In Isaiah 33 and verse 17, there
is a promise. A promise from God to his people
in this world. A promise to his people for every
day, for every age, for every circumstance. And this one sentence
is my subject and my text this evening. Isaiah 33 verse 17. Thine eyes shall see the king
in his beauty. Thine eyes shall see the king
in his beauty. Now let me give you the historic
background, the typical setting. When Sennacherib invaded Judah
and was about to attack Jerusalem, While the immense Assyrian army
surrounded the city, Rabshakeh was sent with a message to Hezekiah
and to the people of Judah. You can read it in 2 Kings, verse
chapter 18. When Hezekiah heard the blasphemous
proud idolater, the king Hezekiah rent his clothes, covered himself
with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. That's
a good thing to do when you're in trouble. Then he called for
the elders of the priest, and he sent them covered with sackcloth
to God's prophet Isaiah. And he spoke to God's prophet
concerning this matter. You don't need to turn there,
but I'll read it to you. It's in 2 Kings 19. He sent Eliakim,
which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the
elders of the priest, covered with sackcloth to Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amos. And they said unto him, thus
saith Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and
of blasphemy. For the children are come to
birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the
Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the
king of Assyria, his master has sent to reproach the living God,
and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore lift up thy prayer
for the remnant that are left. So the servants of King Hezekiah
came to Isaiah, the people of Jerusalem. had seen their king
brought to humiliation, mournfully annoyed. He was wearing the garments
of sorrow, sackcloth and ashes. They saw the king put on an outward
display of humiliation. But Isaiah says to them in this
passage, thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty. If you want to turn to 2 Chronicles,
you'll see this prophecy fulfilled historically. 2 Chronicles 32
verse 27. And Hezekiah had exceeding much
riches and honor. and he made himself treasuries
for silver and for gold and for precious stones and for spices
and for shields and for all manner of pleasant jewels. Storehouses
also for the increase of corn and wine and oil and stalls for
all manner of beast and coats for flocks. Moreover, he provided
him cities and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance. for God had given him substance
very much. This same Hezekiah also stopped
the upper water course of Gihon and brought it straight down
to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered
in all his works. There is a message in this text,
a promise given by God, not just to gladden the hearts of the
children of Israel in Hezekiah's day, but to gladden the hearts
of God's saints in every day, in all times, especially in times
of great sorrow and reproach and difficulty. Because this
passage clearly refers to a nobler king than Hezekiah. Hezekiah
was the historic figure. But the king spoken of here by
the spirit of God is Christ our king. He is the prince, the monarch
of the universe. And we have seen our well-beloved
king humiliated in the days of his flesh. While he walked on
this earth, he was despised and rejected a man, a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. While he lived here in this world
of sorrow, His robe was reproach. Adversity was his bread. Sorrow was his experience. Not part of the time, but all
the time. None was ever more afflicted
than the Son of Man. When he died, he died the painful,
shameful, ignominious, reproachful death of the cross. They stripped
him naked, they beat him. They paraded him through the
streets. They mocked, they laughed at him. They spit in his face,
pulled out his hair, nailed him to the tree and had a party while
he died. You see our Savior in his humiliation
in Gethsemane as he anticipates his sacrifice on our behalf,
suffering the wrath of God when he would be made sin for us and
he cries and breaks out in a sweat of blood, my God, oh, my father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. He moves from Gethsemane
to Gabbatha, the judgment hall, where they so humiliated him
and mocked him, derided him, and Pilate stood him before the
people and said, behold, the man, and then took him to Golgotha,
and there nailed him to the curse tree. where he was forsaken of
God, abandoned of his father, crucified between two thieves
as the greatest of the three, and forsaken of his disciples. The Lord Jesus, our Redeemer,
died himself alone in reproach and humiliation to put away our
sins. But blessed be God, his humiliation
is forever over now. He has triumphed over his enemies,
And now by faith, we behold the king in his beauty, returning
to his throne, taking his seat at the right hand of the majesty
on high in all the splendor of victory with the dyed garments
of Edom robed in the splendor of victory, he sits upon the
throne of heaven. A crown now sits on his head. He holds the reins of universal
monarchy. He brings all things in subjection
to himself and rules everywhere as king. And that's Celestia
saying, whatever my God, my king does is right. It's right and
it's good. And he is king everywhere. God's people by the teaching,
by the enlightenment, by the illumination of his spirit, are
made to see the King in his beauty. Now I wanna show you three things
in this message. First, I wanna spend a little
time showing you from scripture that our Lord Jesus Christ is
indeed the King. And then show you that our Lord
Jesus as the King possesses infinitely superlative beauty. And then
I'll talk to you a little bit about seasons of seeing the king
in his beauty. First, Jesus Christ, the man,
who died in our stead at Calvary, he is himself the king of the
universe. Not a king, the king. He is that one who rules everywhere,
all the time, having His will in all places, exercising His
will in all things for the saving of His people and the glory of
His name. By some means or other in the
last couple of months, I have been put on the mailing list
for a couple of horribly Armenian missionary societies. And I guess
I've heard from a dozen or so missionaries wanting to come
by here and present their work and begging for money. And I
have ignored most of them, but I decided I'm gonna hear from
them, have to take the time to open the email. I'm going to
at least try to minister to them. And so I will send them a few
passages of scripture. And I will say, if you will be
kind enough to give me an explanation of Romans chapter eight, verses
28, 29, and 30, and Ephesians chapter one, verses three through
seven, and Romans chapter nine, verses 13 through 18, then we'll
talk about having you here. And that usually puts the end
to it. But today, the last couple of days, I've been corresponding
with a fellow and he, Wrote back, wrote back, wrote back again.
It made me, I'll have to sit down and turn it over to him.
I sent him a set of notes on what is the gospel just before
coming in here. Because he objected to the idea
of Christ being the sovereign ruler and king. Objected to God's
sovereign predestination, God's sovereign purpose, ascribing
everything to God's foreknowledge of what man would do. And I said
to him, if you will be so kind as to read these sermon notes
and show me from scripture where I have erred, I'll not only invite
you here, I'll invite you to take my place here. I'll give
it up and give it to you. I don't expect to hear from him
again. The scriptures are universal in their declaration of God's
absolute sovereignty. And God's absolute sovereignty
is essential to any understanding of his word, of the gospel of
his grace, of his salvation. And God's sovereignty is set
before us plainly in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, our King. He is the King. I know there
are folks who have the idea that one of these days Christ is going
to come again, and he's gonna take up the throne of David over
in Jerusalem, and he's going to reign over the Jews in Jerusalem
as king in a millennial kingdom, and then he's going to be king.
Folks talk to people all the time, they make a confession
of faith, and they say, now you need to make Jesus your Lord.
Jesus Christ is Lord everywhere. He is King now. He is seated
on the throne of David now and seated there forever. And the
recognition of this is basic to faith. The recognition of
this is basic to faith. There is no faith in Christ,
no saving faith without the acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is Lord and
King. You bow to him as such or you
do not believe him. Turn to Romans chapter 10. I
want you to see this and see it clearly. There is no faith in Christ without
bowing to his dominion and confessing him as Lord and King. Romans
chapter 10, verse nine. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth, Jesus. Does anybody have a Bible of
any kind that says that? That's not what it says. If thou shall confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus. This word Lord means the reigning
one, the sovereign, the one who has dominion. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart men believeth under righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made under salvation. For the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed. Verse 13, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord, the one who has dominion, the king,
the one who sits on the throne, the one who's in control, he
shall be saved. Our Lord Jesus speaks of this
bowing to him this way. Whosoever shall save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake in the Gospels, the same shall save it. Saving
faith is no less than the giving up of my life to the rule of
Jesus Christ the Lord, thankfully, with gladness. trusting Him as
King. Trusting Him as King. The enlightenment
of God's grace in salvation gives us this knowledge of Christ's
dominion and bows us to Him as the King. Look at Ephesians chapter
1, Ephesians 1 verse 17. Paul's prayer is that the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to
the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand
in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and
might and dominion and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come. and hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of
him that filleth all in all." Jesus Christ is king. He's king
because he's God. He's God. God rules. I don't have any idea how to
communicate it to this generation of perverse idolaters, there
is no such thing as God who doesn't rule. A God not in control, a
God without dominion, absolute dominion is as worthless as a
good luck charm. Our Lord Jesus is God the King. As a man, as our mediator, our
blessed Savior earned the right to rule all things. He purchased
all things. God the Father said to his son,
ask of me and I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance.
And by his obedience unto death, our Savior purchased the right
to rule the universe for the glory of God to the saving of
his people. He earned that right, and he
who has that right, being the creator of all things, by whom
all things consist, is that one who sits on his throne and governs
the universe. Our Lord Jesus Christ is, in
this sense, the Savior of all men. Paul speaks in first Timothy
chapter four and urges us to pray for all men, especially
those who, I'm sorry, tells us that Christ is the savior of
all men, especially them which believe. He's not the savior
of all men in the sense that he tries to save or wants to
save everybody in the world. He's the savior of all the universe
in that he preserves men in life. He's the Savior of all kinds
of men in every part of the world, but it is He who rules over all,
holds men in life until He's done with them. He's the King.
Men and women, righteous and wicked, those who know him and
those who know him not are in his hands and we live while he
gives us breath and when he's done with us, he takes the breath
away. Christ is the king because of
his mediatorial accomplishments, because of his own Godhead, As
our creator, he is king, ruler everywhere. He has conquered
everything. And by his conquest, made us
more than conquerors in himself. Our Lord Jesus Christ is king. And he's king by popular will
of his people. Everybody who knows him, wants
him to be king. Everybody who knows him wants
him to be king. Who would you have in charge
of your life? Who would you have determine the affairs of the
world? Who would you have control the thoughts of men, of angels,
of devils, the righteous and the wicked? Who would you have
control everything? Him who said Shonder, with my
name engraved on his heart and my name engraved in his hands. He who sits yonder in heaven
who redeemed me with his blood. I wouldn't have anybody else
control anything, not even you. He's king. He's king by the popular
will and consent of all his people. The head that once was crowned
with thorns is crowned with glory now. A royal diadem adorns the
mighty victor's brow. The highest place that heaven
affords is his, is his by right, the King of kings and Lord of
lords and heaven's eternal light. Be sure you understand what Christ
kingship involves. With regard to the world, It
involves total dominion. With regard to his people, it
is salvation and security. With regard to his church, he's
the only lawgiver. He's the one who makes the rules.
He's the one who gives the orders. He's the one who governs his
church and kingdom. Christ our king is Christ our
captain, our man of war. That means the battle is the
Lord's. It's not ours. All right, here's
the second thing. Thine eyes shall see the king
in his beauty. Christ, our king, possesses infinite
superlative beauty. Thomas Brooks, the Puritan, wrote,
Christ is lovely. Christ is very lovely. Christ
is most lovely. Christ is always lovely. Christ
is altogether lovely. Indeed, this is the confession
of his bride, his church. He is altogether lovely. Everything about him. She describes
his eyes, his hair, his cheeks, his lips, his arms, his legs. She says he is altogether lovely. There is a natural beauty that
belongs to Christ because he's God. He's God, glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises, doing wonders. There's a natural beauty that
belongs to Christ as a man because he is manhood in perfection. There is a natural beauty that
belongs to Christ as the God-man, our mediator. But the beauty
referred to in our text is not the beauty of nature and character.
Rather, it's the beauty of his position as king. Hezekiah was
a beautiful man of character. He wore garments of humiliation,
but God promised the people they would see him in beauty, in the
royal garments of royal position as king. So the promise is with
regard to Christ our king. He refers to his royalty. his majesty, his position as
king. We see his beauty as the king. Our savior had beauty, glory,
honor, total dominion originally because he's God. And then he
stooped to become a man. And I don't know how to express
this. The writers say he laid aside,
some say he veiled his royalty, his majesty, his glory. But you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. Our Savior became a man. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. That is, he didn't consider it
something he had to seek after because he is God. But he humbled
himself and came into the world as a man. And having come into
the world as a man, he humbled himself more and became obedient.
obedient to the death of the cross, so that he lived on this
earth in humiliation as a man, as Jehovah's righteous servant,
always in obedience to his father, and at last died under the penalty
of sin, because justice was waked against him, and he stooped to
the grave. Today, our king wears crowns,
crowns of glory. We read in Revelation 19, 12,
on his head were many crowns, many crowns. The crown of a conquering
king, the crown of a prince who could never be defeated or overthrown,
the crown of a master who has the heart, allegiance of all
his servants. The crown of an intercessor who
can never fail. The crown of a brother full of
love. The crown of a forerunner who's
taken possession of his inheritance for his people. The crown of
a God whose purpose can never fail, whose dominion can never
be overturned, whose will can never be thwarted. We don't see
yet all things put under him. As God said, he would put all
things under the feet of a man, but we see Jesus made a little
lower than the angels. Our Lord Jesus that he might
taste death for every man he would bring to glory. And because
he has, he's now seated as king. And now here's the third thing.
There are seasons of seeing him in his beauty. He's appointed seasons when we
see him in his beauty. The king doesn't always parade
around in the streets in his royal attire, but rather he shows
himself when he will. to whom he will. And so he shows
himself through the lattices, we're told, Solomon. He speaks
to his own and makes himself known as he will when he brings
us into his banqueting house. At the appointed time of love
and grace, thine eyes shall see the king and his beauty. When
first the Savior comes and shows himself, all his people see him
like Isaiah did, seated on his throne, high and lifted up his
train, filling the temple. His people see him on the day
appointed by his grace. Even while they're running in
rebellion, suddenly the king appears and he makes himself
known to us. We see him when God commands
the light to shine out of darkness. and shines in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's what it takes to save
a sinner. Not the choice of a man, not the will of a man, Not the
act of a man, not the persuasiveness of a preacher, not the right
music and right background. It takes God to command light
to shine out of darkness, shining in your heart. And when he does,
he gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ. When he brings you into his banqueting
house and his banner over you is love, then thine eyes shall
see the king and his beauty. We come here to the house of
God. It's one thing to go to church. It's something else to
come to the house of God, leaning on the arms of Christ the king,
escorted as it were by the Lord himself into his house. Then
the ordinances are beautiful. We observe the baptism of one and
our hearts see the king. We take the bread and wine and
our hearts see the king and his beauty. We sing his praise and
our hearts see the king. We hear a brother lead us in
prayer and our hearts see the king. The preaching of the word
makes Christ beautiful in our eyes and all the work he's done. in his everlasting love, in his
covenant engagements, in his redemption, in his providence.
In all these things, we see the king in his beauty, watching
him, observing him. We observe his saving power and
rejoice in his gracious intercession. In times of private contemplation,
you see the king. Not always. Sometimes you read
and pray, and it seems for days. You grope about in darkness,
and then suddenly the word opens, and you see the king in his beauty.
He makes himself known, especially so in times when he restores
to us the joy of faith after a time of a fall. And David in
Psalm 73, he said, I was as a beast before thee. And he then comes
to the end of this confession and says, whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. When Peter had fallen, that miserable, miserable fall. Then the Lord Jesus went to him
by Galilee and made himself known to him again. Oh, how he must
have seen the Savior. We'd read nothing of his reaction. We'd read nothing at all about
it, not a word spoken. He never mentions it. The Spirit
of God never mentions it anywhere. Oh, but when our Lord Jesus pressed
him, and said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me. I can almost picture that strong,
bold, manly man well up with tears and say, Lord, you know
all things. You know that I love you. And
with gratitude said so. Because now he has the joy of
faith restored to him when Thomas The Lord appeared to him and
he said, Thomas, give me your hand. Oh, how broken and how delighted
Thomas must have been to have put his hands in the nail prints
and in the hole in his side. When you're about to leave this
world, thine eyes shall see the king
and his beauty. I don't know that it's possible
But I have always thought, as a believer, I would very much
like to spend my last hours on this earth fully cognizant of
what's going on, with my mind fully aware. If possible, I don't
want to be stupefied because of pain. I would like to be fully
aware of what's going on. I have a suspicion. that the
last hours of any believer's life are the best hours. Stephen said as he was dying,
I see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. I just finished
reading again Augustus Toplady's biography. That great hymn writer,
that great preacher lived in the southern part of England
during the days of John Gill. Just about an hour before he
drew his last breath, he said to some friends standing by,
oh, what delights. Who can fathom the joys of the
third heaven? What a bright sunshine has been
spread around me. I have not words to express it.
I know it cannot be long now till my savior will come for
me. For surely no mortal man can live after the glories that
God has manifested to my soul. All is light, light, light, he
said. The brightness of his own glory.
Oh, come, Lord Jesus, come, come quickly. Thine eyes shall see
the king in his beauty. When he comes to judge the world,
we will see him. We will see him as he is. Every eye shall see him, every
tongue confess him, every knee bow before him, but we who are
his, we shall see him as he is. King, our king in his beauty,
when he presents his ransom bride, his kingdom to the father, thoughtless
before the presence of his glory, oh, how we shall see him then
when he has finished everything and presents us at last to the
father, lo I and the children thou has given me, that God may
be all in all. And then throughout the endless
ages of eternity, if I can use such language, thine eyes shall
see the king in his beauty. Heaven is. Who could say what? Heaven is
at least this. It is seeing Christ in his beauty. I think the bliss of the glory
of heaven will be the blessed ever-expanding vision of Christ's
glory. His person, God, the God-man,
His accomplishments of righteousness and redemption, His sovereign
works of providence, in all His ways, all the operations of His
grace, all the wonders of His goodness, we shall have ever-expanding
knowledge of Him. who loved us and gave himself
for us, the King. Thine eyes shall see the King
in his beauty face to face. And when we see him, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Amen.