For our Scripture reading this morning, turn with me to Isaiah 25. Isaiah 25 as we read the chapter, the text this morning, verses 6-8 of Isaiah 25. Hear now the Word of God. O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You and praise Your name. For in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners' stronghold a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. Therefore, strong peoples will honor You. Cities of ruthless nations will revere You. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for 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 driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud so the song of the ruthless is stilled. On this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples. a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, Surely this is our God. We trusted in Him and He saved us. This is the Lord. We trust it in Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation. The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, but Moab will be trampled under Him as straws trample down in the manure. They will spread out their hands in it as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands. He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low. He will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's true that we all like a little good news now and then, don't we? At times, we can all use a little good news. It brightens our day. It lifts our spirits. And no doubt, Isaiah's audience also needed a little bit of good news. Now, many of us are familiar with Isaiah's prophecy. And it's true that there is so much throughout this book that is comforting. As Isaiah, for example, speaks of the child to be born, the son to be given, whose name would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And we hear in Isaiah 40 those beautiful words, Comfort, yes, comfort my people, says your God. And through Isaiah, the Lord says to His people in Isaiah 43, Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. All wonderful messages of salvation. Yet in some respects, this all comes on the heels of Isaiah's prophecy about God's people being exiled into captivity because of their sin and misery. There's much talk of judgment in Isaiah as well. For example, from chapters 13 and 23, we read about God's judgment upon the nations and Jerusalem is included there. It's no secret, especially as we read Isaiah, that the kingdom of darkness continues to rise up against the kingdom of light. God's people have always and they continue to feel the heat of the battle. But in our text, including the broader context of all of chapter 25 as well as chapter 26, we find something that fits well with Isaiah's messages of comfort. We find there a particular message of the salvation of God's people. We find there talk both of judgment upon His enemies and salvation upon His people. First of all, in verses 2-5, Isaiah makes it clear that by the power of the Lord, the city of man, not necessarily a physical city, but the life of wicked man, the city of man, including all that man wickedly devises in all the power and the glory and the authority that He tries to claim as His own, this city would become nothing. Nothing but a heap of rubble. But the city of God would be established so that even the heat of sin and the storm of sin cannot stand against it. But in essence, against God, the heat of sin and the storm of sin is stopped dead in its tracks. And in that city, the city of God, God's people will be found rejoicing. In mountain blessings. And as we consider this Word of God this morning, notice that these mountain blessings include, first of all, a promised feast. Secondly, a promised light. And finally, a promised life. The text begins in verse 6, On this mountain. Now it is believed, and I believe rightly so, that this refers back to chapter 24, verse 23, where it says, For the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. Of course, in Scripture, Mount Zion has different meanings. It can mean the actual hill in or near Jerusalem. Jerusalem itself is spoken of as Mount Zion, as we considered this morning with Psalm 48 in Adult Sunday School. Israel is referred to as Mount Zion. In the New Testament, the church is spoken of as Mount Zion. As well, the heavenly city is called Mount Zion. As John writes in Revelation 14, verse 1, Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. But what do all of these references to Mount Zion have in common? Each is the place where God dwells. Where God has chosen to place His name to dwell among His people. And in His presence alone, God's people receive and rejoice in mountain blessings, the first of which the text records as a promised feast. Verse 6 says again, On this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats, and the finest of wines. And our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of this feast as well in Matthew 22, verse 2, where he says, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. Now, we know that a banquet or a feast points to some sort of a celebration, to some sort of a party, to good times when those in attendance enjoy each other's company as well. They enjoy the company of the host. But also, a feast gives us the idea of a need being satisfied, And that need, beloved, is hunger. A feast satisfies the need of hunger. Now, a survey of Scripture shows us that those who hunger represent those who are without God. Those who are starving, spiritually speaking. But God satisfies the hunger of His people. David says in Psalm 103, verse 5, "...who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth may be renewed like the eagles. Well, then what are people hungry for? I think three things will sum this up. People are hungry for love, for security, and peace. And I think we can sum these up with one word, and that's acceptance. People want to belong. They want to be accepted. We don't like being alone. We don't like being lonely. But the truth is, that's what sin has done, isn't it? Sin has messed up that true love, true security, true peace. Deformed it. Sin causes mankind to be completely alone. Oh, we're surrounded by the wicked. We're surrounded. We're in the company of Satan and his wicked host. But that's no company at all. That's loneliness. Well, first of all, people are hungry for love. God created man in His own image to be loved by God and to love God and His neighbor. But sin has mortally damaged and disrupted this. But the longing of love, no matter how messed up and deformed it may be, the longing for that love still remains in man. From the most hardened criminal to the newest born baby, the smallest child, to the richest man in the world, to the beggar on the street, all have a longing. for love. People also hunger for security. Again, we all like a sense of belonging. We desire protection and safety and to be provided for and to have our needs met. But so many look for these things in all the wrong places and they try to acquire these things in all the wrong ways. And people are also hungry for peace. We want freedom from worry and from fear and from unrest. And I think this is especially true Maybe more than ever or more than in a long time in the last month since September 11. Mankind on this earth today, they're crying out for these things. But man can't satisfy his hunger for true love, true security, and true peace. Boys and girls, anything that man tries to do to satisfy these hunger pangs fails. You know that if your stomach is growling, you can go to the kitchen and get a snack or your mom will make a meal and your hunger is satisfied. But again, anything that man tries to do to satisfy these hunger pangs for true love, security, and peace fails. I read an article in Thursday's North County Times, maybe some of you did as well, dealing with atheists. The title of it reads, Atheists left out as leaders ask nation to pray. Atheists throughout the country are feeling sorry for themselves. Because they have nowhere to turn. Just let me share a couple of sentences out of this article. One atheist says, I'm feeling very excluded from this. There's this big unity, but it's all under God. And then another quote says, Americans who don't believe in a deity are struggling to find their place at a time when God bless America is being sung everywhere. Another person says we are essentially being left out formally of the grieving process simply because we will not let ourselves get emotionally involved with a supernatural cause and effect. And then one more, secular humanists, that which atheists are. Secular humanists believe people can solve their own problems without supernatural intervention. Beloved, without the one true God, no one can even come close to solving his or her own problems. The psalmist says, Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day, their plans come to nothing. When they take their last breath, any goals they have are wiped out immediately. Any plans are long forgotten. Everything ends. Beloved, the philosophy of man is tasteless. It does not satisfy. It will only starve you. And the psalmist continues, Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. And David says in Psalm 20, verse 7, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. You see, God alone meets our needs. He promises a feast to meet the hunger of all peoples, as the text says. That is, those from every tribe, every tongue, every nation whom He has chosen. And congregation, what a feast it is. A feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats, and the finest of wines. Now, as you may or may not suspect, this language is translated in various ways in various Bible versions, all, I believe, arriving at the right, the same and right thing. For example, as we have here in the NIV, it translates some words, best of meats. While in other translations, these same words are translated fat things full of marrow or choice pieces with marrow. And you see, fat things is talking about the choices of foods wonderfully prepared. We say, yuck. E.J. Young, in a footnote in his commentary on Isaiah, says, fat was considered the most desirable part of the animal. We throw it away. We burn it away. As well, he says, it was a symbol of abundance. In the peace offerings, the fat parts were burned on the altar for the Lord. The very best was given to the Lord. And as I said this morning, I think of one of my favorite cuts of meat, which I think has the appropriate name, prime rib. It melts in your mouth if it's prepared right, if you like it, that is. And why does it do that? Probably because it's filled with fat all the way through. The highest in fat content. But I trust that you get the point here. With the rich meats and then the wine which is spoken of, and we need to understand here that it's talking about the best fermented, long fermented, Long fermentation. And the best filtered. The purest wine. That's what it's talking about. With rich meats and the best fermented and filtered wine. This points to a rich and lavish feast. God's people will enjoy fullness of blessing in the perfected kingdom of God. They will enjoy the best that God has to offer. And nothing can compare. And this is because of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Beloved, the Word of God is a feast. Only it can truly satisfy, enrich, and bless. God, in His grace, raises up faithful ministers to prepare that feast on the one day a week. We have that feast every day, but especially on the Lord's Day, so that we have a small taste of it today. But ultimately, Jesus Christ is the feast. He said in John 10, It is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. He is also the living water, as He says in John 14. It says, Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Beloved, what an abundant feast that you and I received by grace through faith. A feast that was costly. As the table points to, the precious blood of Jesus. What a feast which cost us nothing. Isaiah says in Isaiah chapter 55, Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ reconciles that love, that true love of God for His people. He brings true security for His people so that we are safe and secure from the clutches of Satan, from sin, and from death. He alone brings that true peace as He reconciles us with the Father, that peace that passes understanding. A promised feast is that first mountain blessing for God's people. But this feast, beloved, cannot be enjoyed without the second mountain blessing which is listed in the text, a promised light. Verse 7 says, On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. Now in the original Hebrew, this shroud or covering or veil we could say is considered to be a complete and thick covering, like a thick blanket that covers your face so that you can't see through it, not at all. The idea is as if you would wrap that thick blanket around your head so that all you see is complete darkness. The boys and girls, you may remember when you were younger and you played that game called peek-a-boo. The blanket would be over your face and you couldn't see anything. And you pulled that blanket away. Peek-a-boo. And then you see everyone around you. Now we know that the analogy of Scripture is that people living in darkness doesn't mean that the physical light is shut off or that the sun is not shining, but that they are living in the darkness of sin and misery. By nature, all of mankind is blinded from and ignorant to the truth and glory of God. By nature, man is blind to God, to his love, and to his way of salvation. Man's heart is spiritually dull and hard to the things of the Lord. Now, there are some who see this shroud as the veil of mourning or sorrow in death. And indeed, those lost in sin actually live in spiritual mourning and sorrow, whether they know it or not. But here Isaiah prophesied that God would destroy this shroud. That means, that's talking about completely removing that shroud from His people. He would remove the darkness from them, which then means that the light would shine. And again, the analogy of Scripture is that light symbolizes God and His presence and His truth. Psalm 4, verse 6 says, Let the light of Your face shine upon us, O Lord. Psalm 104, verse 2, speaks of the Lord, that He wraps Himself in light as with a garment. In 2 Corinthians 4, verses 4 and 6, we read about both the darkness and the light. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And of course, Revelation 21, verse 23 speaks of heaven. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives its light and the Lamb is its Lamb. And beloved, Jesus Christ is the light which Isaiah speaks of in chapter 9, verse 2 when he says the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. A passage which is quoted again in the New Testament at the coming of Christ. And Jesus said in John 8, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Jesus Christ is the true light. He alone dispels the darkness of sin and shame and reveals God, His love, and His way of salvation. He alone has earned for His people the light of life by taking our sins upon Himself. And therefore, along with these first two mountain blessings, the believer also enjoys a promised life. Verse 8 says, He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. I think it's beautiful how Isaiah makes clear to those to whom he is prophesying that this isn't Isaiah's word. The Lord has spoken. You can take stock in this. You can stake your claim in this. It's true. The Lord has spoken. But what is death? Death is the curse of God for sin. And the truth is man has always feared death because it is the great unknown. We can think also of the saints in the Old Testament that they didn't understand quite like we do having the Scripture in the New Testament. They didn't quite understand in all of its fullness the power of the resurrection. To be sure, they had comfort. We read of their comfort. They had assurance, but many of them, no doubt, couldn't confidently say with Job, I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end He will stand upon the earth and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. The congregation, death, seems to swallow up everything. As we said a moment ago, any plans you had at the time of death, they're gone. They're just a distant memory for those who remain. There's such finality. And death does not discriminate. Unless the Lord should return first, no one can escape death, the master, slave, rich or poor, smart or simple, young or old, all are treated equal when it comes to death. Death causes sorrow, mourning, tears, pain, misery, and heartache. But for God's people, death has been swallowed up in victory. It has lost its sting because for the child of God, death leads to eternal life. It's a gateway when the believer closes his eyes in death to this life. He opens them in the presence of the Father to that eternal feast, to that eternal light. Jesus Christ has swallowed up death forever for those He has redeemed. Paul refers to this very text in 1 Corinthians 15 when he says, Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your stain? When Israel was released from captivity in Babylon, that was a shadow and a foretaste of these mountain blessings. This prophecy, no doubt, was a little good news for them. But it is clear that Isaiah was looking to the day when all of God's enemies would be put under His feet. Revelation 21 verse 4 says, God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. As parents, we comfort and we soothe our children when they are hurting. We even wipe their cheeks. We wipe the tears off their cheeks until the next time they get hurt and those tears come again. But beloved, when God wipes away the tears of His people, it is thorough and those tears never again return. He wipes away our tears by removing the cause of those tears, namely death. Eternal death. As the psalmist says with such confidence, you have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness to the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. God's people are often despised and insulted and put to shame here. But they will be exalted with Christ forever and ever, even as the text says that He will remove the disgrace of His people. God's people may be called to sow in tears now, but they will reap with joy then. Behind mountain blessings stands the cross of Jesus. He said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? This morning, that same question is before us. Do you believe this? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you no longer look to yourself for salvation, but look outside of yourself to Him who has earned it for His people? Do you believe this? If you do, beloved, then these mountain blessings are already yours today, symbolized in this table which is before us. For those who reject the Savior, their portion is eternal starvation, darkness, and death. But for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith and desire to live as children of the King, for you, beloved, this table points to the eternal feast prepared by the host himself. And in this table, we see the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it chases away the darkness and dread of hell. And this table preaches of eternal life. Because Jesus lives, we too shall live. Beloved, this is so much more than just a little good news. This is the gospel. And this is the most fantastic mountaintop blessing that anyone could ever receive. Because only this news makes life worth living. Turn with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal to the forum for the Lord's Supper. Page 144, halfway down the second column. Page 144. And again, beloved, as we come together to commemorate the suffering and death of our Lord by partaking of the Lord's Supper, we want to welcome to the table of the Lord those who are visiting with us today who have taken the time to speak with one of the elders in the foyer before the service to fill out one of the communion visitor's cards and by doing so have indicated that you are truly sorry for your sins, that you trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, and that you are committed to live a life of thankfulness to God, and as well that you are presently a member in good and regular standing in another evangelical church. to you. We welcome you to join with us as we partake of the Lord's Supper. Halfway down the second column, page 144. Let us now also consider to what end the Lord has instituted His Supper, namely that we should do it in remembrance of Him. Now after this manner are we to remember Him by it. First of all, let us be fully persuaded in our hearts that our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the promises made to the forefathers in the Old Testament, was sent of the Father into this world, that He assumed our flesh and blood, that He has borne for us the wrath of God under which we should have perished everlastingly from the beginning of His incarnation to the end of His life upon earth, and has fulfilled for us all obedience and righteousness of the divine law, especially when the weight of our sins and of the wrath of God pressed out of Him the bloody sweat in the garden where He was bound that we might be loosed from our sins. that afterwards He suffered innumerable reproaches, that we might never be confounded, that He was innocently condemned to death, that we might be acquitted at the judgment seat of God, yea, that He suffered His blessed body to be nailed to the cross, that He might fasten to it the bond written in ordinances that was against us, and so has taken the curse from us upon Himself, that He might fill us with His blessing, and has humbled Himself under the very deepest reproach and anguish of hell in body and soul on the tree of the cross when He cried out with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That we might be accepted of God and nevermore be forsaken of Him. And finally has confirmed with His death and shedding of His blood the new and eternal testament, the covenant of grace and of reconciliation when He said, It is finished. And that we might firmly believe that we belong to this covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ in His last supper took bread. And when he had given thanks, he break it and gave to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. In like manner, after supper, he took the cup and gave thanks and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it. This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you and for many unto remission of sins. This do as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. That is, as often as ye eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you shall thereby, as by a sure remembrance and pledge, be admonished and assured of this my hearty love and faithfulness towards you, that whereas otherwise you should have suffered eternal death, I give my body in death on the tree of the cross and shed my blood for you and nourish and refresh your hungry and thirsty souls with my crucified body and shed blood to everlasting life. as certainly as this bread is broken before your eyes and this cup is given to you and you eat and drink with your mouth in remembrance of me. From this institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, we see that He directs our faith and trust to His perfect sacrifice once offered on the cross as to the only ground and foundation of our salvation, whereby He has become to our hungry and thirsty souls the true food and drink of life eternal. For by His death He has taken away the cause of our eternal death and misery, namely sin, and obtained for us the life-giving Spirit, that we, by that Spirit who dwells in Christ as in the head and in us as His members, should have true communion with Him, and be made partakers of all His riches of life eternal, righteousness and glory. Besides, by this same Spirit, we are also united as members of one body in true brotherly love. As the Holy Apostle says, seeing that we who are many are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread. For as out of many grains one meal is ground, and one bread baked, and out of many berries pressed together, one wine flows and is mixed together, so shall we all who by true faith are incorporated in Christ be all together one body through brotherly love for Christ, our dear Savior's sake, who before has so exceedingly loved us and show this towards one another, not only in words, but also in deeds. May the Almighty, merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ help us in this through His Holy Spirit. Amen. And beloved, that we may obtain all this, let us humble ourselves before God and with true faith implore Him for His grace. As we bow together in prayer, we conclude our prayer reciting the Lord's Prayer together. Shall we pray? Merciful God and Father, we beseech you that in this supper in which we cherish the blessed memory of the bitter death of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, you will so work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that we with true confidence give ourselves up more and more unto your Son, Jesus Christ. In order that our burdened and contrite hearts through the power of your Holy Spirit may be nourished and refreshed with His true body and blood, Yea, with Him, true God and man, the only heavenly bread. And that we may no longer live in our sins, but He in us and we in Him. And so truly be partakers of the new and everlasting testament, the covenant of grace. Though we do not doubt that You will forever be our gracious Father, never more imputing our sins unto us, and providing us with all things for body and soul, as Your dear children and heirs. Grant us also Your grace that we may take up our cross cheerfully, deny ourselves, confess our Savior, and in all tribulation, with uplifted head, expect our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, where He will make our mortal bodies like in His glorified body, and take us unto Him in eternity. Answer us, O God and merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Thank you.