I have something for us tonight
that is amazing and precious and powerful. And I'm very thankful
to have been led to this portion of scripture. I'm really honestly
very thankful. Let me read our text and then
I'm gonna tell you what this is and what we're gonna see in
this, all right? Verse one, Isaiah 63, verse one,
it says, Who is this 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. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine
fat? I have trodden the winepress 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.
For the day of vengeance is in mine 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. 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. Now there's some things we can
immediately recognize in this. You all didn't understand that
too well, because I didn't either. I don't mean to assume on you,
but when I read that, I was like, that's hard to enter into. But this is so beautiful, it's
so glorious, and I think you're gonna see, you're gonna see something
here in just a moment. There are a couple of things
that we can immediately realize. We've read it a couple of times
now. Number one, this is speaking of Christ, okay? Number two, this is speaking
of the cross. But let me tell you what jumped
out to me when I read this. This is a one-on-one conversation
with Christ Speaking of the cross, this is a one-on-one conversation.
Now, how amazing would it be, honestly,
if you or I had the opportunity to have a
face-to-face, one-on-one conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ? How
amazing would that be? A question and answer session
with the Lord Jesus Christ. You ask him questions, he answers
you. That's what this is. That's what
a lot of Isaiah is. From this passage, I realized
a lot about the whole book of Isaiah. Our Lord recorded for us a personal
question and answer conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the cross from His point of view. This is the experience of the
cross from His point of view in His own words. And it's just
amazing. It is precious and it's powerful. It's so powerful. The heading
at the top of my page says Christ showeth who he is. You know, we're always declaring
who he is. We're up here telling, well,
this is who he is. Well, Christ is showing who he
is in his own words. He gives his own account of the
cross of Calvary. So let's read this one more time,
okay, and let's see if we can really see and hear the back
and forth conversation. All right, verse one. Who is this that cometh from
Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
That's the question that the child of God is asking. All right,
that's the question that the sinner is asking. Who is this
that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that
is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
Who is this? Who is this? All right, here's
Christ answering the question. Verse 1 goes on to say, I that
speak in righteousness am mighty to save. Who is it? Who goes there? Who
is that coming? It's me. Fear not, it is I. The sinner in need, the sinner
who doesn't even know his need, the sinner in his blindness and
in his ignorance says, who is this that cometh from Edom with
dyed garments, from Basra, this that is glorious in his apparel,
traveling in the greatness of his strength? And Christ in his
goodness and glory answers, I, it is I. that speaks in righteousness,
the one who is mighty to save, that's who it is. All right,
then the ignorant blind sinner in need says in verse 2, wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine
vat? And Christ answers in verse 3,
I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there
was none with me. For I will tread them in my anger
and trample them 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, 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. 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. You want to know
why? That's what he said. You want
to know why? That's why. That's why. And then the response
of the sinner in need is verse seven. I will mention the loving
kindness of the Lord. and the praises of the Lord according
to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness
toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according
to his mercies and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses."
The sinner says, Lord, everything you just said is lovingkindnesses. That's a back and forth conversation
with Christ. It's me. Why? Here's the reason why. Okay. Thank you. Back and forth conversation. Now, let's look a little bit
more deeply at it. Verse 1 says, Who is this that cometh from
Edom? The land of Edom, they were the
descendants of Esau. And the name means red. The color red. The garments of
Christ that had been dyed and stained, they were dyed and stained
the color red. You know anything pertaining
to Christ? that has the color red? Blood. His garments were stained with
blood. Verse 1 says, Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed
garments from Basra? The name Basra means sheepfold. This blood came from a lamb. Christ was that lamb. You know,
Abraham told Isaac, they were going up Mount Moriah in Genesis
22, and Isaac said, you know, Father, I see the wood and the
fire, but where is the lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb. God will provide his own lamb,
and God will provide himself to be the lamb. God will provide
himself a lamb. John the Baptist pointed at Jesus
Christ and cried, Behold the Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. How? How did he do that? Isaiah said, He was led as a
lamb to the slaughter. And like a sheep done before
his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. According to the purpose
of God Almighty, Revelation 13 verse 8 says Christ Jesus was
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Christ is the lamb. When we get to glory and look
into the midst of the throne, do you know what we're going
to see? A lamb as it had been slain. I don't understand that, but
I believe it. That's what we're going to say. A lamb as it had
been slain. Verse one says, who is this that
cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious
in his apparel. What is the apparel of Christ?
What is his robe? What is his raiment? What is
he covered in? Well, his glory for one. Glorious
in his apparel, his glory for one, he's covered in glory. He's
covered in beauty. One thing if I desire to the
Lord, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord to behold the beauty. Look at him, you're going to
see beauty. He's covered in holiness, the beauty of his holiness. He's
covered in righteousness. He's covered in goodness. He's
covered in power. He wears the robes of sovereignty
and power. He's covered in kingship. Verse one says, Who is this that
cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? That's how he travels. You know
how the Lord Jesus Christ travels? Well, meek and lowly, sitting
on a donkey. Oh, he did that once. Once. That's how he travels. Traveling,
moving, conquering in victory. Strength. Who is this? That's the question, isn't it?
Who is this? That's always been the question.
What think ye of Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? Who is he? Verse one, he said,
I'm the one who speaks in righteousness, who is mighty to save. You know,
he is able to save to the uttermost. I would love to meet, I know
that they have existed, but I would love to one more time meet a
person who thinks they are just too sinful to be saved. I really would. I say that facetiously
because that's the heart of God's people, all of God's people.
Oh, I'm just so sinful, I just don't even think God's able to
save me. Oh, he's able to save to the uttermost. He is willing
to save. I love how the scripture says
he's ready to save. He's ready to show mercy, he's
ready to forgive. Ready, willing, able, that's
might. Mighty to save. I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save. Verse two, it says, wherefore
art thou red in thine apparel? I see that your garments are
dyed red, but why? Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine
fat. You look like you're covered
in grape juice. You look like you've been stomping
grapes, crushing grapes, making wine. Why do you look like that? Verse three, he said, it's because
that's exactly what I've been doing. I have trodden the winepress. As the just, I was the one who
crushed. You know, when you trod a winepress,
you're the one stepping on the grapes. As the just, I was the
one who crushed. But as the justifier, I was the
one who was crushed. That's why my garments are completely
soaked in blood. Turn with me over to Revelation
14. Revelation 14 verse 13, it says, And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord. From henceforth, yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works
do follow them. Where did God's people die in
the Lord? Where did he die? the cross of Calvary. That's
where rest from all of our labors was won. How was it won? How did that happen? How did
that transaction on the cross happen? Verse 14, And I looked,
and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto
the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his
hand a sharp sickle. the judge of the earth, Jesus
Christ. And another angel came out of
the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the
cloud thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time is come for
thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he
that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and
the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of
the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharpsicle. 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 thy sharpsicle
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for her grapes
are fully ripe. Every soul that was given to
Christ was gathered and plunged into him, immersed into him,
thrust into him. Verse 19 says, 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 unto
the horse bridles by the space of 1,600 furloins. That was the crushing of Christ
with his people inside of him on the cross of Calvary, without
the camp, outside the city. God's people bore the wrath of
God on their sin in Christ. They were trodden on. They were
trampled in fury. You know, the cross involved
the fury of God. It involved the vengeance of
God. The salvation of God's people
was also the judgment of God's people in Christ. He saved them. We talk about Him saving His
people and redeeming His people. Well, He saved them and redeemed
them by pouring out His vengeance and His wrath and His condemnation
on them in Christ. That's how He saved them. Justice was met in Christ. They were pressed out in Christ. He was their protection. He was
their salvation. They were redeemed. They were
spared in Him. They made it through in Him.
Go back to Isaiah 63. Verse 3 says, I have trodden
the winepress alone. He by himself purged our sins. He did it alone. He did it alone. That would be
a good thing for every man and woman on earth to know, to learn
and know. He did it alone. Everything he
did, he did it alone. He didn't need me and you. He
doesn't need us now. Verse three, I have trodden the
winepress alone and of the people there was none with me. For I
will tread them in my anger and trample them in my fury and their
blood shall be sprinkled on my garments. And I will stain all
my raiment. Vengeance is his, saith the Lord. All sinners against God are going
to be trampled. How does God feel about people?
He feels like trampling them. All sinners against God are going
to be trampled, either in Christ or out of Christ. But they're
going to be trampled. Blood will be required, either
their own or His in their place. But verse 4 says, For the day
of vengeance is in mine heart. And the year of my redeemed is
come. The time of their redemption
has drawn nigh. The day of vengeance is in my
heart and the year of my redeemed has come. And I looked and there
was none to help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought
salvation unto me. In my fury, it upheld me. The
old song says, as poor, wretched sinners, no God and no hope,
it seemed there was no one to help. But God, in his mercy,
salvation supplied, emptied heaven, and came down himself, and a
ransom was found. He said, because there was no
one else to do it, My own arm brought salvation. He reached
way down, my own arm. He reached way down. He lifted
us out. I love that old song. He lifted
us out of the deep miry clay. He settled our feet in the straight
and narrow way. He lifted us up to a heavenly
place and blooded our souls each day with his grace. Verse five says, 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. Inasmuch as I did it unto them,
I did it to myself. They are my own body, bone of
my bone. He went on to say, 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 down
their strength to the earth. That's what happened to all of
God's people in Christ. That same fury and wrath that
will come to this world outside of Christ, everything we're reading,
that is what is waiting for men and women outside of Christ. But that came to God's people
in Christ, that wrath is over in Christ. The wrath is over.
The judgment is complete. And that is the reason why the
child of God's response in verse seven. Is. I will mention the loving kindness
of the Lord, everything you just said, well, that didn't sound
like loving kindness to me. Oh, it did to me. It does to
God's people. I will mention the loving kindness
of the Lord. And the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us and the great
goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed
on them according to his mercies, the cross. We talk about, you
know, the mercy of God. That's the cross. That's what
happened on the cross. which he hath bestowed on them
according to his mercies and according to the multitude of
his loving kindnesses, his graces. Just look at what he had to endure
to deliver us, look at what he had to go through. Look at his
garments, just look at his, look at his, look at his, what he's
wearing, look at his garments, look at the wine press. That
would have been us had he not upheld us and suffered that for
us. Praise his name, he lifted us.
That's what he did, he lifted us. I want to close with that
song.