Sermon #15                                                                                                             Zechariah Series

 

      Title:                                   Joshua and His Fellows

      Text:                                   Zechariah 3:8

      Subject:                  Christ and His People

      Date:                                  Sunday Morning — October 9, 2005

      Tape #                    Zechariah #15

      Reading:     Isaiah 11:1-12:6

      Introduction:

     

Everything in the first part of this instructive chapter (Zec. 3:1-7) portrays the great grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Advocate and Great High Priest. How thankful we ought to be to God the Holy Spirit for showing this vision to Zechariah and for inspiring him to record it for us!

 

Joshua Before the Angel

 

When we see Joshua standing before the Angel of the Lord, clothed with filthy garments, we see ourselves. You and I, both the preacher and you who hear me, are in ourselves nothing but poor, filthy sinners. Saved by grace, redeemed by blood, justified and sanctified in Christ, perfect, righteous, and holy before God, yes! But, in ourselves, we are just filthy sinners.

 

Satan Accusing

 

Satan stands by us, constantly accusing us. He throws our filth in our faces, and attempts to throw them before our God. But here, the Spirit of God, the great and almighty Glorifier of Christ, shows us the everlasting and all-prevailing Advocacy of our Savior on our behalf. He who is God our Savior, our only and all-sufficient Righteousness, our only and all-sufficient Sanctification, our only and all-sufficient Redemption, is also God our Advocate, our glorious and effectual Intercessor!

 

Satan Rebuked

 

He has rebuked Satan, and still rebukes him. The Accuser is cast down and will never prevail against us. Yes, we are clothed with filthy garments, and confess that it is so. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). But our Savior, our mighty Advocate declares, “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, I will clothe thee with change of raiment!” He has set the fair miter of his own holiness upon our heads and clothed us with the garments of salvation, both externally and internally.

  • Imputed Righteousness
  • Imparted Righteousness

 

(2 Corinthians 5:17)  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

 

Modern Gnostics

 

Let me digress a little. Let me say something more about the righteousness of Christ being imparted to us. There are a few brilliant fools today, claiming to preach the gospel, who deny the new birth, who deny that the believer receives a new nature by God’s mighty operation of grace. They claim to have “new light.” But their new light is the old darkness of pagan Gnosticism.

 

(Colossians 2:8)  “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

 

Gnosticism is the teaching that salvation is arrived at by acquired knowledge, not by divine regeneration. This philosophy of vain deceit denies the necessity of the new birth, denies that the believer is given a new nature by the Spirit of God, denies that righteousness is imparted and that we are made partakers of the divine nature in regeneration. Gnostics speak of God’s saving grace as nothing but a “principle” (an accepted philosophical rule). Gnosticism is a dead corpse that has been around for a long time. The early church was plagued with the heresy; and the church today is still plagued with it. Gnostics vainly imagine that they are the spiritually elite, that they were the only ones who have true, saving knowledge. They look upon those of us who believe God’s revelation of himself in his Word and trust Christ as our Wisdom as well as our Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption as ignorant people, without spiritual understanding. In essence, Gnostics are people who, as Paul puts it, who know “Christ after the flesh,” by mere carnal reason, which is to say they are people with religious knowledge who are totally void of grace and spiritual life, groping in darkness.

 

Back to Zechariah’s Vision

 

When we get to verse 8 the Holy Spirit gives us God’s message to us in the vision. Everything in verses 8-10 is messianic. Everything here speaks of Christ. It is a message to and about Joshua and His Fellows.

 

(Zechariah 3:8-10)  “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. (9) For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. (10) In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.”

 

Christ And His Fellows

 

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee.” — As you well know, the name “Joshua” in the New Testament translated “Jesus.” It means the same thing. — “Deliverer” — “Jehovah saves.” At this point, Joshua is no longer seen as one standing alone, but as one man sitting with and representing many. Behold, a greater than Joshua is here! If I understand the passage correctly, Joshua is now held before us as a type and picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Great High priest. I say that because both the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul use these same words, applying them to Christ (Isa. 8:18: Heb. 2:13).

 

(Isaiah 8:18)  “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.”

 

(Hebrews 2:9-18)  “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (10) For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (11) For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, (12) Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (13) And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (14) Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (15) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (16) For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (17) Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (18) For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

 

Reading this statement in Zechariah 3:8, “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee,” with what the Holy Spirit tells us in Isaiah 8 and in Hebrews 2, it seems obvious to me that the intent of the Spirit of God is to show us our union with Christ, to show us that Christ our Advocate and High Priest and his people are one (Ps. 45:7; Heb. 1:9; 1 John 1:3). We are his “fellows,” his companions, but more than companions. We are one with our Savior.

 

(Psalms 45:7)  “Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

 

(Hebrews 1:9)  “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

 

(1 John 1:3)  “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

 

The apostle Paul seems to stretch language almost to the breaking point describing this union of Christ and his people. Paul tells us that Christ dwells in us and we in him. We died to sin in him. We were crucified with him. We live in him. We are baptized into him and into his death. Christ is the Head and we are the body, bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. He is the Foundation and we are the building. He is the Husband and we are his wife. For Christ to live is for us to live. For us to live is for him to live! Indeed, we are “the fulness of him that filleth all in all!

 

We are one with Christ in all things.

·         Representatively one with him as our Surety from eternity.

·         Vitally one with him by grace and faith, as the vine and the branches, as the head and the body are one.

And assuming our nature, living, and dying, and rising again, our Lord Jesus Christ is one with us. He became all that we are, and makes us all that he is. — “Because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

 

‘Twixt Jesus and the chosen race

Subsists a bond of sovereign grace,

That hell, with its infernal train,

Shall ne’er dissolve nor rend in vain

 

Hail! sacred union, firm and strong,

How great the grace, how sweet the song,

That worms of earth should ever be

One with incarnate Deity!

 

One in the tomb, one when He rose,

One when He triumphed o’er His foes,

One when in heaven He took His seat,

While seraphs sang all hell’s defeat.

 

This sacred tie forbids their fears,

For all He is or has is theirs;

With Him, their Head, they stand or fall,

Their life, their surety, and their all.

 

 

You and I, and every sinner who trusts Christ, are his “fellows,” sitting before him, or sitting with him as priests in the holy place before God, at the right hand of the Majesty on High (Eph. 2:4-6).

·         We sit before Christ our Prophet as his disciples, to be taught by him.

·         We sit before Christ our King as his subjects, to be directed by him

·         We sit before Christ our Priest as his people, to be accepted by him.

·         We sit before Christ our Master as his servants, to be obedient to him.

·         We sit before Christ our God and Savior, to worship him.

·         And we sit with Christ our Companion, as one with him, as priest and kings unto our God.

 

(Ephesians 2:4-6)  “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

 

Men Wondered At

 

Next, we read, “for they are men wondered at.” — Christ and his fellows, Christ and his people “are men wondered at.” Why?

 

It is no marvel that our Lord Jesus Christ, our Joshua, is here set before us as a Man “wondered at.” That I can easily see. He is truly a Man “wondered at” by me. God the Son became Jesus the Man. What a wondrous mystery this is, that God the eternal Son should take into union with himself our nature and become one of us and one with us in our nature, that we might be made the sons of God with him (1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 3:1-2).

 

(Isaiah 7:14)  “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

 

What glories, what wonders, what mysteries are wrapped up in his name — “Immanuel!” O Immanuel, you and your children, whom the Lord has given you, are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion!

 

You might ask, “Can the Joshua of Zechariah’s vision typify our holy Savior?” Indeed, he does! The Lord Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, became all that we are, that he might make us all that he is as the sons of God.

·         He was clothed with our filthy garments, when he was made sin for us.

·         The filth of our sin, which was made his, was taken away by him when he laid down his life for us. Iniquity was caused to pass from him.

·         And, in the resurrection, he was clothed with a change of raiment, the fair miter of holiness to the Lord was placed upon his head, as a Priest upon his throne, and the garments of praise were put upon him.

 

(1 Timothy 3:16)  “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

 

·         We are now the sons of God, the righteousness of God, and kings and priests unto God in him and with him!

 

(1 John 3:1-2)  “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

 

But here we are told that we, being his fellows, are “men wondered at!We are people wondered at by the angels of God. How astonished the angels themselves must be that the holy God, our Savior, should love such unholy, sinful things as we are, and so love us as to lay down his life for us!

 

The world is constantly astonished and wonders at God’s saints. “The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” The world can never understand a person who believes Christ, who gives up his life to the Lord Jesus, loving one he has never seen, and willingly enduring the loss of all things for him.

·         Our faith is looked upon as foolishness.

·         Our devotion is considered fanaticism.

·         Our doctrine is thought to be bigotry.

 

Above all, we are stand in utter all, wonder, and amazement, astonished by the mercy, love and grace of God that is ours in Christ.

·         I am amazed that God the Father should love me with an everlasting love, that he chose me in Christ Jesus before the world was made.

·         I am astonished that Son of God loved me and gave himself for me, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling savor to God.

·         I stand in awe before my God when I think that that God the Holy Spirit loved me, called me with an holy calling, regenerated, illuminated, convinced me of sin, and of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, and of judgment finished.

·         I am in complete wonder before the thrice holy Lord God, who brought me to the love him I once abhorred.

·         I cannot adequately state my astonishment at his goodness in taking away my filthy garments, washing me in the blood of Christ, sitting the fair miter of perfect holiness upon me, robing me in the righteousness of Christ, making me a partaker of the divine nature, and making me worthy to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light!

 

I am and have been the spectator of wonderful things for 38 years, things that completely swallow me, and shall swallow me up in the admiration of my Savior to all eternity! And, oh, how utterly astonished I am that a sinner so manifestly, distinctively, and unceasingly blessed of God as I am could be so unthankful, so unbelieving, so unloving, so unworthy, and so little devoted to the glory of him, who by his distinguishing grace, has called me out of darkness into his marvellous light, while multitudes all around me are left to the blindness, darkness, and ignorance of their own depraved hearts!

 

God’s elect are men wondered at as miracles of grace. What a wonder we shall be to all the hosts of heaven, earth and hell, when our Savior presents us faultless, holy, and without blame before the presence his glory in the last day to the praise of the glory of his grace forever!

 

(Ephesians 2:1-9)  “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

 

Pause, my soul, and calculate the incalculable, exceeding riches of God’s infinite, boundless, free grace in Christ! — How free! — How sovereign! — How inexhaustible! — How everlasting! All that this poor sinner has in time, all that I can enjoy to all eternity, all is of grace!

 

How highly God himself prizes his grace! He has chosen to be known among his people, as “the God of all grace!” All grace? Yes, all grace, and all sorts and degrees of grace: pardoning grace, renewing grace, quickening grace, strengthening grace, comforting grace, all-sufficient grace! — All grace.

 

And all this grace is treasured up in Christ alone! He who gets Christ, gets all grace! He who has Christ has all grace! The brightest jewel in our Redeemer’s crown is that which shines with this inscription: “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

 

God’s Promise

 

Now, look at the last line of verse 8. Here is God’s promise. — “Behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.”

 

Behold” — That word, “Behold,” is intended to get our attention. It is as if the Lord God is saying to us, “Stop, and listen. Pay close attention to this.” The had just brought Joshua and his fellows, the nation of Israel out of Babylon. He had just saved them from their enemies and delivered them from bondage. Here, he is saying, “Though I have brought you this salvation, there is a day yet to come when I will bring you a greater salvation than this, the salvation that is typified by this. In that day, ‘Behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.’”

 

My Servant

 

First, he promises “I will bring forth my servant.” What a blessed, comforting title this is for our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ! In order to save us from our sins the Son of God became the Servant of God. He is described as Jehovah’s Righteous Servant throughout the writings of the Old Testament prophets (Isa. 42:1-4; 49:3-5; 52:13; 53:11; Ezek. 34:23).

 

(Isaiah 42:1-4)  “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (2) He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. (3) A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (4) He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”

 

(Isaiah 49:3-5)  “And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (4) Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. (5) And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.”

 

(Isaiah 52:13)  “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.”

 

(Isaiah 53:11)  “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

 

(Ezekiel 34:23)  “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.”

 

·         Christ is that willing, voluntary bond-servant of whom the law speaks in Exodus 21:1-6 (Isa. 50:5-7).

 

(Exodus 21:1-6)  “Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. (2) If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. (3) If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. (4) If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. (5) And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: (6) Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.”

 

(Isaiah 50:5-7)  “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. (6) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. (7) For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”

 

·         As Jehovah’s Servant, our Lord Jesus is our covenant Surety, the One who has from old eternity assumed total liability for us before God.

·         He who is Jehovah’s Servant is our Good Shepherd, by whom we are saved (John 10:14-18).

 

(John 10:14-18)  “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. (16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

 

The Branch

 

Not only is our Lord Jesus Jehovah’s Righteous Servant, he is the Branch (Isa. 4:2; 11:1; Jer. 23:5; 33:15; Zech. 6:12). — “Behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.”

 

(Isaiah 4:2)  “In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”

 

(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.”

 

(Jeremiah 23:5)  “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”

 

(Jeremiah 33:15)  “In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.”

 

Throughout these prophetic references to our Savior as Jehovah’s Servant, the BRANCH, there is a connection to his incarnation. He is called “the BRANCH,” not “a branch,” as if to say “he is the only BRANCH of God.” It speaks of him as that One “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Mic. 4:2).

·         He was brought forth in the covenant of grace, as our Surety, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, into whose hands the triune God trusted our souls.

·         He was brought forth in the fulness of time, “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.”

·         He was brought forth before the bar of God and slain as our sin-atoning Substitute, when he was made sin for us.

·         He was brought forth from the grave three days later, “justified in the spirit,” because he had put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself.

·         He was brought forth on the Day of Pentecost, as our enthroned Priest and King, as a fruitful BRANCH, pouring out his Spirit and gathering his fruit from the earth.

·         He is brought forth to you by the preaching of the gospel.

·         And he shall be brought forth the second time, without sin, unto salvation.

 

What a fruitful branch Christ “the BRANCH” is! Look at Zechariah 6:12-13. He says, “From me is thy fruit found” (Hosea 14:8).

 

(Zechariah 6:12-13)  “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: (13) Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”

 

All the fruit of the Spirit, all the fruit of grace, salvation, eternal life, and heavenly glory comes to us from Christ “the BRANCH.

 

He is the BRANCH into which every sinner called by grace has been grafted, the Branch unto who we are gathered (Isa. 11:1-11).

 

(Isaiah 11:1-11)  “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (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: (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. (5) And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. (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: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (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. (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.”

 

The word translated “BRANCH” in Isaiah 11:1 is the Hebrew word “netser,” from which we get the words “Nazareth,” “Nazarene,” and “Nazarite.” In Zechariah 6:12 we read, “Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place.” God’s church is the vineyard God’s right hand has planted; and Christ is the BRANCH that he made strong for himself (Ps. 80:15). The place where “the BRANCH” grew up, “his place,” the place specifically prepared for him, was Nazareth (Matt. 2:23). And our Lord Jesus Christ, “the BRANCH,” is that great Nazarite typified in the Nazarite law (Num. 6), our mighty Samson (Jud. 13:5), who came to deliver Israel from his enemies and to “save his people from their sins” (Matt. 2:23; 1:21).

 

(Zechariah 3:8)  “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.”

 

I send you home, urging you to behold and look upon, adore and worship the Lord Jesus Christ Jehovah’s Righteous Servant, by whom we are saved, trusting him, “the Branch,” drawing life from him. Oh, may Christ “the Branch” be brought forth, raised up, and made blessed to us all this day! What a fragrant, fruitful, strong Branch he is! In him all redemption blessings are found! From him all redemption blessings flow to us sinners redeemed by his precious blood! Come, sit under the shadow of “the BRANCH” forever. Here I sit with satisfaction and delight in blessed rest. His fruit is sweet to my taste.

  • Redemption!
  • Righteousness!
  • Justification!
  • Sanctification!
  • Faith!
  • Forgiveness!
  • Peace!

 

(Song of Songs 2:3)  “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”

 

(Zechariah 3:8-10)  “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. (9) For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. (10) In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.”

 

Amen.