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Please remain standing dear friends for the reading of God’s word as we continue our consideration
of the book of the prophet Isaiah. Tonight we consider Isaiah chapter 25 and you’ll find
that on page 696 in your Pew Bibles. I’m going to begin reading just a few verses before
the start of chapter 25 so I’ll be reading from chapter 24 verse 21 through the end of
chapter 25. So dear friends this is the word of God let us hear it with reverence and awe.
Isaiah 24 beginning at verse 21. On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven in heaven and
the kings of the earth on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit. They will
be shut up in a prison and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be confounded
and the sun ashamed for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and his glory will
be before his elders. Oh Lord you are my God I will exalt you I will praise your name for you
have done wonderful things plans formed of old faithful and sure for you have made the city a
heap the fortified city a ruin the foreigners palace is a city no more it will never be rebuilt
therefore strong peoples will glorify you cities of ruthless nations will fear you for you have been
a stronghold to the poor a stronghold to the needy in his distress a shelter from the storm and a
shade from the heat for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall like heat in a dry
place you subdue the noise of the foreigners as heat by the shade of a cloud so the song of the
ruthless is put down on this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich
food a feast of well-aged wine of rich food full of marrow of aged wine well refined and he will
swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples the veil that is spread over
all nations he will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth for the Lord has spoken it will
be said on that day behold this is our God we have waited for him that he might save us this is the
Lord we have waited for him let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation for the hand of the Lord
will rest on this mountain and Moab shall be trampled down in his place as straw is trampled
down in a dunghill and he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his
hands out to swim but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his
hands and the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down lay low and cast to the ground to
the dust dear friends the grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God endures forever let’s
pray for the Lord to bless the preaching of his word Lord God Almighty Heavenly Father we thank
you that you are the Lord who gives life the Lord of life we thank you that we have been given the
gift of eternal life in your son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray Heavenly Father that
as we contemplate and consider the truths that the spirit is declaring to us in this passage of your
God-breathed word we pray that by your spirit you would cause the seed of your word to find a lodging
place in our hearts to indeed take root in our hearts and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives
and once again that we ask that you would grant to me your unworthy servant the grace to declare
and speak forth your word with clarity and power Lord Jesus by your spirit be present in the
proclamation of your word may it go forth and accomplish all that which you ordain for it to
accomplish for your glory and for the good of your saints we pray these things in your name and all
of God’s people said man you may be seated this evening in the sermon is entitled death swallowed
up forever and if you happen to have one of the sermon outlines I know we ran out of them but there
are four key words to be listening for in my sermon today those are this evening the words
Thanksgiving feast death and salvation well dear friends don’t you find it to be the case that it
is really really hard to wait for something that you are eagerly looking forward to I know some of
the young people probably very much looked forward to the end of the school year and the coming of
summer vacation and now it’s finally here right or maybe in terms of looking forward to something
special maybe it’s a special family vacation that you have been planning for a long time or maybe
an upcoming concert featuring your favorite musicians or maybe a high-stakes sporting event
that you’ve been looking forward to with excitement or perhaps a long anticipated reunion with an old
friend or any number of other things that you might look forward to I remember how hard it was
for me as a young child to wait for Christmas Day to arrive as November rolled into December I
would start to count down the days until Christmas Day and those days leading up to Christmas Day
they seem to be so long they seem to just go on forever but when December 25th would finally
arrive my young heart would flutter with great excitement at least it would flutter with excitement
until later in the day after I had gotten tired of playing with my new toys and started to feel the
letdown of another Christmas Day come and gone well my brothers and sisters in Christ what is
even more difficult for those of us who are believers than waiting for some eagerly anticipated
earthly event is waiting for the consummation of our eternal salvation if Christ is your Savior
then at least at a deep level at least at some level you long for the consummation of your eternal
salvation you are in Christ you already have tasted the goodness of the Lord you’ve known the blessing
of sins forgiven you’ve known the blessings of being adopted as a child of God the spirit of
adoption abides in you by which you cry Abba Father and yet while you are thankful for the
gifts and blessings of this life there is an emptiness there is a longing for that which is
promised that which is to come and though we do not know that day when our Lord Jesus Christ will
return in glory no man knows the day or the hour nevertheless we know that it is coming and we
believers eagerly wait for that day and when that day finally arrives there will be great rejoicing
the prophet Isaiah describes this kind of rejoicing in verse 9 of our passage for tonight it says and
it will be said on that day behold this is our God we have waited for him that he might save us this
is the Lord we have waited for him let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation and you know unlike
the anticlimactic letdown that I experienced as a child at the end of Christmas Day when Jesus
returns and we receive the final installment of our eternal salvation in our glorification there
will be no anticlimactic letdown then after all at that time death will be swallowed up forever all
tears will be wiped away and our joy in the Lord will be eternal unfading unmitigated without end
the joys of this life come to an end and are mixed often with sorrows but the joy of the world to
come will never end for our God is the ever-blessed God and in union with him and in the consummation
of our salvation we will enjoy the beatific vision we will indeed be ever blessed in the
ever-blessed one now friends our passage for this Lord’s Day evening continues a section of Isaiah
that began back in chapter 24 and which extends through chapter 27 and in fact this these chapters
this section of Isaiah running from chapters 24 through 27 this section is often designated by
Bible scholars as the Isaiah apocalypse and it’s described that way by many scholars because the
language of this passage sort of resembles the kind of eschatological language that is characteristic
of eschatological literature or I should say apocalyptic literature you know portions of
scripture like the book of Daniel the book of Revelation and so forth you kind of get hints of
that kind of language here in these these this portion of the book of Isaiah in these chapters
as we saw in the last Lord’s Day in these chapters the focus turns from the local and near term
to the cosmic and remote future and chapter 25 begins powerfully it begins with a burst of praise
resembling the Psalms here Isaiah is acting like a psalmist if you will and Isaiah here recounts
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s judgment and salvation and that’s the first point on your sermon outline
and as we consider the opening section of this chapter verses one through five we consider
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s judgment and salvation again this chapter opens with these glorious
words oh Lord oh Yahweh the the word in the Hebrew again is the word for God the name for God here is
Yahweh the covenant name of God the name that has in view the Lord as the covenant redeemer and
deliverer of his people oh Lord you are my God he doesn’t just say you are our God although that
is true too he says you are my God I will exalt you I will praise your name for you have done
wonderful things plans formed of old faithful and sure now we need to ask ourselves who is
speaking this praise is do these words represent the language of Isaiah himself or is Isaiah
depicting the praise of the elders mentioned back at the end of of chapter 24 in verse verse 23
where talks about the moon will be confounded and the sun is shamed for the Lord of hosts reigns on
Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and his glory will be before the elders and then in the beginning of
chapter 25 is Isaiah intending to depict the praise of these elders that are mentioned here
well perhaps or perhaps Isaiah is simply adding his own praise but whatever the case may be
what we learn here from this language is that Yahweh the sovereign covenant lord and
deliverer he may be known on a personal individual basis as one commentator puts it
though worldwide in scope redemption is personal and we can indeed enjoy the communion with the
Lord not just corporately although we do indeed enjoy that by faith and together as God’s covenant
people but we can enjoy personal communion by faith with the Lord and we can say along with
Isaiah here oh Lord you are my God I will exalt you I will praise your name and what is the reason
for Isaiah’s praise here in this chapter well he gives the reason at the end of verse one for you
have done wonderful things plans formed of old faithful and sure you have done wonderful things
indeed our Lord and our God has done many mighty and wonderful things things that inspire wonder
and awe we think of his mighty works of creation we think of his mighty works of providence but
probably what is in view here as Isaiah writes here under the spirit’s inspiration about these
wonderful things that the Lord has done in the context these wonderful things are probably
probably have in view his mighty acts of salvation and deliverance such as for example the Exodus
event and of course we know as believers living in this new covenant era that the ultimate wonderful
works wonderful things that God has done are the things concerning his son the Lord Jesus Christ
incarnation his miracles and especially his atoning death and glorious resurrection from
the dead and we read that these mighty acts these wonderful wonderful things which encompass both
judgment and salvation these wonderful things were decreed from of old it says plans formed of old
faithful and sure and that’s significance you see you see we are creatures of time
and we are bound by time God is beyond time he transcends time space and matter and not only is
he transcendent over time he is sovereign over all things and he causes all things to work out
in accordance with his sovereign will and decree and the language here of this verse
uh certainly supports that that truth of the absolute sovereignty of God so
from our viewpoint as creatures of earth from our viewpoint the future can at times be uncertain
but the future was never uncertain from God’s perspective because his plans of old will come
to pass and that is a great comfort to the people of God especially those who would have originally
heard the judgment oracles declared by Isaiah for they are assured that God has his plan
and he’s working it out and he’s got this he’s got this you’ve done wonderful things
plans formed of old faithful ensure and then he mentions one of those wonderful things in verse
two for you have made the city a heap the fortified city a ruin the foreigners palace is a city no
more it will never be rebuilt the people of God in Old Testament times were often assaulted they
were often provoked by and persecuted by and attacked by foreign Gentile armies that sought
to destroy them and those armies though were used by God to chasten his people but the Lord reassures
his people that the Lord will indeed judge those foreign armies and he has made the city a heap a
fortified city a ruin and what will be the result of that in the case of those that had afflicted
and persecuted and attacked God’s people well it says in verse three there’s a hopeful note here
in verse three therefore strong peoples will glorify you the strong peoples who had threatened
and had been such a source of of misery for God’s people those strong peoples and ruthless nations
would be turned to the Lord there would be an elect remnant even from among the nations which
had opposed God’s people therefore strong peoples will glorify you cities of ruthless nations will
fear you former Gentile enemies in other words will be humbled and converted resulting in their
religious devotion to the Lord and that’s clearly what the language in this verse points to these
strong peoples these ruthless nations will come to glorify and fear the Lord praise be to God the
Lord is the one who is able to turn enemies into his friends and he does so through the gospel and
by the omnipotent call the omnipotent power of the spirit through the effectual call of the gospel
effectual call of his elect and then in verses four and five Isaiah uses some skillful metaphors and
similes he says this of the Lord for you have been a stronghold to the poor a stronghold to the needy
in his distress a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat for the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm against a wall like heat in a dry place you subdue the noise of the foreigners
as heat by the shade of a cloud so the song of the ruthless is put down this is a reassurance
to the people of God that though the Lord would use foreign nations to
chase them and and correct them and discipline them nevertheless the Lord is the stronghold
the refuge of his people again here notice how Isaiah’s skillful use of metaphors and similes
has the effect of evoking powerful images in the mind as well as powerful emotions in the heart
for example Yahweh the Lord he is described here as one who has been a stronghold
and a shelter and a shade toward his people in distress what is the purpose of a stronghold
the purpose of a stronghold is protection the Lord my friends is our protector that doesn’t mean that
he protects us from suffering the effects of this fallen world but he ultimately protects us
from ultimate spiritual harm he keeps us he is our stronghold he is our shelter he is our refuge
and he is a shade he protects us from the heat that would that would wear us down
the noisy threats of the ruthless enemies of God’s people are compared to a storm against a wall
like heat in a dry place but the Lord sends a cloud to protect his people from that heat
the assurance we have here is that the Lord will indeed subdue the threats of the foreign enemies
of his people and he will be a shade for his people against the heat of their threats as we are told
in verse five beloved this passage of God’s word presents the Lord as a stronghold a shelter a
shade he beloved he is our protector he is our refuge he is the one in whom we can repose our
entire trust and confidence I’m reminded of that old hymn that tells us Jesus is a rock in a weary
land a shelter in the time of storm dear listener is Jesus Christ your shelter in the time of storm
a storm is coming the storm of God’s holy wrath and judgment against sin that storm will come
on the final judgment day and there’s no refuge in your works no refuge in your worthiness or
your obedience or your even your church going there’s no refuge in these things valuable though
they may be your only refuge can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ in his merit and sacrifice alone
have you found refuge in Jesus Christ have you reposed your confidence in him can you say of the
Lord he is my stronghold he is my shelter he is my shade he is my rock my refuge
well the Lord promises here and we have a hint at it in verse three that even strong peoples
will come to glorify him there will be an elect remnant even from among former gentile oppressors
there will be those from the ruthless nations who will come to fear the Lord and that brings us to
the next section of this chapter in verses six through eight where we read of the feast of
salvation and the swallowing up of death the feast of salvation and the swallowing up of death in
verse six Isaiah writes on this mountain the Lord Yahweh of hosts will make for all peoples a feast
of rich food a feast of well-aged wine of rich food full of marrow of aged wine well refined
and he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples the veil
that is spread over all nations now verse six mentions this mountain which mountain is he
talking about do you think in the context of this passage what mountain could he be talking about
well again we need to remember brothers and sisters that the chapter and verse divisions
of scripture are not inspired they were added later to help guide our way through the scriptures
and what’s the most recent mount mountain that’s been mentioned by Isaiah well if you go back to
the end of chapter 24 again which is why I read this in conjunction or in connection with our
passage for tonight we read in in chapter 24 verse 23 the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion
and in Jerusalem and his glory will be before the elders so in verse six this mountain must
be a reference to Mount Zion and what does Mount Zion represent well it represents the people of
God the covenant people of God what we would describe today as the church and so the implication
is that having taken taken up his throne his reign on Mount Zion Yahweh provides a feast like
an ancient king at his coronation would provide a feast for his subjects so Yahweh the Lord taking
up his reign among his people his reign of grace and salvation he provides a feast and what is this
feast a feast of well this is a feast of salvation and notice it’s not just a feast limited in scope
to God’s ancient covenant people this feast of salvation will be we are told for all peoples
which would even include the returning prodigals from among the strong peoples and ruthless nations
mentioned back in verse three this is the feast of salvation of course that has been made possible
by the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ and this feast has been spread and continues to be
spread how is this feast of salvation spread on Mount Zion it is spread through the gospel the
good news of salvation through the obedient life atoning death and glorious resurrection of Christ
this salvation that is received by God’s sovereign grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
apart from works of the law and it is salvation that is proclaimed and declared on Mount Zion
declared by the church this message has been entrusted to God’s covenant people the church
and it is proclaimed through the mouthpiece through a Mount Zion’s mouthpieces her preachers
as we’re told in Romans 10 15 how can they preach unless they are sent
so there is a rich feast the feast of salvation spread for for sinners and it’s spread for
all peoples it’s not just for the Jews it’s not just for a particular ethnic group it’s for peoples
all over the world peoples redeemed from every tribe and tongue and language and nation and why
is this this redemption this feast of salvation necessary well look at verse seven he will swallow
up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples the veil that is spread over all nations
he mentions a covering he mentions a veil and it mentions God swallowing up it mentions this
this being swallowed up on Mount Zion what is this covering well some have suggested that this
refers to the spiritual blindness of the Gentiles which had led them to worship false gods to worship
idols but I think more likely in the context of this passage the veil that is spread over all peoples
is an allusion to the veil worn in those days by those who were mourning at the death of someone
in the light of the context of this passage this makes more sense it makes more sense to understand
this covering as a picture of the mourning that results from death we’ve been reading about a lot
of death recently with this horrible flood in Texas and and even children being victims of that
flood and there is no doubt great mourning that is taking place down there but there’s good news
in the gospel for what does it say in verse eight he will swallow up death forever verse eight he
will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach
of his people he will take away from the earth and then to to emphasize the certainty of this
it says for the Lord has spoken you can rely on the Lord’s word he has spoken
and we know brothers and sisters as we live after the coming of Christ and after his resurrection
from the dead we know that this word has been fulfilled at least in its initial phase and it
will ultimately be fulfilled in our glorifications in our glorification he will swallow up death
forever you know the scriptures often depict death and shale which is the this the place of the dead
as a famished monster that swallows up its victims and just to give you a few examples of this if
you’re a bible reader you know this to be the case but let’s just look at a few examples where
death is depicted as a monster that swallows up look at isaiah 5 verse 14
in isaiah 5 verse 14 isaiah says this therefore sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth
beyond measure and the nobility of jerusalem and her multitude will go down her revelers and he
who exalts in her sheol the place of the dead has enlarged its appetite death is coming and
it will be enlarged many will be swallowed up by death or consider going outside of isaiah let’s go
to psalm 49 verse 14 psalm 49 verse 14 is another passage where death is depicted as a great monster
that swallows up its victims psalm 49 verse 14 it says this like sheep they are appointed for
shale death shall be their shepherd and the upright shall rule over them in the morning
their form shall be consumed in shale with no place to dwell and as an example of this imagery
in the wisdom literature proverbs 1 verses 11 and 12 depicts it the same way proverbs 1
verses 11 and 12 it says if they say come with us let us lie and wait for blood let us ambush
the innocent without reason like shale let us do what let us swallow them alive the whole and whole
like those who go down to the pit and so forth so you see that the death is the great swallower it’s
a great monster who swallows its victims and here’s the thing in this passage the lord promises
that the great swallower death itself will one day itself be swallowed up in victory
think about it the great swallower will itself one day be swallowed up forever now of course
we now know living as we do in these new covenant times we now know that this was accomplished
decisively by the atoning death and resurrection of christ who by his atoning death on the cross
of calvary has forever swallowed up and conquered death and whose resurrection from the dead
demonstrates that for those who know him as savior death will not have the final word for we will be
raised incorruptible even as our savior has been raised incorruptible never to die again and what
will be the result of this well it says the lord god will wipe away tears from all faces death causes
mourning death brings forth tears we’ve all had the experience or many of us have most of us i
imagine have had the experience of deeply grieving over the loss of loved ones death results in
mourning and as it should because death is the great enemy death is not just a natural part of
life death is the wages of sin the wages of sin is death but the free gift of god is eternal life
in christ jesus our lord death results in mourning which results in tears but on the final day all
cause for mourning will be removed in the case of those who are in christ for death itself will
be swallowed up in victory as you contemplate and consider this imagery that isaiah uses here
in this passage keep that in mind as we turn to the language of revelation seven verses 13
through 17 revelation chapter seven verses 13 through 17 where i think under the spirit’s
inspiration john the apostle is influenced by the language of isaiah it says this
then one of the elders addressed me saying who are these clothed in white robes and from where
have they come i said to him sir you know and he said to me these are the ones coming out of the
great tribulation they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb
therefore they are before the throne of god and serve him day and night in his temple
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence they shall hunger no more neither
thirst anymore the sun shall not strike them nor any scorching heat for the lamb in the midst of
the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to the springs of living water and god
will wipe away every tear from their eyes believer be comforted for one day the great swallower of
death will be swallowed up forever jesus made that certain by his death and resurrection
and so what will that lead to well that will lead to in the end the arrival of god’s long-awaited
salvation which we read of in the closing section of this chapter in verses nine through 12 again
it says in verse nine it will be said on that day behold this is our god we have waited for him
that he might save us this is the lord we have waited for him let us be glad and rejoice in his
glad and rejoice in his salvation there we have that terminology again on that day which should
raise the question what day is he talking about well brothers and sisters in christ ultimately
this is a reference to the eschatological final day the ultimate day of the lord not just a day
of the lord but the day of the lord the day when christ our savior will return in glory raise the
dead judge humanity and usher in the eternal state the new heavens and the new earth wherein
righteousness dwells at long last those who have waited for the final consummation of god’s
salvation will experience what they have been waiting for for so long what they have been
longing for for so many ages and they will rejoice with unimaginable joy notice how this
verse just pulsates throbs with excitement and joy behold behold this is our god we have waited
for him that he might save us this is the one we’ve confessed this is the one we’ve waited for this
is the one we’ve longed for this is the one that we have followed by faith and now faith has given
way to sight this is the lord we have waited for him let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation
and there will be no let down from that rejoicing for it will be an everlasting rejoicing
but then what about the enemies of god’s people in this present age as represented for in this
passage by moab the moabites were were often enemies of god’s people it says in verse 10 for
the hand of the lord will rest on this mountain the hand of god’s blessing will rest on mount
zion on his church his people his covenant people and moab representing the enemies of god
moab shall be trampled down in his place as straw is trampled down in the dung hill what a picture
that is huh on the one hand god’s hand representing his power his present his hand of blessing rests on
his people on mount zion but his feet trampled down his sworn enemies in a dung hill yalways hand
of blessing would rest upon mount zion but the great enemies of god and his people as represented
by israel’s rival moab will be trampled down in judgment and shame under his feet as straw
is trampled down in a dung hill proud moab will be humbled and destroyed
but the lord’s people who had been humbled and destroyed by the likes of moab god’s people who
had suffered under their hand would be blessed and exalted by the hand of their lord but how
does moab respond to this judgment does moab humble itself no look at verse 11
he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim
it’s like he’s trying to swim in a dung hill but the lord will lay his pompous pride together with
the skill of his hand moab was proud moab trusted in its own ingenuity its own works
its own power and the moabs it’s as if moab is saying oh okay this is a problem but i can fix
it let me spread out my hands and do my thing just as many sinners today try to say well
yeah okay i’m a sinner i need i need to be saved but i can handle it i’ll pick myself up by my own
bootstraps but no the lord humbles the self-righteous and the proud the lord will lay
low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hand and what about the high fortifications
of his walls oh moab was known for its high and mighty walls impregnable walls that they trusted in
for their military might but though moab had trusted in the high fortifications of its walls
even those walls would offer them no protection from the judgment of the lord
and so friends as we wrap up our time in the word this evening a couple thoughts i want to leave
you with first of all believer believer as you contemplate what verse 9 teaches
think about this when you are finally in glory and you look back on all of the trials and
sufferings and all of the waiting that involves this present life living in this present evil age
when you look back from the perspective of eternity on this present life you will know then that your
final salvation was worth the wait so often god’s people are depicted in scripture as crying out how
oh lord how long and the saints cry out come lord jesus come and yet he still delays
and we think how long must this go on but when we are in glory we will look back on this present
life and all of its trials all of its sufferings all of its mourning and grief as but momentary
light afflictions in view of the eternal weight of glory that is stored up for us
so when we are tempted to grow weary and impatient with our present lot let us remind ourselves
brothers and sisters that it will be worth the wait and let us resolve once again to wait patiently
upon the lord but dear listener also realize that there are only two ultimate destinies
you’re either headed for the feast of salvation spread in the gospel of christ
or you’re headed for the dung hill of damnation like moab is will be oh dear listener the feast
of salvation has been spread by the lord jesus christ and the good news is that there is no
charge to partake of this feast you don’t have to pay an entry fee to go to the feast it’s free
it’s available for all who through sovereign grace come it’s available and it’s free because
because jesus paid it all when he died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin
so come to the feast lest you like moab be end up laid low and cast into the dung hill
of damnation come to the feast dear sinner embrace christ as he is offered to you in the gospel
and all of god’s people said amen let’s pray heavenly father we thank you lord god
that you through christ have swallowed up death the great swallower the death has been swallowed
up in victory the death will not have the final say and therefore we can live with confidence
and we can face death with confidence knowing that we will be raised on that final day and
that we will join our voices with the voices that cry out behold this is our god we have waited for
him that he might save us this is the lord we have waited for him let us be glad and rejoice
in his salvation we rejoice in you lord and may that joy resonate with us and sustain us in the
week ahead and throughout our journey here in this life in jesus name we pray and all of god’s people
said amen as we close our time this evening let’s rise and we’ll sing as our closing hymn 365 vine be
the glory 365