(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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You're 67, right? 67, I'm just gonna keep saying it so everybody knows everybody knows how, so my dad is turning 67 if you want to take him out the E, he gets the discount but he's had it for a long time, so so, but anyway so we're gonna be singing happy anniversary to my parents get my dad in there too on the birthdays and then and then pregnancies, my wife's on the pregnancy list there, so I'll be in prayer for her so she's about to get into the third trimester, and then so she's about to get into the third trimester, so she's feeling it for sure, but just being in prayer for her and the baby and all that and yeah, we were out at Blackwater Falls, and I had all the kids I had James strapped to my chest, and all the girls were climbing on rocks and taking pictures and all this stuff, and this one family's just like oh, that's cute and all that stuff, and the one guy's like, you know you control that, right? I thought he was talking about like, you know, because it was all girls and then I had like a boy, and it's one of these things where he's like, you know, you can dial that back, and I didn't like think about it, I thought he was talking about like having a boy compared to a girl, but then I think he was talking about like how many kids I had and I'm like, why would I dial it back? Like I have like four beautiful children, one on the way, they're all healthy like, you dial it back, you know to me it's like, why would I do that? So anyway, that's a sermon for another day on Children Being Inherited to the Lord, but it was one of those things where I didn't process it, you know, like what he was actually saying, until like, I thought he was just talking about having so many girls, you know, and that the guy obviously controls on whether you have a boy or a girl, and I was like, yeah, sure, but I can't really control that, you know, but at the same time, like those little little jabs in there, I'm just like, dude, you know, like why, look at my kids, you know, I'm going to have, I'm going to keep having them until, you know, I have a bus full, you know, I want to have one of those short buses, you know, that you open it up, you know, anyway so, but that being said, that's about all I got for announcements, the offering boxes in the back there, we have the mother and baby rooms for the mothers and babies only and that should do it for announcements, but I think it's going to come saying happy birthday to a whole bunch of people, happy anniversary, one more song, and then I forgot who's reading this morning, brother Levi's going to be reading Ezekiel chapter 17 for us. Alright, take your song books Ezekiel 17 Alright, take your song books and turn to song 169 song 169 in your song books, we'll sing Come Thou Fount, but before we do that, we need to sing happy birthday, so so Rachel, okay whoever's birthday it is, just stand up, so Rachel Anastasia, Abby, Lincoln, and Abby Robinson, alright y'all there we go, there we go, where's Lincoln, stand up, we're going to sing it for everybody, oh, there she is Abby's standing up already, alright how old are you going to be? No, just kidding, alright, 67, we know that here we go, ready, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday God bless you happy birthday to you alright, well happy birthday to you all, oh Mr. Robinson you just stay standing up brother, you've got an anniversary coming too, alright Mr. Robinson, here we go yeah, okay, alright we'll sing happy happy and for, alright that's not until a little while, okay here we go, ready, happy anniversary to you, happy anniversary to you, happy anniversary God bless you happy anniversary to you, well happy anniversary to both of you, and we will sing song 169 Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise, teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above praise the mount I'm fixed upon and mount of thy redeeming love, here I raise mine Ebeneezer, hither by thy help I come and I know by thy good pleasure safely I'll arrive at home Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God, he to rescue me from danger interposed his precious blood oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be, let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee prone to wander, Lord I feel it prone to leave the God I love, here's my heart O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above Alright take your Bibles and turn to Ezekiel chapter number 17 We'll have Brother Levi read that for us Ezekiel chapter 17 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel, and say Thus saith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar. He cropped off the top of his young twigs and carried it into a land of traffic. He set it in a city of merchants. He took also the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field. He placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches churned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him, so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers, and behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. It was planted in a good soil, by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power, or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows where it grew. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon, and hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him, he hath also taken the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape that doeth such things? Or shall he break the covenant and be delivered? As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth, that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he break, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh, with his mighty army and great company, make for him in the war by casting up mounts, and building forts to cut off many persons, seeing he despise the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he hath given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass, that he has trespassed against me. And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds, and ye shall know that I the Lord hath spoken it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it. I will crop off from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain, and imminent. And the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring forth bows and bare fruit, and be a goodly cedar, and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing, in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and have done it. Let's pray. God, thank you for today. God, thank you for the retreat that we just got to be on, God, and the great time that we had. I pray that you would be with us today as we come to your house to hear your word. I pray that you would be a pastor, and help us to learn something. In Jesus' name, amen. So you're there in Ezekiel chapter 13, and you can probably tell that this isn't going to be one of those sermons about kind of a major story. If you're saying well this is a famous passage here in Ezekiel chapter 17, I'm not going to say that. Okay, so I obviously am not doing like a big, you know, gnome story if you will. But this is a sermon that I've been wanting to preach for a while, or just a correlation that I saw in the Bible, and you may have seen this correlation as well. Dealing with here in Ezekiel chapter 17. The name of the sermon is a tender plant. A tender plant. Now this chapter is a parable. Okay, so it literally says at the beginning of the chapter in verse 2, it says, Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable unto the house of Israel. Okay, so when you're looking at this passage, you're kind of dealing with two different things here. You're dealing with Babylon, and you're dealing with Judah or Jerusalem. Okay, so just so you know the story, we're not dealing with the northern kingdom of Israel because in Ezekiel, we're already in the captivity of Judah in Babylon. Okay, but it starts off with them being captive, but basically the temple hasn't been destroyed yet. If you know the story, they're taken captive, Jeconiah is taken captive for the whole, you know, 70 years, if you will, but then he's brought up, you know, in the midst of that. But at the same time, basically there's 11 years where Zedekiah is set up to be king and the king of Babylon sets him up to be king and then he rebels and all that, and then Babylon comes in and completely decimates Jerusalem and Judah, meaning that's when they burn down the house of God, they completely destroy the city, and all of that. Okay, so this parable here is kind of dealing with Babylon and how the king of Judah, but in this case, Israel is Judah. I mean, the northern kingdom is completely gone, so now Judah is Israel. I mean, that's what's left. Okay, and so he's basically stating that okay, here's this parable about how Babylon was created and how it's this fruitful nation, but then also Judah is also fruitful at the same time, but Babylon is setting up a king in Judah. He set up Zedekiah so that the kingdom would basically stand, but it wouldn't be to great power. It's not going to be this super power like it used to be. So just so you kind of get the back story of what's being said before in this parable, what I really want you to focus in on is verse 22. Okay, because the parable kind of starts off talking about Babylon and the physical nation of Israel, if you will, and it says in verse 22, it says, Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it, and I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent. So if you remember at the very beginning it's talking about how there's this great eagle and all this stuff and how it's basically taking these twigs and stuff from the top of these trees and planting it and talking about how it grew into this big willow tree. This case is stating after all of that that God is going to basically do the same thing, only he's going to take it from this high cedar tree and it's going to become a goodly cedar, but it starts off as this tender one, this tender plant. And keep reading there in verse 23, it says, In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it? So he's going to take this tender twig, if you will, that's coming from the top of this tree and he's going to plant it on the high mountain in Israel and it says, And it shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit and be a goodly cedar. So this is going to turn into a big cedar tree. So just to bring it on the bottom shelf here, he's basically taking this high, this twig on the top of these branches, it's very tender, very small, but then brings it, plants it, and then it turns into this great goodly cedar, right? It says, Under it shall dwell all fowl of every thing in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree and have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree and have made the dry tree to flourish. I the Lord have spoken and have done it. What is this talking about? I believe this is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus. And let me explain. When you're dealing with the Bible, a lot of times there's phrases or there's key words that will stick out when you're reading it. Go to Isaiah chapter 53. Would anyone doubt that Isaiah 53 is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the chapter, if you will, on the prophecy of Jesus coming. Obviously we have Psalm 22 as well, but Isaiah 53 is all about the Lord Jesus coming and Him dying for our sins. It's referred to over and over again in the New Testament. But there's something that sticks out and I want you to keep your finger in Ezekiel chapter 17. But in Isaiah 53, starting there in verse 1, it says, Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as what? A tender plant, and as a root out of what? A dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. So what are we talking about? What's the key word here? A tender plant. A tender plant. In Ezekiel chapter 17, look back at Ezekiel chapter 17 and verse 22, and sometimes I just like preaching these sermons where you see these cool correlations where the Bible meets together. You have Isaiah and Ezekiel meeting together on the same type of prophecy about how the Lord is going to come. That He comes as a tender plant. We were talking about in Exodus how they had a veil. The children of Israel basically have a veil over their face to where they can't see past. They can't see the forest through the trees, if you will. They kind of see that surface level, but they're not seeing the big picture. A lot of times in the New Testament especially, he would be talking to them and they think that he's going to set up his kingdom now, that he's coming now to basically rule and reign on the earth, and they were missing the point of how he's coming as a tender plant to begin with, and that he wasn't coming with a rod of iron and the sword to begin with. That's going to come, but it starts off him coming as a tender plant. In Ezekiel chapter 17 and verse 22, remember it says that he shall grow up before him as a tender plant. Ezekiel 17 verse 22, it says, Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it, and will crop from the top his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon the high mountain in eminent. There's the key term there, that tender one, that he's going to plant. It's stating here that he's going to grow up as a tender plant in Isaiah chapter 53. So what are we talking about here? Well think about this. Where was Jesus to begin with? He was in heaven. He was on his throne from the very beginning. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God, and without him was not anything made that was made. He made everything. Everything was spoken into existence by the Lord Jesus. So where did he start? Up high, right? Where did this twig come from? Where did this tender one come from? Well Ezekiel says the highest branch of the high cedar. The most high. Right? He comes from, he is the most high. He's coming from the most high, and he's coming down to be brought low and being planted to be a tender one. Now he doesn't stay that way. He doesn't stay as being like basically completely tender and all that as far as he turns into a great cedar. So what you have to understand is that this, both Isaiah and Ezekiel are hitting on this point that he's coming, he's coming meek and lowly, and he's coming as a servant. He's coming to die for us is what's going to happen. And these parables, well actually Ezekiel is a parable. Isaiah 53 is just straight up telling you what's going to happen. Now obviously it's using metaphorical speech. He's not actually a plant. Right? He's a person, but at the same time it's using that so that you can understand what he's talking about. A tender plant compared to a big cedar tree. But go to Hebrews chapter 2. What this is showing you is that he's the Lord from heaven the Bible says. He's the Lord from heaven. He's the Lord that came down from heaven. And he is the Lord to begin with and he came down and humbled himself and became one of us. Okay? And Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 5. Notice what it says here. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 5. This is actually a very simple sermon but I just want you to see these I think very cool correlations in the Bible. And whenever you think that you know a whole bunch about the Bible just know that there's a lot of stuff like this that maybe you haven't seen before. And some of you may say hey I've noticed this before when I was reading through Ezekiel and that's great. But some may say I've never even noticed that before. I've never seen that correlation. And to me this is the hidden manna. Right? Where you see these little things in there that you didn't notice before. But in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 5 here it says for unto the angels he hath not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak but one in a certain place testifies saying what is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou visiteth him? He's basically saying he's not, basically the world is not subject unto angels the world is going to be subject unto us. The Bible even talks about how we're going to judge angels. Okay? But right now notice what it says in verse 7. Thou madeest him a little lower than the angels. So he's talking about man in general is made a little lower than the angels. But we're going to rule and reign with Christ and we're going to judge angels and we're going to be over the angels eventually. Okay? But right now we're under the angels. Like we're lower than the angels. They have more power than we do at the moment. It says thou crownest him with glory and honor and didst set him over the works of thy hands. Thou has put all things in subjection under his feet for in that he hath put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. Notice verse 9 here. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. So when it comes to Jesus he came down from heaven and was made a little lower than the angels. The most high, right? The Lord himself, the Lord God Almighty came down and obviously we know that God is three persons one God. The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. Well God the Son came down and was made lower than the angels. And basically came off his throne to become one of us. And this is the greatest story ever told. I mean the idea that God would come down and be one of us so that he can die for us. I mean when Jesus was talking to Pilate and basically Pilate saying I have power to destroy thee or to release thee and I'm paraphrasing here but basically Jesus says you have no power but that which is given to you above. But at the same time he's saying for this hour came I into the world. This is why Jesus came was to die for us but he had to basically the Bible says later on in Hebrews chapter 2 that basically it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and thanks pertaining to God and making reconciliation for the sins of the people. And the fact is that he had to take on the seat of Abraham. He had to become one of us in order to take our place. And in order to do that he had to step off his throne, come down, be made a little lower than the angels, be this tender one, this tender plant that's going to grow up and be despised and rejected of men. He came unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him that then gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. So we know that obviously not everybody rejects him but as a whole the nation of Israel rejected Jesus. I mean they're the ones that killed him. They're the ones that brought him before Pilate and said crucify him. And go to second Corinthians chapter 8, second Corinthians chapter 8. So if anything you know like I love seeing other passages that state the same thing. And there's no new doctrine here. It's not like I'm like oh man Pastor Robinson brought this new thing to us, right? There's nothing new here. It's the same doctrine. Jesus came to die for us. And he came to humble himself and become one of us but it's in Ezekiel 17, right? I mean most people know Psalm 22. Most people know Isaiah 53. But do you know Ezekiel 17, right? And this isn't the only place. I'm just saying that what we know, you know when Jesus was walking on the road to Emmaus and the two men that were with him and he expounded the scriptures unto them, wouldn't you like to be a fly on the road I guess? Not the ball. I guess they're on the road. But wouldn't you like to just be there and see okay what is Jesus explaining to them as far as what's in the Old Testament explaining this is me. This is talking about me. Right? Because you could say well of course Genesis 21 with Isaac on the altar that obviously represents Jesus but what about maybe he was talking about Ezekiel 17. Maybe he was talking about some other place that maybe none of us have really even thought about as far as how it represents him coming. Okay? And there's nothing new under the sun. It's not a new doctrine here. It's just the fact that the Bible is so infinite and just the truths and just things that you can learn that we'll never know everything here on earth. My finite brain is never going to just receive everything that's out of the Bible. I'm going to constantly hopefully constantly be learning. But this should be a testament to say hey keep reading. Keep studying. Because everybody can still learn more. And in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 notice what it says here. It says for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. I mean that's a simple verse to just explain what he did. Right? He was sitting on his throne. He had all the glory. He had all the seraphims and cherubims and the host of all the angels worshipping and basically stating that holy holy Lord God Almighty the whole earth is full of thy glory. And that's going on constantly in heaven. But he put that off all those riches and all that stuff that's going on to come down to die for us. To be poor so that we can be made rich. Okay? Go to Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5. That is a bigger lesson with this. Obviously you know the story of Jesus is something that we should be following his steps. Right? We should be in this life be like Jesus was when he was here on the earth. Humble, meek, lowly, servant and going forth that direction and not wanting to be exalted now. Okay? The idea is that the we'll be exalted later. Right now it's time to work, to be a servant, to do what we need to do and it's not a time to just get all the exalting in this life. Now sometimes the Lord does exalt us in this life because the Lord is gracious and merciful and he's abundant in all his riches. But in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5 it says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. So it starts off with saying, hey, have the same mind. Okay? Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Why? Because he is God. Okay? He's not robbery to be equal with God because Jesus is God. Okay? And yet the Father, it says there are three to bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and Jesus is the Word of God, he's the Son of God and he is God. So is it not robbery to be equal with God? But notice that even though he's equal with God, he is God, right? Verse 7 it says, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. So he's basically made himself to where he had no reputation even though it was hard, right? Because he'd constantly be telling people see thou tell no man and the more he said that the more they're like saying fraud. And so he was trying, you know, obviously constantly to be a man of no reputation. He wasn't trying to make a name for himself necessarily. He was just trying to be a servant doing what he, he just went about doing good. And notice what it says in verse 8, it says, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Okay? So that's where you know, the things concerning me have an end. He says to his disciples meaning that he went through the cross, he died. Obviously we know the end of that is that he rose again the third day and that's the victory there is the resurrection. But what happened after that? It says in verse 9 there, wherefore, wherefore means why, you know like basically wherefore is kind of like looking back to what was just all stated the reason of what's about to happen is what was just stated, essentially what's going on there. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So obviously Jesus then was exalted and he's seated at the right hand of the Father right now. The man Christ Jesus the one that died for our sins, obviously Jesus is God but the man who died on the cross, you know meaning that Jesus is 100% man, 100% God but he is seated at the right hand of the Father. He's been exalted though he was slain but he is a lamb as if it had been slain that's sitting on the right hand of God and he's been exalted and his name is above every name. Because the Bible says that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. The name of Jesus should be exalted. The name of Jesus is above every name that's named in the earth. And it's something that just sticks out in this passage is the fact that where was that twig taken from? Where was that tender one taken from? From the highest of the branches of that cedar tree. And if you think about it it was in Lebanon you say well what's the significance there? Read throughout the Bible and see where the best trees come from. Lebanon. It's just constantly the cedars in Lebanon the trees in Lebanon. When they were building the house of God where did they bring all that wood from? Lebanon. Lebanon was like the place where all the best trees were at. I don't know if that's still true today. I haven't looked it up or been to Lebanon to know if they still have great cedar trees and all that but there's a significance there because it's the best of the best. It's the highest branch upon the highest cedar which represent that He is God and He's coming down to be one of us. Now also it states that He's going to be fruitful that this tree is going to turn into a goodly cedar. Go to Isaiah 53 and verse 8. Isaiah 53 and verse 8. And the idea here is that when we're talking about this passage here the big thing that's being stated is that there's going to be a tree that's going to be brought low and there's going to be a tree that's exalted. Now this passage can be talking about Babylon because there is this dichotomy if you will between Babylon and Israel if you will as far as Babylon being that evil nation that's going to be destroyed and then Israel is exalted. And you can think about that in the spiritual realm because we know that Babylon is going to be a future Babylon that's going to be destroyed and then you have that nation, that holy nation of Israel and all believers the bride of Christ and all that stuff that's going to be exalted and you can think of it that way. But in this passage you can also see that it's talking about the physical nation that's disobeying God that's breaking His covenant that the king basically is not doing what he should be doing and that that's going to be taking away that that's going to be brought low and that another nation that's going to be exalted if you will. And that's talking about believers, that's talking about the Lord Jesus being over the New Testament. Isaiah 53 and verse 8, and I know this is kind of deep for Sunday morning but you know what? I've been wanting to preach this for a while and we just got back from our camping trip and I'm like what am I going to preach on? I'm like I'm going to preach on that. So however you want to look at whether this should be a Sunday evening sermon or not, you know what? I'm the pastor, I get to choose what I get to preach in the morning. And I'm preaching on some deeper stuff this morning but just deal with it. Isaiah 53 and verse 8 it says He was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation for he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. So this is obviously talking about how Jesus was taken out of prison. If you remember obviously the whole back and forth with Pilate, with Herod and all that and then he was crucified. He was cut off out of the land of the living because he died. And the statement that's made is who's going to declare his generation. He didn't have any, obviously Jesus didn't marry and have kids it's not like he's got progenitors that are going down the line physically. But in Psalm 22 which is obviously another passage dealing with the Lord and how he's going to be crucified this is where it says they pierced my hands and my feet. And Psalm 22 and verse 30 it says a seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. So it's saying who's going to declare his generation? Well there's going to be a seed that's going to be declared to be his generation. It says they shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he had done this. Meaning that there will be a generation that's going to be accounted to the Lord and go to Isaiah 54. So you're in Isaiah 53, go to Isaiah 54 and verse 1. Isaiah 54 and verse 1. Because this tree is going to be extremely fruitful, more fruitful than any other tree. Because this tree represents the Lord Jesus. When we're talking about this seed is going to serve him, what are we talking about? Well if you be in Christ then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise? I mean that seed is the seed of Christ. That seed is those that believe on Christ. They are the children of promise. Those that put their faith in Christ, those that are believers are children of faith just like Abraham. Now in Isaiah 54 and verse 1 it says sing, O barren, thou that bears that didst not bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child. For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wives of the Lord. That's interesting that it states that right after Isaiah 53 when it says who's going to declare your generation, right? And it's stating that this woman that basically can't bear is going to have more children than the person that's married that's having children. And what this means is that the Lord Jesus has, there's more fruit coming from the Lord Jesus than any physical woman and obviously this is talking about the fruit of the righteous is the tree of life and he that win his souls is wise. We're talking about those that are one to the Lord, those that are children of God. Okay, spiritually speaking, children of God, those are more than the stars that are in heaven, more than the sand that's on the seashore innumerable when you think about from the beginning of history to the end of history that hasn't happened yet, but people getting saved that are accounted for his generation. Because those that before Jesus died on the cross, everybody that believed on Christ before Jesus even died on the cross, they're all his generation. They're all accounted to him. And that's what this is stating and even in Galatians chapter 4 it reiterates this and it quotes this passage. So if you think well how do you know this is talking about the New Testament? How do you know this is talking about spiritual you know, children? Well because the New Testament says it does, okay? So go to Galatians chapter 4, Galatians chapter 4 and verse 21. Galatians 4 and verse 21. When I see this passage in Ezekiel 17 I'm really thinking about that physical Israel that was fruitful at a time but then they basically got plucked up. But then this other tree is bringing forth way more fruit and the thing that keeps being brought up is that every fowl, everybody's going to be under this tree, okay? The big difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the fact that in the Old Testament the children of Israel and that nation was supposed to be preaching the gospel to every creature but it was all honed in on that physical nation as being the hub if you will. In the New Testament now it's local churches throughout all the world and it's not about being this physical nation with all these customary laws and ordinances, it's every nation can have churches all over and that basically it's getting into where you have the Gentiles that are in these promises as well. Not talking about eternal salvation but more so just talking about the fact that God is working with them, His house is, I mean this is the house of the living God. The Bible talks about that thou mayest know how to behave thyself in the church of God which is the house of the living God, I'm sorry, in the house of God which is the church of the living God, okay? So what we're talking about here is the fact that the shift from the Old Testament to the New Testament on how God is administering and working through His people and all that, okay? In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 21 it says, Do ye that desire to be under the law? Do ye not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory? For these are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai which generate the bondage which is Agar, for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia in answer to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children. The Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all. So what we're talking about, two different Jerusalem's, the physical Jerusalem which says that she's in bondage you know, Mount Sinai, dealing with the law, the physical fleshly children, right, of Israel and then you have, okay, well we're talking about Sarah though and the son that's born unto him or unto her is Isaac, that's a promise, that's not under the law and the mother of us all is Jerusalem which is above. Okay, we're talking about heavenly Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem that's in heaven, right? And then it says in verse 29, but as then, I'm sorry, I'm verse 27, for it is written, okay, so notice that he's stating all this and then he's using a verse to back it up. For it is written, Rejoice thou bear'st not, break forth and cry, thou that travailest not, for the desolate have many more children than she which hath and husband. What are we talking about? The children of the flesh, you know, Israel according to the flesh and then Israel according to the spirit, meaning the spiritual Israel those that are all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, from the beginning of time to the end of time those all are more than those that are physical Israel. And the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God the Bible says in Romans chapter 9, but the children of promise are counted for the seed. Those that believe on Christ, those are the children of God. Just because you're born a Jew doesn't make you a child of God. I don't care what you're born. If you're born anything, it doesn't make you a child of God. You know what makes you a child of God? Faith. You're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, the Bible says. That's always been true, it's never been any other way that you're a child of God you're a child of God by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was, Joshua was, David was they were all justified by faith, they were all children of God by faith, and it wasn't because of who was their father. What bloodline they came through. And what it's stating here is that those that are believers are more than the physical. Why? Well, one, it's not just coming from that nation. Because obviously we know that the remnant of Israel is a remnant, right? Remnant literally means something that's like smaller that's not the bigger portion, right? So when you're dealing with Israel as a physical nation, if you're thinking, well it's only Israelites that can go to heaven, you know, it's only those that are in Israel, then it's obviously smaller then, right? That number has to be smaller, right? It even says that Israel has the sand of the sea, but a remnant shall be saved. We know that that's smaller, but here's why it's bigger because it's not just Israelites that are getting saved, and throughout time it's always been everyone of every nation, it says that he's stating unto the world unto all that are in the earth, look unto me and be ye saved. It's always been that way, but how much more in the New Testament when you have the fact that now it's not like we have this station over here in Jerusalem in Israel, now it's, we could have a local church anywhere. You want to have a local church in Antarctica? You can. I wouldn't recommend it, you know, you just have scientists that are down there, you know, that are doing studies or whatever, but essentially you can have a local church anywhere, and it just spreads it out, and later on in Isaiah 54 it talks about how basically you're spreading out your stakes and your tent stakes and all that, and you're basically the New Testament is just spreading out to where it's a lot easier to reach everybody. But think about this too in Matthew 21 and verse 43, it says, Therefore, say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Now, the Zionist Baptists out there that want to say, well, the Jews are God's chosen people, and we need to bless the Jews, and we can't curse the Jews and all that, well, here's the thing though, even the Jews knew that that was spoken to them, because they wanted to kill Jesus because they said they perceived that this was spoken about them. That what? The nation was going to be taken from them and given to, you know, the kingdom was going to be taken from them and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. So that's talking about the difference between the Old Testament, the physical nation of Israel, and the New Testament, where you have this holy nation that's made up of Jews, Gentiles, barbarians, Scythians, bond, free, it doesn't matter. Everybody is a part of that nation, you don't have to come and keep the feast, you don't have to come and do all these different things, you don't have to be circumcised anymore, like none of this is a part of being a part of that nation. You know what the requirement to be a part of that nation is? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, now shall I be saved, you're a part of that nation. Now, go to Matthew chapter 23 and verse 12. So what does this teach us? Well, Jesus and what he did shows us that if we humble ourselves, we humble ourselves and we're meek and lowly and we don't exalt ourselves and we're not proud when we serve the Lord or we're just living our lives, that we'll be exalted in due time. The Bible says in Matthew 23 and verse 12, it says, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Now, Jesus is the greatest example of that, right? I mean, Jesus is the example of the fact that he came from heaven itself. The Lord came down and humbled himself. I mean, we can't touch that, right? I mean, we can try to attain unto his humility and what he did, but we'll never touch what the Lord did. But we should still be like that and we should try as much as possible to humble ourselves, be a servant, serve others, and, you know, even as a pastor, I'm the overseer of the church, but I am the minister of the church. I am to be a servant for the church, right? Meaning I'm the leader, but as the leader, I'm to serve you, okay? I'm not the Lord over your life, you know? I take oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, neither being lords over God's heritage, the Bible says. So I'm not going to Lord over your life, but, you know, at the same time, the buck does stop at me when it comes to what doctrine is being preached here, what we do as far as how we go out soul winning and how we administer everything that's done here, but it's going to be according to the Bible, and in the end, the Bible is your final authority, not me. And in the end, I am your servant, I am serving you, and I'm being a leader in doing that, and just as much as Jesus was a servant unto his disciples, though he was the leader, okay? And I'll never come close to the Lord, right? None of us will, but we should try as much as possible to be as humble and meek and lowly as he was, and still is. But in James chapter 4, I'm just going to read these real quick, James chapter 4 and verse 10 it says, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 6 says, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. The idea there is that we are humbling ourselves so that we eventually will be exalted, but now is the time to humble yourself. Now is the time to be that servant, okay? And I preached another sermon years ago in Ezekiel, kind of dealing with another correlation there, and I'm going to reiterate this really quick, and if you want to go back to the sermon, there's a sermon called Ways Met, and go to Mark chapter 11, Mark chapter 11 verse 4, because Ezekiel 21 actually deals with another correlation of the Lord Jesus and kind of dealing with this same idea of humbling yourself and being exalted, or if you exalt yourself, you're going to be humbled, okay? It works both ways. But there's this passage in Mark there's different things that sometimes there's little pieces of information that are in one Gospel and it's not anywhere else, and notice that there's nothing incidental in the Bible. What does that mean? There's nothing there by accident, okay? It's not like they just put that information and be like, well, we'll just tag that on there, that doesn't really matter at all, especially if you see something that just kind of sticks out that's not in any of the passage, okay? And in Mark this is talking about how where they find the ass, the colt, you know, tide, where Jesus is going to ride into Jerusalem, right? But in Mark 11 and verse 4 it says, and they went their way and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met and they loosed him. Now, in the other Gospels it doesn't tell you that it's in a place where two ways met. What is that? It's a fork in the road, right? Essentially, right? I mean, we were walking on trails all this week, you know, at the retreat and everything, and there's a lot well, Father Dave's just shaking his head at me. Are you going to have night terrors tonight thinking about that? Some people went a little further and walked a lot further than maybe they wanted to on these trails, but basically there's a lot of forks in the road, right? Where two ways meet, okay? And that phrase may seem like okay, whatever, okay? It's not a fork in the road. Well, go to Ezekiel chapter 21, I'm going to be really quick with this. If you want to hear a whole sermon on this, this passage, it may be up on YouTube, I don't know. There's a while back and our channel got deleted, and I think we got everything back up, but I'm not 100%. But it was a sermon called A Place Where Two Ways Met, okay? But in verse 21, so Ezekiel 21 and verse 21, it says, For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way at the head of the two ways. Now, this is talking about Jerusalem and Babylon, which is very similar to this parable, this riddle, if you will, that's given to Israel in Ezekiel chapter 17. But in the end, what it's basically stating is that, go down to verse 26, verse 26, it's talking about how the crown is going to be removed from this king of Babylon, and it's going to be given to someone else. Okay? And notice what it says in Ezekiel chapter 21, verse 26, Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take off the crown. This shall not be the same. Exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him. Who are you talking about? You're talking about the Lord, right? And who is coming on that cult? Right? The king. And I have some verses for that, but at the same time, go to Zechariah chapter 9, Zechariah chapter 9, in verse 9. So who's coming? Where two ways met, right? Where did they find this cult? Where two ways met? Where's Babylon at? He's at the head of two ways, and it's basically stating that the crown's going to be taken off of him and it's going to be given to someone else, and it's going to be given to him whose right it is. And that's obviously talking about the Lord Jesus. Exalt him that is low, abase him that is high. So in Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9, it says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a cult, the foal of an ass. Now in Matthew chapter 21, it reiterates this. It's basically saying as it is written, you know, as it is fulfilled. And instead of lowly, it says meek. But Jesus even says, I am meek and lowly in heart. Okay, so both those things are true about Jesus. But do you see how you have the same correlation of how Babylon, that king's going to be brought low. Jesus, who is low because he's meek and lowly, is going to be exalted. And that crown is going to be given to him who is right it is. Okay? And these little correlations like that, you'll find some little cool passages that maybe you never saw before that will really just show you that same information. Like I said, you could read the New Testament and get all of this, right? And get all this information. But I think it's interesting to know, like, hey, all the prophets have been saying this over and over and over again in many different ways. They think, well, that was just a coincidence that that happened. Isaiah 53, what do they call it? A self-fulfilling prophecy, right? They looked at Isaiah 53 and they just wrote the whole New Testament after it. Give me a break. There's no way that you can take all these little passages and everything fit together exactly like it does, like a glove. It's too complex and there's too many hundreds of years between everybody that's doing it. Isaiah was preaching during Hezekiah, okay? Ezekiel is in the captivity, okay? We're talking like just hundreds, you know, like just I mean, even if you had like 50 years apart, I mean that's a big stretch of people preaching and this one dying, but 100, 200 years, whatever it is as far as the difference between them. But, so these correlations I think are very interesting. Go back to Ezekiel chapter 17. Ezekiel chapter 17, I want you to see another correlation here in this passage. Ezekiel chapter 17, verse 24. So Ezekiel chapter 17, verse 24, notice what it says here. It says, All the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree and have exalted the low tree. Okay? So you can definitely see how that could correlate to Israel as the physical nation. He brought them down, right? I mean He took the kingdom of God from them and gave it to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Or you could be talking about Babylon and how He brought down Babylon and He's exalting, you know, Israel or He's exalting Jesus and all that. Okay? So either way you look at it and a lot of times there's dual meanings in prophecy. There's the physical like right then and there, right? Because you could look at this passage and be like well I think this is talking about Zerubbabel, right? Because Zerubbabel was made governor and king over Judah and over that land after the captivity and it's prophesying about how Zerubbabel is going to come and he's going to be exalted. And that's true. There's nothing wrong with that. Okay? But just as much as any other prophecy, there's the physical like near future application but then there's, that's more of a shadow fulfillment to the true application which is talking about the Lord Jesus. Okay? So when you're looking at this it says that in verse 24 He exalted the low tree. It says, notice this, Have dried up the green tree and have made the dry tree to flourish. I the Lord have spoken and have done it. So we're not playing a game but we're just playing like a, you know, the idea here of can you find a key phrase or word in there that sounds familiar to something that's mentioned in the New Testament? Green tree, right? Something that kind of just pops out to your mind. You're like, oh okay, I remember Jesus saying something about a green tree, right? Go to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. This is where, okay so if you read through the Bible one time in your life you've done more than most Christians, okay? Most Christians probably 95% of Christians have never read through the Bible cover to cover and I might be being liberal in saying that, okay? You're not going to get these type of details. You're not going to see these correlations if you're just reading it one time in your life. If you're reading it one time a year, okay? And I'm not something special I'm just saying that you have to read to the point where you're going to pick up, okay when I'm reading through here, green tree, okay? I remember hearing that somewhere. I remember reading that somewhere. That sounds familiar. Especially when you're dealing with Israel and you know that this is talking about the Lord Jesus and how he's going to be exalted. Luke chapter 23 and verse 28 it says, but Jesus turning unto them said, daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. This is where Jesus is literally carrying the cross and the women are weeping because he's going to die. He's going to the cross. He's literally carrying the cross to Calvary and it says in verse 29 for behold the days are coming in the which they shall say blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bear and the paths which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us. Notice this in verse 31 for if they do these things in a what? Green tree what shall be done in the dry? Isn't that interesting? Like he's stating here that I'm going to make the green tree dry and didn't God do that? I mean think about it, 70 AD, what happened? It was decimated. Israel was completely taken out by Titus and it was completely made dry. He made the green tree dry. He's like if they're doing this now in a green tree what shall be done with the dry? Right? So what does it say in Ezekiel chapter 17? It says that he had dried up the green tree and had made the dry tree to flourish. What did it say in Isaiah 53? A root out of a dry ground. A tender plant and a root out of a dry ground. Isn't it awesome how the Bible just fits hand in glove and how everything just fits together? To think well this was just, they were just someone just made up the New Testament. No one's that smart. Besides God obviously. People are saying the Bible was written by man and there's all these different authors. Yeah, that's more miraculous to me. That you have hundreds of authors throughout thousands of years of history and everything just fits perfectly. To me that just proves itself. That this has to be the word of God because no one could ever do that. Even if this was authored by one person as far as like one person penned down the whole Bible, there's no way that all this stuff would fit. Even like the authors that everybody looks up to like Tolkien and like, I don't know who the other authors that people look up to, but I think of like the Lord of the Rings people that are just like, oh Tolkien, they're just all about him. He's just so smart and all the different, he made up his own language, you know, and all this stuff. Listen, even he, there's no way that he could write this and have the complexity that it has and everything fit like it does. But even so, we know that obviously Genesis wasn't written down by the same person that Ezekiel was written down by. But listen, just as much as a songwriter, if someone penned it down when they wrote the song and played the song for them, that doesn't make them the author. The scribe is not the author. The scribe is the scribe. And holy men of God spake as they are moved by the Holy Ghost and prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. So when it comes to the Bible, everything was written, you know, down physically by men, but we know that the author is God and seeing these correlations to me strengthens my faith in the fact that hey, yeah, this is the word of God. I didn't need to see these correlations to know that, but just the more and more you dig into it, the more and more you see all these little details, the more it's just like, how could anybody think this wasn't the word of God? Because a lot of people will ask, you know, like, well, how do you know that the Bible is the word of God? That's a common question and it's a very understandable question, right, because there's so many different, you know, religions out there, there's so many different holy books, if you will. Well, the Bible proves itself. And if there is anything out there that had to prove it besides itself, that means that that takes authority over it. By definition, if there were some physical item out there that would prove this or that would validate it, as far as that's why we know that's true, then that physical item is actually has more authority than this. But faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. He has exalted His word above His name. And His word proves itself. But how do you know that it's the word of God? Because of it. It's the word of God. Because it is the word of God and it proves itself. It doesn't need validation from anything else besides itself. And the more you read it, the more you know it, the more it just stands out. Now the last thing I'll say with this is that, go back to Ezekiel chapter 17, the name of the sermon is a tender plant, okay? But what did that tender plant grow into? A goodly cedar. Jesus came the first time as a tender plant. He came meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass. And He came in to be a servant. He said that He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. But, when He comes the second time, and we know obviously He's going to come in the clouds and we're going to be caught up together with Him, but when we come down with Him, in Revelation chapter 19, notice that it states that when He planted it, in Ezekiel chapter 17 and verse 23, it says, In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit and be a goodly cedar. And under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing. In the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. It reminds me, obviously, when it talks about its great multitude found in heaven, of every nation, tongue, kindred, tribe, everybody, okay? Everybody from every part of the world that's ever believed on Christ is there, okay? But think about this when it comes to the fact that He's not just going to be that tender plant that's in this dry ground that's being despised and rejected of men for all eternity. No, He was at one point. But now He's going to be exalted. And now when He comes, He's not coming and sitting on an ass, is He? He's not sitting on a colt. Notice what it says in Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11. This is the last thing I'm going to show you and we'll be done. It says, And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Quite a different entrance, isn't it? Quite a different entrance. But notice how the Bible just validates that over and over again. Tender plant becomes a goodly cedar. And he's meek, lowly, humble, but then he's exalted. Listen, we need to live our lives like Jesus when he walked on this earth. And he was that tender plant. You say, are we to be despised and rejected of men? Yeah. The Bible says that if they hated me, marvel not that the world hates you. If they hate you, they hated him first. And we need to know that, listen, in this world we will be despised. Not by every single person, but we will be despised. Because Jesus is despised in this world. But as much as Jesus is exalted now, and he will be exalted, the Bible talks about how we're heirs with God. When we believe on Christ, we're heirs with God. But if we suffer with him, we'll be joint heirs with Christ. If we suffer with him, we shall rule with him. We shall reign with him. And there is a reward to those that don't just get saved, but actually do the works. That keep his commandments. That are suffering for the sake of Christ. There is something above just going to heaven. And you know what? To do that, you have to be humble, you have to be meek, you have to be lowly, and be that servant. That doesn't mean you can't be bold. They're not saying to just be some weakling. Meekness doesn't equal weakness. You can still be a strong soldier of Christ, and you can be strong in this world, you can let your voice thunder, and you can preach on the housetops the word of God, and be meek. Because Jesus was. So I thought that was a cool correlation, hopefully you thought that too. But either way, I think it really just shows the magnificence of the word of God, that how everything just fits together. But let's end with a word of prayer. The Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word, and thank you for this passage. And I pray that you would help us to apply it to our lives. Help us to be meek and lowly like you. Help us to be humble. Help us to be a servant like you were. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to live by your example. And Lord, I pray that you would be with the soul winning this afternoon, and just pray that you would bring us back to the appointed time in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Let's sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.