous burden. That the bureaucrats lay on him. And the implication is. That it's totally unjust. Whether that is or not. Is not my concern at the moment.
[11:10] But what my concern is. That when this judge judges. It will be with righteousness. Absolutely right. That is just.
[11:20] That is righteous. And that's the judgment. That he will bring. To the poor. The poor will have their case. Pleaded. And heard. And judged.
[11:32] On the basis of. Absolute righteousness. And equity. For the meek of the earth. Those who have. Been restrained. You know how this.
[11:43] Has echoes of the beatitude. Blessed are the meek. For they shall inherit the earth. They will finally get. What belongs to them. Equity for the meek of the earth.
[11:56] And then it says. In conclusion about the judge. Righteousness shall be. The girdle of his waist. And faithfulness. The girdle of his loins.
[12:08] Now I've always been. Somewhat embarrassed. By the reference. In the Bible. To girdle. And. It's. You have to think of it. In a.
[12:18] Somewhat different way. But. There's a sense. In which. It's. It's right. To be embarrassed. Because the Bible. I think. Intends. To embarrass us. These most.
[12:30] Intimate of garments. With which we. Clothe our waist. And our loins. These. Write down. The sort of. Basic garments. With which we.
[12:41] Clothe ourselves. Or with which the judge. Clothes himself. Is righteousness. And. Faithfulness. This is the. This is how he is clothed.
[12:52] So often. The judge. Has been characterized. Having a righteousness. In the books. That are on his shelf. But. A. Faithlessness. In.
[13:03] The lust. Of his loins. So that you get. The. This contrast. Between the two. And that. Our unfaithfulness. Is the. Is the expression.
[13:14] In a sense. Of our. Of our. Loss. And desires. Which corrupts. Even the possibility. Of justice. But this. Judge. Even at that. Most personal.
[13:25] And intimate. Level of his life. Will be marked by. Faithfulness. And righteousness. That's the kind. Of judge. Under whose judgment.
[13:37] We will come. In. This. Great age. This. This thing. That's going to happen. And so you have. A magnificent picture.
[13:47] Of judgment. Of righteous. Faithful. Judgment. Bringing. For the poor. And for the meek. Of the earth. Okay. Then look.
[13:57] If you will. At the. At the picture. Of nature. That is there. In verse 6. And read with me. Down to the end. Of verse 8. And.
[14:09] Let your mind. Wonder. The wolf. Shall dwell. With the lamb. And the leopard. Shall lie down. With the kid. And the calf. And the lion.
[14:20] And the sapling. Together. And a little child. Shall lead them. The cow. And the bear. Shall feed. Their young. Shall lie down. Together. The lion.
[14:31] Shall eat. Straw like the ox. The sucking. Child. Shall play. Over the whole. Of the out. And the weaned. Child. Shall put his hands. On the. Now.
[14:43] Wolves. As you know. Don't. Dwell. With lambs. The whole thing. Utterly. Contradicts. The whole reality. Of our world.
[14:54] End up. These people. Were. Much more familiar. With wolves. And lambs. Than we are. I heard yesterday. That the ravens. Will destroy. Lambs.
[15:05] Over on. Salt Spring Island. And that's because. Ravens are ravens. And lambs. Are lambs. And you don't blame. The raven. For being a raven.
[15:16] Nor can you protect. The lamb. From being a lamb. That's what happens. In our world. It's hard. But true. And he compounds. The picture. When he says. The leopard.
[15:27] Shall lie down. With the kid. And you think. Of all the quivering. Strength. And stealth. Of the leopard. As he goes. With tail running out.
[15:38] Behind him. And whisters. Like a great cat. Sneaking through the underbrush. Toward the innocent. Kid. The little goat. And he's going.
[15:50] And going. And going. Doing what leopards. Have always done. And the kids. Suffering. What kids. Have always suffered. And the sudden. Jump out of the bush.
[16:02] And the death. That's not going to happen. The leopard. Shall lie down. With the kid. The calf. And the lion. And the sapling. Together. I couldn't find out.
[16:13] What a sapling was. So if any of you. Are experts. On saplings. I wish you would. Enlighten me afterwards. But the picture. Is the same. The calf. And the lion. The cow. And the bear.
[16:26] It's lovely. Isn't it? You know. To see. As we so often see. A field of Holstein. With just a few grizzly bears. Thrown in. It just boggles the mind. To think of that happening.
[16:38] As you drive. Through some quaint. Pastoral setting. And see this happening. Well. It wouldn't happen. But. But you see. What is so necessary.
[16:49] About this picture. Is to assault. Our minds. With possibilities. Which are so utterly. Contradictory. To the whole pattern. Of our thinking.
[17:00] The whole awareness. Of how our world works. That we're forced. To turn it upside down. We're forced. To look at it. In an entirely different way. A way that.
[17:10] Is almost beyond. Our imagination. And. How poets. And artists. Have tried to portray.
[17:21] To portray this. Down through. The years. But it. It just. It's so completely. Contradictory. To everything we know. But. The shoot.
[17:34] Out of the stump. Of Jesse. The spirit. Of the Lord. And the gifts. Of that spirit. Of the integrity. Of the absolute integrity. Of judgment.
[17:45] Of righteousness. Of faithfulness. And then you see. When all that. Is a part of it. Then the whole of nature. Is turned. Upside down.
[17:56] And that's the picture. That it gives. A little child. Shall lead them. I don't know. I remember. As a very small child. Leading a very large horse.
[18:08] To water. You know. I must have weighed. 45 pounds. And the horse. Must have weighed a ton. And yet. I had a little rope. And I led it along. And I thought.
[18:18] I was leading it. But I. You know. It was. It was. All of you. I hope. Have done that. If you haven't. You should make plans. To do it soon. Before you're too old.
[18:30] But. It's. It's a lovely experience. To have this great. Mass. Of animals. Just coming along. With you. And going where you. Apparently lead.
[18:41] Well. This is the picture. Of a little child. Leading these great. And violent animals. And. It's a lovely picture. In a way.
[18:51] But so totally. Contradictive. And children appear here. Again and again. A little child. Shall lead them. And then the sucking child. That is the absolute infant.
[19:03] Shall play over the whole. Of the. Ask. And that's. A deadly. Poisonous. Snake.
[19:15] You know. The picture. Of the two. The contrast. Between the sucking child. And the ask. Just makes you. Suck wind. With horror. When you think of them. Coming together. And them.
[19:26] Pleasantly playing. Now Johnny. Let go of that snake. It's just. You know. It's just so. Contradictory. If anything.
[19:36] We can think of. And. And the. The picture. Of the wean child. Putting his hand. On the adder's den. Jack McCloud. Got back from.
[19:48] Zaire. And having been out. In the bush. In Zaire. Talked about. How you walk. You lift your foot. And then you look. Where you're going to put it down. Before you put it down. Because the adders.
[19:59] In that country. Are. Lie in ambush. Waiting. For something to come. And then hitting. And he said. Once they've hit. You have exactly. 30 minutes.
[20:10] And no more. To get help. And. So it's a picture. Of a deadly. Poisonous. Snake. And here you have. The wean child.
[20:21] Shall put his hand. On the adder's den. Well. That's the. That's the picture. Of nature. Which is so. Utterly. Contradictory.
[20:31] To all that we experience. And. And it's so necessary. For us to read this. Because the things. That God has prepared. For those that love him. As you get in.
[20:42] In Romans chapter 8. Are so far beyond. The rotted. Kind of. Channeled thinking. That we do all the time. That we need to be given.
[20:53] This tremendous picture. Of. The new world. The new birth. The new reality. The new kingdom. The kingdom which.
[21:03] Comes with the resurrection. Of Jesus Christ. From the dead. And the kingdom which. Which Isaiah foretells. And then in the last verse. Verse 9. Will you read it with me.
[21:14] They shall not hurt. Or destroy. In all my holy mountains. For the earth. Shall be full. Of the knowledge. Of the Lord. As the waters.
[21:24] Cover the sea. Well. Here you have. A picture of. The mountain. Of the Lord. And not just. The city of God. But spreading out.
[21:36] From the mountain. Of the Lord. And you remember that. Great picture. In the prophets. Of how. In the end. All the nations. Will come. To the mountain. Of the Lord. And there they will find.
[21:47] This new reality. The new reality. Which comes. From. The stump of Jesse. Out of which the shoot comes. Which comes from. The spirit of the Lord.
[21:57] Which comes from. A new kind of judgment. Which comes from. A whole order of nature. Turned. Upside down. And. This nature. Finally.
[22:08] Penetrates. Even. The hearts. Of men. So that. They shall not hurt. Or destroy. Any longer. Men are compelled.
[22:20] To war. As leopards. Are compelled. To kill. It's so much. The nature of man. That he kills. And he destroys.
[22:32] And he exercises. Violence. And there. This. This. This terrible reality. About man. And this is going to be reversed. This is part of.
[22:42] The new beginning. Part of the new birth. Something that we can just. Begin to appreciate. And take hold of. And men will suddenly find.
[22:53] The whole nature of their relationship. In. Sort of. Spreading out from. The holy mountain of God. And. It will. The result of this will be.
[23:04] That the earth. Shall be full of the knowledge. Of the Lord. As the waters. Cover the sea. And that is that. The waters. Very adequately.
[23:15] Cover the sea. You know. They. They cover it. To great depth. And. And this. This tremendous. Fullness. Which you see. You know.
[23:25] When you. And I'm sure you've all been. On the west coast. Of Vancouver Island. And watch. Those very slow. Pacific rollers. Come in. Almost. Imperceptibly.
[23:36] Until they hit. The rocky headland. And boom. And it goes. Way up into the air. And everything. Is drowned. By this. Terrific impact. Of water. Covering everything.
[23:48] And so. The earth. Shall be filled. With the knowledge. Of the Lord. As the waters. Cover the sea. And that. That. Tremendous picture.
[23:59] And the picture is. The one. Which is spoken of. In. Deuteronomy. Where you go around. Saying. Do you know the Lord. Do you know the Lord. Do you know the Lord. And.
[24:11] We're told. Don't waste your time. We all know the Lord. Well that's the time. He's speaking of here. When it says. That. That. The earth.
[24:21] Shall be filled. With the knowledge. Of the Lord. As the waters. Cover the sea. So you have. This lovely picture. On Pentecost Sunday. Which gives you. Some awareness.
[24:32] Of the ultimate. Purpose. Of God. In the new creation. Which begins with. The resurrection. Of Jesus Christ.
[24:43] From the dead. The new creation. Which begins with. The appointment of him. Who is to be. The judge. Of the living. And the dead. This is the judge. The new creation.
[24:54] Which affects. Not only men. But goes into. The whole of nature. The new creation. In which. That ultimate reality. For man. Is that he should.
[25:05] Know the Lord. And in knowing the Lord. The earth. Will be full of the knowledge. Of the Lord. As the waters. Cover the sea. Well that's this.
[25:16] Lovely picture. Of Pentecost. The outpouring. Of the Holy Spirit. And. The thing. That it gives us. Now. One. By way of a final illustration.
[25:26] Let me tell you this. Vancouver. Is full of. Rhododendrons. And azaleas. And hawthorn trees. And lilacs.
[25:41] And on and on it goes. Just a tremendous. Profusion of color. Which is so. Cuperfying. To the mind. I mean. It's just.
[25:52] Unbelievable. You can't look at it. Even. It's so. It's so amazing. Well I have good news. For you. It'll all be gone. In a week or two. And everything will be.
[26:02] Green. Light green. Dark green. Faded green. Just green. It'll all be gone. So don't worry about it. You know. But.
[26:13] It will be good. When it's all turned green. Again. To remember. How lovely it was. Because. Because. We can't handle all this.
[26:23] It's. I mean. The profusion. Of color. And blossom. In our city. At the moment. Is. As I say. It's mind boggling. We only get a glimpse of it.
[26:35] But we haven't the capacity. To live with this. For very long. And so. In Isaiah chapter 11. You get a mind boggling picture. Of the loveliness.
[26:46] Of the new creation. The kingdom of God. You get a picture. Which is. So. Staggeringly. And overwhelmingly. Beautiful. That.
[26:58] You can only. Just. Glimpse it. And even. Glimpsing it. Is. Is. Almost. Too much. For us. Well. I. I want to assure you.
[27:09] That. Wolves. Will keep. Eating. Lambs. And leopards. Will keep. Eating. Kids. And bears. Will keep. Destroying. Cows. And lions. Won't.
[27:19] Lie down. With the calf. That's not going to happen. Tomorrow. But you've been given. A vision. Of what ultimately. Is going to happen. And what you are called.
[27:31] To do. By reason of the fact. That Christ. Promised to you. Is that he has given you. The earnest. Of the kingdom. In the indwelling.
[27:41] Presence of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate reality. Is a reality. So far beyond. Our imagining. That we can only. Grasp a little bit of it.
[27:52] At this moment. But that little bit. Speaks of. An infinite. And wonderful reality. In which. The love. And loveliness of God.
[28:02] Takes over. From the. Rather brutal. And vicious. And violent. Chordidness. Of our daily life. And we live. In the expectation.
[28:13] Of the fulfillment. Of that. Of that. Of that. And that's infinitely more. Isn't it? Than anything. That. We can even begin. To grasp. And Romans 8.
[28:24] Ends with. Nothing shall separate us. From the love of God. God. And we're reminded. That it takes all the saints. All of us together.
[28:35] To begin to comprehend. The extent of the love of God. All the artistry. And all the music. And all the painting. And all the sculpture. And all the poetry.
[28:46] And everything. Is only a beginning. All. If you want. The fine and lovely wine. That we make. All those things. Are just.
[28:57] In a sense. Tiny. Teaspoon. Taste. Of an ultimate. And overwhelming. Reality. Into which God. Purposes.
[29:08] To bring us. In Christ. And the reality. That we have. Of that now. Is the indwelling. Of his Holy Spirit. That's the engagement ring.
[29:18] That Corinthians. Talks about. The commitment. That God. Has made to us. For a marriage. In which he will come. And claim us. To be his own. And the fulfillment.
[29:29] Of all these promises. Will be realized. In ways. That our little minds. Can't even begin. To comprehend. But in that time.
[29:40] The earth. Will be filled. With the knowledge. Of the Lord. As the waters. Cover the sea. Amen. As the fire.
[30:02] And the life. As the doctrine. And the actual. sozusagen. And way back to expand us. As the peace of God. As the peace of God.
[30:12] As the peace of undeniable. The peace of us. As God. As the watch. We're going to bring a love with you, so I'd invite you to stand together with the staff to take out by the United States.
[30:29] We believe in one God, the Father of the Lord, the name of our Father, of all that is in the kingdom of the Lord. We believe in one God, the name of our Father, of all that is in the kingdom of our Father, of God from God, of life from life, of true God from true God, of God from God made, of one being with the Father.
[30:56] Through him all things were made for us and for our salvation. He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and made man.
[31:11] For our salvation is the Holy Spirit of the Father. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
[31:26] He will come again in glory and judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father.
[31:40] With the Father and the Son, he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken to the prophets. I believe in one holy, Catholic, and Catholic Church. I acknowledge one Baptist into the forgiveness of sins.
[31:56] We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. Let us pray.