Let us turn again to God's words
in that chapter that we read, Isaiah 63. And I want us to consider the
opening paragraph, that's the first six verses, here in Isaiah
chapter 63. Who is this that cometh from
Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra? This that is glorious
in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength,
I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Wherefore art
thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
in the wine-fact? 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 garments. and I will
stay in all my raiment, for the day of vengeance is in mine heart. 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. And I will tread
down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury.
and I will bring down their strength to the earth. Isaiah 63 and verses 1 to 6. Now the prophet Isaiah is ministering
about a hundred years before that dreadful event that befell
the kingdom of Judah when the Babylonians came and overthrew
the kingdom and laid siege to Jerusalem and took it and destroyed
the temple of the Lord and removed the people into exile. He's ministering about a hundred
years then before that dreadful calamity that befell them. And
at times in the book he speaks of those things, he prophesies.
He utters threatening words how that God is going to visit them
because of their sins of idolatry, how they were seeking to be like
the nations round about them. But he doesn't only speak to
them concerning that judgment that will come upon them, but
he also goes on to proclaim that the Lord would again deliver
them, that they would be brought out of exile and restored to
Jerusalem. In fact, at the end of the previous
chapter, there at verse 12, he says, I
shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and
they shall be called, sought out a city not forsaken. Jerusalem was not going to be
forsaken forever. Now, what does he say previously
in verse 4 of that 62nd chapter? Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate.
But thou shalt be called Ephzibah, and thy land Beulah. For the
Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married." There
would be a restoration. And God also would work His judgment
upon their enemies, the Babylonians, who had taken Judah and destroyed
the temple, the Babylonian Empire would eventually itself be overcome,
destroyed by that of the Medes and the Persians. And also those
other nations who delighted to see Jerusalem being overthrown
would be judged. And that's really what we read
of here in the historical context at the beginning of this 63rd
chapter. We have mention of Edom, who
is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah. The Edomites, of course, were
those who were descended from Esau, who was the brother of
Jacob, and Bozrah was the chief city of the Edomites. and God would judge that particular
nation. Think of the language that we
have in the Psalms, Psalm 137, and verse 7, Remember, O Lord,
the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, who said, Raise
it, raise it even to the foundation thereof. How they rejoiced when
the Babylonians overthrew Jerusalem, the gods, As we have it here
in the opening verses of this chapter, God would Himself judge
the Edomites. In fact, we see how the ministry
of the prophets Obadiah very much has to do with those Edomites,
that little book, just one chapter. I'm trying to think where the
book of Obadiah appears. Between Amos and Jonah. And what
does it say there? The vision of Obadiah, thus saith
the Lord concerning Edom. the opening verse and then later
verse 8, Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy
the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount
of Esau? And then further at verse 10,
For thy violence against thy brother Jacob's shame shall cover
thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever in the day that thou
stoodest on the other side in the day that the strangers carried
away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates
and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even though whilst as one of
them But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother
in the day that he became a stranger, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced
over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction,
neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress."
So, the Prophet is pointedly making known what their sin was,
and that sin deserving of the terrible judgment of God. And that's the judgment that
is being spoken of here in these verses at the beginning of Isaiah
63. Verse 4, The day of vengeance
is in mine heart, the year of my redeemed is come. verse 6, I will tread down the
people in mine anger and make them drunk in my fury I will
bring down their strength to the earth. Here then we see something
of the context, the historical setting of the ministry of Isaiah
all of these things came to pass, although as I said he is actually
exercising his ministry about a hundred years before Jerusalem
fell. But we would not be doing justice
to the Word of God if we simply left it there in its historical
setting. Are we not told at the end in
the book of the Revelation how the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy? Wherever we read in the Scripture,
wherever we go from Genesis right through to the Revelation, we
should desire to see the Lord Jesus Christ. He said to the
Jews, search the Scriptures. These are they that testify of
me. And even in these verses that
I've read for our text, a long passage this morning, we see
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. we see his work of salvation,
how he is the one who has come to destroy all sin. We also see
his work of judgment, how he is that one who in the great
day will condemn unbelieving sinners. Now when we come to
the Old Testament of course Jesus himself is the spirit of prophecy
but In the Old Testament prophecies we have to distinguish between
his first coming and his second coming. There are those passages
in which we see both those comings. His first coming to be that one
who is the savior of sinners but also that second coming when
he will come to be the one who will sit in the seat of judgment. and separate the sheep from the
goats. And in this passage we see aspects
of each of those comings, and this morning I want in particular
to try to say something with regards to his work of salvation. As we see that salvation of the
Lord Jesus Christ in this passage, that one who stains his garments
with blood as he makes the great sin atoning sacrifice. And first of all to say something
with regards to the fact that He only is the Saviour. He is the sole Saviour of sinners. There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. And now here there is a certain
emphasis upon the fact that he is alone in verse 3. I have trodden the winepress
alone, he says, and of the people there was none with me. It is very much his own work. In verse 5 he says there is none
to help neither any to uphold. I looked and there was none to
help and I wondered that there was none to uphold. It is his
own work and he alone does work that work, the hymn writer. Thomas
Calley says, who it is that comes from Edom, all his raiment stained
with blood to his church proclaiming freedom, bringing and bestowing
good. He only is the Savior of sinners. And there we see it in the course
of His own ministry. Remember the purpose of His coming. He is born of a woman. He is
born under the law. He is subject to the law of God.
He lives a life of obedience to every commandment of God.
He honors and magnifies that law by His perfect obedience. But that obedience He's not only
in life, even to death, as we read in Philippians, obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. And when he comes
to die, how we see him very much alone. Think of his experience
in the garden of Gethsemane, when he takes those favoured
disciples with him, Peter, James and John, and ask that they watch
with him one hour. But what do they do? They sleep. And he comes to them and he says,
why could you not watch with me one hour? Oh, he is left alone
there. in fact he was separated from
them although he had come aside as it were from the other disciples
with those favoured three we're told how he went a little further
and left them there to watch with him and then ultimately
what happens when the mob come as it were to take him to arrest
him in the garden all the disciples forsook him and fled There we
see him as one who is very much suffering alone. And are there
not parallels that we can draw between what is written in this
passage and the circumstances of those sufferings of the Lord
Jesus there in the Garden of Gethsemane? Here we read of the wine press. Wherefore art thou read in thine
apparel? And thy garments, like him, that
treadeth in the wine-fact? The question put there in verse
2, and then the answer, 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 garments and I will stain all my raiment."
Here is the winepress. Now, what is the significance
and the connection then with the Lord's experience there in
Gethsemane? Well, the very name. Gethsemane
means an olive press. This is a winepress But there,
of course, Gethsemane was the garden, and it was situated at
the foot of the Mount of Olives. And that name, of course, tells
us that there were many olive trees in that area. And that's
why, in this garden, they had set up a press. There are these
parallels, then, that we can draw between these two presses. and what is happening there in
the garden of Gethsemane why when we think of the sufferings
of the Lord Jesus Christ there is that sense in which his own
heart, his soul is like like a great olive press as the tremendous
burden of the sin of his people is being laid upon him he must
go the way of the cross and there he must die as a substitute the
just for the unjust Another hymn writer brings something of it
out, the powers of hell united pressed and squeezed his heart
and bruised his breast what dreadful conflicts raged within when sweat
and blood forced through the skin. Oh the Lord Jesus, we read
it there in that short passage that we read in Luke 22 concerning
the strange sights being in an agony. He prayed more earnestly
and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. How the Lord Jesus was bathed,
bathed in a bloody sweat there in the garden. Now, here, what
does it say at the end of verse 3? Their blood their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments and I will stain all my raiment. Now he was laid there in Gethsemane
in his own blood and then subsequently upon the cross it was his own
blood that flowed from those fearful wounds Think of the pierced
hands, the pierced feet, where they thrust also the spear into
his thighs, his lacerated back, the crown of thorns about his
head. Nor there he was truly altogether
bathed in his own blood. But when we read here of their
blood being sprinkled upon him, does it not remind us of the
idea of substitution. Here is one who is dying for
others. It is that great truth of his
substitutionary death. Look at what we read later here
in verse 9, in all their affliction, he was afflicted. Oh, he is being
afflicted for his people, he is suffering in their place. Even Christ, our Passover, His
sacrifice for us, says the Apostle Paul. The great truth of the
Atonement. And what is the Atonement? It's
a substitution. It's the Lord Jesus in the sinner's
place, dying in the sinner's stead. Now, the Scriptures that
teach this great truth can be multiplied. Peter speaks of Him,
Christ also with one suffered for sins, he says. the just for
the unjust to bring us to God. And Paul the same, he has made
Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Here is that then that we must
take account of. What is the Lord doing? He is
that One who is the sole Saviour, the only Saviour. And now, by
that bloody death, he has accomplished a glorious salvation for his
people. Oh, the day of the redeemed is
come, as we're told here at verse 4. The day of vengeance is in
mine heart. The year of my redeemed is come. And look at the language that
we have previously. I know It's speaking in the historical
context of the restoration of the Jews after 70 years in exile
in Babylon, but spiritually. Or does it not speak of that
greater restoration, when the Lord Jesus Christ reconciles
his people unto himself? Verse 11, of chapter 62, And
three times, three times in that verse we have that word, behold. He cometh, beholds, His reward
is with Him, His work before Him. Here is that then that we
are to consider, that we are to examine and look into carefully
and thoroughly all that great work of the Lord Jesus, that
one who is the only Savior. I have trodden the winepress
alone, he says, of the people there was none with me." And
so here we can discern something of the Lord Jesus as Him who
is the only Savior of sinners. But then in the second place,
in the second place, to also say something with regards to
the state of sinners. And look at the language that
we have there in verse 5, in the beginning of that verse,
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 looked, and there was none
to help and I wondered and is it not a re-echoing of what has
been said previously back in 59-16 he saw that there
was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor therefore
his arm brought salvation unto him and his righteousness it
sustained him It's the same truth that we have back in 59-16 as
we find here in chapter 63 verse 5. And so there's a repetition. And we always carefully take
account of repetition in the word of God. Think of the Gospel
of John and how many of the Lord's statements there are prefixed
not just with a single verily, but with a double verily, verily. And all these things are not
without significance when God repeats Himself. And so what
do we see here in this fifth verse? What is it that God Himself
beholds? What is it that God sees? I looked,
he says. I looked. And there are three
things that I want to mention with regards to the state of
sinners, those that the Lord Jesus Christ came to redeem. First of all, what does God see? He sees great wickedness. We go right back to the opening
chapters of Genesis. Not long after the Great work
of creation! How soon after creation does
sin enter into the world. Genesis chapter 3 we have that
solemn record of the transgression of Adam and Eve. They disobeyed
the commandment of God and partook of the forbidden fruit. and they
fell and they were in that state then of alienation they were
separated from God and then we just go on a little further chapter
6 and verse 5 in Genesis God saw God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the
thought of his heart was only evil continually God sees All
these things are not hidden from God's sight. I looked, he says,
and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none
to uphold. Again, look at the language that
we have back in the 59th chapter. What a description, verse 13,
in transgressing and lying. against the Lord,
and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off,
for truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter, yea,
truth faileth. And he that departeth from evil
maketh himself a pride, or the good man you see who departs
from evil is a pride and the Lord saw it and it displeased
him that there was no judgment then that 16th verse and he saw
that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor
or how God sees God sees, he sees the dreadful state of affairs
amongst the nations of the earth And what a dreadful state this
nation is in. You don't need me to tell you
that. We witness it. We're a laughing
stock. We're a reproach. Confusion in
Parliament. God sees all of these things.
But God sees more than that. He sees into the hearts of men.
He sees us just as we are. Every creature is manifest in
His sight. And all things are naked and
open to His view. And look at the language that
we have later in the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. And there
in the opening words of chapter 5, "...run ye to and fro through
the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in
the broad places thereof. If ye can find a man, if there
be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I
will pardon it." And Jeremiah He's ministering at the actual
time of the Babylonian exile, when God's judgment was about
to fall upon them, He witnessed those things. But there was non-Yusuf. And so that terrible judgment
came. Oh how the Lord looks! And what does He see when He
looks? He sees nothing but sin and wickedness and uncleanness
and perversions. We have the language of the Psalmist,
it's in Psalm 14. And as you know Psalm 14 is repeated
then in Psalm 53, and then the passage is repeated again in
the New Testament in Romans chapter 3 at verse 10 following. And
what is the language? There in Psalm 14 to the Lord
look down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there
were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone
aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Repeated, as I said, in Psalm
53, repeated again there in Romans 3.10, follow me. A threefold
statement then, concerning that that God sees. All God looks. Man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh upon the heart, that heart that is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Ask
the prophet Jeremiah. I, the Lord, search the heart. I, the Lord, search the heart.
God sees, and what does God see when He looks upon men, the states
of man, the wickedness of men. And not only the wickedness of
men, but also man's weakness. Man is unable to deliver himself.
Man cannot save himself. His condition is utterly helpless. He's in a hopeless state. That's
why we have this word therefore in verse 5, I looked, says God,
and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none
to uphold, therefore, oh what a word, therefore mine own arm
brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me." Who is
the one who speaks here? It is that one who is mighty
to save. The questions at the beginning
of the chapter in verse 1 and at the end of that verse I that
speak in righteousness, the Lord answers the questions. I that
speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Or the Lord comes to
save those whose condition is utterly helpless. It's a great comfort, is it not?
It is a great comfort to sinners that there is one who is able,
able to save to the uttermost. But how does the Lord Jesus Christ
say? Well, we're told how He altogether
identifies with His people. That's the wonder of it. Are they sinners? He was made
sin. Are they weak? Why, He was crucified through
weakness, it says. Those are remarkable words, 2nd
Corinthians 13, 4. Look at them, meditate upon them,
study them. What does it say? He was crucified
through weakness. He made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of
a servant. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh and for sin. Or we read of God sending his
own son. sending his own Son, in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin. Or the Lord looks and the Lord
sees, and the Lord is that One who supplies. He has supplied
a great Saviour. Therefore mine arm brought salvation
unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And there, the end of the
previous chapter in verse 11. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. All this great work that the
Lord himself accomplishes. The Lord looks and he sees these
things, he sees what men are, he sees the wickedness of man.
he sees the utter inability of man to do anything to help himself
or to save himself but then this word wonder this word wonder in verse 5 I wondered it says
I looked and there was none to help, and I wondered that there
was none to uphold." And he said again, in chapter 59 and verse
16, that parallel verse, what does it say? He saw that there
was no man and wondered! And what a word it is! Such a
strong verb, really. Literally it means to be desolate, to be appalled. It's that sort
of wonderment. Utterly astonished. The language
again of the psalmist, therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within
me, my heart within me is desolate. And are not these something of
the experiences of the Lord Jesus Christ as that man? Or that man
who is the saviour of sinners, the God-man? What desolations
the Lord experiences in order to accomplish the salvation of
his people? My spirit overwhelmed, my heart
within me desolate. But why so here? What is the
reason here in this fifth verse? Well, it says, I wonder that
there was none to uphold. I wonder that there was none
to uphold. To uphold what? Well, none to
uphold the interests of the people of God. Who will uphold the interest
of the godless? when God's judgments are going
to be abroad when God visited that terrible judgment upon Judah
because of their sins you know there was a very little remnant
all we are reminded of this here at the beginning of this book
of the prophet Isaiah there in the opening chapter we see that
the remnant is a very little remnant. Not just a remnant, not just
a little remnant, a very little remnant. Verse 9 of chapter 1, except
the Lord of hosts that left unto us a very small remnant. Oh, it seems that there is none
to uphold the interests of the people of God when God's judgments
are abroad. Now, how are God's interests
upheld? They are upheld by the prayers
of that little remnant. Why, there in verse 16 of chapter
59 we read, there was no intercessor. I saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor. Who are those who
will pray? Who are those who will plead?
Who are those who will truly be seekers after God? Abraham is spoken of as the father
of all them that believe. Abraham is the great pattern
of saving faith, of justifying faith,
a man of faith. Oh, but what an intercessor was
Abraham. Remember Genesis 18, when the
Lord God is about to visit judgments upon those wicked cities of the
plain Sodom and Gomorrah because of the great sins that are committed
there. And there is Abram's nephew Lot
and his wife and his children in the city of Sodom. And the
Lord God comes, three angels, one of the angels, the angel
of the Lord, it's Christ, appearing to him as a man before the Incarnation,
the Theophany as they call it. And those two angels, they go
off to Sodom But there is Abram left before the angel of the
Lord. You know the chapter Genesis
18. And what does Abram do at the
end? He intercedes. He prays concerning those wicked
cities. If there be fifty righteous,
Lord, or wilt thou destroy the city if there are fifty righteous? And the Lord God says He will
not destroy the city if fifty righteous souls can be found
in it. But then how bold Abraham is, 45 righteous, 40, 30, 20,
10. 10 righteous souls, Lord. And the
Lord says if there are 10 righteous souls, he will stay his hand
and will not judge those wicked cities. But there were not 10.
And the judgment came. He was an intercessor. He was
upholding the cause of the righteous. And we see the same, of course,
in Moses. Subsequently, remember when the children of Israel sinned
so grievously whilst he was there in the manse, receiving instructions
and direction. God had given the Ten Commandments. God had spoken those words, but
the children of Israel wanted Moses to intercede. They didn't
want God to speak directly. Moses goes into the manse forty
days, receiving all sorts of instruction and oh they grow
weary waiting what's become of the man? and Aaron makes the
golden calf and Moses comes down from the mount with the tables
in his hand and he breaks the tables there at the foot of Mount
Sinai and God will disinherit the children of Israel God will
cast them off and he will make of Moses a nation But what does
Moses do? He intercedes. He prays. Oh, there are those prayers,
you see. But are there any that seek God? I referred to those words in
Psalm 14, and again in Psalm 53, taken up by Paul quoting
them there in in Romans chapter 3 and it's a long quotation that
he makes and there in Romans 3.11 he says that when God looks
down from heaven there is none that seeketh after God there
is none that seeketh after God no intercessors and yet how gracious
God is he invites us to come come now he says and let us reason
together Oh, what an invitation! The God Himself, the Great God,
the Creator, the Holy One of Israel, the God of eyes too pure
to behold iniquity, should say to us sinners, come now and let
us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. And who is the one that we come
to and plead? He is that God who is Sovereign.
He is the Sovereign Saviour. I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to say, He is that One who is the sole Saviour, the
only Saviour. He says, I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me. All friends,
this is the one that we are to come to. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. He is the one
that we are to pray to. You know, it's a sad reflection
on our land, really. We might be appalled at the shenanigans
in Parliament, we might be appalled that the immorality that's everywhere,
the perverseness of the nation. But think of what we are spiritually.
You know, today, the Pope is canonizing John Henry Newman,
making him a saint, declaring him to be a saint. And of course,
a great fuss is being made. The Prince of Wales is there
at the Vatican. There are government representatives
there. And how wicked it all is. This
man is being canonized by the Romish Church because they say
he answers prayers. And they say that there have
been two cases in North America of people praying to John Henry
Newman and receiving miraculous answers to prayer. And I would
say of all the things that offend God, That is the worst of all. That is the worst of all. To
put a man, a so-called saint, in the place of God, in the place
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, it's not just
John Henry Newman, the Romanist Church has a multitude, a multitude
of saints. And the people can pray to them.
And they pray so often to the Blessed Mother of the Lord, the
Virgin Mary. a gracious woman. They make a
god of her. What wickedness! And God doesn't
wink at these things. These spiritual sins of our nation,
how they grieve the Lord God. For he looked, and there was
none to help, and wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore,
he says, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury
it upheld me, or let us be those who would plead with this God
and uphold and seek constantly to uphold the cause of God, the
cause of truth against all that wicked erroneous teaching of
those whose is only a man-made religion or that we might know
this one then that is spoken of even in this portion that
one who is the sovereign saviour that one who is the sole Savior
of sinners. Behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. O the Lord then be pleased to
open our eyes to that truth as it is only found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. We sing our closing hymn, number
712. The tune is Arizona 284. Come hither, ye that fain would
know exceeding simpleness of sin. Come see a scene of matchless
woe, and tell me what it all can mean. Come, let the ye that fain would
know the exceeding sinfulness of sin, Come see a scene of matchless
love, and tell me what it all can mean. Behold the dawning sun of gold,
bowed down with honor to the throne. Wrung at the hold and
sweating blood His eyes in tears of sorrow grow Say how the victim
panting lies, His soul with bitter anguish threns, He sighs, he
pains, he groans, he cries, His maid dejected, shocked, distressed. What pangs of ease that tear
his fold? What burdens he set on him lay? What means his agony of snow? What makes a maker hang his head? Tis justice with its iron rod. Inflicting strokes of wrath divine,
Tis the avenging hand of God, Incensed at all your sins and
mine. He finished first, and names
were cut He undertook a desperate fit, Such loads of guilt were
on him put, He could but just sustain the weight. Then let us not ourselves deceive,
For while of sin we lightly deep, Whatever notions we may have,
Indeed we are not much like Him. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen.