Isaiah chapter 63, we'll be looking
at verses 1 through 4 this evening. Isaiah chapter 63, verses 1 through
4, and the title of the message is, Who is this? Who is this? Who is this? The prophet asked,
Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from
Bosra? Who is this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
And here we find the answer, I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. In the previous chapter, the
prophet Isaiah declares something very precious to us who are believers. He says this in verse 10, he
says, Go through, go through the gates. Prepare ye the way
of the people. Cast up, cast up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up
the standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work is before him. The prophet Isaiah preaches the
coming of the Messiah. He says, clear the way. Make
straight the paths. Christ is coming. Behold, by
faith, the Savior is coming. Prepare ye the way. Behold, salvation
cometh. And His reward is with Him. What
is the reward? It's the reward that He gave
to Isaiah. He said, I am by exceeding great
reward. God is the reward of the saved. God is the reward. And this Savior, He said His
work is set before Him. His work is set before Him and
He will be victorious. All the redeemed of the Lord
will be called, He said, and they shall call them, the holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord. Thou shalt be called, sought
out, a city not forsaken. What a wonderful word. Thou shalt
not be forsaken. Thou shalt be called. glorious
message concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and what assurance this
gives us. These are emphatic words. These
are true words. Salvation cometh. It's true. Behold, it's so. And He who was
promised to be the Savior from the beginning of the world was
promised again in such clear terms Israel knew that the Christ
was coming. All Israel knew that Christ should
come from Bethlehem. You remember, even old Herod
knew that. That wicked man, that wicked
king. He and his priests, they knew where the Lord Jesus Christ
would be born. All of Israel knew this. They
knew He would come from Abraham, from Isaac, and from Jacob. They
knew that He would be of the seed of David. They knew He was
going to be a mighty conqueror and bring in God's eternal kingdom. They all knew this. Yet, as this vision declares,
as this vision of the prophet reveals, when Christ would come
into the world, He would not be known. He would not be known. Who is this? Isaiah just told
us that salvation is coming. He told us, prepare the way.
The King is coming. His reward is with Him. And His
people will not be forsaken. And then He's given this vision.
And He sees a man coming. And He said, who is this that
comes from Edom? Who is this that has the dyed
garments of Bozrah? Who is this? The prophet sees
this vision of a man coming, not from Judah. Not from Jerusalem. Not from Israel. But from Edom. And he comes from Bosra. And
his garments, there's something wrong with his garments. This
man Isaiah sees something about his garments and he says, this
man, who is this that comes from Edom with dyed garments? I love this. This word dyed,
it means sour in taste. Bitter. Bitter. It means red in color. Red in
color. You see, His garments, the garments
of the Savior, were not purple. They were red. Purple was the color of kings.
But who is this that cometh in red garments, in this sour, distasteful
garments, these bitter garments? And though he come from a land
of the heathen, who is this that is coming from a heathen land?
Didn't you just tell me about a Savior that's coming with His
reward? Who is this coming from Edom?
And what are these garments that He's wearing? The prophet notices
how He comes though. I like this. He said, despite
that he comes with these sour and bitter garments of red, he's
coming from a heathen nation, despite this, he comes with such
glory and strength. Who is this that would come in
such glory? He said, and who is this that
is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
His garments, though strange and not suited for what He thought
it should be, yet He wears them with such dignity. Who is this
that wears these bitter garments with such dignity? Who is this
that comes in such strength? The answer is in the same verse,
I that speak in righteousness. Mighty to save This man that
cometh comes in the vision is the Lord Jesus Christ This is
the only person that fits this vision of the Savior Jesus who
is the Christ was born in the city of David and He was born
in the city of Bethlehem. Yet, when He came, He came from
Edom. If you remember in Hosea, this
is fulfillment of the Scriptures. In Hosea 11.1, He said, Out of
Egypt have I called my Son. Jesus is the one that came from
Edom. from Egypt. Isn't that strange? Didn't that
throw the people of Israel off somewhat in the way He came? He came from a strange land.
And Jesus was made to wear these bitter garments. This speaks
of His humanity and His humility. Jesus was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. He was made bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. Yet He was and always was and
is God. He who is from eternity, the
Son of God, the Creator and Sustainer and Giver of life. He whose glory
is equal with the Father and the Spirit. Yet He comes in these
wearied garments of human flesh. Jesus is the Almighty. If we believe on Jesus Christ,
if we know Him, we know Him as God. We know Him as God. Go over to John chapter 8. Look
at this. How vital is this to know? If you know who Jesus Christ
is, you must first know His deity. Go to John chapter 8 and verse
23. John chapter 8 and verse 23.
Jesus said to them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you, that
you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am,
you shall die in your sins. If you believe not that He is
God, a very God, you shall die in your sins. What a glorious condescension
of the Son of God to be made the Son of Man. Which one of us has resisted
sin unto blood? None of us. And yet, how highly
do we think of ourselves? Yet the Son of God, if we are
to believe on Christ, we should have the mind of Christ to think
as He thought. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet made of Himself
no reputation. Took upon Him the form of a slave. God, a very God. And as the vision,
this vision of Jesus, who was made flesh and dwelt among us,
He is man, a very man. That's what these garments depict. They depict His humility, His
humanity, which was bitter. Our Lord Jesus, when He was made
flesh and dwelt among us, the Scripture declares to us that
He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And if that were not enough,
we hid as it were our faces from Him. We snubbed our nose at the condescension
of God in human flesh. He was made a man and rejected
of men. If you go to John chapter 1,
you see this clearly. John sets this out. He says in
verse 10 of chapter 1, He was in the world, and the world was
made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. Jesus suffered in his humility, in his humanity,
like none of us have ever even could contemplate. Have we received ill in this
world? We've had troubles, we've had
difficulties, but which one of them have we not deserved? How
much more have we deserved? How much more trouble have we
deserved because of our sin? And yet here He is, the righteous,
holy Son of God, and yet He condescended to such a low estate, such a
low estate, that He suffered more than any man. And yet, the
Scripture here in our vision declares that He wore this garment
gloriously. This is a glorious... Who is
this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in his strength?
Jesus traveling from heaven to earth. What a glorious thing
that is. There is no other religion in
the world whereby their God would be made flesh. Only this one. Only the true one. The true God
was made flesh. And as such, his heart was fixed
on the work of God. His work that was said before
him. He was traveling as one who had purpose. I remember when the end of the
school year would come and I was teaching. I was one of the only
men in the school building. I was an elementary teacher,
so was all the women in there. And at the end of the school
year, I sure knew that they were going to ask me for help. They
were going to want me to get their boxes. They were going
to want to get all their stuff. And what I would do is I'd walk
with a purpose, like I was doing something. I didn't really have
anything to do, but I walked like I had something to do. Walk
with purpose. Oh, but the Lord Jesus Christ
did not feign in His purpose. He was not pretending. The Lord
Jesus Christ had a purpose. He came to this world to save
His people from their sins. That's what He came to do. And
He was glorious in this. He came in His own strength.
He was a man of purpose. Because He is the Great I Am. He is God manifest in the flesh. In Isaiah chapter 50 in verse
7 it said, For the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not
be confounded. Therefore I have set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. The Lord
Jesus Christ, though He suffered more than any man, He was dead
set on His purpose. He was there to speak the Word
of God, to do the will of God, and to die for His people. He had a purpose. Though Jesus was despised and
rejected, unknown by His people and His family, yet there were
none who were able to deny His glorious purpose. What did his
enemies say about the Lord? They said, never a man spake
like this man. They hated him, but they couldn't
deny he had a glorious purpose. Pontius Pilate said, I find no
fault in this man. OK, go crucify him. They could
not say anything about him. He was glorious. Men do not deny
that Jesus was a good man. Men don't deny His existence.
They don't deny His purpose, that He came in the world to
do good things and that He did miracles. Anybody that denies
that shouldn't even be heard. They're just fools. They shouldn't
even be given an audience by anyone but fools. Anyone who
denies His existence or His goodness Yet, unless the Lord revealed
Himself, listen, unless the Lord revealed Himself, no one would
be able to know Him. Even though He came in the flesh,
even though God was dwelling among man, even though He did
miracles, even though He did good things, no one would know
who He was unless He revealed Himself. Not one of us here in this building
would have known who He is unless He, by the power of His Holy
Spirit, revealed Himself. Who is this that cometh from
Edom? Who is this that whose garments
are dyed bitter, sorrowful, red garments? Who is this that is
glorious and strong in purpose and in will and desire to save
His people? Who is this? We wouldn't have
known had He not shown us. Jesus said, No man knoweth the
Father save the Son. Neither knoweth any man the Son
save the Father, and to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Nobody
knows the Father but by the Son. You can't know the Son or the
Father unless Christ reveals Himself to us. In Matthew chapter 16, remember
when the Lord asked his disciples, whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man am? They said, some say you're a
prophet, an old prophet that's dead and risen again. Isn't that
something? They thought he was a risen prophet. That's pretty high honor. That's
pretty high honor. If anybody thought that about
us, No. Nobody thought that. Nobody ever
thought we were risen prophets. But whom do you say that I the
Son of Man am? Who do you say I am? And Peter
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he
said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven
hath revealed it. This is a gift. Do you know who
this is? When I read this, I'm looking,
who didn't know that? Who didn't know I wasn't going
to preach Christ from this text? Why do you know that? How is
it that you understand that? It is a gift of divine grace
that we know this. This is not because you're smarter
than most. Not by academic understanding
we know who this is. Sinners are the ones in need
of mercy. Isn't that opposite of what the
world thinks? The world thinks they deserve
mercy. The world thinks that they deserve to know who God
is. That they must demand of Him. You must show us! God doesn't
have to show us anything. Sinners need mercy to see who
God is, to know His Savior. We cannot save ourselves, our
works cannot save us, our religion cannot save us, or make us acceptable
before God. Our wisdom cannot save us. Scripture
says that our wisdom is foolishness. Our wisdom is foolishness. And we cannot know God but by
Jesus Christ. Only God can give us to understand
the truth of His loving kindness, of His tender mercies. Only God can give us to see Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God. All who have been given this
grace see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We
have heard the word of God, the same word He gave to His prophets.
Who is this? We know this is Jesus because
He alone speaks righteousness. Look at your text. Here's the
answer that the Lord gave the prophet and the answer He gives
us. Who is this? I that speak in
righteousness, mighty to save. Who is this Savior robed in this
glorious flesh, strong? I that speak righteousness. We
know that Jesus Christ spoke in righteousness in everything
that He said and did. He spoke the Word of God. How could we know the mind of
God? except God reveal it to us. We could not know the mind of
God. We were not there when He created
the world. We were not there when He chose
us in sovereign mercy. We were not there when He purposed
to save us by this Savior Jesus, His Son. We were not there. How
do we know this mind of God? It is by the grace of God in
revelation that we know these things, that we believe these
things. And he spoke the Father's word. Jesus is the Christ because he
told the truth. What else could the truth do
but tell the truth? I like that when he said, if
I say I'm not from the Father, I'd be a liar like you. No, He's no liar. He spoke the
truth in righteousness. Jesus said, I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 says
that God spoke in different ways and in different times to the
fathers and the prophets, but in these last days has spoken
unto us by His Son. By His Son. And what has He spoken
to us? He has spoken to us that He is
all our righteousness. He has spoken to us that we have
no righteousness of our own. No holiness, no goodness in us. But all our righteousness comes
from His own personal obedience. His own obedience. This is the
gospel message. Righteousness. Righteousness. It's vain to think that Jesus
is mighty to make salvation possible. Anybody who thinks that has no
idea of salvation. Jesus did not make a cooperative
salvation. He did not make a cooperative
righteousness. He didn't fulfill righteousness
and then give you a part to play in this matter of salvation. No. That's not the one who cometh
from Edom with his garments tied. This is not Him who comes in
glorious might and power and strength. This is not Him who
is righteous to make salvation possible. Jesus Christ is mighty
because He accomplished salvation. He didn't make it possible. He
actually accomplished righteousness. His righteousness is mighty to
save. I rest completely and fully on
the righteousness of Christ. His blood is mighty to save because
His blood actually accomplished redemption. His blood actually
accomplished redemption. The angel said, He shall save
His people from their sins. There was no doubt. There was
no doubt in this. Because the scripture tells us,
He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Christ was never discouraged.
Have you read that? He's never discouraged. Never
discourage. I love when those people followed
Him. He fed the 5,000 and He left them there. It just amazes
me because none of us would have ever done that. We would have
all thought like the disciples, man, we got a good start going
now. We got 5,000. Boy, we're going to really get
this thing rolling. And Jesus says, get in the boat, boys.
We got to go. And they go across the sea, and
they look around, and he's gone! They travel across the sea to
find him, and they search him out, and they say, where'd you
go? He's like, you're not of my sheep. You're not of my sheep. If you were, I know this, you
would believe, but you'll die in your sins. The Lord Jesus Christ, He didn't
come to make salvation impossible, He actually... Wherefore, I like
this, the second verse of our text, the prophet, he inquires
more concerning Him who comes, he asks Him a question, he said,
Wherefore art thou red in thy apparel and thy garments like
him that treadeth the wine vat? You know, those who tread out
the grapes were the lowest of servants? They were the lowest
of servants. They were the ones that would
take off their, probably had no shoes, and they had all these
rugged old garments. Nobody would wear a new garment
in a wine vat to stamp out the grapes. And he said, why are
you dressed like a slave who's been treading in the wine vat
all day long, working hard? This was because Christ's garment
typifies the lowness of His state. Why was Christ made the lowest
of all? Because we should have been. In order to be our representative,
He must have taken our place. Where do we belong on the scale
of God's holy justice? We belong in the lowest part.
We belong in the meanest part. And yet, that's where the Son
of God took His place before God. Where we should have. Where
we didn't. He did. He did. He took the lowest position.
And His garments were red, because He alone tread the winepress
of the wrath of God. Do we think little of sin when I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory
died? My richest gain I count but loss
and poor contempt on all my pride. Do we think little of sin if
we do? we should look and see what it
costs the Lord. If we confess Him to be our Lord, we should see what it costs. The Father must have punished
our sins, and He did. And Jesus said, I did it alone. Alone. Even His disciples forsook
Him. Even His Father forsook Him. And He tread out all of the justice
of God for our sins. He said, I'll cover my raiment
with it. The blood that we owed, that
we could never pay, Behold his head, his hands, his feet, his
side poured forth a fountain of blood that satisfied the justice
of God on our behalf. Substitute. Substitute. Jesus made His garments red by
substitution. And by substitution, He saved
us. He is mighty to save us. He has
purpose to save us. He did save us. He is saving
us. And He shall save us because
His blood was not shed in vain. Not one drop of the blood of
Christ was shed in vain. All of our sins are gone. Every
one of them. No more to stand before the justice
of God in myself, but in the robe of His righteousness, I'll
stand before God. See that this was always His
purpose. Verse 4 says, for the day of vengeance. He said, For
I have trodden the winepress, and there was none with me. For
I will tread in mine anger, and trample in my fury, and their
blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain
all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in
my heart. When was this day of vengeance
in his heart? From eternity. From eternity,
when God chose us and put us in Christ, He had purpose to
punish our sins, and Jesus purpose to take our sins upon Himself,
so that we would not have to bear them. In Psalm 103, verse 10, it says,
He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us. According to our Nick is that
not great? He said I've had this day of vengeance in my heart
all Eternity and look at this and the year of my redeemed is
The day of vengeance and the year of the redeemed are the
same one in the same When he hung on that tree for our sins
both were accomplished The justice of God satisfied and His people
were redeemed. There was none to help. It was
by His arm He brought us out. He said, I looked and there was
none to help and I wondered there was none to uphold. Therefore,
mine own arm brought salvation unto me. His own arm. His own arm. Where's your arm? How strong is your arm? My arm
is nothing and altogether vanity. My strength is nothing, but His
salvation is everything, everything to me. His arm has brought us,
has brought salvation to us. It was by His holy deity He upheld
divine justice, and it was by His righteous humanity He was
able to be the sinner's substitute. Holy vengeance of God was right,
stored up, and purposed from eternity and executed on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And friends, now the year of
the redeemed has come. Listen to me, today is the day
of salvation. Today. Right now is salvation
come to me. By faith, I believe on Christ
right now. I believe, Lord help thou mine
belief. Jesus Christ did not come to
help you to be saved. He did not come so you can try
to be saved. He came to save you. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world
to save what? Sinners. Filthy, dead, unworthy
sinners. You qualify? Yes, yes, yes. I believe on Christ. And I know this, my salvation
is sure. He says, For He said, Surely
they are My people, children that will not lie. So He was
their Savior. Who is this that cometh? It is
the Lord Jesus Christ. What about His garments? He came
in the humanity. He came to be our representative
and He shed His blood alone for our sins. He saved us. He redeemed
us. And we should say like Isaiah
in verse 7, he said, I will mention the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Do we mention the lovingkindness of the Lord? We do if we know Him. If you've
ever experienced the loving kindness of God, you'll mention it. You'll mention it. Mention it with a glad heart.
I'm glad to be able to mention it. I'm glad to be able to declare
it. I know. My redeemer, I know who
he is. Do you know who he is? Then give
God the glory. believe. I pray that God bless
this to our hearts. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.