For our Bible study this morning,
let's turn to Isaiah chapter 32. Let me read the first two
verses of Isaiah chapter 32. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall
be a hiding place from the wind, a covering from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock,
in a weary land. Now, without reservation and
without hesitation, we can plainly and boldly say that this scripture,
as all the Old Testament, tells us about the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These verses, like Isaiah 53,
are a prophecy of our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, God our Savior,
His person, He's the King. His work, He shall reign in righteousness
and His great salvation. He is our hiding place. Now,
from these two verses, I want to go back and look at them and
study this morning and tell you about the Lord Jesus Christ in
studying these two verses. We see in Isaiah chapter 32,
verse 1, it talks about a king, and we're instructed here to
behold a king, and we could rightly say, behold, the King, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Savior and our Redeemer is
described by many names in Scripture. It would astound you to go back
through the Old Testament and the New Testament and see how
many times the Lord is referred to by many various names. He's called the Lamb of God,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He's called the Good Shepherd,
the Chief Shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep, he's the
captain of our salvation. But perhaps my favorite name
and one of the best, one of the names that describes his person
and his work most gloriously is this title of King. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
King, God's King. He's King of all the earth. In
Revelation 17 and again in Revelation 19, the Lord Jesus Christ is
referred to as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's every
man's King and He's every man's Lord. In His birth, when the
Lord Jesus was manifest in the flesh, God incarnate, manifest
in the flesh in a fullness of time, God sent forth His Son
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. In His birth, when the wise men
came seeking Him, remember what they said? Where is He that not
will become King? Where is He that is born King? He was King when He came. He's
been King throughout all eternity. In His life, when He came into
Jerusalem during His ministry. Remember what the people said?
Hosanna, glory to God, blessed is the King of Israel. They honored Him as the King.
Even in His death, Pilate made that sign, put it over His cross. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the
Jews. In His birth, in His life, even
in His death, He is God's King. He said that in Psalm 2. Our
Lord, God said, Behold My King. I have set Him upon My holy hill,
Zion. Now, from this text in Isaiah
32, two things are described that our King is and what He
does. This King, who is the Lord Jesus
Christ, God our Savior, it says that the King shall reign, and
then He reigns in righteousness. Now, two things. This word reign
means that God Almighty is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
King and He reigns in absolute splendor, in absolute sovereignty. Sovereignty. He reigns. What
does that mean? That means that He's the absolute
controller of all things. All things that come to pass
of Him, Paul said in Romans 11, of Him and through Him and to
Him are all things to whom be glory. David said, Our King is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. David said in Psalm 99 that the
Lord reigneth forever and ever. Our Lord prayed that way in John
17. He said, The Father hath given me power over all flesh
that I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
me." The Lord Jesus Christ as King, He reigns in creation. That means He rules sovereignly.
He's the owner. He's the great sovereign, the
ruler of the universe. He reigns in creation, in providence,
and most surely, and certainly, He reigns in salvation. He's Lord of salvation. He'll have mercy on whom He will. So you see, He is the King. And
as the King, who is high and lifted up and sitting on the
throne, He reigns. And then it says also in this
text that He reigns in righteousness. Righteousness. Now, Israel of
old suffered through many wicked kings from the time after David
and Solomon reigned. until they were carried away
into captivity. Forty different kings, most of
them did evil in the sight of the Lord. But the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's King, He reigns, but He reigns in righteousness. In Jeremiah chapter 23 we read
this, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will Raised
unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his
days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And
this is the name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness."
He's the king, make no mistake. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He's not a pitiful, Ruler, he's
an absolute sovereign king. He reigns and he reigns in righteousness. Shall not the God of all the
earth do right? And then also in this text, Isaiah
32. Get your Bible out if you're
at home this morning or if you're traveling in your car. Just listen
to me. Isaiah 32. Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgment. Now,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of Righteousness, but He's
also the Prince of Peace. In Revelation 1-5, He's called
the Prince or Ruler of the kings of the earth. He made peace with
God through His blood, and as the Prince of Peace, having made
peace and brought Him salvation for His people, He is the Prince
that rules in judgment. The judgment of God's wrath fell
on Him. He made peace with God for His
people with His own blood. He is the Prince of Peace. We
have peace with God being justified by faith. We have peace with
God through Him. God made this King, the Lord
Jesus. He's the King of Praise. God
made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made to righteousness of God in Him. And then in Isaiah 32,
verse 2, we see this description. This King who rules and reigns
in righteousness says here that He is a man. A man shall be a
hiding place from the wind. Now, the same One who was called
King, Isaiah describes him as the man of sorrow acquainted
with grief. A man shall be our hiding place.
Now, every believer finds great comfort in the eternal deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We say with Thomas, we call him
and we own him as my Lord and my God. God manifest in the flesh,
totally and fully and completely God. Were he not God, he couldn't
save us. He's able to save to the uttermost
because he is God. Anything too hard for God? I
don't think so. But equally true is His glorious
humanity. He remained what He was, eternal
holy God, and became what He was not, flesh and what among
us. He is what the old theologians
called the God-man mediator. Only as man could He establish
righteousness for His people. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law, I came to honor it. And as a man, he honored God's
holy law. The Lord said of him, this is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Only as a man could
he suffer for the sins of his people. Peter said, he bare our
sin in his own body on the tree. Only as a man could he suffer
for sins. God can't suffer. But the God-man
mediator did. Only as a man could he be the
mediator between God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus. He is the king priest. Such a
high priest became us, but he is holy, harmless, separate from
sin. But never forget, he is God,
but he is yet God manifest in the flesh. And as such, he is
the believer's salvation. He's the believer's place of
safety and security. Now, in the text here, Isaiah
mentions four things. He's our hiding place from the
wind. He's the hiding place from the
storm of God's wrath. The Lord Jesus Christ is often
described as the hiding place from the storm, from the wind,
from the tempest. David said in Psalm 27, For in
the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon
the rock. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
hiding place from the storm and wind of the wrath of God due
against our sin. You see, in the place of all
God's elect, the Lord Jesus Christ stood and took all the storm
of God's wrath and gives to his people perfect salvation and
rest. Paul put it this way in Romans
8, verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? He's our hiding place. And because
Christ suffered for our sins, Paul said, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather that it is risen again. Who is even? At the right hand
of God who also makes intercession for us. Those in Christ by God-given
faith are safe. No condemnation to those who
are in Christ. Those outside of Him are in great
danger. The wrath of God abides on those
who don't believe. And then in the text he says
he's not only the hiding place, but he's the covering from the
tempest. No longer do we dress up in our
filthy rags of self-righteousness. We have a perfect robe provided
by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a robe of righteousness.
He says in Isaiah 61, 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
for my soul shall be joyful in my God. He hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation. He hath robed me, covered me
with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels."
In Christ, the believer has a perfect robe of righteousness purchased
by Christ, applied by the Spirit, and imputed to all those who
believe the gospel, imputed by freely, reckoned, righteousness
imputed by the grace of God. And then thirdly, we read, Rivers
of water in a dry place. There is abundant provision of
salvation in Christ. He's plenteous in redemption.
He's the rivers of water. He's the river of life in a dry
place. That's us. dry and dead in sin. Our sinful nature. No moisture
of life, no spark of hope. None righteous, no, not one.
But this drought of our nature, sinful as it is, does not hinder
Christ from coming into our soul. This drought is only removed
and our sin is only removed by the river of life, who is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember what He said
to the woman at the well? He said, you drink of this water, this
natural water, and you'll thirst again. But if you drink of that
water that I give you, You there shall be a well of water springing
up in everlasting life. And then fourthly, he describes
this safety and peace and salvation we have in Christ as the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land. Now, in many ways, this life
can be considered as a weary land because of our sin and setbacks
and sorrows. Man is born a woman is few days
and full of trouble. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
He's our rest. He's our refreshing from this
weary storm of sin, from this weary life of sin. He says that
in Matthew 11, Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. He is the rock upon which we
rest. He's the foundation upon which
shall not be moved. You see, the believer in Christ,
resting in Him, that's why Paul said, Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. He's the believer's safety and
salvation. This King who reigns in righteousness,
He is the believer's salvation. Now, be very sure, my friend,
that you take shelter and refuge only in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only hiding place. He is the safe. hiding place,
and He is the eternal hiding place provided by God. And remember this, only that
which God has provided will God accept. God has provided Christ
alone. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the God-dead bodily, and in Him the believer stands complete. Well, I hope this has been a
blessing to you today. If you would like to have a copy
of this, I'd gladly send it to you absolutely free. No charge,
no obligation. You can call me at 631-9053. Or if you would like to write
to me and request a copy, you can write to me at this church,
6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky.