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[0:00] Isaiah 63, we'll be reading the first six verses. Who is this coming from Edom, from Basra, with his garments stained crimson?

[0:13] ! Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.

[0:29] Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? I have trod in the winepress alone, from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger, and trod them down in my wrath.

[0:44] Their blood splattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come.

[0:54] I looked, but there was no one to help. I was appalled that no one gave support. So my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.

[1:09] I trampled the nations in my anger. In my wrath, I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground. I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.

[1:19] We come today to meet the Jesus of the Bible that too few people know. And I'm afraid that's true even of people in churches this morning.

[1:35] Millions of people claim to know and love Jesus, and would be offended if you suggested otherwise. But the Jesus they love is a Jesus who does not exist, or he only exists in their minds.

[1:52] It's a Jesus they've imagined him as they have imagined him to be, or as they want him to be. They may even quote some selective Bible verses that would support a Jesus that they are comfortable with.

[2:08] But they cannot accept all that the Bible teaches about Jesus. Especially what Isaiah 63 teaches us about the Lord Jesus.

[2:22] This Jesus that people believe in is often not the Jesus we meet here in Isaiah 63. They would have no room for such a Jesus.

[2:34] But I would plead that the issues are far too serious to make pretend about Jesus. It's the real Jesus we are going to meet one day in judgment.

[2:47] Not the Jesus as we imagined him to be. The real Jesus as he really is. And our standing with him will determine our destiny for eternity.

[2:59] So as we come to Isaiah 63, we need to come humbly. We need to come to be taught by our great prophet, Jesus Christ.

[3:11] We come to his word to let him tell us what he is like. And that means that we must be teachable.

[3:22] That we must not come with preconceived ideas that just flow out of our own minds. We are to come to worship him as he's revealed himself to us in the holy scriptures.

[3:37] We don't come to pick and choose which scripture verses we like about him and to reject the rest. But to believe all that he tells us about himself. That is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus.

[3:50] And may the Lord give us such teachable hearts this morning. So who is this? That's the million dollar question that meets us twice in the first verse of Isaiah 63.

[4:04] Who is this? In this prophecy, Isaiah finds himself posted as a watchman on the walls of Zion. Looking out over the walls outside the gates.

[4:20] And he's looking out and as he does, he sees a man approaching in the distance. He's coming from Edom, the nation to the southeast of Jerusalem.

[4:32] And he's baffled as to his identity. There's something glorious about his appearance. You see that? He's robed in splendor, in beauty, in glory.

[4:47] And yet, his garments are stained. Stained crimson. He's not weary. He's not exhausted. He's not defeated.

[4:59] Rather, he's bounding. He's striding forward in the greatness of his strength. And as he approaches with wonder, Isaiah asks, Who is this?

[5:15] Who is this? Now, this mysterious person answers for himself, It is I. We've heard those words before, haven't we?

[5:28] Jesus is on the Sea of Galilee. He, or excuse me, his disciples are on the Sea of Galilee. They're going to cross over to the other side. It's night. It's dark.

[5:39] Jesus is not with them. And a wind, a strong wind blows up and stirs up the sea and makes them to be straining at the oars.

[5:50] It's hard going. And then they saw it. There it was in the shadows of the night. A mysterious figure walking on the water.

[6:01] They were terrified. They screamed in fear, thinking it was a ghost. And then the mysterious person spoke. It is I.

[6:13] Don't be afraid. So here in the prophecy of Isaiah, it's the Messiah who is heard, identifying himself to his people, even as he would do with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee.

[6:30] It is I, he says, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. He's come to save his people. Chapter 62 and verse 11 told us about a proclamation that was going out to the ends of the earth.

[6:46] What was that proclamation? Well, it was this. Say to the daughter of Zion, see your Savior comes. Your Savior is coming.

[6:58] And now here in chapter 63, they see him coming. He's come for their salvation. He's mighty to save.

[7:09] This is Jesus, the Messiah, who's being prophesied of. He's more than able to pull off his mission of saving his people. Do you remember that we've been seeing in these closing chapters of Isaiah, the glorious future that's coming for Zion, God's people.

[7:29] Now they're in a very lowly, sad state. And the nations have them under their heel. They're in captivity. The land's desolate. But after, after Messiah comes, she will be all glorious.

[7:45] Well, here's the picture. And the Savior Messiah is coming. And he's mighty to save, to save.

[7:56] And he's able to save, though the world in arms combine. He has power to bring about their full salvation, that glorious future that he's promised to them.

[8:09] Now the question changes from who to why. You see that? From who it is to why do you look like that? Verse 2.

[8:21] Why are your garments red like those of one treading the wine press? Parents, when your young children come into the house covered with mud from head to foot, and after you've wiped enough off to verify that they are your kids, you may want to know, why do you look like this?

[8:49] And that's the situation we have here. Their appearance begs for an explanation. And so with the Messiah, Savior, coming to Zion, why are your garments red like those of one treading the wine press?

[9:08] You look like you've been making wine. Is that it? Now, winemaking has changed a bit since Isaiah's day. Back then, the harvesters would pick the grapes and dump the ripe grapes into a pressing tank.

[9:27] And that would have been a large, flat-bottomed stone vat. Sometimes it was just hollowed out of the rock that was often just very close beneath the surface in Palestine.

[9:41] And they would just chip out the rock itself, and it would be a large, flat-bottomed area of stone. And so they would dump the ripe grapes into this wine press.

[9:55] And then the fun began. As barefooted, they would stomp on the grapes, crushing the juice out of them, until the juice flowed high enough to flow through another channel into another holding vat where it would be put into jars for fermentation.

[10:11] So this is the pressing tank, where they're stomping the grapes with their bare feet. Needless to say, you wouldn't wear your Sunday-go-meeting clothes to press the grapes, because it would splatter all over your garments.

[10:31] Is that why your garments are red, is the question? Why do your clothes look like you've been treading the wine press? Well, again, Messiah answers.

[10:43] Verse 3, I have. Yes, I have trodden the wine press. I've done it alone, he says. From the nations, no one was with me.

[10:56] There was no one to help me, in verse 5, he says. Verse 4, I trampled them in my anger, and trod them down in my wrath. Their blood splattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.

[11:09] I trampled the nations in my anger, in my wrath. I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground. Well, Messiah doesn't get very far into his explanation before we realize that this is no ordinary wine press that he's talking about.

[11:25] It's unlike any other, for he's trampling not grapes, but nations and peoples. And his clothing is spattered and stained, not with grape juice, but with human blood.

[11:40] The wine press spoken of is none other than the wine press of God's wrath. Now, what does all this mean?

[11:53] Well, what Messiah has accomplished is nothing short of the complete destruction of all of his enemies at his second coming. What we're witnessing, or what he's speaking of, is Messiah's final victory.

[12:08] Now, all the prophets spoke about this worldwide destruction of the nations when Jesus came in judgment.

[12:18] When Messiah comes in judgment, all the nations opposing God's kingdom will be destroyed. Joel the prophet, chapter 3, writes, Proclaim this among the nations.

[12:32] Prepare for war. Rouse the warriors. Come quickly, all you nations from every side and assemble there. Let the nations advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

[12:47] Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes. For the wine press is full and the vats overflow. So great is the wickedness.

[12:59] Amos, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. That's Amos talking about the same thing that Isaiah is here portraying.

[13:13] And we're not left to guess about the meaning of such. In fact, we find the same thing in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation. Revelation 14, 19 and 20, the angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered his grapes, and threw them into the great wine press of God's wrath.

[13:43] They were trampled in the wine press outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horse's bridles for a distance of 180 miles.

[13:57] Is there any question in your mind that Isaiah is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great destruction that he will bring when he returns?

[14:10] We sang it this morning. Praise him, praise him. Over the world victorious, he's coming. And that won't be pretty, that over-the-world victorious.

[14:22] We're seeing what it is that he will do to the nations of the world when he comes. And in Revelation 19, the Apostle John puts it beyond any question that Isaiah is speaking of Messiah.

[14:37] For John says in Revelation 19, I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.

[14:50] His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He's dressed in a robe dipped in blood. And his name is the Word of God.

[15:01] The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.

[15:14] He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh he has this name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

[15:33] Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. And the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, and the rest of them were killed with the sword, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

[15:56] And then they too were cast into the lake of fire forever. This is who the mysterious figure is in Isaiah 63.

[16:10] And this is why his clothing is stained crimson. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And the blood, but the blood is not his own blood.

[16:24] He shed that at his first coming. He bloodied himself for sinners at his first coming. No, this is the blood of his enemies that he will shed at his second coming.

[16:40] Now here in Isaiah 53 then, we see his destructive work after it's done. It's completed. It's over. Isaiah sees him approaching, the eternal Son of God, returning victorious from the last battle, the war to end all wars.

[16:58] He's already met his enemies in ours, and he's crushed them as easily and as thoroughly as men crush grapes in a wine press. And he's done it alone, without growing tired in battle and without needing anyone else's help.

[17:16] And he's done it in wrath and indignation for what they have done. And he's done it to save his people. And so, the psalmist says, come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

[17:35] The desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the age. Yes, glorious victory. But it won't be pretty.

[17:47] Now, this is just the message Isaiah's readers and Isaiah's hearers needed to hear. You see, they were in the before stage. They will be captives in Babylon and their nation, capital, ruined, their king, taken away, and the people in slavery.

[18:06] What do they need? They need to know that their Lord is mighty to save. Don't trust in the other nations. Don't trust in your own schemes of getting out of trouble.

[18:17] Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And here's the way that God would encourage them to trust. He shows them what's going to happen to God's people at the last battle.

[18:30] Jesus is coming back and will save them in glorious victory as he destroys his and their armies, their enemies.

[18:44] So that's the meaning of Isaiah 63, 1 to 6. Having seen this big picture, let's draw three lessons from this passage this morning.

[18:55] The first is this. Jesus' second coming will be so different from his first coming. Jesus' second coming will be very different from his first coming.

[19:09] Now when the Old Testament prophets spoke about the coming of Messiah, they did not clearly distinguish his coming into two different comings.

[19:23] They just spoke about the Lord is coming, Messiah is coming. Now, they spoke of it then as if it were one event.

[19:36] They spoke about his sufferings and his glory, him coming to save and to judge, his coming to die and to reign, but they had it all mixed together in their prophecies.

[19:48] It's only in the New Testament with the coming of Messiah that we see with clear light that indeed the coming of Messiah and his work to be done would be accomplished by two separate comings.

[20:07] It's not saying that the prophets were deceiving the people. That's just all the light that God gave them when he gave them the light to prophesy of coming Messiah. He's coming. It's kind of like viewing a mountain from afar.

[20:22] So from a very long distance away, you look and you see what looks to be like a mountain with two peaks. But as you get closer to the mountain and you get right up close, what you see is it's not one mountain with two peaks.

[20:41] Indeed, those two peaks are two separate mountains. And you come up upon it and you see, here's one mountain and in a vast distance away, there's another mountain.

[20:54] But from back here, it looked like one mountain with two peaks. That's sort of an illustration of how the Old Testament prophets saw Jesus coming and it all seemed like one coming.

[21:07] But up close, when we see him coming and we hear his teaching in the further light of the apostles, what we realize is that his coming is indeed two comings.

[21:19] The first coming and the second coming of his work. So, these are very different and distinctive characteristics that characterize these two comings.

[21:35] At his first coming, he came to suffer and die. At his first coming, he came to offer this world of sinners salvation through himself.

[21:46] At his second coming, he's coming to judge the world. He's coming to punish unbelieving sinners. He's coming to bring full salvation to those who have believed on him. You see, there's a difference in his work between his first and second coming.

[22:01] At his first coming, Jesus said in John 3, 17, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

[22:13] You see, his first coming, he's saying, I've not come to condemn you. I've come to bring salvation that through me you might be saved. He's on this saving mission. He came then as a gentle lamb being led to the slaughter.

[22:27] He came inviting and urging all sinful rebels to repent and to enter the kingdom of God. He came offering full and free forgiveness and promising eternal life to all who surrendered with faith and repentance.

[22:45] He suffered the worst indignities from men without speaking a word or without any retaliation. He was tortured and killed on a Roman cross for he had come to die that he might save sinners.

[23:00] That was the purpose of his first coming. And then he rose and ascended into heaven and was crowned king of the universe by his own father who said, sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

[23:14] And he's still sending his preachers into the world offering forgiveness of sin full salvation if you will just cast yourself for mercy upon this savior and believe in what he's done for sinners.

[23:28] He's still sending his preacher boys throughout the world to proclaim that message. But his name is being blasphemed on earth.

[23:39] His laws are being trampled on. His gospel is being ignored and his people are being persecuted and will become more persecuted. And we will appreciate Isaiah 63 1 to 6 far more when persecution gets hotter.

[23:59] And still he waits. There he is on his throne. He's coming back and yet still he waits. He's still waiting for rebels to bow down and surrender to him.

[24:14] And he waits so long that his people are getting weary of waiting and are saying how long? How long are you going to let evil triumph over us? How long are you going to let your name be trampled in the dirt?

[24:29] And here we are living between his first coming and his second coming. He's waited 2,000 years now. But one day the long year of his grace will be over and he will return.

[24:47] And he will give full vent to his wrath against evil. And he will gird on his mighty sword and he will come the second time to judge this world.

[24:57] and he will come to take vengeance on all his enemies who refused to bow to him in the full surrender of repentance and faith. This world has never seen what it will see in Jesus on that day.

[25:15] He will come from heaven in blazing fire, Paul tells us, with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord.

[25:32] I must ask you, where will you be at his second coming? Will you be hidden in the Savior's side? Or will you be left alone in your sins?

[25:44] Will you be riding with him? Or will you be trampled by him as men trample grapes? how will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation?

[26:01] What a salvation. He's still offering it to you. Oh, get into Jesus this morning. So that's the first lesson that we see. His second coming will be altogether different from his first coming as he comes to punish his enemies.

[26:20] Now I have a question for you before we come to the second point. The question is this. When Christ comes the second time, will it be to save his people or to destroy his enemies?

[26:35] Think about that. When Jesus comes back, will it be to save his people or to destroy his enemies? Well, it's both. And that's our second point.

[26:47] That the salvation of God's people includes the destruction of their enemies. Chapter 62 ends with the pronouncement, see, your Savior comes.

[27:00] He's coming to save. That's the clear indication. Chapter 63 begins with his coming. Here I am. It is I, mighty to save. But where's he come from?

[27:14] Well, he's come from Eden. He's just been smashing his foes like men smash grapes. You see, that's part of their salvation. That's why I came.

[27:27] That's why I use my might to destroy your enemies and thereby to save you. My own arm works salvation for me, he says in verse 5.

[27:38] So at his second coming, he is coming to save his people. That is clear from the text. He's coming to save his people, to bring in their ultimate, full, final salvation.

[27:50] We are tasting the beginning and first fruits of it now, but there's full salvation to come at his second coming. And the New Testament agrees with Isaiah 63.

[28:02] Hebrews 9, 28 says, He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to all who are waiting for him. He's coming to bring salvation.

[28:15] But then what we find in Isaiah 63 is that not everyone has a glorious future to look forward to like Zion, the people of God. Only Messiah's people have a glorious future.

[28:32] It will be vastly different from Messiah's enemies. And indeed, the greater part of our text is all about Messiah destroying his enemies. That's because the salvation of God's people requires the destruction of their and God's enemies.

[28:53] We hear of freedom loving people in Afghanistan and Iraq. But it's impossible to save the freedom loving people of these countries without destroying their enemies.

[29:09] And that's what makes our withdrawal of troops so dangerous to the people there. it makes their peace such a tenuous thing. Why? Because their enemies are alive and still breathing out slaughter against them.

[29:24] And there will be no true peace until their enemies are destroyed. And so with Zion, as long as her hostile enemies survive on earth, her salvation is not yet complete.

[29:39] Full salvation for God's picture. That after picture that he's been holding before her will only be enjoyed when their enemies are completely destroyed. And these two have gone hand in hand throughout the Bible.

[29:58] We have salvation through destruction. So Noah is saved from a violent world of mankind. How is he saved? Well, God destroys mankind with a flood and thereby saves Noah and his family.

[30:16] Salvation through destruction and judgment. The Israelites are saved from Egypt. How? By the destruction of Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea.

[30:27] Salvation through destruction. The Israelites, you remember that time, were saved in battle from the Philistines. How? By the destruction of Goliath. Judah is saved from captivity in Babylon.

[30:41] How? By the destruction of the Babylonians. And on and on we go through history in the Bible. Salvation comes to God's people by the destruction of their enemies.

[30:56] At Calvary, Jesus saves his people. How? By crushing the head of their enemy, the serpent. his destruction of Satan and sin and death.

[31:12] One salvation for his people. And so it is second coming. Christ is to save his people by destroying their enemies.

[31:24] Verse four says that his coming is both the day of vengeance for some and the year of redemption for others. You see, it's always been that way. the day of salvation for his people is the day that their enemies are completely destroyed.

[31:43] There can be no freedom from oppression without the destruction of the oppressors. And so we learn that when God punishes his enemies, it is for the salvation of his people, his church.

[31:59] Now, notice who Jesus will destroy at his second coming. Who is it that is to be destroyed when Jesus returns? Verse one tells us that he's coming from Edom.

[32:10] Here he is, blood-stained warrior, coming in that final victory. Where's he come from? He's coming from Edom, from Basra. Now, Edom was the hostile nation to the southeast of Israel.

[32:23] They were the descendants of Esau. Basra is their capital city. That's where he's coming from. It was their blood on Messiah's garments as he returns from the fight.

[32:39] Now, the Edomites were the long, lifelong enemies of God and his people. They harbored vicious hatred towards God's people, going all the way back to the rivalry between Jacob and Esau.

[32:52] These are the descendants of Esau. And they rejoiced whenever they saw Israel's downfall. And they contributed to Israel's downfall. And they hated God and his people and refused to repent.

[33:06] And so Edom in the scriptures becomes a symbol of all the enemies of God and his people. It's not the only place. You find it in the Psalms as well. Edom is a symbol not just of that one nation that is so at enmity against God and his people, but they become a representative of all the nations that fight against God and his people.

[33:26] All who would seek to hinder the establishment of God's kingdom on earth. All who oppose Christ saying we will not have this man to rule over us. And you know that most are still saying that today.

[33:40] Boys and girls, young people, older people alike, we don't want Jesus to be our king. We don't like his rules.

[33:50] We don't like him telling us what to do and when to do it and what not to do. We want to do our thing. They are the enemies of God and his church. Notice it's not just one nation, Edom, that was crushed by Messiah.

[34:08] It's the nations, plural, verse 6. Messiah says, I trampled the nations in my anger. This is a worldwide enemy of God.

[34:20] You know Psalm 2 talks about all the nations have come together in the great international conspiracy against the Lord God and his anointed king. And what are they saying about this king?

[34:33] Let's throw away their laws from us. They're like cords or chains. We don't like his rule. Let's cast off his rule. They're rebelling against the Lord God and his king, Jesus.

[34:48] That's the nations. That's all the nations. The united nations. They're all found in enmity against God.

[34:59] They all want to get out from under his rule. Even nations that are at war with each other can come together and be united in their war against God's king and God's people.

[35:11] They persecute the people of God. They're the ones pursuing a godless agenda, calling evil good and good evil. They're the ones opposing the church of Christ. They're the ones making war against the Lamb.

[35:25] And so all the peoples are joined in rebellion against God and they're the ones that Messiah will slaughter at his second coming. You see, only when every last unbeliever is in hell, only then will God's people be fully saved and at rest.

[35:49] In a renewed earth, the home of righteousness where nothing unclean can enter in to disturb their peace and their eternal rest.

[36:01] Messiah will take the earth away from the proud rebels and give it to his own meek people. For it's the meek who will inherit the earth.

[36:14] Now, some of you children, you know the ABCs of God's character, God's attributes. How each letter stands for an attribute of God.

[36:26] A means God is awesome. B, God is beautiful. C, God is the creator. Anybody here know what D stands for? Well, that's a good one.

[36:39] Yes, there's many and it's just this book that our children have studied. He is the destroyer of evil, right? God is the destroyer of evil.

[36:49] That's how the Bible presents him. He's the destroyer of everything bad. Did you know there's nothing more evil than rejecting Jesus?

[37:03] He is the destroyer of evil and I'm glad you children know that this is a characteristic of Jesus. He is the great warrior, destroyer of all that is bad.

[37:16] And that's something that most people are ignorant of or flat out reject. Evil is what destroys our lives and our world and damns people to hell.

[37:30] Evil is what crucified our savior and he's coming again to destroy evil wherever he finds it. To completely rid the earth of any last trace of evil.

[37:43] To make it the home of righteousness. And so the salvation of his people includes the destruction of all their enemies. The third lesson from this passage is that it's the wrath of Jesus that makes his second coming so dreadful to lost sinners.

[38:02] It's the wrath of Jesus. Jesus. The Bible talks about a day of wrath. When the Bible talks like that it's saying that that day is so characterized by that one thing that you can call the whole day a day of wrath.

[38:26] It's a day of wrath. wrath. That means wrath is the predominant thing that will be seen in that day and felt by the enemies of God.

[38:38] Right now they're feeling his mercy, his patience, his kindness, his love. But there's coming a day when it will be a day of wrath. And Isaiah 63 opens a window into the heart of Christ as he's crushing his enemies.

[38:51] And what we see is his wrath, his anger, his vengeance. It's mentioned six times in these last four verses. And it tells us that this present evil age is to end with a pouring out of Jesus' wrath upon all who oppose him.

[39:08] Now we naturally recoil against this. We naturally recoil against such a horrific idea as Jesus' wrath for sinners. But again I plead with you to let God be God, let Jesus be Jesus, let him tell us what he is like.

[39:26] And when he speaks he says in verse 3, I trampled them in my anger and I trod them down in my wrath. You see part of the very nature of the Son of God is his indignation against all that is evil, all that is wrong, all that is sinful.

[39:46] As great as his love is for righteousness, so great is his hatred for unrighteousness, for all that is unjust and wrong.

[39:59] And he tells us this is what sustained him in his work of destroying his enemies. There was none to help in this business and so he says in verse 5, so my own arm works salvation for me and my own wrath sustained me.

[40:17] Sometimes after a great victory, the announcer, someone down on the field, will go up to one of the victors and say, what sustained you in this long match?

[40:30] What was it that kept you going? Why didn't you give up? What motivated you to go on and on until you finally won?

[40:42] And so here's Jesus and he's just come from this crushing victory over the nations and he informs us that it was his own wrath that sustained him.

[40:53] You see that? It was his own wrath that held him up and kept him from quitting and kept him finishing the work that he came to accomplish at his second coming.

[41:04] My own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger. In my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood out on the ground. Made them intoxicated, not with a cup of wine but with a cup of wrath.

[41:22] Now when we speak of Jesus' wrath we must know that there is nothing of man's sin in his wrath. Don't think of some man full of wrath and rage in a sinful way and project that upon the Savior.

[41:38] There is not a thing sinful in Jesus' wrath that we're reading up here this morning. You can be sure of it.

[41:48] If he's angry with you, you deserve it. If he's angry with you, it's because you have rejected his kind and just and holy and right rule over you.

[42:05] No, Jesus' wrath is perfect. It's holy. It's right. It's fair. It's hot. It's intense. It's unbearable. Verse 4 says, For the day of vengeance was in my heart and the year of my redemption has come.

[42:22] The day of vengeance, the year of redemption, it's come. Now he preached about that in his first coming back in chapter 61 and verse 2 when Jesus came the first time.

[42:33] We hear, what did he preach? Well, he preached the Lord's favor, the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. But then when the day arrived, he says, my heart was in the day of my vengeance.

[42:48] His heart was engaged in this work of vengeance. Children, do you know what vengeance is? It's getting evil. It's when your brother hits you, you hit him back. That's vengeance.

[43:01] When someone does you wrong, you do them wrong back. It's payback. It's getting revenge. And Christ's second coming will be payback for his enemies.

[43:13] That's what revenge is, a day of vengeance. And he will give them what they have coming, no more and no less, exactly what they deserve.

[43:26] Now Psalm 103 is a child of God rejoicing in the fact that God does not treat us as our sins deserve. God's people can say that.

[43:38] He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. But he will pay back his enemies according to what they deserve, exactly what their iniquities have coming.

[43:55] Jesus says there's a time coming for taking vengeance on his enemies. So Christian, why are you not to get even? Why are you not to take revenge when someone mistreats you?

[44:07] Well Romans 12 17 says, do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God's wrath for it is written, vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay.

[44:21] So why should you not get even? Why should you not take vengeance? Because it's his business to do that. it's your business to overcome evil with good.

[44:35] When someone does you evil, it's your business to do good in return. And so when you feel like giving them a piece of your mind and speaking unkindly or acting in evil back, stop and remind yourself this is God's business, not mine at all.

[44:58] get off of the judgment throne. God didn't give you that job. He will do it and he will do it perfectly and righteously. But know this, no one is getting away with anything.

[45:14] There's a lot of evil that goes unpunished in this world. No one is getting away with any. Payback is coming. There is a payday and Jesus will do it perfectly.

[45:26] Every sin will be punished. Either in Christ on the cross or by the sinner in hell forever. So don't take revenge.

[45:37] Vengeance is mine. I will repay. Now this is the Jesus many people don't know. This is the Jesus many people refuse to believe in. As fierce in his wrath as he is tender in his love.

[45:51] How little we know. And how little does this world know of his wrath and his anger. This world will have a crash course in it.

[46:03] Revelation 6 says a day is coming when the great and the small of the earth who did not obey the gospel will try to hide. It's the day when Jesus comes.

[46:13] It's the day of God's wrath. And they'll try to hide in caves and among the rocks and the mountains and they'll call to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand.

[46:32] His love is better than life. And his wrath is worse than death. Fall on me and crush me but don't let me face the wrath of the lamb.

[46:50] Who is this one so fearful in wrath? That's the question before us in Isaiah 63. It can't be dismissed as an angry God of the Old Testament that's reduced replaced in the New Testament by a kinder gentler version of God.

[47:06] No it's Jesus Christ God's eternal son. The savior. And he's the same yesterday today and forever. Amen. It's no pacifist Jesus who had never hurt anyone.

[47:27] Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. So be sure you're dealing with the real Jesus and not just a figment of your imagination.

[47:39] If you have not yet come to Jesus and beg for mercy it could be that you're thinking of Jesus in a way that he isn't.

[47:49] You could be thinking there's nothing here to fear. If no fear is your policy you need to read Isaiah 63 again.

[47:59] You need to read the book of Revelation again. You need to read about the wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're on a road that leads to destruction.

[48:16] You're already condemned. You're storing up wrath for the day of wrath when Christ returns if you've not yet come to Christ. You're one breath away from experiencing God's wrath personally forever and ever.

[48:30] Well we've met the real Jesus in Isaiah 63 and that's the Jesus we all will meet at his second coming for good or for ill.

[48:47] Believer what is a passage like this to do for us? Well first of all marvel at what you've been saved from. This is going to happen just as much as whatever happened in the news this week.

[49:03] One day this will be news. This will be it. The final day. And it will be wrath. It will be headlines in blood. But not for you because Jesus has saved you from the coming wrath.

[49:19] Marvel at what you have been saved from. Marvel that forever and ever you should have been in hell suffering God's wrath. If we came and visited you in a million years you should still be in hell suffering God's wrath.

[49:36] But no you you've been saved from the coming wrath. Marvel at that and marvel at the cost. Because it meant Jesus at his first coming taking that cup of wrath and drinking it down in your place.

[49:52] It meant him standing in and taking the crushing wrath the divine wrath himself that you might never ever experience it. Oh marvel love Jesus more for saving you from the coming wrath.

[50:10] And rejoice in his commitment to save you. We see a lot of evil in the world. We experience evil in the world.

[50:23] We see a lot of evil men and women not being brought to justice. And our eyes are to be lifted up and we are to commit all judging to the judge.

[50:34] We're to say oh the Lord Jesus will put things right. And such a such a passage is to encourage our hearts. Yes there is a moral governor in the universe and one day he's coming back to enforce his law and his righteous rule.

[50:52] Not to make you to pity the lost. Poor poor lost brother. Poor lost neighbor. This is their history.

[51:04] This is their future. Unless they come to Christ. You know if you're lost in here this morning what what should a passage like this do for you. Well it's a kindness isn't it for for Jesus to warn you ahead of time that he's coming back in justice and judgment.

[51:23] He didn't have to. He didn't owe you that. He could have just come back and surprised you and sent you to hell forever. But no Jesus is kinder than that. And he says I'm coming back.

[51:34] I came the first time and shed my blood that you might be forgiven. Now come to me. Trust in me. Throw down your weapons and surrender to me. He's shot.

[51:47] He's fired a shot across the bow of your ship. He's warned you. What a what a gracious savior. And if you just keep turning a blind eye to his warnings and you someday stand as an unbeliever before him.

[52:02] He will say to you I waited two thousand years to come back. And thousands and thousands of boys and girls and and evil men.

[52:17] Came to me and pleaded for mercy and I had mercy on them and I urged you to come to me and you did not. I waited so long and you still did not come.

[52:31] You refused. And you will know of a certainty that all of Jesus wrath is well deserved for all eternity. You will know this is what I merited by my unbelief.

[52:48] I'll flee to Christ today. The day of wrath is coming but wonder of wonders. It's not yet come. It's still the day of grace. That means that grace is available today.

[53:03] Grace is the great characteristic of this age. Jesus will have mercy on you if you seek him. He delights in mercy. He rejoices to show mercy.

[53:14] He is full of grace. Come to him and be saved. Let's pray. Oh Lord our minds balk and and just buckle under the weight of a passage like this and we we ask you oh help us Lord.

[53:35] Help us not to. To create a Jesus of our own imagination. Help us to let you tell us what you are like Lord Jesus.

[53:46] And then let it seep down into our hearts to where it amazes us that that we have not been destroyed that you have saved us who are in Christ from that coming wrath and make us to pity the world that is still children of wrath.

[54:08] And Lord give us to leave all judgment into your hands and to seek the salvation of sinners while there is still time. We pray for those who are lost that you might open their eyes to see their emergency.

[54:27] That they're but a breath away from realizing the very wrath of which we've read. They'll bring them to experience that grace that is in Jesus this day.

[54:39] Thank you for bringing it so near them. That it's right here for them just to reach out and receive and to take and to believe on what Jesus has done for sinners and to believe his promise of forgiveness.

[54:52]  So help us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.