I said to my granddaughter this
afternoon, she's concerned for her grandfather not feeling so
well, and we corresponded just a little bit texting. I don't
do that much, but for my grandchildren I will. I said to her, never
was a man so honored of God as your grandfather. Never a man
so blessed of God as your grandfather. I've been given the privilege
of preaching the gospel of God's free grace in this generation
for nearly 53 years. What a great, great, great blessing. Had the privilege of serving
his church and kingdom, souls of men around the world. Add
to that all the boundless blessings of God's grace, God's providence,
is good. God's providence is good. Oh, God, teach us in our hearts
to know God's providence is good. There is one man who ranks infinitely
above all other men, the man Christ Jesus, the mediator God-man. All the blessings of God, all
the blessings we enjoy from God on this earth, all the blessings
of grace, life, and salvation, and all the blessings we shall
enjoy of God in the world to come flow to us through that
man who is God, Jesus Christ, our Lord. There is no knowing
God, except as you know God in the person of his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no hearing from God, except as you hear from God through
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no approaching God except
through the person and work of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
our great savior. It is that man, Christ Jesus,
of whom the prophet Isaiah was inspired of God to write much
of his prophecy, particularly we think of Isaiah 53, the prophecy
of Christ our substitute. But in Isaiah 32, we have a prophecy
given concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, the king who shall reign
in righteousness. And it tells us a distinct thing
in our text this evening. Isaiah 32 verse 1, behold a king
shall reign in righteousness. and princes shall rule in judgment,
and a man, a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,
and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. This clearly
is a prophecy. concerning the glorious humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, our mediator, Christ,
our hiding place. We all recognize and find great
comfort, great joy in the glorious divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is God. He's not just a representative
of God. He's not just like God. He doesn't
just come from God. Jesus Christ, the man, the man
born of the Virgin Mary better than 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem
is himself God. God in the flesh. He is that
one who is the seed of woman. He came here without the assistance
of man. God in our flesh. God manifest
in the flesh. Were he not God, were he not
God, he could do nothing to save us. Were he not God, his righteousness
would be of no benefit to us. Were he not God, his death could
not put away sin. Were he not God, he could not
satisfy the justice of God. That man who died in our stead
at Calvary is God in our nature. Being God in our nature, everything
he did is of infinite worth, of infinite value, of infinite
efficacy to the saving of his people and the glory of God.
His righteousness satisfies the holy God. His death satisfies
the justice of God. His resurrection is the declaration
of God from heaven that he has accepted the sacrifice of his
son and our salvation is finished by the doing and die of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Were he not God, we would have
no hope of eternal life. Now that's stressed and needs
to be stressed. Needs to be stressed continually
because we live in a generation of people who are religious people
who think they're smarter than God and they will tell you that
Jesus is a representative of God, he's a good man, but he's
not God. There are whole religious denominations
built around the idea that Jesus is just a creature of God. If
that's the case, he's a liar, he's an imposter, he's not a
good prophet, he's not a good man. For he declares himself
to be God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. By him all things were created
that are created, and that one who is the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. But I'm equally thankful for
and equally rejoice in the glorious humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only as a man could he establish
righteousness for men. Only as a man could he suffer
the wrath of God in the place of man. Only as man could he
be put to death as a substitute for men. Only as man could he
be a mediator between God and men. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, could not be our Savior were he not both God and man. God-man, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh, and yet very God of very God. What I've said thus far should
be enough to keep our minds and hearts occupied in adoration
and worship of the Son of God, our Savior for all eternity. But there's much more that I
want to say this evening, and I will be very brief because
I'm not here just to talk to you about doctrinal theological
matters, good as those things are. I want to speak to you right
where you are in your present circumstance, this very hour. Since the Son of God has become
the Son of Man, by the mystery of the incarnation, since the
Son of God has become the Son of Man, He is a blessed refuge
and a hiding place for men. And just hold your Bibles open
here at Isaiah 32, and let me call your attention to three
or four things. First, I want you to notice that Isaiah here
uses three metaphors by which he describes the security and
comfort of all who trust the Lord Jesus. Three things he uses
as pictures, emblems, metaphors, by which he would assure us of
our comfort, our security, as we are in Christ Jesus the Lord. He urges sinners to trust Christ
and assures us that trusting him, there is complete safety
and comfort for our souls in him. Oh, trust the Son of God. I say to you who do not yet know
Him, trust my Savior. And I say to you, my brothers
and sisters, who have long trusted Him, as you find yourself day
by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, night by night, struggling
to trust Him, trust the Son of God. He is worthy of trust. And only as we trust Him will
we find safety and comfort in Him. First, our Lord Jesus is
described by Isaiah as a hiding place from the wind and a covert
from the tempest. That is to say, Christ is the
safety and defense of his people. He is the one to whom we flee
for protection in times of trouble and danger. The wise men said,
the name of the Lord is a high tower. The righteous runneth
unto it and is safe. Running to the name of the Lord,
running to him who is described for us by his name. All the names
given to him in scripture, all the names by which he reveals
himself are just various ways by which he tells us who he is. And he says, the name of the
Lord. All that Jesus Christ is, is a high tower. The righteous
run into that high tower and are safe. In the Old Testament,
in the giving of the law, back in the book of Numbers, and in
Deuteronomy, and again in Joshua, The Lord God gave commandment
to Moses and then gave commandment to Joshua, once the children
of Israel had taken possession of the land of Canaan, that there
should be six cities of refuge. Six cities of refuge for men. For men who were guilty of manslaughter,
that is men who accidentally killed another. If you were out
working with a man and an axe head fell off and hit your neighbor
in the head and killed him, then his next of kin not only had
the right, but the legal obligation to pursue you and to put you
to death if you didn't get to the city of refuge. And the cities
of refuge were placed in various places throughout the land of
Canaan. on this side of Jordan and that side of Jordan, so that
any man anywhere in Israel could within one day get to one of
those cities. The task of the people in the
cities was to keep the way clear to the city of refuge. And everywhere
through the land, there were signs pointing, refuge, refuge,
refuge. So that anywhere in the land
of Canaan, men could quickly run to a city of refuge. And
if they fled to the city of refuge, they would abide in that city
of refuge and the manslayer couldn't touch them. That's what Christ
is for our souls. A refuge from the wrath of God,
but more than that, a refuge from all danger, a refuge from
all hostility, a refuge from all that would harm us. There
is in Christ Jesus great reason for you and I to sense safety
and peace. Great grounds for safety and
peace for all who are in fear and danger. No matter where the
fear comes from, no matter where the danger comes from, no matter
what the cause is, be it temporal or eternal, there is safety for
our souls in Christ. You see, Christ has undertaken
to save all who come to God by him. He saves to the uttermost
all who come to God by him. Of course, that speaks of our
initial salvation. If you flee to Christ now, the gates of mercy are wide open,
welcome safe. And you who have fled to Christ
and fled to Christ and fled to Christ and fled to Christ and
fled to Christ The gates of mercy are wide open for you still.
He bids us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I said to Shelby
driving down the road yesterday, I had one particular assignment
when I was in college. Of all the assignments I had
in college, This is the only one that really had any lasting
benefit to me, any distinct particular assignment. In one of our classes,
the professor said to us, man, I want you to go home and between
this week and next, without consulting any commentary, without reading
anything written by anyone except what's in the Bible itself, I
want you to jot down every thought that you can think of in connection
with Hebrews chapter four and verse 16. That'd be a good assignment
for you. I suggest this week that you
jot down somewhere, just keep you a piece of paper handy. Every
time you can think of something in connection with Hebrews chapter
four, verse 16. Let us therefore. come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. I promise you, if you'll take
the assignment, you'll never forget it. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Our Lord Jesus was chosen
and appointed of God to be a hiding place for sinners. Remember when
Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. The Lord God said
to Moses, there is a place by me. I will hide thee in the cleft
of the rock. And that rock is Christ our Lord. If we are in Christ, the law
and the justice of God are satisfied regarding our sins. and can never
do us harm. If we are in Christ, the law
and justice of God is satisfied regarding every demand of righteousness
and the law can never injure us. If we're in Christ, the law
of God demands our good as well as does the grace of God. In
fact, Sinai's commands are Calvary's promises. The commandments given
of God by Moses are the promises given of God to sinners in Christ
Jesus. God, who is honor-bound to punish
our sins, is honor-bound to bless and save all who come to him
by faith in Christ. Because Christ has put away our
sins. Christ has honored God in the
satisfaction of justice. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, has
earned for sinners the approval, the favor, the delight of God. Can you imagine that? He has earned for sinners the
approval, the favor, the delight of God. In Christ, this sinner,
trusting God's Son, has every reason to expect God
to smile on me. In Christ, this sinner has every
reason to expect God's approval. In Christ, this sinner has every
reason to expect God's pleasure me. Christ is so dear to the
Father that if we're in Christ, God the Father accepts us for
Christ's sake. God has given open testimony
to that fact in the Savior's resurrection and Christ Our blessed
surety, our blessed covenant surety, has been entrusted with
the rule of all things for the safety and salvation of his people. He is the king who reigns in
righteousness. Christ's love and compassion,
that love and compassion, he has fully demonstrated in sacrificing
himself for us. Behold the love of God. Herein is love. Not that we loved
him, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Hereby perceive we the love of
God because he laid down his life for us. You and I by nature are in grave danger
without Christ. If you're without Christ, the
wrath of God is upon you. How happy you would be if you
would right now flee to Christ. He is a hiding place for sinners. He is a cover from the time of
storm. Second, the Lord Jesus is described
here as a river. A river in a dry place. as rivers
of water in a dry place. That means there is in Christ
abundant provision for the full satisfaction and contentment
of thirsty souls. There is a river, the psalmist
is saying, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the
holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. John said,
he showed me a river, a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and to the
land. Our Lord Jesus had been up to
the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles. It
had been so corrupted by the Jews that it was no longer called
the Lord's Feast of Tabernacles, but the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles.
Multitudes went up every year to the feast. And our Savior
in the last day, the great day of the feast, stood and cried
saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. And then he made this promise.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his
belly, out of his inmost being, shall flow rivers of living water. This he spoke concerning the
spirit of God that he would give to his people. Out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water, that is, from within himself,
rivers of water to refresh it. Rivers are known for their fullness,
constantly flowing. The river is a place of cleansing
and a place of refreshing. Out of his inmost being, The
Spirit of God bubbles up a river of life in every believing sinner. To the thirsty soul, Christ is
a river, a river running full with water, the water of life.
Drink from this river. Our Savior said to the Samaritan
woman, if you drink the water that I give you, you drink the
water I give you, You will never thirst again. Drink from this
river of the water of life and you will never thirst again. What's that mean? Never thirst
again? Obviously, he's not talking about
natural thirst. Obviously, he's not talking about
thirsting for water or thirsting for something else to drink.
What's he talking about? You will never again thirst for
righteousness. You will never again thirst for
forgiveness. You will never again thirst for
acceptance with God. You'll never again thirst for
God. Drink from Christ the river and
all of God, his grace and his salvation is yours. And then
Isaiah describes the Lord Jesus as a shadow of a great rock in
a weary land. I had to look at that for a little
while. What's he talking about? God's people are pilgrims. Pilgrims,
strangers and sojourners, traveling through a wasteland, a barren
desert land, a land where nothing accommodates them. A land where
everything's opposed to them. A land full of hostilities. A land where there's nothing
to gratify and satisfy them. Nothing to give them peace and
safety and rest. Just going through the hot, dry,
barren, stark wilderness. Try to picture such a one. And the man, after a long day
marching, walking through this land, quenching every little
bit of water he can get along the way, using it to quench his
thirst, he comes to a rock, a great rock, so large that here he can
take refuge from the sun. Find a little moisture, a little
coolness. The shadow of a great rock in
a weary land. That's what Christ is for our
souls. We flee to him and find rest. He takes away the guilt of sin.
He invigorates the weary soul with new life and he gives comfort
and rest to relieve us of our day's labor and toil and travail. How can I persuade you to come
to my Redeemer, to trust Him? Christ is refuge for the souls
of men, refuge at hand, a well-supplied refuge full of life and water
and strength and protection, safety and refreshment. He is
all you need for everything all the time. I didn't say that just to fill
up time. He is all you need for everything
all the time. Second, our text implies that
God's people in this world are men and women who must and do
pass through many storms. This 32nd chapter of Isaiah describes
times of great storms, hurricanes, cyclones, droughts, military
invasions. Symbolically, these things represent
storms, difficulties, and trials through which God's pilgrims
go in this world. We must, because God has so ordained
it, we must, because it is best for our souls, we must, because
it is best for the glory of God, we must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. I must needs go home by the way
of the cross. There's no other way but this.
For those who follow Christ, there is a cross to bear, a cross
to bear not occasionally, but all the time throughout this
pilgrimage here. We must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God. The first great storm through
which God's elect must pass is hell itself, the conviction of sin. Oh, God show you your sin. You will never come to Christ
until you need him. You will never trust him until
you have to have him. You will never believe him until
you can't go on without him. Before God ever clothes you with
Christ's righteousness, he will strip you of your own. Before
he ever speaks peace to you, he will trouble you. Before he
ever heals you, he will wound you. That's the way God does
things. He'll convince you of sin. Of sin because you believe not
on me. because you believe not on me. What is that? The root, the essence
of all sin, iniquity, transgression, and sin is man's rebel hatred
of God in unbelief. He will convince you of your
sin. And when he convinces you of
your sin, He'll convince you of righteousness and forgiveness,
and you'll sing with David, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute sin. All of God's people experience
the terrible pain of guilt, the torment of conviction, the agony
of self-condemnation before they find peace with God. There's
no coming to Christ but you pass through judgment first. No coming
to Christ, except you take sides with God against yourself first,
except you open your heart, acknowledge and confess your sin, and when
you do, the Lord God declares he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. All believers go through that,
but some believers, a good many believers, have to endure a mysterious
hurricane within. One I frankly don't understand. I've had very little experience
of it and I'm thankful. I can't explain it. But it's
a horrible, horrible storm. Mental depression, great confusion
of mind. This is a fact of life for some
believers. I don't, by any means, pretend
to know what you go through who have to deal with this, but I've
had friends all of my life who've had to deal with it. William
Cowper, who wrote some of the very best hymns there are. God
moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants
his footsteps in the sea. He rides upon the storm. All
his life, before God saved him and after God saved him, struggled
with depression. Horrid, horrid, horrid depression. He lived right behind John Newton.
John Newton was his pastor. Cowper suffered such great depression,
he rarely could go out to a public worship service. He just couldn't
bring himself to do it. Most people don't know this,
but Mr. Spurgeon, pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle, that famous, well-known
preacher, spent his entire adult life in seasons of melancholia,
great, great depression. I have a good many friends, both
pastors, and others who struggle with this all the time. And that
terrible cold wind comes from many directions. It shakes everything. It creates unrest and anxiety. Usually, the person experiencing
it can't really say, this is the problem. What's wrong, David? Just can't put a finger on it.
It's something they live with and they can't explain. It may
be circumstantial, it may be physical, it may be spiritual,
but the depression is real. It's a horrible storm. And our
Lord, turn over to Matthew chapter six. Hold your hands here in
Isaiah 32. Our Lord gives good instruction for it. He gives
good instruction. It's the best I can give. I know
that folks won't appeal for everything these days and run off to some
shrink and usually some shrink who hates God and he'll tell
them to do this, that or the other thing. The Lord Jesus,
who cares for your soul, gives good instruction. Matthew 6,
verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life. Don't be concerned about your
life. You believe me? Don't be concerned about what
you shall eat or what you shall drink. Nor yet for your body
what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat
and the body than raiment? Is that all you live for? Is
that all you live for? Behold the fowls of the air.
For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they? Which of you, which of you now,
if worry would help, if fretting would help, that'd be all right,
but which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to a statue?
I believe I'll, I believe I'm gonna be seven feet tall. You
just keep thinking about it, it ain't gonna happen. It ain't
gonna happen. Which can do that? You say, that's
silly, Pastor. So is all our fretting and worry. Read on. Consider the lilies
of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spin. Yet I say unto you that Solomon,
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which
today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought
saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. Those are the things that motivate
and inspire and control unbelieving rebels. That's all they live
for. That's all they've got. Let them
have it. Read on. For your heavenly father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. He knows you've got to
have somewhere to sleep. He knows you've got to have shelter.
He knows you've got to have some food. He knows you can't run
around naked. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and these things shall be added
unto you. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. God'll take care of everything
else. You can't be serious, pastor. I was never more serious in my
life. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and nothing else is worth the bother. God will take care of everything
else. Take no thought, therefore, for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof. In Matthew chapter 10 in verse
30, our Savior says, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Before the world was in sovereign
predestination, our Heavenly Father numbered the hairs on
our head. They were all at one time numbered,
but that's a number that changes every day. That's a number that
changes every day. But your father, in minute care,
before the world was, in infinite wisdom, determined exactly the
number of hairs on your head throughout the days of your life
at any time. That's minute care. Minute tender compassion. Sometimes We experience overwhelming
tempest of spiritual distress and darkness called by our falls,
by our unbelief, by our neglect, storms we bring upon ourselves.
And it appears that God has forsaken us. The heavens are brass. Our hearts are as hard as steel
and as cold as ice. and God has left us. Even then, our Savior, the Lord
Jesus, is our hiding place. He is the cover in time of storm.
He is the one to whom we must flee, taking refuge in Him. And as we seek Him, so He reveals
Himself to us. We often pass through terrible
storms, temptation and trial, with our flesh. I often read
and more often think about Psalm 73, David said, I was so foolish. I was envious at the prosperity
of the wicked. The wicked man, that ungodly
pagan, that idolater. He's filthy rich, his children
all love him and admire him, his grandchildren are always
around They have family dinner together every Sunday. He's never
known sickness a day in his life. Nobody ever does him any harm.
Nobody talks bad about him. He's the admiration of everybody. And he hates God! And I said
in my mind, in my thoughts, I said, I've washed my hands in innocence. What's the good of serving God?
Oh, God forgive us of ever thinking like that. Then David said, I wouldn't say
that out loud lest I offend against God's children. But then I went
into God's house and understood their end. Thou hast set them in slippery
places. Their foot shall slide in due
season. They're like oxen in the stall being fattened for
the slaughter. Who would envy that? Who should
envy that? He said, I was so foolish. I was as a beast before you.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. Sooner or later, God's people
go through storms and trials of human opposition. Those who
are the enemies of God will set themselves against you, and they'll
do what they can to injure you in name, in reputation, if possible
in body. Friends will betray, family will
oppose, brethren will misunderstand and misjudge, trusted companions
will malign, and David frequently experienced that, as have all
God's people in this world. No reason for you or I to expect
to fare any better. Our Lord Jesus experienced it.
No reason why we should expect to escape it. We all eventually
must experience the chilling winds of sickness, adversity,
bereavement, and sorrow. Man that is born of woman is
a few days and full of trouble. Man is born into trouble as the
sparks fly upward. You'll recall that David's son
was sick and dying. And when he was sick and dying,
David refused to eat. He stayed alone and sought God
for his son. He said, who knows, the Lord
might be merciful, the Lord might spare him. And then when he got
wind that his boy had died, David washed his face and said to his
servants, get me a piece of steak. I'm going down to worship with
God's people today. And they said, we don't understand. We
don't understand. When the boy was alive, you wouldn't let us
in to do anything. And now he's gone. And you going
about business as usual. He said, he cannot come to me,
but I shall go to him. Everything's all right. Everything's
all right. I recall some years ago, a dear
friend of mine, a pastor, his daughter was dying with cancer.
And it was a long, long ordeal. We watched her wither away to
nothing. And after a while, the pastor quit going to church,
quit preaching. Didn't go to church for a long
time. Weeks, weeks, weeks. And friends got real concerned.
Family and friends called me wanting to know what's going
on. Asked me about him. I said, when this is over, everything
will be all right. He's going through a trial you
can't imagine. He's going through trouble you
can't imagine. His baby, his darling is leaving this world
in great pain. You can't imagine what he's going
through. He'll be just fine when God brings him through the other
side of this thing. All of God's people must suffer
these things. We must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. What do we do? Take refuge in
Christ the Lord. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes rule in judgment, and a man shall
be his hiding place from the wind. and a cover from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great
rock in a weary land. This hiding place is our peaceable
habitation, our quiet resting place. This hiding place is Christ
the Redeemer. He is a man. Touched with the
feeling of our infirmities. Can you imagine that? Touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. Mark, I hope you won't mind me
using this illustration. Mark was sitting in the office
here a couple of weeks ago. We were just chatting, visiting
together, and he got a call from your brother, I think it was,
wasn't it? They'd expect his mother to die. Mark's very dear
to his mother and his mother very dear to him. And there sat
across from my desk a man bawling like a baby. And what a thing I could do.
Not one thing I could do except cry with him. That's all, that's
all. Any word spoken would be out
of place. Any word spoken would be out
of place. What do you do? Commit yourself
and your friends, your life, and the lives of those you touch
to the hands of God our Savior and flee to Christ, your hiding
place. He is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. If what touches Mark Medley affects
me, This hardened, hard, sinful, vile man. Imagine how it must affect him
who loved you and gave himself for you. I don't mean by that
that he's weak or he's injured. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I
mean how deep the Savior's love for us. vast, vast, vast beyond all measure. God make you to know the love
of Christ that passes knowledge and give you grace ever to flee
to him for refuge. Amen.