LOOK UP, JESUS IS COMING!

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Date: 7 December, 2017

Text: Isaiah 11-12

Title: LOOK UP, JESUS IS COMING!

Introduction:

ill. President Trump's declaration that America recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is very significant to end time events.

 ill. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu said, "This is a historic day. Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years. It has been the capital of Israel for nearly 70 years. It is here that our temples stood, our kings ruled, our prophets preached. Jerusalem has been the focus of our hopes, our dreams, our prayers for three millenia. From every corner of the earth, our people yearned to return to Jerusalem to touch it's golden stones, to walk it's hallowed streets."

note: Jesus said that Jerusalem would be given to the Gentiles for a time but that then when the time was fulfilled He would come back to reign there.

Luke 21

24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

app. Jesus said this 2,000 years ago - how our faith ought to be strengthened today as we see these things coming to pass before our very eyes - THEN LOOK UP, AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS; FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH.

 ill. I'm preaching on the first coming of Christ today at the Trust because we are close to Christmas in our yearly calendar - BUT WE ARE 2,000 YEARS PAST HIS FIRST COMING. 

EXP - WE ARE MUCH CLOSER TO HIS SECOND COMING WHICH COULD EASILY COME IN OUR LIFETIME.

EXP. We need to look with open eyes today at what is taking place - and it is my desire that God open our spiritual eyes as we look at a prophetic passage in God's Word about the second coming of Christ.

 I. Behold the Branch.

A. Behold His lineage.

Isaiah 11

1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

 remember -  Jesse is King David's dad. The messiah would come through the line of David.

exp. This is Jesus - Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

 ill. One of the great joys of going to Jerusalem this past year - was standing where Jesus stood and standing where He will return and reign - mount of olives, eastern gate, Temple courtyard

app. The news media needs to turn their attention away from what is happening and focus it on what is much more important - WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

B. Behold His spirit.

2  And 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 of the fear of the LORD;

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:

ill. The peace process is a mess just now. The muslim nations have been offended and the world is bowing down to their cries and denouncing with contempt the declaration of President Trump. Has the world ever been so divided? That is just the middle east - but what about....

ill. North Korea's nuclear ambition, China's communism, Russia's socialism, 

ill. What about radical Islam? What about the pope and Catholicism?

app. BUT JESUS WILL HAVE IT ALL UNDER CONTROL BECAUSE OF HIS WONDERFUL SPIRIT.

C. Behold His authority.

4  But with righteousness shall he 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.

exp. Jesus is going to get it exactly right and he will judge with absolute authority.

ill. Haman - plotted to destroy the Jews - Esther's marriage to King Ahaseuareus, Her banquet and Haman's plea for his life - Esther 7:8As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

ill. When witnessing -often hear - why do bad people get away with it? The point is - they have not gotten away with anything. They will face a very exacting judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment.

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

 app. Be reminded this morning - Jesus is coming and He has absolute authority.

D. Behold His character.

5  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

exp. We see here Jesus robed in righteousness and faithfulness. He does everything right (righteousness) and he is unfailing to His creation (faithfulness.)

 ill. Have you ever really considered the incredible injustice done to Jesus during his days of humiliation on the earth?

- Mocking, cursing, plotting, slandered, wounded, crucified.

 note: But, He was gentle, kind, healing, teaching, loving....

question: How could they so malign his character and call him wicked and unfaithful?

ill. Have you ever gotten correspondence from someone and you thought many things about them (perhaps meanly) that when you actually  met them your realized you were incredibly wrong?

 app. Do you think you will correct God? How wrong you are. We can rejoice today that He will one day rule on this earth for He is righteous and faithful.

E. Behold His peace.

6  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

7  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8  And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

9  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: 

ill. Benjamin Netanyahu's statement included his hope that this would be a step towards peace because there is no peace that does not include Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

 app. With all due respect to the Prime Minister of Israel - THERE IS NO PEACE THAT DOES NOT HAVE JESUS AS KING IN JERUSALEM. (Read Revelation - Satan will never yield until He is put into the pit of Hell for the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on earth.)

F. Behold His enlightenment.

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Question: Is there anywhere under the sea which does not know the wetness of the water upon it? The satiating water is everywhere over the sea bed. SO JESUS WILL SATIATE THE WORLD WITH HIS KNOWLEDGE.

exp. This is a precious and refreshing statement for all who are weary of the willful ignorance of the world. WE WON'T NEED TO WITNESS FOR JESUS BECAUSE ALL WILL KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS.

 App. The rapture of the church and the Tribulation come first - BUT THERE COULD BE AS LITTLE AS 7 YEARS SEPARATING MANKIND FROM THIS GLORIOUS EVENT.

PRAISE GOD WE GET TO BEHOLD THE COMING RIGHTEOUS BRANCH! As Jesus said..."Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

II. Behold His people.

 exp. Who are the inhabitants of the Kingdom which Jesus will establish?

A. Behold the gentile congregation.

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.

exp. An ensign - is a flag - a banner - 

ill. Pilate put a banner above the cross of Jesus - THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS!

Question: Aren't you thankful this morning - that we get to worship this Jewish King and worship Him with a Jewish book?

 app. Have you taken up His banner today?

B. Behold the Jewish Congregation.

 exp. The Jews rejected Jesus - but there is a coming a day of the mass salvation of the Jewish people.

Romans 11:

25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

note: We now read about this in our text.

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.

exp. Did you notice what Benjamin Netanyahu said, "From every corner of the earth, our people yearned to return to Jerusalem to touch it's golden stones, to walk it's hallowed streets."

 app. If you are a complete unbeliever - you had better stop and look at God's Word again - WHAT GOD SAID 2,600 YEARS AGO IS HAPPENING IN OUR LIFETIME.

C. Behold the exodus out of spiritual Egypt, the world.

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.

exp. What a picture of salvation for Israel - leaving the BONDAGE OF THE WORLD FOR LIBERTY IN CHRIST.

 app. Friend have you experienced that? Are you part of His people today? Have you come out of the world to follow Christ?

IV. Behold His awakening.

 exp. This chapter is worthy meditating upon - I tried to memorize it when I did my internship in Tucson - it reads like a Psalm and is a glorious Hymn of praise for THE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING THAT WAS TAKING PLACE IN THAT COMING DAY.

chapter 12

A. Men get right with God.

1  And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

Exp. When the Bible says, "There is no peace for the wicked" IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY NEVER FEEL AT PEACE - IT IS THAT THEY HAVE NO PEACE WITH GOD. 

 note: God is angry with the wicked!

Psa 7:11  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

why? Your sin has corrupted God's creation!

song: Dark is the stain that we can not hide, what can avail to wash it away, look there is flowing a crimson tide, whiter than snow you may be today?

 app. If you want peace with God - get RIGHT WITH GOD AND DEAL WITH YOUR SIN!

B. Men get saved.

2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

exp. There is a well of salvation that Jesus made available at the cross! If you want to drink from His well - you get to drink of the WATER OF LIFE. You'll never thirst again for all eternity!

 ill. I love looking sinners in the eye and telling them, "I know for sure that if I died I'd go to Heaven. GOD IS MY SALVATION - I WILL TRUST AND NOT BE AFRAID.

 App. Can you join me in saying that this morning? You aren't born saved - HE BECOMES YOUR SALVATION WHEN YOU PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIS FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS. "He also is become my salvation."

C. Men worship God.

4  And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

5  Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

exp. THEY WERE SAVED AND THEY WANTED ALL THE WORLD TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

exp. Did you know that when someone get's saved - THEY ARE UNASHAMED TO IDENTIFY WITH JESUS?

Ill. That was Paul's testimony.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

 app. These men won't be ashamed in the King's presence - BECAUSE THEY UNASHAMEDLY IDENTIFIED WITH HIM!

D. Men have God dwelling with them.

6  Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

exp. ZION is the city of God - Jerusalem. THE GREAT AND HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL - JESUS CHRIST - IS DWELING IN THE MIDST OF THEE.

CONCLUSION: Perhaps this morning this will help you understand why God's people ought to get excited about what is happening in Israel. WE OUT TO LIFT UP OUR EYES AND LOOK BECAUSE SURELY OUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH!

Unbeliever  - you ought to wake up this morning and get ready to Behold the Branch - JUST LIKE GOD'S WORD SAID 2,600 YEARS AGO.  Can you watch the news and still stay in unbelief at the truth of God's Word?

There will be an awakening when Jesus comes back - BUT IT MAY BE TOO LATE FOR YOU.

1.) DEAL WITH YOUR SIN WHICH OFFENDS HIM AND BRINGS HIS WRATH AGAINST YOU.

2.) GET SAVED - DRINK FROM THE WELL OF SALVATION.

3.) WORSHIP HIM - UNASHAMEDLY IDENTIFY WITH HIM.

4.) DWELL WITH HIM - YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO JERUSALEM - HE INDWELLS YOU GET SAVED.

THIS WAS A HISTORIC WEEK ETERNALLY. WE ARE LIVING IN HISTORIC DAYS.

OUR KING IS COMING SOON!

 GOD HELP US TO BE WHAT WE OUGHT TO BE IN PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF OUR KING!