And for our Scripture reading,
we'll read the passage of Scripture that inspired that hymn from
Exodus chapter 33. Exodus 33. It's good to be here tonight,
be back with you all. Your brethren in Charlotte send
their deepest affection, and we were very encouraged to be
with them. Dennis and Natalie, Eugene and
Natalie and Dennis and Jason were all baptized Sunday. It was just a real encouragement,
a real blessing. You have your Bibles open to
Exodus 33. We'll begin reading at verse
13. Now therefore I pray thee, if
I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may
know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that
this nation is thy people." And he said, my presence shall go
with thee, and I will give thee rest. How do we know if the Lord
is with us? We have rest. We have peace. We have hope. And he said unto him, If thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. That's a good prayer. That's
just a good prayer to always pray. Lord, if you don't go with
me, just let me stay right here. Don't let me get off in front
of you and do foolish things. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is
it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing
also that thou hast spoken. For thou hast found grace in
my sight, and I know thee. by name." Oh, to hear the Lord
speak that word of comfort and hope to our hearts. I know thee
by name, thou hast found grace in my sight. And Moses said in verse 18, I
beseech thee show me thy glory. Now Moses had seen so much of
the manifestation of God's power beginning with the burning bush,
and the plagues in Egypt, and getting across the Red Sea, and
the manna that came from heaven, the water from the rock, and
all these glorious demonstrations of the power of God. And Moses
is saying, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. That's how I'm going to show
you my glory. I'm going to show you Christ. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and here's what my name means. I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. That's what my name means. This matter of salvation is in
my hands. I'm sovereign in it. And he said, Thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passes by
that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by, and I will take away my hand. and thou shalt see my back parts,
but my face shall not be seen." You're going to see where I've
been, but I'm not going to show you where I'm going. Isn't that our experience? The
hope of our salvation is found in looking back to the backside
of God, seeing what He's done, what He's accomplished. what
He's fulfilled on behalf of His people. And we have to trust
Him for those things that He holds still in our future. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we're so very thankful that Thou art a God that is full
of mercies and compassion towards Your people. We thank Thee, Lord, that We
can rest in hope and in comfort knowing that your justice has
been satisfied, your law has been fulfilled, knowing that
we have an advocate before thee that ever lives to make intercession
on our behalf. We thank thee that there is a
place near thee, a rock. a rock on which we can stand,
a rock upon which your church is built. We thank thee, Lord, that you've
taken away your hand and you've enabled us to look back and to
see what you've accomplished, to find our hope in the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask, Lord, that once again
you would be pleased to send your spirit and power and bless
your word to the hearts of your children. We ask it in Christ's
name. Amen. That's a good persuasion, isn't
it? What is your persuasion? I'm persuaded that He is able. He's able to keep that which
I've entrusted, deposited, committed to Him. The salvation of my soul,
put in a way of my sin, satisfying of God's law. I'm trusting Him
for everything. All our eggs are in one basket,
aren't they? What a firm hope we have in Him. Would you turn with me in your
Bibles to Isaiah chapter 63. Isaiah chapter 63. I've titled this message, Mighty
to Save and Destroy. now against that day that we
just sang about is the day of God's wrath the day of God's
judgment Paul speaks of that in Romans chapter 9 Romans chapter
5 verse 9 when he says saved from the wrath that is to come
now men don't think about that they don't believe that there's
a holy God who's going to execute perfect justice by the destruction
of his wrath in power. But that's what this passage
of Scripture is about. And it's also about the other
side of that coin. The same means that God uses
to destroy are the means that He uses to save. Now, I want
to know something about this ability that our God has to save
sinners. Look at verse 1. Woe is he that
cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Now I've read commentaries on
these verses of scripture in Isaiah chapter 63 and there's
some that will say the Lord speaking of His the pouring out of his
wrath in the day, in the great and terrible day of the Lord."
And then others will say, well no, he's speaking of his accomplished
work on Calvary's cross. And truth is, the answer is yes. He's speaking of both. This is
the work of our Lord to save. He's speaking here of coming
out of Edom. It's a picture of a mighty warrior
returning home from a successful campaign against his enemies,
covered in the blood of the dead. That's the picture here. And
this is God's Word. He's describing to us the Lord
Jesus Christ and what He did when he pressed out the wine
press of God's fury and God's wrath on Calvary's cross on behalf
of his people. But he's also speaking of what
he's going to do when he presses out the wine press of his fury
against the unbelieving world. So it's mighty to save and to
destroy. Look at verse two, wherefore
art thou red in thine apparel and thy garments like him that
treadeth in a wine fat. I have treaded the wine, I have
trodden the wine press alone and of the people there was none
with me for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them
in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garment
and I will stain all my remnant. For the day of vengeance is in
my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked,
and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none
to uphold. Therefore mine own arm brought
salvation unto me, and my fury, it upheld me. I will tread down
the people in my anger and make them drunk in my fury and I will
bring their strength to the earth." Now this warrior is coming from
a place called Edom. If you remember in Genesis chapter
25 when Esau, whom the Lord describes as hating, came home from a hunt
And Jacob had prepared some potage, and Esau wanted to eat of it.
And it was red potage. And Jacob said, I'll give you
some of it for your birthright. And Esau thought so little of
his birthright, he thought so little of the gospel, that he
readily sold it for a bowl of soup. And the scripture says,
and his name was called Edom. Edom. Translated, it means red. And throughout the rest of the
Old Testament, these Edomites represent the world which is
against Christ and against the gospel. And here's where this
warrior is coming from. He comes from Edom with dyed
garments. Basra was the capital city of
Edom. This is He that is glorious in
His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength with
the blood of men all over His raiment. Psalm 137, verse 7,
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the
day of Jerusalem, in the day of your salvation, remember Edom,
who said against Jerusalem, make it bare, make it bare, even to
the foundations of the city. And so we have a description
here of the Lord Jesus Christ executing His judgment against
those who are against Christ and His Church. Turn with me
to Ezekiel chapter 25. This great and terrible day of
the Lord is described time and time again in the Word of God.
It's going to be a great day of salvation for the church and
a terrible day of judgment for the Edomites. And that's it. He's mighty to save and he's
mighty to destroy. Now I want to know something
about being saved from the wrath that is to come. Look at Ezekiel
chapter 25 at verse 12. Thus saith the Lord God. Don't you love those words? Thus
saith the Lord God. We don't have to question it. We don't have to debate it. We
don't have to discuss it. This is God's Word. Where else
are we going to go and find such words of life and words of hope
and words of truth? Who else has a message that can
be believed without any hesitancy? God does. Thus saith the Lord
God, because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by
taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself
upon them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, I will also stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut
off man and beast from it, I will make it desolate from temen,
and they of of Dedan shall fall by the sword I will lay my vengeance
upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel and they shall do in Edom
according to my anger and according to my fury and they shall know
my vengeance saith the Lord God now the description of the fury
and the vengeance of God against Edom reminds us of what fury
the Lord poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. Left to ourselves, we would be
right there in Edom. Truth is, there can be no salvation
without judgment. There can be no salvation without
judgment. Look at the last verse of our
text in Isaiah chapter 63. Verse 19. We are thine, thou
never barest rule over them. They were not called by thy name. In order for there to be a we,
there must be a them. You see that? This description
of the vengeance of God is not fear-mongering. It's not an attempt
to try to manipulate people with the fear of the wrath that is
to come. It's to encourage our hearts
in knowing what the Lord Jesus Christ has delivered us from. He has, as Paul said in Romans
5 verse 9, saved us from the wrath that is to come. And this
is what God has said. How did He do that? Well, He
bore the full fury of God's wrath for the sins of His people and
satisfied God's divine justice once and for all. That's how
He did it. He stained His raiment in His own blood and washed away
our sins by offering Himself up. as for our redemption. That's the picture here. The Lord uses the same instruments
to destroy that He uses to save. Use the same instrument to destroy.
Turn with me to Revelation chapter 19. Look at verse 20, Revelation
chapter 19 verse 20, And the beast was taken, and with him
the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which
he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them
that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into
the lake of fire, burning with brimstone, and the remnant were
slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword
proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with
their flesh." What is the Lord going to use to destroy Edom? He's going to use the sword that
comes out of His mouth. What did the Lord do to save
His people? What instrument did He use? He
used the sword of His Word, didn't He? the same instrument that
he uses to destroy, he uses to save. Scripture says in Hebrews
chapter 4, for the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper
than any two-edged sword. This is a two-edged sword. It
kills and it makes alive. It destroys and it saves. It's the same instrument, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents
of the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight, for all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. The Word of God exposes us for
what we are, doesn't it? It exposes Him for who He is. It is by the sword of His Word
that He reveals to us the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
and saves us through faith in His Word. James put it like this,
of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. With the word
of truth. So this is the instrument that
the Lord uses and he is mighty to save and mighty to destroy
with the same instrument. The scripture sometimes is referred
to as the water that comes down from heaven the washing of the
water by the word Paul speaks of in Ephesians just like when
the Lord sent the flood the same water the same water that destroyed
the Edomites of this world is the water that gave flotation
to the ark and brought salvation to Noah and to his family The
same instrument was used to destroy and to give life. The gospel's a two-edged sword.
It kills, it makes alive, it destroys, it heals, it brings
judgment, and it brings salvation. The same Red Sea through which
the Israelites were saved and, as Peter says, were baptized
in, is the same instrument by which God drowned the Egyptians
and destroyed them. Go back with me to our text in
Isaiah 63. Who is he that cometh from Edom? Well, who is it? Who is it? Who is this one who has his raiment
stained with blood? Who is this one who says, I had
no help in what I came to do? Who is this one that wields the
sword of justice? to satisfy the demands of God's
justice on behalf of His people on Calvary's cross, which He
accomplished all by Himself, and to bring judgment in that
day of wrath against all of Edom. Who is it? It's none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no controversy about
that, of who God's speaking of here. He's speaking of our Savior. He's speaking of the Lord. Look
what He says, "...with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel." We look at the apparel, the blood-stained garments
of the Lord Jesus Christ and we know that it's glorious. You
were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold.
but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. How glorious
is His garment. How glorious is His blood. How
glorious is the work that He speaks of here. He comes with
the greatness of His strength. Oh, He's got power to save. Power to save. He's mighty to
save. He was powerful enough to bring Jonah from the belly
of that fish and to cause him to cry, salvation is of the Lord. He was powerful enough to send
his angels and to take Lot by the hand and drag him out of
Sodom to save him. Righteous Lot. He was powerful
enough to deliver the Israelites from the cruel taskmasters of
Egypt. He was powerful enough to give
David, who trusted him, victory over Goliath. He was powerful
enough to cause Ruth to believe that the God of Naomi would be
able to save them and provide for them a kinsman, redeemer. He was powerful enough to save
Naaman and to cleanse that leper and make his skin like the skin
of a child. Oh, He's, He's, this is, this
is our God. He's glorious. And the greatest demonstration
of His power for every child of God is that He's powerful
enough to save me. Every child of God knows that
the greatest demonstration of the power of God is their own
salvation. And they can conclude nothing
but, if He can save me, He can save anybody. He was powerful
enough to take self-righteous Saul of Tarsus and knock him
off his high horse and speak to him from heaven and change
his heart and change his name. He was powerful enough to take
old blind Bartimaeus and put it into his heart to continue
crying for the son of David to have mercy upon him. He was powerful
enough to make that woman with the issue of blood to crawl on
the ground to him to seek Him out, to touch but the hem of
His garment to be saved. Oh, He's mighty to save. He's
mighty to save. He's powerful enough to take
that money-hungry tax collector Zacchaeus and cause him to have the Lord in his home
and bring salvation to his household. He's powerful enough to take
that demoniac in the Gadarenes that was chained in the tombs,
cutting himself, and to set him down clothed in his right mind. All these demonstrations of his
power in salvation, I hope that you can see them fulfilled in
your own life. He's powerful enough to give
that hopeless, hopeless thief on the cross in his dying hours
hope. This day thou shalt be with me
in paradise. Oh, yes, he's powerful enough. His strength to save is equal
to the strength to judge. And He'll execute both with the
full fury of His wrath. Me, even me, He's able to save
to the uttermost them who come to God by Him. Able to save. What are we saying? He is able.
He is able. He is willing, doubt no more. Oh, how did He do it? Through
the winepress of His fury. Isn't that what we just read?
Look back with me to our text. In Isaiah chapter 63, verse 3,
I have trodden the winepress alone, alone, all by Himself. He had to be stained with His
own blood in order to present Himself before God on our behalf. And the same means by which He
saves will be the means that He will destroy. Turn with me
to Revelation chapter 14. Look at verse 18. And another angel came out from
the altar, which had power over fire, and cried with a loud cry
to him that had the sharpsicle, saying, Thrust in the sharpsicle,
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes
are fully ripe." Doesn't it seem to you that her
grapes are fully ripe? and that perhaps we'll see the
Lord in our time thrust into this world the sickle of His
wrath and gather those grapes and look what He says, in verse
19, and the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered
the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of
the wrath of God and the winepress was trodden without the city
and blood came out of the winepress even into the horse's bridle
by the space of three thousand and six hundred furlongs. Here's
the fury of God's judgment against all sin, against all unholiness,
against all unrighteousness. And how did He do it? Go back
with me to our text. Look at verse 1. I that speak
in righteousness. What is our hope? What is our
hope? You know, the hymn writer wrote,
Feelings come and feelings go, feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. None else is worth believing. What saith the Scriptures? Thus
saith the Lord. This is God's Word. This is our
hope. I speak in righteousness. I was
talking to somebody yesterday and they were telling me about
all these different subjective experiences that they had had
in their life with God. You know, a feeling here, an
angel here, an angel there. And when he told me that he shook
the hand of Billy Graham and felt the power of God in his
life, I knew that those feelings that he had were not from the
Lord. They were not from the Lord.
But 68 years old and he's trusting in those experiences. He's trusting
in those feelings. Believing that God has confirmed
His grace toward him because of these experiences that he's
had in his life. No, I speak in righteousness. Here we have the Word of God,
the infallible, inerrant Word of God. What greater hope can
we have? And we're not confused about
it. Look what he says in verse 7. I will mention the lovingkindness
of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all
that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and the great goodness towards
the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according
to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are
my people, children, that will not lie. So he was their Savior." Oh, he speaks
of the unmerited favor of God, of the riches of His grace, the
abundant, sufficient, effectual, and irresistible grace of God
in verse 7. And then he says, I give this
to my children. And my children aren't going
to lie. They're not going to lie about what they are. Believers
don't justify themselves. Believers don't go around like,
this man told me that I spoke to, that he was, I'm a virtuous
man, you can trust me. When a man gets into a, wants
a business deal with you and sticks out his hand and he says,
I'm a virtuous Christian, you can trust me, that's a deal you
want to run away from right there. Believers don't talk like that.
They know what they are. Are they virtuous? Can they be
trusted? Yeah. Do they go around tooting
their horn? No. They don't lie about themselves. They know what they are. They
know that they're nothing but sin. And they know who He is. And they're not confused about
it. People say, well, you know, I can't tell the difference.
Believers can. Why? Because no lies of the truth.
They're children that do not lie. They know who Christ is. They know what it is He's accomplished.
He's put away their sin. He's satisfied divine justice.
He's presented Himself to God on their behalf as their perfect
righteousness. And they're convinced of that.
They're persuaded. Persuaded that He is able to
save with His mighty power through His shed blood that He speaks
of here. To save them from the wrath that is to come. Oh, they're
convinced of it. And they don't lie about how
it is God saves sinners. They don't add works to the grace
of God. They don't mix it. They don't
say, well, you know, yeah, you're saved by grace, but now you've
got to prove your salvation, you've got to do this, you've
got to do that, you've got to follow. No, they don't do that. They don't do that. They're children that will not
lie. So, He was their Savior. He was their Savior. Oh, I'm
so thankful that we have a God who is able to save. I fear for that day of judgment
for those who don't know Christ. And I pray the Lord will give
us more opportunities to speak to them and to declare the truth
of the gospel to them, knowing that those whom God has chosen
will hear and they will believe. Look at verse 9. In all their affliction, He was
afflicted. What is your greatest affliction?
Is it a physical illness, financial trouble, conflict in relationship
with someone else? What is your greatest affliction? I heard a man say recently that
he was on the bed of affliction after having surgery and never
had experienced the presence of God more than being in that
place. If that's the greatest affliction
that you've ever had, then you've never been afflicted with your
sin. The affliction that believers
are afflicted with is their own sin. This is what drives them
to Christ. Lord, if you don't put away my
sin, if you don't satisfy God's divine justice, if your blood
doesn't cover my sin, then I've got nothing to look forward to
but the day of wrath. This is my affliction. And in
all our afflictions he was afflicted. He bore in his body upon that
tree all the sins of his people. Put them away once and for all. In their affliction he was afflicted
and the angel of his presence saved them. Now that's just another
way to speak of him. As we've seen so many times the
scripture, the Lord is so glorious that he can't be confined to
one name, can he? How is he often spoken of in
the Old Testament? The angel of the Lord. Those
are manifestations of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what he's
saying here is that he's that angel. He's that angel. And he's the one who accomplished
the salvation of his people. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them. He redeemed them. He took that
kinsman-redeemer that was nearer to us than was Boaz, and He reckoned
with him. And He took ten elders. You remember
that story there at the end of Ruth? The fourth chapter of Ruth?
What did Boaz do? He took, the Scripture is very
clear, he took ten elders. 10. Why 10? Well, what did that Neerkinsman
represent? He represented the law of God,
didn't he? He took those 10 elders and met with them publicly in
the city gate, and he redeemed. He was able to redeem, and he
redeemed Ruth and Naomi. The other kinsman said, I can't
redeem her, she'll mar my inheritance. I'll have to compromise my standard
in order to redeem her. But here the Lord Jesus Christ
is spoken of as the one who in his love and in his pity. Oh, Boaz loved Ruth. And he pitied her, too, didn't
he? He saw her poverty. He saw her inability to care
for herself. He saw her helplessness and hopelessness. And he was able to redeem. And
that's exactly what he did. He redeemed her. And he bared
them and carried them all the days of old. That's what I need. I need a shepherd to carry me.
I need one who will take me all the way into glory. He'll take
me like Lot and pull me out of Sodom and carry me right into
His presence. If He depends upon me to do anything,
I'm in trouble. Lord, I need You for everything,
everything, everything. Look at verse 10, but they rebelled.
Oh, we're just perpetual backsliders, aren't we? They rebelled and
vexed His Holy Spirit. You ever quenched the Spirit
of God in your life? I know you have. I know you have. How often we quench the Spirit
of God. Therefore He was turned to be
their enemy and He fought against them. How many times the Lord
has had to afflict us with trouble because of our sin. Then, then he remembered the
days of old, Moses and his people saying, where is he that brought
them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where
is he that put his Holy Spirit within him that led them by the
right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the waters
before them to make himself an everlasting name? Why does the
Lord save? Why does He save? To make of
Himself an everlasting name that no flesh could glory in His presence. He takes those things that are
weak, those things that are miserable, those things that are not, He led them through the deep
as a horse in the wilderness that they should not stumble.
As a beast that goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the
Lord caused him to rest. So didst thou lead thy people
to make thyself a glorious name." Oh, Lord, I'm so thankful that
I can rest. I can rest in the finished work
of Christ. You're not demanding anything
else from me. Lord, if I've got to do something
in order to perform righteousness so that
I can be saved, or to avert your judgment, if I don't do something
right, if I don't witness like I should, am I going to have
men's blood on me? Am I going to stand in judgment
before God for that? No! No. There's no rest in that. Our
rest is in Christ. Look down from heaven and behold
from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory, where is thy
zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bows and of thy mercies
toward me? Are they restrained? Oh Lord,
would you just look down and have mercy upon me? Have pity
upon me, Lord. For Christ's sake, make for yourself
a glorious name. Doubtless thou art our Father. Though Abraham be ignorant of
us, he's dead. And what did the Jews say? We
be children of Abraham. And what did God say? What did
the Lord say? God can raise up children of Abraham from these
rocks, and that's exactly what He did. When He took out your
rock as a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh, He raised
up children of Abraham from the rocks of the earth. And Israel, acknowledge us not.
Thou, O Lord, art our Father. We're not trusting in our lineage.
We're not trusting in our parents' faith. The Lord is our Maker. He is our Redeemer. O Lord, Thou art our Father,
our Redeemer, Thy name is from everlasting. O Lord, why hast
Thou made us to err from Thy ways, and hardened our hearts
from Thy fear? Is that your experience? Now, he's not saying, Lord, why have
you made me to sin? James makes it clear. Don't say
God made me do it. Don't say that. John speaks of
that, doesn't he? No, he's saying, Lord, why have
you allowed me to be left to myself? Lord, if you don't recover me,
if you don't turn me, if you don't cause me to believe, Lord,
I'll be destroyed. Return for thy servant's sake
the tribes of thine inheritance. The people of thy holiness have
possessed it, but a little while our adversaries have trodden
down thy sanctuary. We are thine. Thou never barest rule over them. They were not called by Thy name." Mighty to save. Even you. Even me. And mighty to judge. Judgment's
coming. There's no question about that.
God says it. It's not a fear-mongering thing. This is a reason for believers
to rejoice that they need not fear it. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we're so very thankful for the glorious description
of the Lord Jesus Christ who came out of Edom out of Basra
with his raiment stained with blood, having trodden the winepress
of the fury of your wrath on behalf of your children, so that
you would make to thyself children that will not lie." Lord, we thank you that that
day of judgment that is to come has already been satisfied for
your people. We pray that you would cause
us now to look to Christ, to rest in Him, to believe Him,
to love Him, to rely upon Him. For we ask it in His name. Amen. All right, let's stand together,
Brother Burt. Number 294 in the hardbacked hymnal, number 294. so