Isaiah chapter 25. We'll be looking through this chapter
and some into Isaiah chapter 26. And the title of the message
this morning is, In this mountain and in that day. In this mountain
and in that day. We get that from verse 6 when
the Lord makes this promise to Israel. He says, in this mountain
shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat
things, a feast of wine on the leaves. of fat things, full of
marrow, of wine on the leaves, well refined." And then look
in verse 9, he says, "...and it shall be in that day." That
day. In that day, "...lo, this is
our God." It shall be said, "...lo, this is our God. We have waited
for Him." He will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited
for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. And then look in chapter 6 of
verse 21. He speaks of this as the same
thing, in that day. Continuation. In that day shall
this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation. will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous
which keepeth the truth may enter in." In this mountain in that
day. Now, here in this portion of Scripture, the Lord gives
the promise a promise to his people, Israel. And in verse 1 of chapter 25,
the writer here gives thanks and praises God. He said, O Lord,
Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. I will praise Thy name.
Here's the reason. For Thou hast done wonderful
things, Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Now, the prophet here in this
Scripture, is speaking of deliverance concerning Israel. He's saying
he's thanking God for what he has done, and he is thanking
God for the counsel of what he has promised to do, which is
to deliver the nation of Israel from captivity. He praises God
for his past works and his promise to fulfill future deliverances,
namely, that of the Babylonian captivity. Remember, at this
time, they were assaulted by the Assyrians, but yet God had
sworn that they would also be taken by the Babylonians. And God promises that that great
city, that great city, in verse 2, He said, "...for thou hast
made of the city an heap." of a defense city, a ruin, a palace
of strangers, to be no city, it shall never be built." In
other words, when that city was destroyed, it's never been built
again, even as God promised. The Babylonian kingdom is no
longer ever to be what it was. Ever since then, it was diminishing.
It was getting less and less, and now what is it? It's just
a pile of sand. God promised that it would never
be built, Yet he promises this to his people
in verse 6, in this mountain, this mountain that he was in,
this mountain of Zion where the Lord was worshipped, God promises
a feast, a feast of fat things, of wine on the leaves. And we know this happened, that
the Lord did bring them, they destroyed that temple, and yet
God brought them back to that very same mountain in Zion, even
as He promised, rebuilt and re-established the worship of God, and they
celebrated by the feasts that they had in that very mountain. Of course, I'm not here to just
give you a history lesson of what God has done for Israel,
the nation of Israel. It would be an error and a mistake
and a misinterpretation of Scripture to simply just apply this to
national Israel. But this nation, this mountain
that God is speaking of, Zion, is a picture. The nation of Israel and Judah
picture the elect of God, the Church of God. So then everything
in these chapters find their fullest meaning and fulfillment
in the Gospel of Jesus Christ for His Church. The salvation
of God for His church. Now, it is my purpose and intent
this morning to show you three things in these Scriptures. Three
things in these Scriptures. First of all, I want us to see
the promise of the Gospel. The Gospel declaration of God
found in verse 6. That's what's being preached
here. This feast is none other than the feast of Jesus Christ
prepared for His church. And the second thing is the response
of this Gospel is found in verse 9. In that day, lo, it shall
be said, this is our God." Now, this is the day of conversion.
This is the day when the Holy Spirit comes and gives life to
the believer. He hears the gospel, receives
it, and what does he say about Christ? He said, this is my God. He will save us. Now, that's
my hope. That's your hope this morning.
If you've heard the Gospel and you believe it, that's what you
say of Him. This is my God, and He will save
us. And listen, our song is revealed
in chapter 26 and verse 1. This is all the days of our life.
After our conversion, this is always our song. What is our
song? We have a strong city. We have a strong city. Salvation. Listen. Will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks? And what is our message? Open
the gates. Open the gates. And who may come
in? He said that the righteous nation
which keepeth truth may enter in. In other words, those who
believe in Jesus Christ come. So those three things here I
want us to see this morning by God's grace first of all the
gospel of Christ look at this in verse 6 It says in this mountain
Shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat
things Now the prophet in this Chapter he begins by giving praise
to God concerning God's counsel concerning God's purpose. He
said this, I praise thee, I exalt thee, for thou hast done wonderful
things, thy counsels of old are what? Faithful and true. Isn't
that what Scripture speaks of Christ? Isn't that His name?
He that is faithful and true. That's who it speaks of, Christ.
The counsels of God speak of Him. Now, remember what he's
going to say here in Isaiah, flip over to Isaiah 46. Look
what the prophet says, God says concerning his counsels. In chapter 46 and verse 9, God
says, Remember the former things of old. For I am God, and there is none
else. I am God, and there is none like me. Now what separates
God from every other God? It's right here. Declaring the
end from the beginning. Every other God just fumbling
around in the dark, don't know what's going to happen, wringing
His hands, wondering if His people are ever going to be saved. That's
not God. God's not wondering anything.
Everything that happens in time is exactly what God determined
in eternity. Declaring the end of all things
from the beginning, from ancient times the things were not yet
done, saying this, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure." Now what's God doing? What's God doing? He said it, I am doing all my
pleasure. So whatever it is that's happening
in the world, you mark it down, God is doing whatsoever He pleases
to do. That's what He's doing right now. He's doing everything.
There's not one thing outside of His control. Not one thing
without His permission. Not one leaf falls from a tree
without the direct consent and help of God. You think gravity
works by itself? No. God does all things, declares
all things. His counsel shall stand and He
will do all His pleasure. So then, if everything takes
place according to the will of God, in providence and circumstance,
in health and sickness, in life and death, in everything that
pertains to this flesh, how much more so is the counsel of God
linked to the salvation of sinners? As a matter of fact, the context
of Isaiah 46 is exactly that, the deliverance of Israel. He
said, I've appointed a guy that I'm going to use to deliver Israel. Even so it was with Christ. God
had already appointed Christ to deliver His people from their
sins. That's what He had already appointed
to do. So when we talk about the counsel of God, we're talking
about God's divine covenant of grace. The eternal covenant of
grace. And behold, the immutable counsel
of God is to save all Israel. I'm not talking about the Jews.
I'm not talking about those who are the children of Abraham.
I'm talking about spiritual Israel, all those that God chose in eternity. All those that God loved in eternity,
God promises, I will save them all. I will save them all. Why? Because I do what I please. And
it is my pleasure to save them. Now what Jesus said about the
kingdom, He said, It is your father's, what? Good pleasure. How many times do you give your
kids something and you just grit your teeth because you've got
to give it to them? They didn't earn it. God doesn't do that. It's His pleasure to give you
the kingdom. Isn't that something? God is willing to give you His
kingdom. That's amazing. And so He will save all His elect
people, all He's chose. Which people, being loved of
God, were put into union with Christ before the foundation
of the world. This is the counsel of God. Go
to Ephesians chapter 1. Read it again with me. Ephesians
chapter 1. In verse 3, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Now what was His choice? Why did He do this? That we should
be holy and without blame. before Him,
in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. Now why would He do all this?
According to the good pleasure of His will. According to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. Now listen, we know this. that all men were ruined in the
fall. We know this. When Adam sinned... I want you
to be very clear. When Adam sinned, you sinned. He was your representative man
before God. And when He died spiritually,
you and I died in Him. Romans 5, 12, Wherefore, as by
one man, one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and death by
sin, and the result, so death passed upon all men, for all
have sinned. Adam, we were ruined." And so, in this chapter, we see
that Israel will be in bondage. Israel will suffer because of
their disobedience to God. They were held captive by the
Babylonian Empire for 70 years. Now, what does that have to do
with you and me? That's a picture of us. That's a picture of all
of God's chosen people. They were by nature in bondage
to sin. We were by nature under the condemnation
of God. Yet, here is our hope. God says,
I will deliver them. I will save them according to My purpose, My will,
and My grace. I will do it. And so then He promises in verse
2 to crush our enemy. He said, For this thou hast made
of a city an heap, a defense city, a ruin, the palace of strangers
to be no city. It shall never be built. Therefore
shall the strong people glorify Thee. The city of the terrible
nation shall fear Thee, for Thou hast been a strength to the poor,
a strength to the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm." In
this, God is describing His elect people. I want you to see who
His elect people are. Two words, poor and needy. Poor and needy. God has an elect people, but
they are by nature poor. What does this mean? They're
without strength. He said they're poor and they
need strength. That means that they have no
strength. How much strength does a dead
man have? That's how much strength you
have. Jesus said this. Now, when I
say, come to Christ, that sounds so simple, doesn't it? Sounds
so, come to Christ! But Jesus said, no man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him." There's
no way for you to come to Christ except the Father draw you. You are dead in sins, without
strength. Without strength. And not only
that, they are needy. Needy. These elect people need righteousness,
because they have none. These elect people need a sacrifice
they can never provide. They need an offering they can
never offer. Our Lord said this, Sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not a body, as thou prepared me in
burnt offering and sacrifices for sin." Listen, thou hath no
pleasure. Thou has no pleasure. You can
burn all the animals you want. You can give up everything you
want. You can do as best as you can. And you know what God says?
I don't want it. Your best, my best, is never
sufficient to satisfy God. I don't have any pleasure in
what you're doing. I don't have pleasure in your
religion. My justice won't be satisfied by your offerings and
sacrifices. And so then, what has He provided
for the poor and the needy? Look at this. A refuge. He said this, for thou hast been
strength and a refuge. A refuge. Like in the days of
Noah. In the days of Noah, God promised
judgment on the whole earth. He promised that he would send
the rains and they would all die. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And God moved Noah to build an
ark. For what? A refuge. And as Noah
entered into the ark and God shut the door, Justice did take
place. God did what He promised to do. He did kill all flesh by the
flood. But He also did what grace purposed
to do, save Noah and his family. How? By the ark. How then will
God save His elect? By Christ, the refuge. The refuge. That's why He said
in that passage we just read that He puts you in Christ. Isn't that where you need to
be on a refuge? Don't you need to be in the refuge in order
to be saved by the refuge? Yes. God promised to send the
refuge. Jesus Christ is the only refuge
for sinners. So in the text we see the faithful,
immutable, eternal purpose of God concerning the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, In this mountain shall
the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast. Now listen, in
order to have a feast, what do you got to have? You got to have
a sacrifice. You got to have somebody to kill
an animal in order to have a feast. They weren't vegetarians and
neither am I. So when these feasts were talking about, they were
talking about meat. They were talking about you had to kill
the fatted calf in order to have a feast. Our Lord promises a
feast at the expense of a sacrifice, His Son. Now this mountain, we
know this mountain is Zion. This mountain was the place where
God was present with His people. It was a place where the atonement
was made by the high priest. It was here that the saints of
God worshipped and communed with their God. Now, in that temple,
at that time, only the children of Israel were allowed on the
inside. There was an outer court for proselytes, but they did
not have full benefit, full access to all of the blessings that
the nation of Israel had. But this feast here is a promise
not just to the nation of Israel, but to all people. He said, I
will make a feast for unto all people, a feast. Not just Jews
and Gentiles, not just Jews, but also Gentiles alike. A feast,
not lean or lacking, but of fat things. Heard this one time,
and it is true. You know, the best part of a
meat is fat. That's where you get the flavor from. You just
had meat without any fat, there's no flavor. Oh, but this has full
flavor. This feast that we're going to
talk about has full flavor and enjoyment. Why? Because he's
talking about Christ. He's promising the sending of
His Son and the sacrifice of His Son to save His people. Our Lord Jesus Christ talks about
this feast. Go to Luke. Luke chapter... Luke chapter 14. He uses a parable of the feast here,
and he says in verse 16, He said unto them, A certain man made
a great supper, and bade many to come. He sent his servants
at suppertime to say unto them, Come, for all things are now
Ready. This feast, friends, is nothing
more or less than the sacrifice and offering of Jesus Christ,
made by God Himself. This is the salvation promised.
He said, Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood shall
never hunger. They shall never thirst. They
shall be saved. This great supper is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what is this gospel message
that He sends His servants to do? He calls men to the supper. This morning, listen, I am calling
everyone to the feast. The feast has already been made.
The feast was promised long ago. Now the feast is ready. It's
prepared. It's made. Offering for sin has
already been taken care of. Jesus Christ was made sin for
us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
All that you need is found in Him. All that you need, all that
God requires of you is found in Him. And what is our message? All is ready. And what does that
mean? Don't bring anything. You know, you have potluck. What
does that mean? Everybody just brings what they
want to, and we have a meal. That's not what this is. No,
you come empty. That's the only way to come to
this feast, is empty. Why? Because all's ready. It's offensive
for you to bring anything, because you're saying that it's not ready.
Isn't that what do when men bring their works to Christ? They say,
well, Christ, He did everything He could, and I've got to bring
something No, it's an offense to bring something because you're
calling him a liar. He says all things ready. Guess
what? All things ready. But when I
say that, guess what? Men are going to make excuses,
aren't they? That's what Jesus said they're going to do. They're
going to say, well, they all with one consent began to what? Make
excuse. One said, I got some property,
I need to go see it. Who buys a piece of property
before they ever see it? Fools. Other one said, I've got five
yoke of oxen, I need to prove them. Who buys oxen that aren't
proven? He said, the other one said,
I got a wife. Therefore I cannot come. So his
servants came and he showed them these things and the master of
the house was angry and he said, go out quickly into the streets
and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor. Now what I
just said, the elect are poor. They're also maimed. They're
also halt and blind. And they did this, and there
was yet room, and the Lord said to His servants, Go in the highways
and hedges, and compel them to come in that My house may be
filled." Now listen to the Holy Spirit. The offering and blood
of Christ, the Son of God, is all ready. Robert Hawker said
this about our text, he said, he hath made a feast, he hath
called us to the feast, and sent to us in the lanes and streets
and highways to bring us in, though poor and maimed and halt
and blind, listen, yet we have found that our unworthiness hath
proved no obstacle to receiving the bountiful provisions of the
Lord." Isn't that wonderful? That even my unworthiness does
not hinder me. Matter of fact, if I'm not unworthy,
then I don't need mercy. I need mercy. Why? Because I
am unworthy. My unworthiness commends me to
this supper, to this feast, to eat of Christ and be saved. In Him we shall find all the
sufficient strength and merit by His great offering, though
we are unworthy to eat." Listen, are you unworthy this morning
to come to Christ? It's not just a passing moment
of guilt. When the Holy Spirit convicts a man of sin, he realizes
that he has sinned from the top of his head to the bottom of
his feet. He realizes that there's no soundness
in himself. And if you ever come to that
place good... Why, Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And so if you are unworthy, then
come. Come to the feast. and eat and drink of Him. And
notice the next verse. It's verse 7 in our text. Go
back to your text. Look at verse 7. And He will
destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over
all the people and the veil that is spread over all the nations. When Jesus Christ He died when
He finished the work. God made Him to be sin for us.
God executed full measure of His wrath on Christ. And Christ,
when justice could ask for no more, Jesus cried with a loud
voice. Now, that's important. He didn't
cry in weakness. He had to actually dismiss His Spirit. He couldn't
die except He give Himself permission to die. And He did. He cried with a loud voice. Finished. Finished. And he gave
up the ghost. What happened next? Matthew tells
us what happened in the temple. The veil. That veil that separated
those two rooms inside the temple. That veil that only the high
priest went in once a year. That veil where God was present
in that temple. It was torn from the top to the
bottom. God destroyed the veil of separation. What does this signify? This
signifies to us that the way is now open. Access to God. Free access to God. Only through
the work and person of Jesus Christ. The apostle tells us
this in Hebrews chapter 9. He said that that offering and
that high priest and that veil, he said the Holy Ghost by it
was signifying that the way into the holiest was not yet manifest
while the first tabernacle was standing. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for his sins, forever sat down.
By his one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Hebrews 10, 18 says, now, where the remission of sin is, there
is no more offering for sin. Isn't that something? No more sacrifices to be made.
All the sacrifices before Christ never took away sin, and all
the sacrifices after Christ will never take away sin. Only this
sacrifice took away sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, he hath consecrated for us," listen, through the
veil. That is his flesh. That veil
pictured his flesh. And when his flesh was torn,
the way into God was made clear. Having an high priest over the
house of God. Let us draw near with full assurance
of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and Our
bodies washed with pure water So then the veil is rent and
I'm telling you the way is open The way is open to God because
of the death of Christ. He destroyed that veil He did
away with the law And also, He removes the veils
from the hearts of men. There's another veil that's on
the heart of every man, so that he cannot come to God. He cannot see God, he cannot
know God, he cannot love God, he cannot serve God. There's
a veil over the hearts of men. And this is the promise of Christ
toward Israel, is this, I will destroy that veil. And I will
open your eyes so that you can see clearly how it is you may
approach unto God. Don't you see clearly how you
can approach to God? I do, by Jesus Christ. I see
that clearly. And then what is the response?
to this gospel. This is the gospel. I mean, I'm
sorry, look at this next thing he said. In verse 8, he said,
He will swallow up death in victory. And the Lord God will wipe away
tears from all their faces, and the rebuke of His people shall
He take away from off all the earth, for the Lord has spoken
it. Friends, we who have this veil
removed, we see this. Jesus is a successful Savior.
Jesus wasn't trying to save me. You know that? He wasn't trying
to save me. He's not begging to save me. He's not pleading
with anyone to save me. I'm telling you, death was swallowed
up in victory. Now, anyone that preaches the
gospel of Trying to say that Jesus did all they can do that. He's trying to save if you'll
just do your part Anybody that believes that Jesus Christ died
for the whole world and yet some of them go to hell That's a false
gospel. That's not victory. That's defeat
No, the promise is this victory over death Death is swallowed
up in victory And so every gospel that casts doubt upon the victory
of Christ is no true gospel. Why? Because the Lord spoke it.
Therefore, it will come to pass. And notice this, what He promises
to do, wipe away the tears from their eyes and take away the
rebuke. Isn't this going to happen in
the resurrection? This is the promise of the resurrection,
that soon this body will go to the ground. But he says this,
we'll be raised incorruptible. He'll wipe away all the tears
from our eyes. He'll take away all the sin and
rebuke from the world. There'll be nothing but joy and
righteousness and peace. Now then, listen, that is the
promise of God's counsel. God has a people. Though they
were sinful, He promises to deliver them. He promises to prepare
for them a feast. He promises that those who eat
of this feast, the veil shall be removed from their eyes, and
they shall serve Him. Now what's going to be the response?
Is there any question as to what the response is going to be? If God purposed it, who will
stop it? Now look at verse 9. And it shall
be said in that day, Lo, this is our God. What day is this? This is the
day of grace. This is the day when the Spirit
of God has appointed to meet the sinner. It's the day He appointed. He said, I'm going to remove
the veil. It is the day He removes the veil. It is the day that
the Spirit of God quickens the dead sinner, and the dead sinner
sees his sin, his need, and he believes in Christ. And what is the thing we say?
Once we hear of Christ, what do we say? This is our God. This is the one I long for and
wait for. This is the one I need. I don't
need anyone else. I need Him. Why? Look at that. He will save us. That's the object
of the believer's faith. He will save us. This is the Lord we have waited
for, Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. We who look to Christ look to
Jesus for all our salvation. He is all our joy and gladness.
His perfect, purposed, and purchased salvation is all our hope. Therefore, this is what we sing
all the days of our life in chapter 26 and verse 1. In that day,
This shall be the song sung in the land of Judah. We have a
strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. This is the song in the night. This is the song that comforts
the soul of every believer in Christ. The Lord is my refuge. A strong city. And I'm so glad that nothing
can take me out of His hand. That not one arrow of accusation
shall fly over this wall and strike me. Satan himself cannot
remove me from Christ. Who shall separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus? For I am persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principality, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Now that's my
song. Is that your song? That's my
song. It's a song I love to sing. And who do we sing it to? Everyone.
Look at this in verse 2. What do we say? Open the gates.
Open the gates! Listen, today is the day of salvation,
is it not? Today. If you expect to be saved
tomorrow, tomorrow never comes. Today is the day of salvation.
And what do we say? Open the gates! Come on in! Who? that the righteous nation which
keepeth truth may enter in." Not just anyone entered in here.
The gates are open, but they're only open for those who enter
in in righteousness and truth. Well, who is that? That's Jesus
Christ. Only by Him can you enter in.
Believe Him and enter in. And what do you find there? Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee. Because He trusted in thee. Friends, I trust in God's counsel,
in God's purpose. That whatever God purposed, He'll
do. I know what He purposed. He purposed to save and elect
people. He purposed to prepare a feast for them. In that mountain,
in Christ, He has prepared a feast. He promises to remove the veil.
He promises. to call His people. And in that
day He calls them. And when they see Him, what do
they say? This is our God. He will save us. And what is
our song? This is my salvation. This is
my city of refuge, Christ. And I say to everyone else, open
the gates. The Spirit and the Bride say,
come. And let Him that is a thirst come. And drink of the water
of life out. freely, without merit, without
price. What are you waiting for? There's nothing more clear. There's
nothing better. It's a feast of fat things, of wine on leaves. That means
wine in its full strength, joy, and peace. This is the counsel of God. Now
may God empower, draw His people, and we'll sing together. I love
singing together with you. This same song. Have I sang another
song since I've been here? I don't have any other song to
sing. Jesus Christ, Him crucified. May God bless you. Let's stand
and be dismissed in prayer.