Isaiah

[0:00] I direct your attention this evening to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 32 and reading verse 2.

[0:12] The prophecy of Isaiah chapter 32 and verse 2. And the man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and they covet from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place.

[0:30] As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and they covet from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

[0:53] We have here two things. One is man in his fallen condition.

[1:09] And the other is the man, Christ Jesus. This is written figuratively.

[1:26] But there are those things here which are not figurative. One thing which is not figurative here is the humanity of Christ.

[1:38] It is a sacred and blessed reality. Those things which are spoken are figuratively here. The wind.

[1:49] They refer.

[2:00] And to what they refer. It is man in his fallen condition. Weary. The solemn winds of time blowing over him.

[2:12] The tempest of his fallen condition and ruin before God. Storms of God's holy law and wrath resting upon him. His inability to stand before a holy God.

[2:26] How solemn is the wind that is spoken of here. Opposition. Opposition. The work of Satan. One thing that rested upon my mind has been the office of Christ as the great high priest of his church which he undertook and sustained in his glorious manhood.

[2:56] What a wonder of wonders it is. Without the shedding of blood says scripture there is no remission. There is a fundamental truth and principle of the gospel and of the scriptures.

[3:09] It was established in Eden with Cain and Abel. When they were cast out of Eden and these two sons offered a sacrifice. The sacrifice that was acceptable was the blood sacrifice.

[3:25] What a sign it is. And even in Eden the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head and thou shall bruise his heel the shedding of blood.

[3:38] All the blessed promise regarding Calvary's cross. The sacrifice of Noah was a blood sacrifice on Ararat acceptable to God. And the sacrifices ordained in the temple all included the shedding of blood peculiarly the mercy seed.

[3:56] The blood sprinkled mercy seed. all figurative pointing to Christ. Looking back today the Lord has instituted in his church the simple solemn and sacred ordinance of the Lord's Supper pointing back in the cup to that shed blood.

[4:18] here is the great office of the high priest. In the seventh chapter of Paul's epistle to the Hebrews he speaks of Christ but this man because he continueth ever has an unchangeable priesthood.

[4:44] words that have rested upon my mind tonight has been this word a man this man the man Christ Jesus living in a day when in some of our churches this sacred truth is tampered with partly denied.

[5:06] but here we see the man the hiding place for his whole church was the eternal son of God incarnate who had taken into union with his glorious deity a holy body and soul that he might work out this mighty work of grace that he might offer himself a sacrifice for sin upon Calvary's cross and that he might now in heaven's high court live as the great high priest of his dear church to intercede on their behalf pleading the merits of that sacrifice on Calvary's cross a man you know that man this same dear man says the hymn writer in heaven now reigns who suffered in our state a man there is a real man with wounds still gaping wide and the apostle Paul says we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin here he was eternal son of God he came here into Bethlehem's manger for the salvation of his church in that he mystery of godliness great is the mystery of godliness

[6:48] God manifest in the flesh he took not on him we read the seed of Abraham he took not on him rather the nature of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham wherefore behold him in all things to be made like unto his brethren we read in that second chapter of the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews it became him by whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering eternal son of God in his glorious humanity this man was made perfect through suffering and so the prophet Isaiah was inspired to prophesy as he did in many other places of Christ a man shall be in hiding place and first for desire to consider tonight what it cost him what he passed through that he might become a hiding place to his dear people he himself had to bear the wind and temper it is the wrath of his father against sin it is the anger of his father against the sins of his people

[8:24] God commend us we read tonight his love to reward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us he had to stand in his great office as the high priest of the church he had to stand offer himself a vicarious sacrifice for sin by his death in the great mystery of it conquer Satan put away sin and save his entire church it cost him we cannot enter in to what it cost him but this we know it was done in love it was done for his dear people not for their sake for nothing they'd done or deserved or merit and when the Lord teaches his dear church he brings them

[9:41] I believe into what rested upon my mind today oh why did Jesus show to me the beauties of his face why did to my soul did he convey the blessings of his grace what a question that is in the hearts of his dear children as you ask that question man has he been your hiding place a cupboard from the wind have you known that blessed hiding place have you come to him as a refuge pleaded his name as that great intercessor and high priest above remember this that every grace and every favor comes to us through Jesus blood there's a sacred certainty and the truth the Lord sent his own son here into this earth to save sinners he has said that they shall come from the north and the south and the east and the west when I gather them not a hoof will be left behind any more than it was with ancient Israel in Egypt he will gather out his remnant it will be through this man that as we consider his suffering so we consider his pathway despised rejected of men he walked this earth from the manger to Calvary and he walked in humility and obedience to his father's holy law made perfect through suffering we see here that he was divine perfection when he came yet he learned things here they may sound strange words but we read this he learned obedience by the things which he suffered he learned that obedience that he might be to his dear church this blessed hiding place where they might seek refuge from that stormy blast of God's wrath against their sins what a wonder of wonders the eternal son of God who created this universe under the divine purposes of his father should come here into this earth and walk in a glorious humanity we read of him he was a root item of the crying brain the world did not recognize him they had no conception that this man was the eternal son of

[12:49] God it required the work of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of the blind that they might have ears to hear and it lies here in our text the eyes of them that see shall not be dim and the ears of them that hear shall hearken have your ears hearken to the voice of God have you been brought to this man do you see a blessed beauty and truth in it without the shedding of blood it's no remission nothing to cleanse your soul from sin but here in his great work as the high priest of his dear church he could say of himself I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do a finished work that is the salvation of his whole church this man shall be as an hiding place from the wind two things here do you know that wind the arrows of conviction entered your heart your ears been opened do you hearken to the voice of

[14:14] God has sin been made a burden to you or what blessed mercy it has and God has brought you to your knees and his mercy see as a guilty condemned sinner and you have found Christ to be your hiding place and the Lord manifested his glory to his dear servant Moses on Mount Sinai he hid him in the cleft of a rock as he passed by a beautiful figure you know you and I can never approach a holy God as we must do in that great day when we're called to meet him face to face in all his holiness power majesty and glory we can never approach him except we have a hiding place he passed by in his majesty and holiness

[15:32] Moses said show me now thy glory he showed it to him but oh he hid him in a cleft of the rock to show it to him for had he stood there he could not have borne it and so it is with God's dear people when the Lord would bring them to glory to be with him where he is they need a hiding place they will be lost without it as the hymn writer says a shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home and I believe this that we have to know something of the hiding place here below and to know that we must know something of the wind the holy law of God in our hearts bringing us to know to feel to be aware to be convinced and convicted that we stand before God unholy vile as Job said deceitful filthy hypocritical fallen ruined and to be brought under the burden the possession of our sins

[17:00] David refers to the possession of his sins he says make me not to possess the sins of my youth oh we want to be rid of them do we not solemnly David was aware that he would possess them eternally unless they were taken from him and he would possess the consequences of them in a solemn divine condemnation an eternal bearing of the wrath of God but there was a refuge a hiding place a shadow something where his dear people could be shielded from the wrath of God and what a deep mystery this is it is Christ in his office as the great high priest of his dear church he himself vicariously having borne the wrath of God for the sins of his whole church I felt we cannot possibly comprehend what he bore when he bore the punishment for the sins of his whole people and he was made as scripture says sin for us who know no sin he made sin for us who knew no sin he was made a curse a curse it is everyone that hangeth upon a tree he came here and he suffered bled and died that he might be a hiding place and that his dear people might have a refuge and we must learn experimentally in experience here below that refuge in the sweetness and power of it and it's best known in the application of his precious blood in our hearts and consciences and that is accompanied by godly sorrow and repentance a broken and a contrite heart of God they will not despise says the psalmist

[19:11] David and oh have you known it as a blessed place to come to to weep to the praise of the mercy of you fan a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind he will bear the wind of God's wrath and he will shield his dear people from that wrath of God and they will find in him an advocate a great eye priest one who makes them accepted in the courts of heaven above a mighty God read of him in the prophecy of Isaiah a mighty God the everlasting father the prince of peace and his father is satisfied with his sacrifice it is acceptable to him it is a perfect spotless holy sacrifice he was made this man in all points like as we are yet without sin oh the man

[20:40] Christ Jesus he who has walked this earth and enters in now to the feelings exercises temptations sorrows of his dear church touched with a feeling of our infirmities and that is the greatest infirmity sin as his dear people mourn over it he himself tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin oh the humanity of Christ be certain of this he could not have been the great high priest of his church except for his humanity it was in that humanity that he offered himself upon Calvary's cross one offering for sins forever and it's in that glorious humanity now that he intercedes in glory with his dear church or his dear church this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them what a blessed truth it is this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of the throne of God ever living to intercede on behalf of his dear people intercession of the great high priest it is to be known we are to be brought to plead that name which is above every name and we are to be brought to know something in our hearts of what lies here that hiding place oh do you know anything of it a refuge from the stormy blast have you felt that stormy blast solemn if you haven't blessed if you have and if you have found shelter here below a cupboard from the tempest you know spiritually this is a figure but I believe the tempest is the storms of life and the greatest storm that will ever hit us each will be this death oh then have a refuge a cupboard oh death says the apostle where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory

[23:41] I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord he could never have conquered death unless he passed that way himself in his humanity death is conquered in the putting away of sin I speak of eternal death and this is what is spoken of here or defined in that hour in that red moment oh the high beneath thy sheltering blood twelve Jordans icy waves divide and land my soul with God God's dear people know these solemn storms they know the wind and the tempest and they have a refuge a hiding place a cupboard one who stands between as the hymn writer says in garments dyed in blood does he instead of me see when I approach to God the gospel lies here in our text and I a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind as a cupboard from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place you know the your heart is at a dry place death is in the dry place solemnly true when there is no water there's death things dry up and die spiritually oh these rivers of a man shall be as rivers of water this is a figure a figure for the grace of

[26:03] God in the heart of a sinner it is a figure for a knowledge of Christ for his love for his mercy of his pardoning blood but it speaks much more closely than that it speaks of personal religion it speaks of the Lord meeting with his people speaking to his people sending the Holy Spirit to apply his word in the hearts of his people and he spoke to the woman at the well I have water to drink that you know not of she said evermore give me this water to drink oh what blessed water it is do you know anything of that water and the dry place that is spoken of here when your heart is hard and dead and carnal and you're involved in the world and all that surrounds you and your heart is distant and far off from

[27:15] God you cannot think one good thought or right for prayers are dead there's no access to God the gates of heaven are iron and brass a dry place well 107th psalm the wilderness wanderer was in a dry place the rebel was in a dry place the fool was in a dry place what do we read then they cried unto the lord in their affliction ah the rivers of water flowed did they not beautiful words as the psalmist in that 107th psalm outlines the case of God's dear church in her wanderings and in her rebellions and what do we read he delivered them and he led them forth by the right way oh how the lord manifested his love toward them they sat in darkness and the shadow of death what did he do he brought them out of darkness the shadow of death he visited their souls with his word he came and delivered them from the chains and bondage of guilt and sin heard their cries and he still does it today do we know anything of it anything of the answer to our prayers for those in christ day who needed help blind by timid jesus thou son of david have mercy on me oh the lord satisfies the desires of his deuture it may not be always there in that weak exercised place that is down peeding condemned far off from god it's a blessed place to be in for effect is the 107th psalm and they cried unto the lord they approached him in sincerity and in truth and they wrestled with him and the two came sweetly together rivers of water and they were the rivers of god's holy word spoken by the holy spirit into their heart with divine life and power and like at Ealing they drank the wells and oh how refreshed they were and god's dear children when delivered from the bondage of sin when he comes and uses the ministry of god's holy word uses the reading of his holy word speaks to them through his word by the power of his spirit touches their hearts with divine power all that deadness that dryness is gone and they know him just as the men on the road to Emmaus knew him when he broke bread the heart rejoiced there was deliverance they drank of that sacred well of Bethlehem have you drunk of it sweet spot sweet well to drink and even the holy spirit's operations by the word of truth in the heart plied with almighty power will bring deliverance no longer darkness no longer there now life liberty joy peace a man a man oh it is

[31:14] Christ known to us revealed to us speaking to us may she hear my voice holy spirit takes of the things of jesus and applies them reveals them in the hearts of his people how much the things of jesus have been revealed and applied in your heart with power and sweetness you can look back over the way and say here tonight i have known a little of the this sacred river i've known a little of the well of bethia i've known something of these waters these rivers of water in a dry place the lord come with showers of blessing why when there's no rain the rivers and the streams dry up they flow not at all but when the lord comes and sends those showers of blessing into the hearts of his dear people oh what life there is what liberty then they draw near to their god he's no longer distant then they have access at the mercy then they know what it is to joy and rejoice in him then they know the peace of god which passes all understanding they know he is present and i go back to those men on the road to man how sad they were what a dry place they were in what unbelief was in their heart how sad they were christ was revealed their heart burned within them he opened to them the scriptures and then they constrained him in love to abide with them and he did and he went in and he broke bread with them all what it did to them they had such a sight that that the one they had not recognized was their redeemer their saviour and oh what joy it brought into their hearts when he vanished out of their sight that joy never left them it was with them oh the deliverance and the bondage and slavery of unbelief and the glorious liberty of the gospel was known in their hearts and such is the meaning of this text rivers of water in a dry place and finally the shadow of great rock in a weary land

[34:12] Christ that great rock the weary land the experience of his dear people do you find this world a weary land him right it says weary of earth myself and sin dear saviour take me in it is the work of god's spirit to take away from us the pleasures of this world and make this place a weary land to us and yet here in this blessed figure a shadow of a great rock this is a figure of the church of christ in their experience and it is a blessed figure great rock of christ often referred to himself upon this rock he said oh the shadow of that great rock have you known it shielding you from the heat and wrath of god against your sins carrying as you do a fallen nature as the apostle said himself oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death weary land the spirit makes this world a weary land to god's dear people but they have desire wrought in their heart by their god and they seek this shadow here is their hope things of this world will pass away possessions of this world will be left behind time one day inevitably must be no more withers

[36:09] I speak to you here tonight as a young congregation I knew your deacon here Sidney Pepler long gone to glory and many others in this sanctuary of god taught by the spirit separated from this world brought to know christ passing through many sufferings as they did and bitter sorrow and yet a man they knew him they loved him they were pillars well established in the truths that lie here the winds and tempests of life's pathway in their own hearts their fallen condition yet they knew the blessedness of the cover the hiding place the shadow the rivers of water in a dry place do you know the same as they knew

[37:18] I have seen a whole congregation pass away in this sanctuary of god in the last 40 years that I've preached here but the truth remains the same christ the son of god the man christ jesus is our only refuge our shelter as the hymn writer said in the stormy blood and our eternal home amen