12, and actually it's chapter 11 and 12, we're going to try to get through this morning. They're not long chapters, but they're very interesting chapters, especially in light of things that are currently taking place regarding the city of Jerusalem. when I was on my trip to Israel last January, almost a year ago now, as we came into the old city of Jerusalem, it wasn't what I expected, the way that you come in. You actually, it's very dramatic the way you come in. You come in through a tunnel, and just as we're coming out of the tunnel, You have the old city on your left. And so you've got the Temple Mount, the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. You've got the valley that runs down into the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives. You've got the top of the Mount of Olives where Christ ascended and went back into heaven. And it's where he'll come again on that day when that Gate is opened up, the Eastern Gate, and Christ comes into the Temple Mound. And it was dramatic, because up in the front of the bus, you've got a Jewish man, Craig Hartman, that he loves Israel. He was a lawyer in New York City, and he got saved later in life, and now he's involved in ministry there, Bethel Baptist Church, a church we're familiar with. Pastor Jim Bickle's a pastor, Brother Craig works there. And so he's up in the front of the bus, and he's telling the person controlling the volume on the song that was playing when to turn it up. And he's telling the driver when to accelerate so that just as it gets to the key moment in the song that they're playing, Jerusalem is the chorus. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your voice and sing. Hosanna is in the highest. Just as we came out of that tunnel, he had that playing at full volume. And I mean, it's moving. I can only explain it, it's kind of like coming back to your birthplace or something. There's an awesomeness about it, and there is a spiritual reality about it. As you see that city and realize, you know what, that is the city that is the city of God, Jerusalem. It's a very key city, all through the Word of God, and in our passage even today that we're going to look at. Now this past week something interesting happened. President Donald Trump announced that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And that's incredible because of what it has to do with prophecy and what the word of God says. And there are some very interesting things taking place. Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, said about this, he said, this is a historic day. Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years. It's 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 millennia. From every corner of the earth, our people yearned to return to Jerusalem, to touch its golden stones, to walk its hallowed streets. That's him saying that. Now, I mean it's happening in our day, but we gotta step back as believers and go, wow, these are incredible things that are taking place even in our day. Jesus had a great love for Jerusalem. Remember I mentioned last week as we preached about Jerusalem and the coming Babylonian invasion and Jeremiah saying to people, look, get right with God, get right with God, but they wouldn't, they hardened, they said, we're not gonna walk in those ways, we're not gonna listen to what you're saying, right, they stopped their ears. And the Babylonian captivity took place. All right, this is different now. Come forward to the time of Christ. He's in Jerusalem and he cries out like we talked about last week, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee? All right. Does Jesus love Jerusalem? Yes. Yeah, there's a special love we can say today in the heart of God for that city because it's a city of God. Of all cities in the world, none is so precious to God as physically this city, the city of Jerusalem. And so 2,000 years ago, Jesus said about what would take place there in that city, said 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. Right, so prophetically he's saying something. He's saying Jerusalem's going to be taken. Remember the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the city was destroyed. And it's been under Gentile occupation fast forward now until you get up into the last century of our lifetime. And that's what it's still there's still Gentile occupation there obviously within that city and even on the Temple Mount and even I don't want to get too confusing for anybody this morning, but even in the Tribulation time period, as the Antichrist is reigning, there's going to be the reality that the Temple Mount has Gentile presence. The court is given to the Gentiles until a certain point. All right, so that's what the Word of God says, and it's exactly what we see taking place, Israel coming back, but there's a time of the Gentiles that has to be fulfilled, and there should be signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars and upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, 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 and that is speaking about the tribulation and if you are In our study of the book of Revelation, as we went through it, we saw this, that in the tribulation period, there's gonna be a crashing of meteorites into the earth. We have in our lifetime, and even in recent history, there was one that hit Russia that injured, I think, like 1,500 people. And just this past week, I guess there was one the size of, I don't know, a house or something, And NASA didn't even pick it up. That's passing close to the Earth. And so, I mean, there's an awareness that, I mean, the earth is looking up, realizing, you know, we could get hit by one of these and it could really impact our world. And so we see these things even taking place a little bit even now. But when that happens, the tribulation, then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption, draweth night. Whoa, there's coming, it's coming. Our redemption draweth nigh, look up. Why? Because these things in our lifetime, they are taking place. And so the Lord says to us this morning, what he said 2,000 years ago, hey, when that happens, look up. Look up, because I'm coming. I'm coming. You know, I'm preaching on the first coming of Christ today at the trust. And as I do that this afternoon, we're gonna look back 2,000 years ago to that time where the Messiah came and the angels came out and said, unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. The world got, the small world, in a sense, got focused upon the coming of Christ. But you know, today we are much closer to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ than we are to his first coming. We're very close. I grew up in my lifetime hearing preachers preach and saying, look, the rapture could come today. Christ could return today. And the tribulation could start next week. But you know, even more so now in our day, we ought to look at it and say, you know what, I don't, that wrath of God is coming. We stand in a very wicked and rebellious state. Look at homosexual marriage. that being promoted and put into every society. Australia this past week voted to have same-sex marriage. Okay, it's going all over the world. It's global. Well, let's go back to Sodom and Gomorrah. Let's go back to the days of Noah. Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually. And let's stop today and go, you know what? There is no reason today why God's mercy should continue. We're going to see in our text this morning that there's every reason to believe Christ is soon returning. That's really what I want us to do. As we look at Isaiah chapter 11 and 12, what we're looking at is the second coming of Christ and what's going to be taking place as Christ returns. And so let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to bless the Word of God to our hearts this morning. Father, again, as we come to the Word of God this morning, And as we look at Isaiah 11 and 12, Father, we're looking at a passage that was written over 2,600 years ago. But Father, even an unbeliever, if there was an unbeliever in our congregation this morning, or maybe even somebody from the world that's not familiar with church would come in and sit down and listen to the Bible this morning, I believe they'd have to say, you know what? That's very interesting because I can see that taking place. And so I pray that the Holy Spirit of God would give me wisdom as I preach this morning. This is very applicable to what is going on currently. And so I pray, may the Spirit of God guide me as I preach and help us as we listen. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, and I want to say this too. It's not very often as a preacher I get to preach on a current event. You know, a lot of times we're going to the Bible and we're going way back, but as we go back to the Bible today, we're going way back 2,600 years, but we're looking at a current event and what's taking place. So what does the Bible say about the second coming of Christ? Well, the first thing that we'll consider is the branch that the Bible speaks about, okay, who is Jesus Christ. Behold the branch. All right, behold the branch. Jeremiah also spoke about this branch in Jeremiah 23 verse 5. Says, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and the king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and judgment in the earth. Okay, so Jeremiah, preacher that we looked at last week, he was preaching to Jerusalem, but he preached about a branch. What's that speaking about? By the way, it's capital B. Okay, branch. And it's speaking about the lineage of the branch, who is Jesus, that we'll see in a second, but it's speaking about his lineage. As it says, a branch, I will raise unto David a righteous branch, it says in Jeremiah. In our text, Isaiah 11, verse one, it says, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. All right, it's interesting. It's like the tree's been cut down, but it's going to grow back. My dad, in our front garden in Wisconsin, the house that we had, there was a tree that was kind of dead. I think the snow plows had gone by. And when they put the snow up there, the salt that was on the road had gotten up there. And the tree had just kind of withered and died. And dad decided he was going to cut it down. But rather than cut it all the way down, he decided, I think, to put a plant or something on it. So he just cut it off about this high. But over the next, I forget, year or two years, the tree actually grew back. It was interesting. So all of a sudden, there's branches coming out of the side of it. And then it's growing back. And it grew back into a lovely tree that was in the front of our garden. So you looked at it. Originally, you would have thought, it's dead. It doesn't have life. A lot of people looked at Israel. They look at Israel and say, it's dead. What other nation? Think about this. What other nation has lost its homeland? kept its cultural identity and after 2,000 years returned. Name one. There's not another one, is there? Isn't that incredible? Shouldn't we stop today and go, you know, wow, that is pretty incredible because they're the children of God, because they're the ones that God said would come back into that land. And notice this, no other nation has been obliterated and kept its identity. and came back. I mean, it's incredible when you stop and think about it. Right there, a lot of unbelievers ought to stop and go, yeah, you know, you're right. What other nation is there? That'd be like the American Indians coming back to the United States and coming back into their homeland. And they become the government of that area. There's a lot we could talk about with regard to Israel and the politics and everything that's taking place. despised people back in the early 1900s that were killed by Hitler. The world took compassion on them and promised them, by the way, not just the land of Israel, but promised them the land of Jordan as well. Okay, but Jordan became Jordan. They got it. Israel became Israel, but they didn't even really get what was left of Israel. They got a wee little bit of it. And then the Six-Day War took place where all of the Muslim nations that surround Israel were ready to launch an attack. I mean, they had their forces all around it. And this little nation in six days won that battle, taking much more of that land. I mean, it's incredible, offering to give something back. Heated, despised people, which, by the way, the Palestinians, what a Palestinian is, it's the people that lived in Palestine, which, by the way, in the early 1900s, was a rubbish piece of real estate. It wasn't nice. It wasn't developed. It's what the Bible speaks about is the desert shall bloom. It's happening. I was over there and you see it's growing. The agriculture is coming back. They're putting water into the land again and the land's coming. The desert is blooming. It's coming back to life because they're working to do that. But then the Palestinians, so who are the Palestinians? Palestinians are the people that lived there. Who were they? Jews and Arabs. Okay, it wasn't just Arabs. Jews and Arabs. But everyone has this idea a Palestinian is an Arab. No, it's not. It's a Jew and an Arab. But anyway, so then you have the Arabs and you have the Jews. I'm on Palestinian Media Watch list. And what Palestinian Media Watch is, is they listen to all the children's programs. They listen to all the things that are taking place. And you know what they show? They show that they're indoctrinating little kids to kill Jews. They're teaching them to grow up to hate Jews. And I mean, it's not even secret. And yet the world continues to pump money into Palestinians, which is supplying them with money to pay their martyrs in prison. They are all paid by international funds. And the world gets upset at Israel. They hate Israel. People that, by the way, are peaceful, that stand for democracy, they do. They don't promote hate. They don't promote killing. They're treated as occupiers in a land that the world gave to them, which, by the way, is their homeland. Just think about it. I'm just trying to put the modern context of what's taking place. But the main point is this. They're back. despite all the opposition, despite all the hatred, despite all the animosity. Listen, they're back. They're back in that land, just like the Word of God said. Okay, now go back to our text here. There shall come forth out of a rod, out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Okay, God said that. Who's the branch? Jesus is. Revelation 22, 16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and offspring of David and the bright morning star. Wow, wait a second, Revelation written by John, written some 700 years later, Revelation from Jesus. Jesus saying, I am the root and the offspring of David. What's he saying? I am the one that the Bible spoke about there in our texts today, Isaiah chapter 11 and Isaiah chapter 12. That's me. One of the neat things, again, about being in Jerusalem, I got to stand on the Temple Mount. Praise God I did, because I don't know when there's going to be enough peace there for that to take place again, because you think right now, with this Declaration, there's a lot of violence that's taking place. But I got to stand there. I got to stand where Jesus stood. I got to stand where Jesus will reign during the Millennium. See, I got to stand outside the gate that Jesus is going to go in. I got to stand on the Mount of Olives where he's going to plant his feet. He's going to come back. Listen, it's real. It's going to happen soon. I stood where the God of the universe is going to stand. I mean, that's incredible to think about. We're all going to have that privilege someday if we're saved, because where he is, there shall I be also. He's going to reign for a thousand years. I'm not going to be far away when he's there. And so he's the branch. His lineage is through King David, all right? He's the root and the offspring of David, just like the Bible said. Now, behold his spirit. It says in verse 2 and 3, 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, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. Now because of time this morning, we don't have time to really do a Bible study and just go piece by piece, but the verses are speaking about what? His wisdom in judgment. Remember King David had a son, his name was King Solomon. The Bible tells us that King Solomon was the wisest man. He's the one that those women came to and the baby had died during the night, they both had a baby, and so the one woman that her baby had died, she switched for the live baby, When the mother woke up in the morning, she looked at the dead baby and said, that's not my child. And so there's this disagreement. The other one claimed it was her child. And so they went before King Solomon. And King Solomon's faced with having to figure out who's the mother of the baby that's alive. And so the case is set before him. And so he just says, go get a sword. Divide the baby in half. Give half to each. And the mother whose child it was cried out and said, no, no. Give her the child. Give her the child. And Solomon goes, that's the mom. And people begin to marvel at the wisdom of Solomon, but greater than Solomon is coming and is going to judge with absolute wisdom. Absolute wisdom. You know, right now, you look at the Middle East and it's a mess. The whole world is crying out. How can you do this? You wreck the peace process. And there's this big argument taking place. There's a lot of division right now in our world. Have you noticed? Even among allies, there's a lot of division. On top of that, we've got North Korea and their nuclear ambition. By the way, as you study the Book of Revelation, it seems that part of the judgment that's taking place is nuclear war. There is war taking place. And what you see certainly seems like a nuclear war. And so we're not surprised by that. But you've got North Korea with nuclear ambition. You've got China's communism. You've got Russia's socialism. You've got radical Islam. You've got the Pope and Catholicism. And in the future here, we've got the beast and the false prophet. By the way, peace isn't going to come to the Middle East yet. We'll see that in our passage here. It's not coming yet. Don't get excited because President Trump said Jerusalem's the capital of Israel. That is not the answer to peace. The world is right. It's not going to cause peace. But there's going to be a false prophet that rises up, and there's going to be the Antichrist, the beast that rises up, and they're going to stand as if they are Jesus. They're going to make himself into God in the eyes of the world. And then the tribulation is going to take him off the scene. Okay? That's coming. But you look at this, when Jesus Christ does get on the scene, you know what? He's not going to have a problem solving the world's problems. With absolute wisdom, He's going to set everything in order in His reign because of the spirit that He has, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, and all these things. So behold His spirit. Then behold His authority. Verse four says, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity. For the meek of the earth, he shall smite the earth. With the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And somebody could read that and say, what am I reading about? I mean, it speaks about, out of his mouth is going to come this force or this power that impacts people. But you know, the Bible says about Jesus in the book of Revelation, Revelation 1.16, out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword. And this morning, as you picture the Lord Jesus Christ coming, don't actually picture him with a tongue that comes out that is sharp on either side. It's not what the Bible is speaking about. It's speaking about this, the mouth of Jesus Christ, it has the power to cut to the quick. The word of God, Jesus, is what? It is quick, it is powerful, it is what? Sharper than a two-edged sword. Piercing even to the divining asunder of soul and spirit, the joints from our hearts. A discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Jesus Christ has absolute what? Authority. You know in the story you read about Haman and Mordecai and Esther, you know the story of Esther? And Haman's the bad guy, Haman's the one that's plotting to kill the Jews and he hates Mordecai, Esther's uncle. Okay, but Esther is there. She's married to the king, King Ahasuerus and Haman is able to get a plot through to kill the Jews and Esther has a banquet that has Haman and King Ahasuerus come. Because she wants to present her case to the king and say, why have you allowed a law to be made that will kill me and my people? And she's speaking about the law that Haman put into effect. And the Bible says that as she said that, Haman tried to plead with her for his life. And so he's kind of fallen there upon her. And the king gets upset as he comes back in. And he declared his judgment. And Esther 7, 8 said, as the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Why? Because the king's word has absolute authority. As soon as it was said, it was as good as done. Listen, the king of kings has authority. Right now, we live in a world that is trying to cast off God. Listen, when Jesus Christ comes back, he's going to reign with absolute authority. He's got all authority. Revelation 20 verse 12 says, 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. See, when somebody says to you, as you seek to speak to them about the Lord, and they say, but wait a second, what about all the bad people doing all the bad things and they get away with it? The answer is they haven't got away with it. The answer is that at the judgment, the great white throne judgment that will take place at the end of the tribulation period, actually the end of the millennium, the dead are going to be brought back to life. I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and they're going to be judged for everything that they've done against God. Oh, it's going to be a very distinct, a very clear judgment. And so even in his millennial reign that Jesus has, he's going to judge with absolute authority on this world. Behold his authority. And then this morning, behold his character, verse 5. It says, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. You know, Jesus Christ is absolutely right. I mean, everything that he does, he's absolutely faithful. Have you ever looked back at, we're doing it, we're looking back to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ as we come up to Christmas time, but have you ever looked at the life of Christ and thought about how unjust the world was? Think about Jesus. Jesus was gentle. Jesus was kind. Jesus was a healer. Jesus was a teacher. Jesus was loving. And yet, the Bible says about the world, they are mocking Him. They cursed Him. They plotted against Him. They slandered Him. They wounded Him. And they crucified Him. You've got to ask the question, how could they so malign somebody that was so nice? It doesn't make sense today. Just as we pause and think about it, you know, here, Jesus is so good. Jesus is so gentle. Jesus is so loving. But they hated him. They despised him. They cursed him. They mocked him. Sometimes we get it wrong, don't we? I mean, we might get correspondence from somebody. I know I probably am guilty of this, get an email from somebody I don't know and read into what I think about them and I find out, you know what? I was wrong. They come and they're nice. I thought they're going to be, oh, they're so rude. I got it wrong. They weren't that way at all. If you think someday, You're gonna be one of those people that stand and you tell God, God, this is why you're wrong. This is why you're unrighteous. This is why you're unfaithful. That's what the world says, by the way. They say, if there is a God, why is the world like this? If there is a God, why is he allowed this? If there is a God, I blame him. But listen, those people are gonna stand before God and they're gonna realize they got it all wrong. Why? Because he's clothed in righteousness. He's clothed in faithfulness. See, when you see Jesus for who he is, the world's just gonna have to go, They're going to have to confess their folly, their disobedience, because His character is perfect. His character is perfect. So behold His character. And then behold His peace. His peace. Even as we look at the first coming of Christ, We read in Isaiah 9, 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. By the way, that's millennial, isn't it? It's millennial. It isn't to his first coming. They thought that at his first coming. They thought, King of the Jews, the Messiah, when he comes back, is going to reign. But guess what? It didn't happen. It didn't happen because it will happen in the millennium. the government shall be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Peace. Wow. The Prince of Peace. The one that's going to give peace. So let's read beginning at verse 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 the little child shall lead them, and the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the sucking child shall play in the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. Wow, when's the last time you went to the zoo? And it was open day at the zoo, and so they had all the cages open. And there's no bars separating animals. That's fine. Hey, today, let's let the lions and alpacas out together. It'll be great. People will love it. It'll be so much fun. Why wouldn't you do that? Because they'll kill them. Why? Because there's violence even within animal kind, right, in our day. But go back to the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden, you've got all these animals and they all get on because it's precursors. It's because God's peace was over his planet. I mean, it wasn't, the violence wasn't there. It wasn't. And so when Jesus Christ comes back as he reigns, even the livestock will get along. You know, yesterday, I think it was yesterday morning, the boys were all excited because a cat had caught a mouse right out in front of the window. And they're all, you know, it's kind of a guy thing, I guess. They're all, whoa, this is incredible, you know. I'm talking about my little guys. All right, some of my little guys. Seeing this, violence, you know, a little kitty snack, a little mouse. But listen, that's a small example of it, but that won't happen in the millennium. All of God's creation is going to again come into line, just like in the days of the Garden of Eden. And so behold His peace. And then behold his enlightenment, his enlightenment. Okay, the verse goes on, verse nine. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Do you like to go to the sea? I like to, we like to go down to the sea, but as you stand at the sea and you look out at the North Sea, you notice that the water's everywhere. that there's not a kind of a big dip anywhere, like out there in the middle somewhere where it's dry land. Of course, we've got islands and things above the water, but below the water, everything's satiated with the water, right? And so the Bible says, just like the waters cover the sea, it's everywhere, it's in every crevice, it's in every place, and it's going in, just like that, the knowledge of God is gonna be everywhere. It's not that way today. Sad, I think extremely sad that it's not, because most people have this in their house. They've got a Bible, but they don't know it. They don't know what it says. In fact, even religious people, a lot of religious people are very ignorant of what the Bible actually teaches about anything. But the Bible says in that day when Christ returns, as He sets up His reign in Jerusalem, that the knowledge of God is going to cover the earth. Aren't you glad that day you don't have to go knock on people's doors? You don't have to stand against all the foolish thinking of the world that is so anti-God, against God, anti-Christ, against Christ. But the whole world understands. Oh, what a day. I mean, that's peace right there, isn't it? Just like the Bible's speaking about. There's going to be this knowledge everywhere. You know, the only thing preventing that taking place is nothing. The Bible says that Christ's return is imminent. It's a rapture of the church. The tribulation follows, seven years. And within seven years from now, if Christ came today in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ could be reigning. And with everything happening in Jerusalem right now, we ought to stop and go, why does the world care about this little people? Why do they care about this city? Why the Temple Mount? Why is that so critical? Listen, it's not because of Al-Asqa, the Muslim mosque, is because Jesus Christ is gonna reign on the Temple Mount, and it's happening. And so, behold the branch. Secondly, behold his people. Okay, he's a king, he's gonna have a kingdom, so he'll have subjects who are, who's his congregation. Okay, the first is the Gentile congregation. Verse 10, it says, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people. Okay, an ensign is a flag or a banner. To it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. Okay? So the Bible is speaking about in that day, when Christ is reigning, that even the Gentiles, praise God, there's still going to be a Gentile turning unto God. But in our day, we could praise God. Today, there's a Gentile turning unto God as well. Praise God. You know, the Bible said about Abraham, Genesis 12, three, and by the way, be very careful how you speak about Israel and be very concerned when any nation nationally turns against Israel. Why? Because God said to Abraham, Genesis 12, three, I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Okay, clearly speaking about the Messiah and the fact that what the Bible says, the middle wall of partition between us, he has broken down. It's no longer Jew and Gentile, it's the people of God, by the grace of God. It's the church. God's done that. It's glorious what God's done through salvation. That He's joined us with the people, His covenant people, Israel, by His grace. Okay? That's incredible today. The Gentiles. Why? Because I don't think I'm preaching to any Jews this morning. If you're a Jew, I don't know it. I'm preaching today to a Gentile congregation. Our hope is in this, what the Bible speaks about, the Gentiles coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the banner? that Pilate put up over the cross. Do you remember what it said? This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. I'm so glad this morning that I can say, you know what, I love a Jewish king. I serve a Jewish king physically in Christ's humanity. I serve a Jewish king. I love a Jewish book. Do you know that? You know, the Bible I hold in my hands is mostly Jewish. It was certainly first given to the Jews. Alright? So I worship a Jewish king from a Jewish book, but I'm a Gentile. Why? Because the Bible said I can. Praise God. It's for the Gentiles. So there'll be a Gentile congregation. Have you taken up his banner? Have you come to that flag of Jesus and identified with Jesus? I'm gonna preach a bit more on that next Sunday, I believe, as I preach on 1 Peter 3, Suffering for Christ. But there is an identification that we have to have with Jesus. Have you taken up his banner? In him was life and life was the light of men. Praise God that we have Jesus this morning. Behold the Gentile congregation. Secondly, behold the Jewish congregation. Remember the Jews back in the day of Jesus, what did they say? Oh, our Messiah, bow down. Well, they kind of did the triumphal entry, but then they rejected him. Crucify him, right? The Jews turned their back. He came unto his own. His own received him not. But you know, there's coming a day, by the grace of God, and praise God for this, that the Jews are gonna accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah nationally. Listen, Romans chapter 11, this is awesome, but this is what happens in the end times. Verse 25, 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 fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Okay, there it is again, the fullness of the Gentiles, that idea that there's a time where the Gentiles are going to have this city. And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, they shall come out of Zion. Zion is Jerusalem. They shall come out of Jerusalem, the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. And it shall come to pass in that day. that the Lord, in our text here, verse 11, 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. 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. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall next vex Ephraim." Okay, and speaking about the return of the Jewish people to where? Israel. And a hundred years ago, unbelievers would mock and laugh and say, see, the Bible's not true. There is no way. Imagine this person a hundred years ago. There is no way you could tell me that Israel would be back in the land. No way! Not a chance in the world. Right? But what do we find? Israel's right back there. And by the way, notice this. Our text just said, they're going to come back from the four corners of the earth. I want to repeat what Benjamin Netanyahu said. From every corner of the earth, our people yearned to return to Jerusalem, to touch its golden stones, to walk its hallowed streets. Listen, shouldn't we wake up today and go, God said this 2,600 years ago, and it's happening. And even if I'm a great unbeliever and I reject the Bible, I ought to stop, look and listen and go, wait a second. Wait a second. That's what God said in the word of God. And that's exactly what is taking place. And then, behold the Exodus out of spiritual Egypt, the world, verse 15 and 16. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea with his mighty wind. Shall he shake his hand over the earth and shall smite it in the seven streams and make men go over dry shod. Okay, what's the spiritual analogy? The spiritual analogy is, remember that story about Israel coming out of Egypt? Egypt, a picture of the world. And the children of Israel come out, and God parts the Red Sea, and they cross over on dry land. And God's saying, it's gonna be like that. It's gonna be that exit from the world. Verse 16, there shall be a 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. It's a picture of salvation. That's what it is. I mean, here they are. They're scattered abroad. But they're looking back at the homeland saying, I'm going back. And they're coming back. And by the way, today in Israel, they're coming back. And they're still coming back. And they're still coming back from all places, just like the Bible said. But it's going to be even more so when Christ sets up His kingdom. And so, again, we got to look and go, wow. They're coming out of Egypt. I mean, in that day, they're going to be identifying that not only are they coming back to their homeland, but they're coming back to Jesus Christ, which is incredible. And so lastly, and this will go through quickly, behold his awakening. Behold his awakening. All right, we beheld the branch, who he is. We beheld the people, Gentile and Jew. Now behold his awakening. Behold his awakening. Isaiah 12, if I was just to read that this morning and not tell you where it was found, and I asked, what book do you think that's in? I think most people would probably say Psalms, unless you know the passage. Because it reads like a psalm. It's a song rejoicing in what God has done. And I came across this in my Bible reading that I remember in Tucson, Arizona almost 20 years ago as I stayed at a, I had my own place on a very wealthy horse ranch, trainers quarters, an adobe house that I got to stay in. And I remember sitting on my bed there and trying to memorize this. Just meditating on it, trying to memorize it. Such a precious passage. And what is taking place here is an awakening. There's revival in this story. So what happens when this takes place? Men get right with God. Verse 11, it says, 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 comfortest me. Wow. What's that a picture of? It's a picture of restoration. God's wrath was against that person, but that person got mercy from God, and they came back to God, and the wrath is gone. You know, the Bible says there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. But you know, it does not mean that that wicked person never has a sense of peace. It means this, that wicked person never has peace with God. God's anger is against them. God's wrath is against them. They may feel fine, they may think they're okay, but they're going to stand someday before the judgment of God, and the wrath of God is going to fall upon them. But this person is rejoicing. Why? Because God's anger is taken away. You know, our sin is an offense to God. We're studying on Thursday nights, we're looking at Genesis and the story of Noah. And the Bible says, God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, but God is upset, and it says specifically, because mankind had corrupted. Corrupted. What's that mean? It means man destroyed God's creation. See, God's creation was absolutely perfect. It is sin, and it is man's rebellion against God that has hurt this creation. And so what? God's angry. God's angry, the Bible says, with the wicked every day. He says that in Psalms. The song says it this way. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide, wider than snow you may be today. If you want right with God, you gotta get rid of the sin that's corrupted his creation. How do you do that? Through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death for you and trusting in Him and asking God because of what Christ did to forgive you of your sin and to save you. And that's what's taking place. The people, they're under the wrath of God, but they repent and they come back. And so they're rejoicing in that day. Men get right with God. We see as well, as they do that, men get saved. Notice these terms about salvation. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength, my song. He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. Go with me to an arid land, not the UK, because the UK has constant moisture coming across it. But go to the Western United States, out into an area that's more of a desert, and where you're dependent upon a well. And you've got to find water. And you're looking, and you're looking, and you're looking. And finally, you drill that well, and you hit water. And people rejoice, and they have a party. Why? Because water's life. Water's life. Do you know Jesus Christ has opened up through the cross the well of salvation? Look, look, there's flowing a crimson tide. Why do they smell you? Maybe today, that is there for you today. If you're not saved today, you can drink of the water of life. And in that day, they'll say, God, it's my salvation. In that day, they'll rejoice because they've taken the water of life that Jesus said, drink of this and you'll never thirst again. So praise God, today, as we look at this passage, in this day, men get right with God, but men get saved. They come and drink of His salvation. I'm so thankful that as I share Christ with people, I can look them in the eye and say, I know for sure if I died today, I'd go to heaven. And I'll say 100%, 150%, 200%. I'm so glad I can say that. Why? Because I've drunk of the well. You know, have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? What an unbeliever needs to do, you know what they need to do? They need to drink! They need to taste for themselves what a believer has in Christ that they can rejoice and say, He also is become my salvation. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm saved. If you can't say that today, I'd really question whether you are truly born again. Why? Because if you're saved, you know it. If you've got Jesus in you, you know it. If you've got the Holy Spirit in you, the Bible says, What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God? Ah, be saved today if you're not. Say with us, He also has become my salvation. Then we find as well, in that day, men worshipped God. 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. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things. This is known in all the earth." You know, I say, here they come, they're coming back, they're coming back to Jerusalem, they're identifying with Jesus Christ. You know what? They're unashamed of it. They're crying out and saying, praise him, sing praise to him, glorify him, magnify him because of who he is. Do you know, again, if I'm saved today, I'd unashamedly stand up and say, you know what, I'm born again. I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Paul said it this way. He said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. David said it in Psalm 107 too. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. And so it doesn't surprise us as these people come back, they're shouting praise to God. Listen, if I'm saved today, that ought to be my testimony. And I'd be, praise God, I'm saved. I'm unashamed. I don't have to be ashamed to bow my head in a restaurant and pray and think, oh no, somebody's gonna see me. No, because I don't mind identifying with Jesus. I don't mind dressing different. I don't mind listening to different things. I don't mind not going some places. I don't mind setting myself apart. Why? Because I'm saved. And I wanna praise God. And that's what they did. And then men of God dwelling with them, verse six. Cry out and shout. This is awesome. Thou inhabitant of Zion, Jerusalem, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Stop and think about it. The whole world could say, oh, Israel will never get Jerusalem. Listen, Israel will never be without Jerusalem. See, and I forgot to mention this. The prime minister said there is no peace There is no peace without Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. But I would add to that statement, there is no peace without Jesus as King in the capital of Israel. But Jerusalem will be Israel's, because that's what the Bible says. And so, I mean, we're looking at this stuff, we ought to stop and we're hearing the news and what they're talking about. You know what? The news ought to stop talking about what's taking place and start talking about what will take place. They need to take their eyes off of the here and now, and they ought to get in the Bible and say, but what does God say about this? Because all the world ought to stop and listen and go, wow. What's taking place there is what the Word of God says. And just like God says. And so as you think about that, can you watch the news today and still be in unbelief? Can you still close your eyes to the fact that the Bible said that? I mean, that's incredible if anyone can. But praise God, there's going to be an awakening, and there could be an awakening today. If you get saved today, the only thing you've got to do is deal with your sin. That sin is an offense to God, but you can rejoice because your sin's taken away, and God's not angry at you anymore. Praise God. Get saved. Drink from the well of salvation. Worship Him unashamedly. Dwell with Him. Praise God, I don't have to go to Jerusalem today. I enjoyed going to Jerusalem. But guess what? Somebody else on the tour said it, but I thought the same thing. Jesus isn't there now. That's depressing in a way. When you get to Jerusalem, you get to Israel. Jesus isn't there. You're listening to it, thinking about Jesus was there. Okay? But as a believer, guess what? Jesus is here. You dwell with God today. Wow, praise God. I mean, some of these things you think about, they're incredible. And so it was a historic week. But can I point out, just like in the day when the shepherds heard, unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, that as believers, we ought to be hearing that today. We ought to anticipate, just like they did, the coming Messiah. We ought to anticipate his return. He's coming. Pray God to help us be what we ought to be when He comes back. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would take the truth of what was shared today and put it in our hearts where we can't forget it. Father, the world is not interested in anything to do with the coming Messiah. But Father, we look at what's taking place in Jerusalem and we ought to anticipate The war that's going to come, the battle that's going to be fought, the key battleground that's going to take place there is with the Antichrist and the beast and arming themselves against the Lord Jesus Christ, trying to prevent his return. Father, even like they have, they put a Muslim cemetery in front of the Eastern Gate, thinking a prophet won't go through a cemetery on his way in. But Father, others in faith have died and wanted to be buried upon the Mount of Olives because they know the Bible speaks about the return of the Lord coming through that area. And Father, I just pray the Spirit of God will put faith in our hearts today. We've looked at Jerusalem the last two Sundays, and I believe there's a reason you got us thinking about it. And so I pray, Spirit of God, have your way today. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. 366, have thine own way.