Chosen

Isaiah 11: 1-9

Experiencing Jesus

CIT: Isaiah prophesies about the coming of Jesus

CIS: Jesus is coming

SO: The hearer will build anticipation for the Easter Season

Follow along at d1.church/notes.

Intro: Chosen. 

We are almost to Spring. Spring for the Christian means the Easter season. Easter is our celebration of the Life of Christ, specifically his death and resurrection. We at D1 love sharing the Gospel.

Community Events:

Community Egg Hunt on March 28

Palm Sunday Services March 29

Community Good Friday Service April 3

Sunrise Service April 5 

Combined Easter Service April 5 (Bilingual)

All of these allow us to invite others and share the Gospel. We generally see 100+ people give their lives to Christ. This is how we transform Deming to be a more Godly city. 

Experiencing Jesus for the first time.

This series is designed to show us God's intentionality in saving the world. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were not accidental, and no one caused them. There is no one to blame; God intended to bring about a way for all people to be saved through the bloodshed on the cross. 

We know it was his plan because he has been telling us about it for hundreds of years. In the passage we will cover today, it was 700 years between this prophecy and Jesus’ life. 

Let’s get into the Word of God.

1. The Branch (Isaiah 11:1-3a)

 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

EXP: Isaiah delivers another prophecy to the people of Israel. He professes that from the remaining kingdom of David, a lineage, really a new offshoot of the true vine, a branch will grow and become fruitful. The Spirit of God will be on him, it will enable the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. 

ILL: The thing about Prophecy in our Bible is that what the prophets wrote down to the people of their time came true. Because Isaiah spoke for God to the king at the time, and what he said came to pass, they could confidently believe the future promises he wrote down. Jesus fulfills over 300 prophecies spoken by these prophets in the bible. 

ILL: When we moved to Deming, I was having a difficult time trying to figure out the weather. It seems like it would be constant. No rain, hot. But it actually has like 40-degree swings, wind that comes out of nowhere, dust, and rain. I remember trying Apple Weather, Google, and The Weather Channel. For your information, none of these were close to accurate. One day, an 80-year-old man looks me dead in the eye on Sunday and says, “It’s gonna rain on Thursday.” It took me by surprise. There was no rain in the forecast. I watched every day. Thursday came, and about 1 pm. The rain came. It was a storm. It was then that I knew I could trust no person for deming weather except old guys who sit around and drink coffee.

ILL: Isaiah 9 has some of these.

Stump of Jesse- Jesse is the father of King David. God promised David a line that would never end, a line that would rule over the nation of Israel forever. At this time in history, the Kingdom is divided, and Isaiah serves the King of Judah, who is in the line of David, but it is weak and does not represent God’s full power. He is saying the line of David will be so lost in the time of the Messiah.

A Branch- Out of the lineage of Jesse, a branch will grow, and it will produce fruit. When the Messiah comes, he will produce a harvest. He will actually open the way to salvation for us. We, the Church, are the fruit the Messiah produced.

The Spirit of the Lord- In the Old Testament, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon a person, it was a temporary moment in time. Jesus is the first person upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rested continuously. 

What the Spirit of the Lord brings to the Messiah and us:

Wisdom and Understanding, counsel and might, Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord- Jesus always defers to the Father; Jesus prioritizes God the Father’s business. The Spirit of God also enabled the miracles. The people wrestled in Awe of the Power of God. He doubles down, saying the Branch will rejoice in the miraculous power of God. 

APP: Being a Follower of Christ means that we are the fruit of the Branch. We are connected and growing in God. We also have access to the Spirit of the Lord in the same way Jesus did. He gives us Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, and Might, Knowledge, and reverence for God. We can have an expectation of Miracles in our lives. 

T.S.: The point of this series is to begin to understand who Jesus is for us.  

2. Jesus Character (Isaiah 11:3b-5)

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

EXP: Jesus will be different than anything you have experienced up to this point in our lives. The judgment that Jesus brings is different from the fact that he will not use his eyes and ears to form judgments about you and others. He will bring justice and decide in favor of the humble. The wicked will need ot be afraid. Righteousness and faithfulness will be how he rules. 

ILL: A few years ago, we had a veteran who began attending our church. He had served as a sniper and had seen some real combat in his time. God was dealing with him, and he enjoyed serving at the church. One day, we were having a banquet at the church, and I had to run to the bathroom. As I rounded the corner, he was standing there. He said he needed to talk and had questions about God. He said that I keep saying God can forgive anything, but I didn’t know all that he had done. He struggled with alcohol because he could not forgive himself. He explained to me that he grew up in a religion that said murder could not be forgiven. I told him that what he said about God was not true. God did not judge as man does, and he gives freedom to those who need it and ask for it. I said Do you want that? He said yes. We prayed, hugged, and cried in the hallway outside the bathroom. God saved him from a lifetime of turmoil. 

ILL: Maybe you view Jesus through the eyes of judgmental people. Maybe you believe God wants to shame or guilt you into submission. Maybe you are judging yourself by what you see or hear in your life. Jesus is faithful and righteous. If you desire to be healed, He will do it. 

APP: To be in the Kingdom of God, we will need to shift our perspective to God’s perspective.

T. S.: This time, the warrior/leader he will send will not be a normal man, but the Son of God.

3. But wait, there is more (Isaiah 11:6-9)

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion, and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

EXP: The prophecy continues with aspects of God’s Kingdom we have not yet seen. In our timeline, this does not happen until the New Heaven and Earth. When Jesus comes again, he will bring this peace with him. Because of Isaiah’s track record of foretelling the future, we can have certainty of this time as well.

ILL: If you want to know about Jesus, read the Bible. Talk to his followers. Understanding Jesus cannot be done by just watching TikTok. First, we have to see that he is God. Then we have to believe he can save. Then we have to know that he has a future and a plan for the world and us. 

APP: Be the church that makes it possible to know Jesus. Do not be the church that pushes people back into the world. 

TS: Isaiah could speak to a stump of Jesse and see the branch with the fruit. Even cutting down trees can bring life.

I want to pray for three groups today:

1. Some of you have been listening to the wrong description of Jesus.
2. I pray that you will hear that Jesus is unlike anything the world has to offer. 
3. Some of you have heard God doesn’t want you. 
4. I hope that you have heard that God can and will save you. 
5. Some of you think you are too far for God to save.
6. I pray today for salvation.