In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the significance of Jesus showing his hands and side to the disciples after his resurrection. He explains that the hands represent the first cruelty of the cross, symbolizing the sacrifice Jesus endured. The side represents the last part of his body to be wounded, emphasizing the completeness of his sacrifice. The preacher encourages the audience to turn their eyes upon Jesus and see the finished work of salvation. He also references the title of Christ as a "plant of renown" mentioned in Ezekiel, highlighting God's promise to Noah and the transfiguration of Christ.

Turn in your Bibles, please, to this thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter thirty-four. And I want to draw your attention to a special title of Christ that occurs in verse twenty of this, verse twenty-nine of this thirty-fourth chapter. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, a plant of renown. And I believe the Lord would have me speak upon this unique title of the Lord that's given to us here in Ezekiel. You'll remember that after the flood, the God made a promise to Noah. You'll find it in the eighth chapter of Genesis and at the verse twenty-two. And what did he say to Noah? He said to Noah, I am going to make you a promise. And I want you to listen carefully to this promise I'm going to make you. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not. That promise was made over five thousand years ago by God. And it has been kept, for God keeps His promises. They are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. And I was just thinking that never once did God fail in keeping His promise. We have presented in this thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel another promise. A promise of a plant of renown. One of the most unique titles in the whole Bible. Referring to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a harvest! God going to present a magnificent plant which will be known as the plant of renown. And of course that plant of renown is none other than the glorious person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There are at least seven great and glorious characteristics of this plant. So unique, so unusual, and so glorious. The plant has no rivals, it has no competitors, it has no challengers. It is unique, it is the only plant of renown. It is the sole plant of renown. It is the unrivaled plant of renown. It is Jesus, blessed Jesus. So we are going to have a look at Jesus, blessed Jesus. The first characteristic of this plant is it is miraculous in its beginning. If you turn with me to Isaiah 53 and verse 2, you shall read there of Christ. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. Pay careful attention to that verse. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. There are two things here highlighted. The special position of the plant, it grows up before God. For he shall grow up before him, that is before God, as a tender plant. There is a special placing of the plant. It grows up in a dry ground. It is as a root out of a dry ground. And there is a special purity about this plant. It is a tender plant. It is a plant of renown. Now everything in the Bible that has any reference to Christ, our Saviour is always unique. And when I read this scripture in my study this week, I asked myself, where do we first read about a plant? Because here the plant is a unique representation of Jesus Christ. And I turned over my Bible to the first reference that is made to a plant in the Bible. And it is Genesis chapter 2, verses 4 and 5. Read them carefully. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord made the earth and the heavens. So he is talking about the great created heavens and the great created earth. And he is talking about their generations. And he is talking about their age. And then strange to relate the first thing he mentions on earth. What is it? Every plant of the field. But the interesting thing about this, that this plant of the field was not in the field. Where was it? God made it before it grew. Every plant of the field before it was in the earth, God created it. And then he planted it. I don't know much about gardening. And I don't want to know. I leave that to my wife. And I say, you get on with it. You have the green fingers. My fingers are too orange to do such work. But let me tell you this. Let me tell you this. Here is a truth that I suppose very few people in this church today ever knew. That God made the plant before he himself set it. He planted a garden in Eden. We read further down this chapter. So this plant here was made first of all by God. A glorious and wonderful and intimate ray of light upon the eternally begotten son of the living God. Because he is Elohim. The plant of Renai. There is something else that we need to notice here. In Isaiah, we read these words. A root out of a dry ground. A root out of a dry ground. I sat and looked at that. And then I turned back to Genesis. And I found that this first plant is represented in its relationship to a dry ground. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. It was a dry ground that the first plant. The wonder was this. That God from all eternity, in the most simple way, illustrated the great dynamic truth about his seed. Nothing grows on a dry ground. The wonderful mystery of our Lord. Miraculous in its beginning. The incarnation of Christ is a miracle. He was born of a pure virgin. Because he is none other than God incarnate in the flesh. Unto you, us, a child is born. But unto us, the Son was given. Because the Son could not be born. He was the eternal Son of the living God. The plant of Renai. The miracle. The glorious miracle of his beginning. Mark it carefully. And you know what it says here? There was not a man to till the ground. Not a man. Man is completely out of it. Man had nothing to do with this plant of Renai. This is the doing of God. Christ is the eternal Christ. Before he came to this earth, he was the close associate of his Father who is in heaven. Turn in your Bible over to Proverbs. The book of Proverbs. At the chapter eight. And you will find there something wonderful about our Lord. About this plant of Renai. Verse twelve we read in the eighth chapter of Proverbs. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions. So wisdom is speaking. Who is wisdom? Christ is the wisdom of God. But go down that chapter a little farther. And we find out something in verse thirty. Then was I by him. Christ is speaking. Who was he by? He was by his Father. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. And the Word was God. Then was I by him as one brought up with him. Wonderful language of the Spirit. Speaking about the everlasting youthfulness of Jehovah. And the Father in the mystery was doing his work. And there is one beside him. There was one brought up with him. There was one who was near to him as he could be. Because the Father is one and the Son is one. And the Holy Ghost are one. And yet they are three in one. And one in three. And thank God the middle one. He died for me upon that cross of shame and suffering. I was by him as one brought up with him. I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him. And then he rejoiced where in the habitable part of the earth. For his delights were with the sons of my blessed Savior. Came to save me. Because from all eternity his delights. Poor, fallen, wretched, depraved and sinful. And yet Christ delighted in them. And he thought I was worth his precious blood. So he shed his precious blood for me and all who believe in him. Oh he is the plant of renial. Let's go a little farther. There is a second characteristic. This plant is not only miraculous in its beginning. But it is mystifying in its bewilderment. This is a bewildering plant. Turn back to Isaiah 53. And you know what it says here in Isaiah 53. He had no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire. Think carefully when you read that. Here we have the fact not only that the plant is miraculous in its beginning. But it is mystifying in its bewilderment. He has no form. He has no comeliness. And when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire. Christ the lovely Savior. The beautiful Jesus. But it says here in this scripture very, very plainly. He had no comeliness at all. And when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire. I remember a time when I saw the Lord and I did not want to know him. I did not want to have him. I did not want to listen to his words. I wanted to be away from him. We have here this mystifying statement. How men are bewildered when they look on Christ with the eye that has no faith. And the heart that has no faith. And the soul that has no faith. But oh what a wonderful thing it is when we come to see him as he is. I picked up an old book this week. It was the memoirs of Robert Murray McShane. That great and godly man who died at the age of 29 in his ministry. He was the author of many hymns and he wrote that hymn, Jehovah Sid Kenyon. But there are verses in that hymn that do not appear in any hymn book. And I was reading them and they struck me. I once was a stranger to grace and to God. I knew not my danger and felt not my load. Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree. Jehovah Sid Kenyon was nothing to me. I oft read with pleasure to soothe or engage. Isaiah's wild measure and John's simple page. But even when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree. Jehovah Sid Kenyon seemed nothing. When free grace awoke me by light from on high. Then legal fear shook me I trembled to die. No refuge, no safety in self could I see. Jehovah Sid Kenyon my savior must be. My terrors all banished before the sweet name. My guilty fears banished with boldness I came. To drink at the fountain like giving and free. Jehovah Sid Kenyon is all things to me. Jehovah Sid Kenyon my treasure and most. Jehovah Sid Kenyon I ne'er can be lost. In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field. My cable, my anchor, my breast place and shield. Jehovah Sid Kenyon. Here is the transfigured. One day the apostles went up the mountain. They had been in Christ's company. For I suppose at that time about a year and a half. But they never saw him. And as he stood on the summit of the mountain. He was transfigured. And the glory that dwelt in his inner bosom. Suddenly broke through. So that they could see who he was. And they gazed upon the transfigured. It was the transfigured Christ that saved your soul. The day you looked to Christ. You had heard about him. You had seen him in the natural eye. But God opened your eyes to see the Savior. As he is. The beautiful man of Calvary. Who died to make me free. Blessed man of Calvary. Aren't you glad you have seen him? Aren't you glad you are going to see him someday. As he sees you. And you are going to be like him. For you shall see him as he is. Face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face what will it be? When in rapture I behold him. Jesus Christ who died for me. Maybe there is someone sitting in a few here this morning. And you have never seen him. He has no form nor comeliness. And when you looked upon him. There was nothing that you desired in him. I pray God that your eye may be opened to see him. To see the beauty of his wounds. To see the tenderness of his eyes. To hear the throb of his great heart of love. That you might fall at his feet. And say with Thomas. My Lord and my God. To see Christ is to be seen. There is no other way. And if you have never seen him. And continue not seeing him. You will be lost. But oh God can open your eyes today. To see him. That bewilderment can be done away with. And you can see Jesus. He showed unto them his hands. And decided. Why his hands? Because the hands were the first that tasted. The cruelty of the cross. When they were crucifying a man. Or a woman. A malefactor. They kneeled the hand. He showed unto them his hands. The first cruelty of the cross. And his side. For the last part of his body to be ruptured. Was his side with the spear. So he is showing a total finished sacrifice. And it is in that total finished sacrifice of hands and side. It is finished. It is in that finished work. If you are ever going to perceive. You are going to perceive. Oh today turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. They were glad when they saw. I trust today that someone here will see the Lord for the first time. And that God's people will get a real hunger. To behold that wonderful man of Calvary. Let us bow our heads and pray. Father we thank thee for thy blessed word. Write it upon our hearts. And grant Lord that all of us today. Will see Jesus and sing and shout the victory. And everybody say Amen.