A PLANT OF RENOWN


A. "AND I WILL RAISE UP FOR THEM A PLANT OF RENOWN" - Ezek. 34:28, 29
  1. The metaphor of our text refers to the Messiah:
    1. Isaiah speaks of the Messiah as "a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation." - Isa. 28:16
    2. Zechariah alludes to Him as "a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem" - Zech. 13:1
    3. Malachi speaks of "the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his wings" - Mal. 4:2
  2. A plant of renown:
    1. The prophet Isaiah, when speaking of the Messiah, calls Him a Branch - Isa. 11:1
    2. A similar idea is expressed by the prophet Jeremiah - Jer. 23:5
B. LET US CONSIDER
  1. The Plant:
    1. Its frailty. When we study the nature of a plant we discover some of the wonders of the plant life. It is frail, easily damaged; not too promising to begin with.
    2. Of the Messiah it is written, "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant." - Isa. 53:2
    3. Look at His place of birth - Nazareth. That town was considered least promising. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" - John 1:46; 18:5
  2. The hidden character of the Plant:
    1. The divinity was shrouded in humanity - John 1:14; Phil. 2:6-11
    2. He, the King of glory, took the form of a servant - Phil. 2:5-7
    3. In his outward appearance, He seemed far from being the express image of God - Isa. 53:2
  3. A Plant of renown: "I will raise up for them a plant of renown". The term "renown" signifies fame, celebrity, distinction. Christ is the Plant of Renown for five specific reasons:
    1. For unrivaled virtues. Time and space will not permit me to mention the medicinal virtues of this Plant; it yields a balm for every ill, the body, the soul, and the spirit. No disease is too powerful for it to cure - Acts 10:38
    2. For its fruitfulness. Some plants yield no fruit, save it be beauty; but this Plant yields fruit in great abundance. Think of the fruit of the Spirit - Gal. 5:22-24; think of the lives that are transformed by its healing balm - Acts 10:38; Matt. 11:5
    3. For its shade in the heat of the day. This is a very valued virtue in the East where the heat is intense most of the day - Isa. 25:4
    4. For its vast extent. Its branches are bound only by the circumstances of the globe - 1 John 2:2; John 3:14; 12:32
    5. For its perpetual virtues. It is an evergreen; its leaves never fade; and its virtues never fail. To this Plant all have access throughout the ages and to the ends of the world - 1 Cor. 10:1-12; Heb. 13:8
C. SOME VERY TIMELY QUESTIONS
  1. What do we think of this Plant?
  2. Do we admire it?
  3. Have we receive some of its healing virtues?
  4. Do we feed upon its delightful fruit?
  5. Let the church of God exalt this plant; let us, as members of the church, point a sin-sick world to its saving virtues. Let its fame be spread abroad, that sinners may repair unto it to be healed.
  6. "I will raise up for them a plant of renown."
    1. That plant is none other than the Son of man. He humbled himself, took our nature, lived among men, endured hunger and thirst.
    2. Will this plant of renown benefit our own soul? Will it bring to us the health which the soul needs to endure to the end?


Design © John Bryant 2011