To say that I was weary today would be an understatement. But for a few minutes, if the
Lord would help me, I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 63. I believe I could say that nothing
refreshes me and invigorates me any more than a fresh view of
the Lord of glory. In this 63rd chapter, Isaiah
begins, "'Who is this that cometh from Eden with dyed garments
from Basra, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of
his strength, Who is this? 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. When the true Christ is preached
in our day, in His true character, and in His true work, this seems to be the question. Who is this? As a matter of fact, in my speaking
last week, there was a man who in God's providence happened
into the service. And he later told someone that
he had never heard anything like that before. Never heard anybody
say that before. And all I ever did was to preach
the Lord Jesus Christ." Who is he? Who is that? But Isaiah is used of the Spirit
of God here to ask that question in order that God might answer
it. He's used here to declare some
things and describe some things concerning the Messiah, the Christ. In other words, these things
are spoken, but they are only heard by those that the Spirit
of God gives true sight, the sight of faith, those He gives
understanding to, and spiritual life. And what we have in those few
verses that I read is the way that Christ came and the way that he will surely
deal with all his enemies, but also the way that he comes
to every sinner that he saves. He will be as triumphant in his
grace as he will be in his judgment. And this is the way that the
Lord Jesus Christ is set forth in the gospel as triumphant,
as the victor. That's who is being made manifest
here, the victorious Christ. And they show, as I said, a picture
of His second coming in glory, and His judgment, and His vengeance,
and His wrath. But they show also a picture
of His coming in grace. And the two questions that we
find asked in these verses, they pertain to the person and to
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back in chapter 2 at verse
11, rather chapter 62 and verse 11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, This
is a message for a particular people. Behold, thy salvation
cometh. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. This has to do with the Savior,
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are three things mainly
in these verses that I want us to think about. And that one,
first of all, is simply this. Who is He? We have need of knowing
just exactly who Jesus Christ is. And the question reveals a problem
of our being able to recognize who he is. We're actually blind
to who he really is. We're like Pharaoh. You remember
Pharaoh? When Moses began to tell him
about what Jehovah had said, the Lord had said, he said, who
is the Lord that I should obey Him? And just like those disciples
on the road to Emmaus, he walked right with them, the Lord Jesus
Christ bodily. They didn't recognize who He
was. And Mary in the garden, she was
talking with the Savior, and she didn't know who He was. Who
is He? And we do not know Him, and not
only that, we cannot, by our own natural searching, find Him
out. He is the one who must reveal
Himself to us and in us. That's what Paul said. How did
Saul of Tarsus ever come to know and see by faith the Lord Jesus
Christ in His glory? He says to the Galatians, but
when it pleased God. He doesn't operate on our timetable. He doesn't do by our decisions
and our will, but when it pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in
me. It happened when it pleased God. It happened because it pleased
God, and it happened because God revealed Christ to him. And this is necessary because we
are naturally blind. That's what the Bible says. That's how we're pictured in
Scripture. All sons and daughters of Adam. And we are described also as
being spiritually dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. It describes us as being without
understanding. It shows us as being ignorant
of the truth. More than that, even deceived. We are deceived by Satan. We're
deceived by this world, by the false prophets of this world.
We're deceived by ourselves. Self-deceived. And we're blinded
by our own self-righteousness. We can't see who He is for delighting
and bragging on and resting in what we are. We are bound up in religious
superstition, and we are kept in darkness all our days by blind
leaders, and even, for the most part, in the name of Christianity,
worship one that Paul called another Jesus. You see, the natural eye sees
him as that babe lying in a manger. We can see him as that carpenter's
son. We can even see him as meek and
lowly, as beaten, as stripped, as silent, as mocked, as crucified,
even as dead. But the Scriptures tell us that Paul
and the apostles preached Jesus and the resurrection. Jesus and
the resurrection. And we preach Christ crucified
risen and exalted of God. Paul said, God hath highly exalted
Him. And the living Christ, as He
is described here in this text, He is the one who is glorious
in His apparel. I love the language of these
verses. He is glorious in His apparel. Because especially in Isaiah's
day, the robes or the clothing that one wore, they represented
or showed their state in society, their level of esteem in society. And so here is Christ now, He
is glorious. He is not like a fisherman walking
down by the seashore. while we delight in the necessity
of His humanity. He is still, nonetheless, at
this hour, glorious in His apparel. He wears the robes of the glorious
priest. Isn't that a marvelous garment
that the priest wears there in the book of Exodus in the Law,
when he goes in, the great high priest, that one time a year
on the Day of Atonement? That's a glorious garment that
he wears. And he wears the robe and the
apparel of the glorious prophet in all these works. Something
about their garment was describing them as being what they were
in the office. John the Baptist, the last of
the prophets, he was girded about in camel's hair in a leather
girdle. That's the symbol of the prophet.
He had the mantle. And he's clothed in the glorious
apparel of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And when you hear what Moses
is led to write in Exodus chapter 15, is this not the way it is
to his people? He says, Who is like unto thee,
O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing, Wonders. There is none to compare Him
to. There is none to compare Him
to because besides Him there is no other. And certainly, besides
Him, there is none to compare with His glory. I'd be so sad
if the Jesus I had was like the Jesus that most in our day have."
And he is described here as glorious, his glory being that he is the
absolute sovereign. We won't talk about Him wanting
to, and trying to, and wishing He could, and things like that,
or not being able to do something. He's the glorious Sovereign,
King of kings, and He's God in flesh. He's not only simply clothed
with all the things that glorify Him and exalt Him, He has a glory
essential to Him. He's the glory of God in the
flesh. And He is the One who came, not
being sent for, but He came on purpose and endured all these
things according to the will of God. He, this One Person,
is God. He is the King. He is the Christ. He is the Anointed One. He is
God's Champion. He is the Mighty God. And the
Lord's people are the cause of all His responsibility. And He came to do a battle. And
He did it. And he's like David. You know, David is used oftentimes
as a type of Christ. But one of the wonderful times
that he is picturing Christ is when he goes out before all of
Israel and all of the Philistines at the request of that giant. You remember what he said? He said, give me a man. He said, and if he conquers me,
kills me, we'll be your servants. But if I kill him, which he without
a doubt thought that he surely would, no way of possibly failing,
he said, then you'll be our servants. And so David goes out there and
everything concerning the salvation and deliverance of that people
of Israel from their enemies is all in David's hands. And David goes out there on that
occasion as a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he accomplishes
an absolute total victory. He slew the giant. And when you look here in these
verses, you have to come and ask another question. What is
it that He, this One described, has done? Why is He glorious? You see, the picture here is
of One who has returned victorious. Now, he is also the one who is
promising to give victory, but he is pictured here as the one
who has just returned from a terrible battle. He's been involved in
an awful conflict. He is pictured undoubtedly as
a man of war. As a matter of fact, that's what
the Scriptures say concerning God. The Lord God is a man of
war. He's been in an awful fight. As a matter of fact, He appears
as one who has come being victorious over death. These Edomites that are particularly
mentioned here, they were Israel's enemies. And the Bible speaks
of these and others who were the continual enemies of Israel,
and he does so in picturing all the enemies of God and all the
enemies of God's people. The enemies of our soul. You
know you have an enemy. Your soul has an enemy. The enemies of all of God's sheep. Sin is our enemy. Satan is described often times
as our enemy. The accuser of the brethren.
Death is naturally our enemy. Hell is naturally our enemy. The grave is pictured as our
enemy. But here the Lord Jesus Christ
is pictured as the victor, as the conqueror over all, and He
is shown again and again in Scripture as having accomplished a total
victory. Our nation has been in a lot
of fights over the last hundred years. But if there's one thing
that we really must have to say is that in none of them, especially
in the more recent ones, have we ever accomplished a total
victory. They said, was it World War II? Was the war to end all wars? Did it? No. But here is the Lord
Jesus Christ who is pictured for us and shown to us by God
Himself as the one who is not only the victor, but the one
who accomplishes a total victory. And the glory of it is that His
victory is our victory. He is described as a representative
man. We're described as being in Christ
Jesus. We are viewed by God in Christ,
not only in Him as He is, but in all that He accomplishes.
And He has not only wrought a victory for His people, He's wrought
a total victory for them. That's the language of Scripture. Listen to the Apostle in 2 Corinthians
2. And it's for this reason, his
total victory, that's the reason why the gospel that is preached
and his messengers who preach it, they will also in him be
victorious. Paul says, now thanks be unto
God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now, I'm not a good preacher
by any stretch. And I could look back at things
I said, things I forgot to say, things I wish I'd said and all
that, over a week of preaching just behind me now, I could say
that in every sense, in myself, I was a total failure. But his gospel won't be, because
it's the gospel of Christ. He said He will accomplish the
purpose whereunto He sends His Word. And He will give for Himself
glory, and so Paul says, thanks be to God who always causes us
to try always in Christ Jesus and makes manifest the savor,
the fragrance of His knowledge by us in every place. And then the Apostle says this
in Hebrews, this is the language of Scripture, "...for as much
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death..." His way
of victory is not our way of victory. that through death he
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage." What does he do? He overcomes
the enemy. And when he overcomes the enemy,
That victory, that defeat of the enemy and the one who binds,
it affords and accomplishes and assures the release of His people. And one of the things He releases
them from is the fear of death. Because they are all their lifetimes.
Every day you live on this earth, I don't care what you say, you
live in the fear of that hour when death comes to you. Death being described as having
this sting. And the reason why we fear death
is because we know ourselves to be sinners. And we know, whether
we admit it or not, we know that God has appointed a day in which
He'll judge sin, and the evidence is He's raised up His Son. He's raised up the Judge. And then Paul writes to the Colossians,
he says, "...and you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses." Well, doesn't that sound good? Having forgiven
you all trespasses. blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And you know what follows? And
having spoiled principalities and power. That's what the victor
does, you know. That's what the conqueror does.
The spoils belong to the victor. Having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. In what? In his cross. And here, if you behold the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, if God enables us to see it, we'll
see not a great defeat of our Lord, we'll see the day of His
greatest victory. He nailed everything that was
against us to His cross. He suffered all things, became
victorious over all things, and that is described as His triumph
over all them in Christ. When John saw Him in the Revelation,
it says, he said, when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.
I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys, the
absolute sovereign control of hell and of death." He sets free all the captives. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15,
he says, "...so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed
up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Death is sin, and the strength
of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory. Who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now when you read concerning
this work and this victory, there seems to be a double emphasis
here that the victory was accomplished by this one alone. Look down
in verse 3, "...I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me." Look at verse 5, "...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." He accomplished it alone. He single-handedly wrought this
victory. Back in World War I, if you remember,
there was a soldier that gained quite a lot of fame. He was, I believe, the most decorated
soldier in that war. His name was Sergeant Alvin York. And what he was so famous for
was because he single-handedly I don't know how many Germans
and so many machine gun nests and such as that, but his fame
was that he did it by himself. In Revelation 14 it says, "...and
the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out
of the winepress, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space
of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Well, that's a great
victory. That's a victory in one sense
that will be for Christ's coming day, but that victory outside
the city refers also to the victory of Christ on His cross. Chapter 1, speaking of Christ,
God having in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, who
being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His
Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when
He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high. We don't assist him in salvation. We don't somehow make his salvation
effectual. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. Paul writing to Titus said, he
saved us. He saved us. And then when you look at this
description, it says that he is clothed, in verse 2, in a
glorious apparel. He's described as being clothed
with these dyed garments. They are bloody, stained garments. In other words, what we find
our Lord pictured here as is one who has already accomplished
the victory. In Revelation 5 it says, "...and
one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold, the line
of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld,
and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb." as it had been slain."
Newly slain. Turn over to Revelation chapter
19, and look at verse 11. Now every vision, Whether it be by John in the
New Testament, or whether it be by Isaiah in the Old Testament,
everything is speaking of Christ and the victory He accomplished. Listen in Revelation 19 and verse
11. John says, "'And I saw heaven
opened, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge
and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood." Now, there's no way possible this cannot be
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at that next phrase. And
his name is called the Word of God. The Word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean." That's the righteousness of his people. And out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords." He has a bloody garment on. He
leads a triumphant people. They're all white, wearing white
robes, glorious white robes speak of that righteousness of Christ. And He bears that name, King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. Everything associated to blood,
to that sacrifice He offered on the cross. Everything speaking
of substitution for sinners, of the satisfaction of God, of
the sacrifice of Christ, and of the success by the Lamb's
blood. Hebrews says, "...neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." Victorious, successful, and absolutely glorious. That's His apparel. This is none other than the victorious
Savior. Who is He? He is the Son of God. He is God come in human flesh. He is the man Christ Jesus hanging
on that cross outside of Jerusalem. And He is the One who accomplished
all our salvation, all our enemies decimated by Him, all that was
against us. He's the Lord of glory. He's
the King of kings. He's the King of righteousness.
He's the King of saints. And He's more, but we'll have
to look at it later. But if the Lord is pleased to
give us a glimpse, to give us that faith that is
necessary to see Him and behold Him and believe on Him. Instead of so many seem to do
in our day, if we quit trying to think about living the victorious
life and spend our time believing
on the victor himself and resting in the victory, every believer leads the victorious
life. Because the only victorious life
that there is, is that life that is in the conquering, saving Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we pray this morning
that you would give us fresh glimpses of our Savior, There's never enough time to
even speak of His descriptions, to speak of His victories, to speak of what He accomplished
in the fight. But Lord, one day You will enable
us to sit down at His feet and with clear eyes Behold Him. We will certainly know Him in
that hour, to be our God and to be our Savior. Bless now, Lord, in these days,
Your word to our hearts concerning Him. and help us to see Him as high
and lifted up, the mighty, victorious Savior
of our souls. Help us to praise Him, to thank
Him, and to live in this world in that confidence that is in
Him alone. and in that life that gives glory
to Him alone. For we ask it in Christ's name,
Amen.