A Hiding Place

[0:00] Let's now turn to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 32. Isaiah's prophecy chapter 32. We shall read the first two verses of that chapter.

[0:21] Chapter 32 of Isaiah verses 1 and 2. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

[0:34] And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covered from the tempest, as service of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

[0:47] When I was preparing for this service tonight, I always had in my mind that these services were evangelistic services.

[1:10] And somebody said to me, remember, these services are for the young people. And what we need is a simple presentation of the gospel. And well, my answer to that is, we need a simple presentation of the gospel every day.

[1:28] But so often we hear that today. We need the plain gospel. We need the simple gospel. But we cannot have the simple gospel without the doctrine of the word of God.

[1:43] Because the gospel, the simple message of the gospel is encased in doctrine. If you take that away, you don't have the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:54] You have some other gospel. You know, this is why today there are so many gospels. This is why it was so in the time of Paul.

[2:05] There were so many gospels, so many different renderings of the truth. In such a way that it was a gospel that was not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[2:16] And indeed, this was the case in the Old Testament times as well. And this is why we have creeds. This is why we have statements like the Shorter Catechism, if you like, or the Westminster Confession of Faith.

[2:31] Or other creeds. When you look at the history of the church, we need creeds. We need statements. We need the whole counsel of God. And without the whole counsel of God, then we do not have the gospel.

[2:45] We cannot have a gospel which is imbalanced. If we have a gospel which is imbalanced, then we only have part of the truth. And we need the whole truth.

[2:56] There is no use in having, if we work with a mathematical equation, in having part of it right. In even having one thing go wrong. In even having one good to draw.

[3:08] We can result in the wrong conclusion. We can come to the wrong conclusion. And how sad that is. Remember what Paul said. The sea or an angel from heaven or anybody else would come with another gospel.

[3:23] But that gospel which he had. Let it be accursed. So it doesn't matter who it is. Whether an angel comes with a gospel. Or whether some other great name would come to the gospel.

[3:35] It doesn't matter. It has to be the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the simple gospel is encased in doctrine. And the simple gospel, if you like, is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

[3:52] Anybody in here tonight who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. And that is a statement of the word of God. That is what the word of God tells us.

[4:02] And that is the very essence of the truth. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we shall be saved. But again, when we make that statement, we have to say, who is the Lord Jesus Christ?

[4:15] Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? What does it mean to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? And it's here, at that very point that the doctrine comes in.

[4:29] The devils believe and they tremble. There are many who believe a lot about the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many who believe that he came into this world. There are many who believe that he did many mighty works.

[4:41] There are many who will even proclaim his blessing on his riches and speak in his name. And yet they do not know what it is to have that sinful faith which the word of God speaks about.

[4:55] Remember those people at the last day who will say to the Lord himself, In thy name we have done many works. In thy name we have preached the gospel. In thy name we have healed the sick.

[5:08] We have cast out devils. We have done many wonderful works. But they did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for one reason.

[5:20] As I mentioned the other night, because they didn't know him. If they would know him, they would believe. If they don't know him, how can they believe in one hand they don't know? That is an impossible thing.

[5:30] That is an intimate relationship that the word of God speaks about and we label it as belief. How can we have that intimate relationship with one whom we do not know?

[5:45] That is absurd. That is impossible. That is impossible. And this is why we have to be so careful when we proclaim the gospel to make sure that we do declare the whole counsel of God.

[5:58] If we don't declare the whole counsel of God, then we fall short of the mark. And my word, we will have to stand on my word. And we will have to stand on that last day. And we will have to account for all our actions, for all that we do.

[6:14] And that is why it is so imperative for us to proclaim and to declare the whole counsel of God. We read here in this chapter that the first verse, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

[6:31] But especially tonight I would like to draw your attention to the second verse. Just a word about this king.

[6:50] A king shall reign in righteousness. This, of course, is a prophetic statement. I don't need me to tell you that this is a reference to the Lord Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

[7:02] How many kings we know of in the earth today, rulers, how many heads of governments we know of today, and how often we would like them to rule in righteousness.

[7:14] How flexible they are, how they bend, how they give in to pressure. Pressure comes from all sides. We cannot maybe sometimes be too critical of them, but all too often it is the case that they cave in under pressure.

[7:29] And again, they have that element of whatever it is that we may term a sin within their own souls, and they go astray in their judgment.

[7:42] They fall short in their judgment when they are trying to work things out in government. They do not work it out the way they should all too often. And then we see all the problems in the world today.

[7:55] We see wars, and they cannot agree one, and they cannot agree amongst each other. And they fall short in many ways. And people suffer because of those who rule over them.

[8:09] And people have so much to complain about because of those who rule over them. But there is a king coming who will rule in righteousness.

[8:22] He will rule with absolute holiness. And he will rule in righteousness. He will not cave in. He will not give way.

[8:34] He will not give way for any pressure. And he will come in all his glory. He will show that he is king of kings. All other powers will fall down before him.

[8:45] And let me tell you this, he is ruling tonight. He is ruling now. He is ruling now. And you may ask, how is it that he is ruling now with all the problems in the world?

[8:57] How is it that he is ruling now? He is ruling now in the realms of heaven. He is ruling now in this world. And he has got all authority in heaven.

[9:08] And he has got all authority in earth. And he has got all authority in hell. and these devils in hell and these forces which are against him and he raise up their voices against him in this world as well they are under his authority and they are under his subjection but now they as if it were operate within his permission and they can even blaspheme his men and they can curse and they can swear and they can walk in disobedience if they like at this moment within this perimeter if you like within this circumference of his permission but hitherto they shall go on no further and now we may think where is he where is this king that's going to rule in righteousness I again make this point he is here now and he is ruling now and he will rule and he will reign until he will put all his enemies under his foodstool you know those people who blaspheme and those people today who are walking in disobedience to this king the day will come when they shall fall down at his feet remember that time when that great Roman governor with all his pride and when he said to him do you know that I have authority to set you free or to condemn you do you know that this is what the Roman governor wanted him to believe but then we see we see in the reply that our Lord gave you have no authority if it were not given to you it is the authority that authority that he gave to him we see in that statement that at that time he could call on legions of his supporters on legions of these beings we call angels and they could destroy all the opposition all to right every force in the world that is against God they could be destroyed in a moment but maybe

[11:18] I will speak about that in a minute but then we also read that princes shall rule in judgment and I believe that that is a statement relating to the people of God the people of God we are told in the word of God are kings and priests they are ruling they are ruling in this world they are priests in this world in a very spiritual sort of way and these princes because he rules in righteousness because their king rules in righteousness they are related to him and they will rule in his authority with perfect judgment too but let me go to this verse and a man shall be in a hiding place from the wind and a covered from the tempest first of all that part of the verse the verse is in two sections and a man shall be in a hiding place from the wind and a covered from the tempest when we read these words we see that maybe there is something unfamiliar about them a man shall be in a hiding place from the wind this is not the normal

[12:29] Hebrew process of thought this is not how the Hebrew people thought at all the Hebrew people thought in a different way and when I see this prophet the Hebrew prophet making this statement a man shall be a hiding place from the wind then I cannot help but ask why would he say that that is not what the Hebrew prophets used to say that is not what the priests the fold that is not what the psalmist used to say you know the psalmist wouldn't say that a man was a hiding place for him the psalmist in Psalm 32 for example in verse 7 he says about God thou art my hiding place thou art my hiding place and the same in Psalm 119 the psalmist also says to God thou art my hiding place thou art my shield in the Hebrew people they thought of God as being their hiding place they thought of God as being their place of refuge you know we sung this evening that Psalm

[13:33] God is their refuge and their strength in strates of pleasant aid to the Hebrew people to the people of God God was their refuge God was their hiding place God was the one to whom they would go for protection from the tempest for protection from the wind for protection from their enemies whatever force that came against them they would go to God but not to man how often their scriptures tell them not to put their trust in man nor the son of man but to lift up their eyes to the hills from whence the day doth come but now we ask ourselves now what does this mean and a man shall be a hiding place from the wind and again we ask how can a man be a hiding place from the wind and a covered from the tempest and then we have to say well we have to define our terms what do we mean by wind what do we mean by tempest what do we mean by a hiding place what do we mean by a covered and so forth now we know that most commentators believe that this is a statement relating to the holy wrath of God to the divine justice of God we see here the grease as of it were of that wrath of the manifestation of that the anger of God the justice of God demanding holiness and then maybe that gives us a clue if that is so then we can understand what it is but we have to go back to the very beginning of creation to understand this statement as it is related to us here we have to go back to Adam and if we go back to Adam we see that

[15:18] God created Adam as our representative head he created Adam as a human being as a perfect human being perfect in perfect holiness in complete harmony with God when we see Adam standing before God and God could say of Adam that he was satisfied with that creation that he was very good God could say of all the creation of Adam of all the creation of the worlds and of the universe everything he did that it was very good but then when God created man at the very beginning we see God in a very sort of shall I say dark way hidden way we don't see much about God we don't understand much about God at that very early point for the first statement we have in the word of God in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth that doesn't tell us much about God we know that God is powerful if we read that statement that statement is enough to tell you that you are dealing with a being who is omnipotent who's got all power he creates things out of nothing who can create things out of nothing like this God he called the worlds out of nothing and the worlds were there he created all things out of nothing but he did not create man out of nothing he created man from a substance that was there in that creative act in which he engaged before man was created out of the dust of the earth and this God we know of his power when we read in Genesis of his great acts of creation but then there is something else that happens that worries us when we read this narrative when we read the story of creation we see something happening that shows tells us something else about God and my word it should worry us and it should worry you tonight and it should worry me tonight and something entered into the creation of God some strange phenomenon some strange element and the scriptures speak about it and relate to it as the mystery of iniquity and God created man in holiness

[17:51] God created man in perfection but then some alien factor entered the creation of God and we can say why why to God who is omnipotent I thought he was omnipotent I thought he had all authority in heaven and in earth I thought all things were under his control I thought that God was all powerful and if he created everything in absolute holiness why would he allow anything to come into his creation to now his creation this God and let me say this before I go on just to say one or three words about that let me say this that there is an attribute of God that none of us here tonight would know about if it wasn't for that alien factor that came into his creation and that is wrath that attribute of God which we call the holy wrath of God it would never have emerged although it was there maybe maybe I shouldn't speak like that but anyway it was manifested because of sin and sin is the only factor sin is the only phenomenon that can arise the wrath of God without sin wrath would never have been manifested in God but sin stimulates the wrath of God and God is violently opposed to evil and if we would only grasp that how God is so opposed to evil

[19:41] God will not countenance evil God must deal with evil and sin is that alien factor which God is going to deal with in this creation that came into this creation that God is not going to allow it to remain in that realm where the people of God are going to spend all eternity forever I know I'm the authority of the word of God I know that what I'm saying is true because the word of God tells me nothing can enter into it that work of iniquity or make it a lie at the very start of creation God permitted evil to enter into his creation but after when this new creation will come the new Jerusalem when the people of God will be in this new heaven and the new earth that the word of God tells us about evil will no more be in there there will be no more evil there will be no more sin God allowed it this time and all I can say when

[20:44] I put the question before and I spoke about that the other day but let me say it again when we ask that question why if God is omnipotent if God is all powerful if God has got authority overall why did he allow it then there is something else too there is another attribute of God and we wouldn't know it in this fashion if God had not allowed it and that attribute is the greatest one as far as we are concerned without it we wouldn't have any hope and that is the love of God if it wasn't that God permitted sin to enter his creation then the people of God could never sing the song of Moses and the lamb the people of God could never say these words unto him who loved us and give himself for us the people

[21:44] Adam and his posterity would never know what it would be to see the love of God in such a wonderful and deep way in sending his son into the world and dying the cursed death of the cross Adam was out there when God created him he was holy he was still in the garden of Eden remember he was still in the garden of Eden and Adam had complete communion with God and perfect communion with God but now the people of God aren't out there in the garden of Eden anymore the people of God when I read his word I would learn from the word of God that they are at the very throne of the universe that they are at the very throne of God and they are surrounding the throne of God and this is a wonderful thing before Adam was created there were angels but now we read about the angels tonight but now the people of God are taken right into the presence of God into the throne of God and the angels who were created higher than they were they are now ministering spirits sent out to minister to those who are heirs of salvation and if God hadn't permitted sin to enter this world we wouldn't have known about this we wouldn't have known about this love we wouldn't have known about being made partakers of the divine nature we wouldn't have known about that glorious interaction between God and his people and the communion of saints we would never have known about the communion of saints and what can we say who is a God like unto thee he forgives sins what can we say but the wisdom of God the wisdom of God the love of God and the salvation of our God but then let me

[23:58] I digress let me go back to what I was saying before in this sin that entered into the creation of God Adam sinned I want to relate this to a man being made a hiding place from the wind and a covered from the tempest Adam sinned and the curse came in when Adam sinned and as soon as Adam sinned he exposed the whole of his posterity the whole of the human race he exposed the whole of our race to terrible danger I spoke about the wrath of God that attribute of God as soon as Adam sinned he was aware there was something wrong he was aware that he was under threat because I see when I read the word that Adam tried to hide himself he tried to hide himself from God why did he try to hide himself this idea of a hiding place came into his mind where will I hide from God and we see that Adam tried to hide himself from God because he knew that there was something wrong in relation to God that he didn't know about before and that was this factor this attitude we call the wrath of God and Adam was aware of some threat

[25:18] Adam where are there Adam where art thou the voice of God cried out we see even at this early time we see the mercy of God in action we see the love of God in action Adam where art thou God could have come out at that very moment in great wrath and condemned them forever to eternal damnation you know what happened to the angels we know that it is not that we do not have much information about these angels who fell at the very beginning but we know that they from the word of God we know that they were excluded from the mercy of God they were not given a chance the way we were given a chance Adam was given a chance he tried to hide himself in God but the voice of

[26:19] God came Adam where are you you know Adam wasn't like a psalmist who learned about God so much more about God because of the scriptures because of the experience he had of God the psalmist who could say if I may go up to heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell thou art there if I go to the uttermost parts of the sea to any realm so I was there because I must do this was very hard that here was Adam trying to hide from God and I said with a sensitive head we all fell with him and we all commanded the terrible threat of the wrath of God oh Lord how dangerous this was Adam pulled us all in with him every one of us we were pulled into it and the amazing thing is the amazing thing in all this is that

[27:19] God chose to be involved in it that God chose to be involved in this terrible tempest that we speak about this wilderness of this world when Adam turned by one after disobedience he turned the whole of creation into a place that we no turn around the knees a place of disobedience a place where the curse rested on the terrible curse and when we see that he pulled us all into it but when we reflect on this wonderful step in the salvation of God that God involved himself in the curse cursed is every man that hangs on a tree and when I say and a man shall be a hard in place if

[28:20] God was going to show mercy to the human race it would have to be a man that would atone to the Hebrews that he did not take the nature of angels home if God was going to have mercy on these angels who fell and sinned against them it would have to be a representative of the angels he would have to authority for these angels this group of people fell and sinned against God it would have to be one of them now speaking with all reverends with all reverends God would not say unless one of ourselves would make amends one of us one of ourselves would have to make amends one of us would have to at home a representative of the human race nothing short of that would do but

[29:22] God looked down from the heights of his holiness and we can see and we can read in the word of God when God looked down there was nobody to represent us why because there was not one he was good every one of us we were full of sin because of Adam's first sin and we were full of corruption we were full of immity and we were full of evil so not only that we were against God and we were against everything that God stood for we were going away from God and we didn't read first the other way as a whole worse first the other way away from God God and not one could be found amongst the sons of men that would be a representative then we also often hear today about incarnation what a wonderful teaching that is that

[30:27] God saw that not one of us would do that we know that this relates back to the counsel of God from all eternity that we have told in the word of God that not one of us just hold in his presence so therefore what did God do and this is the wonder of salvation this is the wonderful work that we read of in the word of God the wonderful involvement of God in the curse in this willingness of that came down to this world that God himself there was none of us so God himself took on the form of man he came down to this world as a man and now we then at this stage we can understand what it means that man shall be a hiding place from the wind and a cupboard from the tempest it is now that we say for

[31:31] God who existed from all eternity God revealed in the flesh the mystery of godliness the mystery of the whole windows the mystery of everything around us this is the great mystery that God would be revealed in the flesh and God came down as a representative we all fell in Adam but now we have a new Adam now we have a new representative standing in for us and there is a terrible wind out there there is a terrible tempest we do not understand so often when we speak about the wind and the tempest that the Lord our Saviour had to stand against the reality of it seems to escape us God was really angry with him God was angry with him the wrath of

[32:34] God did come upon him when I read here that none shall be a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest then I have to take note I have to be careful about it I have to see that this is something that is very solemn and something that has to be handled with great care the idea I said before is here is a wilderness and I mentioned already that this world became a wilderness when Adam sinned and the clash came on this world when Adam sinned and the Lord came into this world as a perfect man he came into this wilderness and the picture that we have here and it's so often in Hebrew thought it covers the people with feathers you know what the

[33:40] Lord said in when he looked over Jerusalem and when he said these words oh Jerusalem Jerusalem how often how often he would have saved them but they would not he would have gathered them together as a hen gathers her chickens together but you would not how often we see in the psalms the same idea coming up how this God would have covered us up but now the picture that we have here is a wilderness a wild harrowing wilderness and there is nothing like a wilderness which is so bare and barren that there is nothing like a wilderness for making people feel what it is for getting people as it were near to nature and not only near to nature but to the dangers of nature how many people how many people have perished in the wilderness we see here the people of

[34:45] God they are in a wilderness and when they believe on him they are protected by his grace and now let me take you back to maybe a teaching that will help us understand this even a bit more when the people of God were in Egypt they had to undertake their wilderness journey and that was a long journey that the word of God describes as a wild or a wild wilderness there was no shelter very little shelter and at the very start before they commenced that journey something took place and that was the great Passover the great Passover was celebrated before the wind and when they came under the cover of this man who is a hiding place they were saved all the houses of the people of God they had one thing that the others didn't have and that was the blood without the shedding of blood there is no remission and these people who were going on the wilderness journey before they undertook that journey they came under the blood they had the covering of the blood and it is so today with the people of

[36:03] God they have the covering of the blood so therefore the wrath of God is not going to be directed at them because they are under the blood but let let me just also say this that when the people of God went on this journey through the wilderness they had a protection they had the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that was their protection in the wilderness and this also signifies Christ this protection that they had from the elements from the forces of nature now what we have here is a man I believe I've read it over and over again and the more I read it the more I come to the conclusion that what we do have is the picture of a man as if it were shielding his own loved one his own child if you are in a wilderness I remember flying over the interior of

[37:04] Australia and I couldn't get over the terrible desert and you could sometimes see when the sand storm has been blown about and how soon people would perish and we all hear about people who gave their lives for loved ones who covered them up with their own clothes also in cold climates as well where people perished by giving their own clothes to their children and then when the search parties went out they discovered the parent dead and the child still living and there I was speaking a minute ago about this wind and tempest tempest that's representing the wrath of God that in the very act of the wrath of God there is a manifestation a great manifestation of the love of God and it is this love of

[38:05] God that we see here and we must not forget the love of God and the love of God is so great the love of God is so deep and it is in connection with this wrath that we see the wrath going on the one hand and the love going on the other hand the both actions taking place simultaneously when you think of yourself or when you think of these examples that I mentioned these people who give their lives for their children in the wilderness or up there in the blizzard in the snow giving their lives for their own loved ones well the love of God is much deeper than that I'm sure there are many people in here tonight who would do their loved ones a very big favour and show love to them that is only natural there are many people in here tonight who would show great compassion to their loved ones

[39:10] I'll even go as far as this there are people in here tonight who would lay down their lives for their loved ones they would lay down their lives for their loved ones and I'm sure most of the people in here tonight would lay down their lives they wouldn't hesitate for those whom they love very dearly this is especially true of parents but the love of God is much deeper than that would you show a great favour to your loved one of course you would but would you show a great favour to your enemy would you show a favour to your enemy if you would show a favour to your enemy then you are going on another level and the love of God is deeper than that remember that the Lord said to love our enemies that I could show a favour maybe to my enemy but when it comes to loving my enemy when

[40:14] I show my enemy a great act of compassion then that is something that is against me and it goes against my grain it is against my human nature because my nature is to retaliate and that is the human nature the way nature is that is the way we are without grace we want to retaliate I don't want to show any compassion to my enemy unless I have the grace of God in my heart to enable me and if God shows compassion to his enemy but when I read about the love of God it astounds me while we were yet enemies while we were yet sinners Christ died for us would you die for your enemy is there anybody in here tonight who would die for their enemy you would might die for your loved one would you die for your enemy would you die for your enemy and when

[41:23] I see this one a man who is hiding place from the wind remember when I read in the word of God I read in Romans chapter 5 verse 10 that those people for whom he died they were enemies they hated them and we cannot say we loved him we hated him we had no time for God we are not better than those who will be lost forever and if there is anything that all of grace will teach us is that we will have no room to boast and when we see that the love of God is displayed in this fashion that he died for his enemies and he reconciled us he put his love in your heart and this is what love is this is what the love of God is so never let us speak about the wrath of God without also declaring his love his love is so great the love of

[42:31] God is so great I could spend hour after hour in here tonight and I could never ever go very deep into the love of God because of its depth and nobody in the world can ever declare the love of God but as you experience it in your heart as the Holy Spirit will enlighten you that is the experience that you will have of the love of God and you will be amazed amazed at what when you see yourself an enemy of God that he ever had compassion on you and the more you see of yourself the more light the Holy Spirit will show into your heart will shed into your heart the more you will understand of the love of God and this is what we have here a man a hiding place from the wind but now let me just for a minute address those who are not in the love of

[43:32] God you might say I do not see wrath I do not care about the love of God I do not see you speaking about the wrath of God I do not see any signs of the wrath of God that we have to be so careful when we speak about the wrath of God know that the sinner is in a very precarious place when I read in Psalm 73 I read thou hast put them in a very slippery place thou hast put them in a very slippery place and if you are in here tonight without Christ you are in a very slippery place because in one moment the wrath of God could descend on you and do not think for one moment that

[44:37] God's wrath is greater against those who are lost in eternal partition tonight God's wrath is against you as much as those who are forever excluded from his mercy if you are standing without the shelter if you are standing without Christ if you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior you are in a very dangerous situation before God there is only one thing holding you from experiencing in its fullness that terrible cup that's waiting for the unbelievers and that is timing timing God has a time and every one of us in his counsel and in his purpose when the time comes and we do not know how near it is we do not know any one of us we hear every day of people who are healthy people who are enjoying good health people who have never complained and they go we never know when the voice will call us and when that timing will come whenever that is only

[45:58] God knows God is in heaven he has for ordained whatsoever comes to pass on your departure and my departure out of this world it is for ordained and it is fixed and we cannot move it so therefore if we're near the bell clock is ticking on and if it's coming to the midnight hour we do not know how near it is to the midnight hour but at that midnight hour in the experience of every one of us where it is not one moment before not one moment later as soon as the midnight hour will come for us we will have to go and those who do not know the love of God in Christ then they will know God but you know they were enemies of God and God will meet them as an enemy God will meet them as an enemy now I don't want to try and labour this too much but all

[46:59] I know is this that the Lord Jesus Christ who spoke about the love of God more than any of the prophets more than any of the patriarchs more than the psalmist he also spoke about the wrath of God more than any of them he spoke about the wrath of God more than Elijah more than Abraham more than Isaiah more than Jeremiah I can name all the prophets and he spoke about the wrath of God more than they did and every time he spoke about the wrath of God it was a warning warning and the Lord warns us the word of God warns us but it doesn't keep warning us and there is a reason for the word of God warning us why so that we will be saved so that we will have this hiding place from the wind and covered but let me also just make the point that the man of whom we speak here of whom we read here who is the covered from the wound and who is the hiding place remember that he had to endure if you if you're outside and if you go for shelter anywhere your shelter has to take the brunt of the wound or of the tempest and the

[48:26] Lord Jesus he had to take the tempest on himself and this is what the sacrificial order of the Old Testament speaks to us about when you read about the sacrifice being burnt up on the altar when the fire came on that sacrifice it consumed the sacrifice and the sacrifice had to be consumed if it wasn't consumed it would have to start again the sacrifice was disqualified it was a condition of acceptance by the priest that the sacrifice would be burnt entirely and when we see the son of God he took upon himself the condemnation he was made a curse for us so that these people of God who are under his protection who are under his shelter they will never ever experience what he experienced they cannot experience what he experienced they will never ever experience the wrath of

[49:27] God and diluted the way he experienced it and let us again make this point that the Lord did suffer the wrath of God that the Lord on the cross when he had that terrible experience that awful experience of separation that he had to endure a terrible amount of the wrath of God and I can't feel qualified to speak about that tonight or any other night but all I can say is that I can see the love of God operating when the wrath of God operated too and also I should make the point to the unconverted I should have made it before you know there is a tempest waiting a great tempest and that tempest we read about tonight in all the worlds that we have here everything has got a stamp of permanency on it everything is going to last forever when I look at the mountains or the eternal hills when I look at the stars they're going to last forever when I look at all the nature the forces of nature around about me then I must say how I feel that everything is going to endure generation after generation will pass away but these things seem to last forever there's a great tempest waiting for the whole universe there's a terrible when I read about a tempest here tonight what a great tempest is waiting for this world of ours for the whole universe they shall go this is what I read in the epistle to the

[51:10] Hebrews they shall all be rolled up like a scroll they shall all be melted up they shall all go the worlds there shall be no place found for them in the presence of them who will sit on the throne there shall terrible tempest waiting all blessed will they be at that day who will have the hiding place and the covered from the tempest when they have that covering when they have the shelter the eternal shelter of the son of God how blessed they will be but what a terrible experience for those when that terrible tempest comes into the universe of God what a terrible experience it will be for them but again I do not feel that I should labour that too much but let me now go just for a moment to the other part of the passage and then I will conclude and we also see that this man he is represented as rubbish of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land rubbish of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land now we know what it is like well we know when we read we do not know it in our own experience but those who have had this experience tell us what it is like to be in a desert what it is like to experience thirst to experience heat to experience the terrible forces of nature as if it were driving us to despair we have read about that and I think when I read this that it relates to the people of God the people of God who have had the experience of confession who have had the experience of passing from darkness to light they are the people that this passage is referring to because we are told here that the man who shall be as a hiding place from the wind and a covered from the tempest he is also going to be as the rivers of water in a dry land

[53:15] I remember when the people of Israel when they went through the desert when they went through the wilderness they needed water anybody going through the desert will need water without water we can never survive in the desert and these people of God this is indeed their great strength that they have water they do have water but there's something else about them they are aliens now if you are aliens in a hostile environment it is more difficult for you to overcome it is more difficult for you to survive I see that in Australia the aborigines they seem to be able to withstand the heat of the desert but people like us we couldn't stand it but they are able to stand it now the people of God they are aliens in this world and they would perish in this world they would perish in this terrible desert in which they are but I read in the word of God that they have a spring a spring of water following them through the wilderness and the word of God tells me that this water is

[54:24] Christ that this spring in which they are in connection with this spring is Christ and no matter what they suffer in this wilderness and my word this is a wilderness for the people of God this is a terrible place for the people of God as far as their spiritual life is concerned this is an experience for them that they cannot endure readily but my grace is sufficient for you the grace of God is sufficient for you because they are connected by faith through Christ Jesus their saviour and no they feel this dryness they feel the thirst they feel what it is to be parched they know what it is that they have this source of water all the time and they drink of this water right through this wilderness and although they are aliens in this wilderness the Lord their God has made sure for them that he has provided for them an eternal spring remember what the Lord said to the woman of

[55:30] Samaria you shall thirst again when you drink of this water but the water that I shall give you it shall be an eternal spring if you like it shall spring up forever and you shall never thirst now the people of God never thirst in a way that is life threatening to them they never thirst in a way that is life threatening to their souls because they are linked if you like to the source of life to the water of life now let me make it clear at this stage that blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness why because they shall be filled now how is it if they have water if they are connected to this source this spring of water how is it then that they experience thirst that that is something quite different all God's people would like every day of their lives to feed at his feet to drink that water in great abundance but we will have enough of it in this world as God sees fit to sustain our lives through the wilderness of this world he will give us sufficient but sometimes when we want a feast that is like an oasis if you walk into the wilderness and you come to an oasis if you come to that place where you can sit down and rest that is something quite different now the people of God have that experience in the world

[57:11] God's people sometimes they have a feast in the world if you like a feast of spiritual things but then they experience famine and they experience drought but let me again emphasize they are still connected to the source of life to that well of water and they will not die they will they cannot die their spiritual lives will go on forever and that rock is Christ that well of water that follows them through the wilderness it is Christ Hof you Lord Lord son I