So what do you do when the world that you have built your life upon begins to crap, begins to fail, begins to let you down? What do you do when the job that you've hoped for is taken away? When the nation that you love begins to unravel? When the culture whose approval you seem or you seek to win begins to celebrate what it is that God condemns. When the plans that you've made fall apart, when the relationships that you hoped for never come.
When the friends that you've invested in abandon you for others? Maybe another question. Is where do you run to when what you've built your life on begins to crumble? When the hopes that you've pursued... With all of their promise and with all of their pleasure, with all of their platform. When they begin to collapse. A few years after Rome was sacked in 410, Augustine wrestled with these questions. As he looked and he saw this...
Once so prominent, strong, very influential city, just laid to waste. He began to wrestle with questions about where is... This city headed and cities like it. And that led him to write the city of God. In that book, he proposed that mankind really does exist in two groups. Two cities, if you will. One, the city of man. City of man made up of nations and cultures and businesses and entertainment.
philosophies politics moralities and trends in these cities of men though they may look different from place to place they share one thing in common They do not want God. This is seen in their attempts to build meaning, to build identity. to build security, and to build life without God at the center. But there is another city, Augustine contended. A city that's not built by human hands. A city that's not sustained by cultural power. A city that's not shaken by war or decay or death.
This city, according to Augustine, was the city of God. Because this was God's city, this city will never fail. Will never crumble. Will never decay. And Augustine said that these two cities really are informed by two different loves. One, the earthly love of self. to the contempt of God, the other, the heavenly love of God, to the contempt of self. I wonder this morning, Before we go any further, into which city are you living?
The Bible tells us that we're all born into one of these cities. Citizenship tried and true. The city of man. But the invitation of the Christian faith, the invitation of this church, the invitation of the good news of the gospel, the invitation of this sermon this morning is to leave the city that is crumbling. Abandon your old allegiances. Cut ties with your man-made hopes and your self-built identity and come to the city that you were made for.
Come to the city of God, the only city that can solve and resolve every ache of your soul. Our longings are large. And though the city of man promises, it can never satisfy. But God's city, God's offer, The city of God is the only address that will last forever and satisfy every longing of your heart. And so we approach two completely different chapters this morning.
I trust in a God-ordained order. And my prayer has been this week that we would experience the weight of God's judgment so that we would feel. And better appreciate the relief of God's mercy. Let's pray as we join or jump into this text. Our holy God. You are high and lifted up. Your justice is perfect. Your judgments are right. And your mercy is stunning. And as we'll see in your word today, you lay waste to the city of man. And you lift up the city of God. And so come.
By your spirit, oh God, would you open our eyes to see your glory. Help us to tremble at your judgment and to rejoice in your mercy. Lord, may we be awakened to say from our hearts, behold, this is our God. We have waited for him. Would you allow the sermon? that is heard to be far more effective than the one I'm about to preach. And we ask these things in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen. I would invite you to open your Bibles to Isaiah.
Chapters 24 and 25. Maybe a really quick flyover. Chapters 1 through 12. The prophet Isaiah. gave us God's judgment, but also God's hope for his people, Judah, the southern kingdom of his people, Israel in the north, Judah in the south. And so we see that God gives, makes clear his judgment for his people, but also he makes clear the hope. And the capstone of that hope was this child. who would be an unparalleled king, perfect in all of his ways.
Well, that led us to chapters 13 through 23 that began to just recount the oracles of God's judgment, these sermons of judgment. And they weren't just generic sermons for anyone listening. No, they were specific oracles, sermons of judgment for specific nations. Well, we reach chapter 24, and really from 24 through 27, we're going to see the judgment sermon expand, not just for specific nations, but to really see how...
The whole earth is condemned. The whole earth is under this curse. The whole earth is going to experience the undoing of itself. As God pours out his wrath. But what we find, like we found in every one of these chapters, that it's not just his judgment that's meant to arrest our attention. It's also the glimpse. And really, in this section, chapters 25, 26, and 27, it's the song of mercy that's meant to hold our gaze.
Isaiah had a contemporary, the prophet Habakkuk. And as God's people were preparing for the judgment that they deserved, Habakkuk cries out in Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 2, and this is what he prays. God, in wrath, remember mercy. In wrath. Remember mercy. And in these two chapters, we see this played out. Chapter 24, the terrifying, the glory of the terrifying judgment of God.
In chapter 25, the glory of the soul-satisfying mercy of God. Those two points will serve as the sermon outline. First, the glory of terrifying... The glory of terrifying judgment. We see this all in chapter 24. Chapter 24 highlights the coming judgment of God. But what's different is that this coming judgment isn't just aimed at a specific city or specific nation or specific people.
As it was in 13, chapters 13 through 23, but really on the whole world. The entire created order is under the judgment of God. And you say, well, why is that the case? I would encourage you this week, maybe even this afternoon, just to read Romans chapter one. Romans chapter 1, you'll begin to see why the wrath of God is being revealed to all the earth.
Later on in Romans, Romans chapter 8, Paul will say, verse 22, that the whole creation is groaning. And so as we think about this universal scope. of God's terrifying judgment that's going to come to all people in all places. I think there's a few considerations. that will help us understand this terrifying judgment. Number one is we'll think about the scope, the inescapable scope of it. Number two...
We'll think about the sobering realities of earthly joys. And then number three, we'll see how God is glorified in it all. That's right. I have sub points today. You thought because I had two points, that was it. Sub points. Sub point one, the inescapable scope of judgment. And if you're like, sub points lose me, don't even write the sub points down, just listen. Sub point one, the inescapable scope of judgment.
This is what you heard Laura read, really, verses 1 through 6, but also 17 through 22. And these opening verses, 1 through 6, remind us... It sounds to us like something that we've read before throughout the Bible. What is that? This idea of the earth being polluted. And therefore the earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled. It reminds us of the flood account in Genesis chapter 7. The whole earth would be devastated by God's wrath.
And while this is different, this isn't the promise of another deluge of water. His wrath will be poured out. Verse 2 begins to make clear. That regardless of your social position, regardless of your wealth, your status, nothing can excuse you from being a part of the guilty. There's simply no way that anyone is going to avoid the righteous, holy God as he comes in judgment to settle accounts.
Friends, I wonder if you've deceived yourself thinking, do you know who I am? Do you know where I'm from? Do you know what I've done? Friends, living in rebellion against God is no respecter of persons. All of us are guilty. And you think, okay, Justin, either this is my first Sunday, why all this judgment? Or this is, I've been here for all of these sermons, why all of this judgment?
Well, the prophet tells us. The earth mourns, verse 4, and withers. The world fades and withers. Why? Verse 5. Because the inhabitants are polluted. They're sinful. They've transgressed the law. They violated God's statutes. They broke the everlasting covenant. Which covenant?
A lot of ink has been spilt. Is this the one that was made with Adam at creation or Noah at their flood or Abraham and his promise? I believe a case can be made for a few of those, but regardless of whichever one it is, God had invited this people into... fellowship with him and they rejected it this isn't a matter of ignorance as though somehow they didn't know if you read Romans 1 you'll also find out why
There is no such successful claim on the final day standing before the Lord to say, I didn't know. You were created with this knowledge written on your heart. God gave this people the truth and they rejected it. You say, well, is this not just a threat by a very powerful God? Well, the Lord can use threats But the Lord is saying this is what will happen. And how do we know that it's sure? Because of the phrase at the end of verse 3. For the Lord has spoken this word.
This is what makes this most secure and factual and true of all. Not whether or not you agree with it, but whether or not God has spoken it. And when the Lord speaks it, because of his nature and because of his character, it will come to pass. And so what do we learn just at the outset of Isaiah chapter 24? When the Lord speaks, we should listen.
And so that's why it would serve your soul, the aches of your soul, the questions of your soul, the eternal destiny of your soul to really deal with what God has said in his word. Do you believe it? Friends, how we respond to the word of God is a matter of life and death.
And again, you may be thinking, ah, this judgment is just so heavy. I pray that you can see that the fact that these instances... of God's certain and sure word promising a judgment that is going to come, I pray that you can see that as a mercy to you, as a grace to you. so as to give you time to do the right thing. What a kindness. What a mercy. We are without excuse in our rebellion.
If you go back to Genesis 3 and you just see the devastating effects of Genesis 3, you keep reading and you go, oh, Genesis 3 led to Genesis 4, and Genesis 4 led to Genesis 7 through 9. And so you just see this universal scope of the coming judgment of God. But it's not just universal, it's also inescapable.
Listen to what he says in verses 17 through 22. Terror and pit and snare confront you, O inhabitant of the earth. Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit. And he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows above are opened. Again, that Genesis 7 type language.
And the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken asunder. The earth is split through. The earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it. will fall, never to rise again.
So it will happen in that day that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high and the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon and will be confined in prison. And after many days, they will be. I hope as you hear that, you can just see the folly, the futility, the vanity of trying to escape this judgment. It's inescapable. It's like the animal that's fleeing from the hunter, but the hunter has anticipated its every move.
And Isaiah says, listen, you get the report of the terror that is to come and you think, well, I'll just run from the terror only to fall into the pit. And you think, well, if I could just get out of the pit, then I'll be free. But no, you then hit the snare. You cannot escape the coming judgment of God. Everywhere you go, the ground, the tread is going to break under foot.
Like rebels that have been captured and imprisoned and never released. There is no escape for rebels. Those who have rebelled against God's right and good rule in their lives. There's no escape. For anyone who's ever rebelled, let me use a biblical word, who's ever sinned against God, there is no escape for those who have sinned who refuse to lay down their arms.
As it was in the day of Noah, so it will happen again, not with the flooding of water, but with this wrath that is going to be poured out and revealed. And the earth is going to just... Totter, reel back and forth as though it's drunk. The final judgment to come will be terrifying. And that's really what Isaiah 24 is. Many people call this Isaiah's apocalypse. He's looking ahead, not merely to these...
temporary judgments. He's looking ahead. All of these temporary judgments have been the shadows. And in Isaiah 24, he shows the substance. Friends, we should not envy the wicked. No matter how lush and how easy their life may appear, their fate is horrific in the end. And if you're here and you're living at odds with God, you are among that number. You were born into the city of man at odds.
hostility at war with your God. Not by the sins that you've done, but by the nature of sin that you have that has then since produced every sin that you've done. Making you guilty before this holy God. And if that's the inescapable scope of this judgment, to whom will you go? What is your hope? But I think we also see the sobering reality of earthly joys. You heard Laura read this as well, verses 7 through 12.
The wine mourning and the vine decaying. And all of the joyful singing and the tambourines. It's silent. The party is over when judgment is coming. Friends, the things that you pursue to find joy and satisfaction cannot endure apart from God. And everything that you have placed above God is going to be seen for what it truly is. The party atmosphere has become a funeral atmosphere. The wine no longer comforts. The wine no longer medicates.
The songs that we were singing to have a good time, they've turned into groans. The city of man is built to maximize pleasure. And yet it finds only pain. The city of man is built to be a place of safety. And yet on the day of judgment, attack and destruction come, not because of what was out there, but because of what was inside. Some of you know this all too well. You know what it's like to try to party away your guilt. You know what it's like to try to drink away your sorrows.
But you wake up the next morning and the sobering reality is that you're still you. What's the solution for that? From a society, the whole structure of what's happening here is being destroyed. And really, verse 10, it's the centerpiece of what happens on this day. It says, the city of chaos is broken down. It's interesting, the word there for chaos, the city of chaos. Isaiah reaches back to Genesis chapter one, verse two.
That word there for chaos is the same Hebrew word that means without form. Friends, I hope you can see that when you live life in the city of man, insisting on your way, apart from the influence and the authority of God, this is what your life becomes. Like it was before there was creation, when there was just order, a disorder and chaos.
Like a lump of clay without the impress of the potter's hand, without shape and meaning, the city of man is finally seen for what it really is. It's just a construct. It's a social construct that has no meaning, no enduring purpose, that's just spinning, but it's never coming to anything. Ray Ortlund says that the Bible speaks of the fleeting pleasures of sin. But it also speaks of the pleasures forevermore at God's right hand. Friends, which pleasures are you living for? Which pleasures?
Are you letting go of? The answer to that question should help you get a pretty good idea of which city that you're living in. The rollicking good times of the city of man will someday be replaced by this ominous silence over the world. Instead of the streets full of partying people going from house to house, verse 10 says, every house is going to be shut up. And so church, if I could just plead with you for a moment, do not settle for the broken cisterns of this world that hold no water.
This culture, this world is offering you millions of pleasures that cannot satisfy your soul. They cannot endure as long as you are going to endure. What is money when Christ owns everything? What is romance when Christ loves you to death? What is applause? When Christ calls you his own, I plead with you, do not waste your life by chasing shadows. Go hard after the substance that is God himself. Why feast on crumbs when the banquet of the Lord is freely offered?
If this means that you have to lose everything, then be willing to lose everything so that you would gain Christ. Because in the end... The greatest gift of the good news of the Christian faith is God himself. Friends, this is not a call to lose your joy. No, this is a call to find it where it lasts, where it overflows. And we really see the glory of God over it all in this judgment section. Verses 13 through 16. For thus.
In the middle of all of this judgment and desolation. Just listen to this. For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples. As the shaking of an olive tree. As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over. And so you see the picture. The judgment has come. It's as if. The tree has been shaken. And they raise their voices. They shout for joy. What? Who?
They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord. Therefore glorify the Lord in the east. In the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. In the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear songs. Glory to the righteous one. And then Isaiah says, but I say, woe to me, woe to me, alas for me, the treacherous deal treacherously and the treacherous deal very treacherously.
What is this all about? How is there singing on this day? Because just like there was in the flood, the Lord spares some. The Lord answers Habakkuk's prayer. In his wrath, he has remembered mercy. Scattered among the nations. There's going to be those, the few who acknowledge the Lord and who welcome his judgment as the triumph of right over wrong.
And there's a song that's going to be sung. That song, we see it in Revelation chapter 5, verses 9 through 10. This new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals. For you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth.
God will not destroy his righteous with the wicked. He will spare those who have turned to him and who have waited for his salvation. Friends, the Lord alone is going to be glorified on this day of judgment. It's easy to look at the world now. It's easy to look at Isaiah 24 and just to think, like, where is God? And Christianity has a solid answer to that question. It's not merely a leap of faith. It's also a logic of faith. And Isaiah is saying that a day is coming. Look at verse 23.
Then the sun or then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and then Jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders. Isaiah says there's coming a day when God is going to bring his judgment, and yet he's going to do that by revealing his glory. And for some, it will melt them away. And for others, it will cause them to sing.
God's going to reveal his glory with such brilliance that the sun and the moon will hang their heads in shame. Friends, what is God doing? Throughout all of human history, throughout all of history, he's seeking to make clear the open display of his glory. before wholehearted worshipers. Friends, this is why the most urgent business before us is not how much pleasure can be...
What can we amass in this world? But how do we satisfy our hearts with the pleasures of the city of God? If you're not a Christian this morning, I wonder if you see yourself as a rebel who rejects God's truth, who denies him with how you live. This is a reality of things to come. And while you can't avoid God because of the work of Jesus, you can avoid his judgment.
Jesus says in John chapter five, truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who has sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life. And so whoever hears this, whoever hears the word of God and so believes that they are at odds with God in their sin.
And that God in great mercy and grace has done something about it by sending Jesus to do for you what you could never do. Live a life that was perfectly obedient to him at every turn. To get to the end of that life and to die, exhausting the wrath of God, not for the sins that he committed, but for the sins of his people. So that all who would turn from their sin and trust in that work.
they would have their sin punishment taken off of them and placed onto Christ. And we would receive the righteousness of Christ and the credit of the punishment that had been paid placed on us into our account. And praise be to God to show that this just isn't a good plan that has a pretty sad ending. Three days after being buried, he raises triumphantly from the dead.
Showing that even the greatest enemy that you and I can't defeat, he has the power to defeat. And if we are in him, then we get every benefit of his life and his work. If you're not a Christian this morning, I don't know where you're running or what you're trusting in. But I would plead with you. If it is not Christ, it will crumble.
And it can be Christ if you are willing to turn from your sin and trust in him. And if that's you, or if you have questions, talk to anyone in this room about what this means. And how might your life be different because of this truth? Friends, turn from your sin and trust in Christ. That leads us to point number two. The glory of soul-satisfying mercy. The glory of soul-satisfying mercy. And really, this is all of chapter 25.
In this chapter, you have a personal song, verses 1 through 5, a corporate song, 9 through 12, and sandwiched in between those, you have an epic banquet and feast. So let's listen to the personal song, one through five. The word of the Lord says this, O Lord, you are my God, and I will exalt you. I will give thanks to your name, for you have worked wonders, plans formed long ago with perfect faithfulness.
For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin. A palace of strangers is a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. Therefore, a strong people will glorify you. Cities of ruthless nations will revere you. Thank you. For you have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like the rainstorm against a wall. Like heat in a drought, you subdue the upright.
Isaiah begins. We're coming out on one of the most devastating... cosmic judgment passages. And the very next verse in 25 is, I will praise you. The basis for this praise is what God has done in his works and in his plans. Did you catch that in verse 1? You have worked wonders. But you just, God wasn't just reacting to things. What's he say? Plans that were formed long ago with perfect faithfulness. What joy.
It is to know that we belong to a God and that there is a God who is never caught off guard. He's never once raised an eyebrow in surprise of something that has taken place. There's not a split second in history that's escaped his kind and sovereign hand. As Isaiah 46 will tell us, from the very beginning, he has declared the end. Not with some cold calculation, but with the brilliance and the beauty of his perfect character. His plans are not knee-jerk reactions.
They're the unfolding of eternal wisdom that's shaped by his righteousness and his boundless love and his delight. Everything he ordains for his world and his people, even for his enemies, it's good and it's right. There's not a thread that's out of place in the tapestry that he is weaving for the praise of his glory. There will be no unfinished business when it comes to the kingdom of God. When he makes a promise, he binds it with his very life. He says in Isaiah 55, 11.
So shall my word be. It will accomplish what he sends it out to do always. And so friends, where is your confidence? Into whom or what does your confidence lie? Certainly not in your grasp of the future. I pray it's in the one who holds it. The Father who never forgets, and the Son who never fails, and the Spirit who never falters. His timing may stretch us, but His timing never stumbles.
The plans of the Lord are not only certain, but they're glorious. And he invites us to rest into those plans that he has made. Not as like problem solvers, but as children who would rest in the trust of their father's heart and care for them. And so church, what situation in your life? What relationship in your life is causing you anxiety? Is it the course of your life, the desires that you have that aren't taking place?
Friends, be reminded this morning that God's plans are formed of old. They're faithful and they're sure. Maybe you're fearful about the future. You do not know. what tomorrow will hold. Friends, I would remind you that God's plans are formed of old. They're faithful and they're sure. Maybe you're anxious about how you see the world just sort of quickly devolving and you have concerns that the church is just losing its witness. It's not doing enough and we're not winning the war.
Friends, God's plans are formed of old. They're faithful and they're sure. And so I would just encourage you, at some point... in your day, maybe best at the beginning or maybe best at the end. But just pray, thanking God that His plans are formed of old. They're faithful. And they're sure. The song continues. In Isaiah 24, that city, the city of man is desolate. It's this broken city.
And that city is that way because it rose up against God. And yet Isaiah 25, what do we hear? We hear Isaiah singing. He's singing praises. Friends, let that land on you. If you're a follower of Jesus and you find yourself amidst a world that's under the curse of God, that will face the judgment of God if they do not trust in him. Then do what they did. Not everything they did. Do what they do here. They rejoiced in his judgment.
Now we don't hasten the fall of the wicked. We call them with tears in our eyes to repentance. But when the judgment of God comes, it will be glorious. It will be just. And we will join in heaven's song, Revelation 19. Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God for his judgments are just and true. I hope you saw the mercy of God in this song as God is sheltering his people.
Every attempt of the wicked to crush the people of God will fail. Not because the people of God are strong, but because the people of God have the strongest covering. Because God protects his people. He defends his people. He shelters the remnant. He surrounds his bride. And so friends, fear not. Because if you are his, there is nothing.
And I mean nothing that will touch you without his permission and nothing will destroy you. It can't. That's what wells up in Paul as he's writing the book of Romans. Just saying, what in the world can separate us? If God be for us, then who in the world can be against us? The protection of God is real. The judgment of God is righteous and the victory of God is unfolding. But then there's a corporate song at the end of chapter 25.
Listen to the corporate psalm beginning in verse 9. And it will be said in that day, behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain and Moab will be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile and he will spread out his hands in the middle of it.
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim. But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands. The unassailable fortifications of your walls he will bring down. Lay low and cast to the ground even to. the dust you see as God's people have waited on the day of judgment and the day of salvation they have been the object of the derision of the nations Much like Noah in building the ark, people looking and saying, you crazy man.
But in this day, they will rejoice and be glad while the enemies are cast down. And it will be the enemies of God, not the people of God, who will experience ultimate humiliation. In the end, there will be this great gulf fixed between those who are in the city of man and those who are in the city of God. And he likens it to Moab. And if we were to go to Isaiah chapter 16, we would just be reminded of how God judged Moab because of his flagrant pride.
And here God strikes them. But they have an opportunity to repent. Moab is going to be trodden down. What will Moab do when he's trodden down? Verse 11. He's then going to spread out his hands as though a swimmer spread. And he's going to try to get out of the problem. Moab is a sobering reminder for you and I that it does no good to seek to pull ourselves out of despair, thinking that we can save ourselves.
Friends, when God humbles you, you should see it as his mercy. Not as an opportunity for you to try to work your way out of the humiliation, but as an opportunity for you to lean more into him. And in between these two songs, there's a banquet. Verses 6 through 8.
The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain, a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined aged wine. And on this mountain, he will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples. even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces and he will remove reproach from his people from all the earth for the Lord has.
The Lord is our gracious host on that day. The day of salvation, the day of judgment is also a day of salvation. And that day of salvation is a day of epic feasting and rejoicing. God offers A place at this eternal banquet table and he serves nothing but the best. There's nothing here that will ever disappoint. Nothing that the human heart doesn't relish and long for. Friends, this banquet is worth waiting your life for. It's worth it.
How do we get there? There's only one way to get there. And that is through the work of Jesus the Christ. And we read that it's on this mountain, this high place of grace. God doesn't, he's not merely preparing a snack to hold them over. It's an abundant feast of rich food and well-aged wine. This is the celebration of final victory. The marriage supper of the lamb. Did you catch why it's going to be so glorious?
Clearly because the Lord himself is the host. This is the greatest good in the gospel. It's not just that your shame is wiped away. It's not just that you have forgiveness. It's that you get God. And you will spend forever feasting, feasting at the never-ending goodness of his provision. And this meal is meant to draw our gaze there to allow the things of this world to grow strangely dim in light of who he is and in light of what he offers.
But it's not just that he's going to be there. He's going to swallow up the veil, that dark shroud that covers the nations. He's going to swallow up death forever. Friends, that's resurrection glory. That means that when this banquet happens, you will not attend another funeral. This is God wiping away every tear from every face. And not just tears, but the reproach that brings them on. the shame and the guilt that lead them to flow.
Isaiah 55 will shed a little bit more light on this, but in order for us to get the full picture, we turn to the New Testament and we just see all over the place, Jesus shows up and Jesus talks about, he is going to host a banquet. That's going to be the fullness of the blessings of the gospel in which all are invited to partake Luke chapter 14, 15 through 24.
That this is a celebration meal, a decisive victory over death is won in the death and resurrection of Jesus, 2 Timothy 1, verse 10. And God's people will enter fully into that victory when Jesus... Jesus returns. This is when death is swallowed up forever, 1 Corinthians 15. Pain and sorrow are removed and tears are wiped away, Revelation. 21 verse four. And then Isaiah says, for the Lord has spoken.
That's the same phrase that he thundered in judgment in chapter 24. And that same voice delivers mercy in 25. And then verse 9, a verse that's worth singing over for all eternity. Behold, this is our God. We have waited for him. That's the greatest good of the gospel. There was a behold in 24 for wrath, and now there's a behold in 25 for mercy. So again, non-Christian, I would just ask you, what are you trusting in to save you from the burning holiness of God? When he comes to settle accounts,
Will you stand? Where will you go? You can't hide. He knows it all. And today he's offering mercy to you through Jesus Christ. If you will turn from your sin and you will trust in him, then this can be your song. In wrath, I found mercy. In judgment, I found forgiveness. And as Jesus was judged for me, so I was set free.
My Christian brothers and sisters, this is your testimony. This is your identity. This is your hope. So as long as he gives you life, don't grow weary in the good that you're doing. Don't be tempted to flee the city of God because it seems like the city of man is getting the upper hand. There's coming a day where it will be clear. That it was a good thing to not trust in self. Trust in the God who will come. And when he does, you will be able to say with joy, behold.
This is our God for whom we have waited. Do you love the mercy of God? Can you pray with the prophet Habakkuk? Lord, in your wrath, remember mercy. In the midst of the darkest moments of your life, there is mercy to be had while there is still life. that you are living. The Lord instituted a meal to help us remember his wrath and to remember his mercy.
On the night in which Jesus was betrayed, he took the Passover meal with his disciples and he changed it to a meal of remembrance. It's now known as the Lord's Supper. And this meal highlights the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus, both of which remind us That without mercy in his wrath, we would have no hope for life. Friends, without mercy, we would have no hope for life.
And so as we partake of this meal together this morning, I just would encourage you, invite you to reflect on his mercy to you. Consider his wrath. And remember his mercy. Rejoice in his mercy. Let this be a moment. of a pledge of allegiance to him and a pledge of obedience to him. The table at Covenant Life is open to baptized believers who are members in good standing.
of a local church that preaches the gospel that you heard here this morning, that the only way that you will be made right with God is by the work of Jesus, you turning from your sin and trusting in that work. So baptized believers who are members of... In good standing of a local church that preaches that gospel. That you're walking in repentance of sin. And you're walking in reconciliation with others.
And so as the elements are passed, if that's you, we would invite you to take the elements and wait until everyone has received them, and we will observe this meal together. And if that's not you, then we would just invite you to reflect. Reflect on the judgment that is coming and the mercy that is available if you repent and believe. Let this meal serve to remind you.
that in his wrath he remembered mercy. Let's pray. God, as we approach you in and through this meal together, strengthen our faith. Cause us to leave behind the city of man so that we may be better established in your city. under your rule, and under your authority. Do this for our good, we pray. Thank you that in your wrath you have remembered mercy. In Jesus' name, amen.