time, suppose hundreds or thousands of years, may intervene before the actual coming of the Messiah; yet the promise of his coming, as it is the ground of your faith for eternal salvation, so it is a security for the present, that the enemy shall not prevail, to the total ruin of Judah and the royal family of David. In all the distresses of the church, Christ is always presented to her, in the promise, as the object of her faith, and the ground of her consolation; and accordingly, “They looked to him,” in the promise, “and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed.” He is here promised under the notion of _God’s Servant_; and, in the words of the text, he is promised as a _Renowned Plant_, that was to rise in the fulness of time. And, blessed be God, he has sprung up, and is in heaven already, and has overtopt all his enemies, and all his enemies shall be his foot-stool. _First_, Here then, you have a comfortable promise of the Messiah; where, again, you may notice the promiser: _I, I will raise up, &c._ It is a great _I_, indeed; it is JEHOVAH, in the person of the FATHER: It was he that in a peculiar manner, sent him; “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.--In the fulness of time he sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of Sons.” God promised to send him, and accordingly he has actually fulfilled his promise. Again, _Secondly_, We may notice the blessing promised, and that is, a _Plant of Renown_.--Christ gets a great many metaphorical names and descriptions in Scripture:--Sometimes he is called a Rose, sometimes he is called a Sun, and sometimes he is called a Door; sometimes he is called the Tree of Life; sometimes he is called one thing, and sometimes another; And he is content to be called any thing, to make himself known to us; and here he is called a Plant, and a _Renowned Plant_; but more of this afterwards. But then, _Thirdly_, We have the production of this Plant, _I will raise him up_. Hell will endeavour to keep him down; the Devil and his Angels will endeavour to smother him, when he sets his head above ground: So we find Satan sends Herod, and Herod sends the Bloody Dragoons to murder him, when he came into the world: But let hell do its utmost, as it hath done in all ages, and is doing this day, to smother that plant, up it will be; _I will raise him up_, and therefore he shall prosper. But then again, _Fourthly_, We may notice here, for whom, or for what end, for whose use and benefit it is: _I will raise up for them a Plant of Renown_. Who these are, you will see by casting your eye on the former part of this chapter; it is for the Lord’s flock, his oppressed heritage, that are borne down by wicked rulers, civil and ecclesiastic: _I will raise up for them a Plant of Renown_, and he will be their deliverer.