Hear now the word of the Lord from Isaiah chapter 25.

O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.
11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.
12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

Isaiah 25, ESV

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. In the roughly seven years that I have been here at Harvest, we have had by that time stretch an unusual concentration of funerals this year, in 2022, since the beginning of this year. As a pastor, as I've been thinking about Easter and the resurrection from the dead in light of all of these funerals that we've had in the last few months, thinking about the process of preparing for these funerals. Preparing for a funeral is always unique. Every person who dies was a unique person who reflected the glory of God in a unique way. Part of preparing for a funeral is trying to capture that, trying to understand that, trying to encapsulate that person's life and the way in which that person glorified God in whatever way during the course of his or her life.

As a pastor, I always know that funerals always bring unique challenges as well. There are always questions that you can't answer when it comes to a funeral, whether you were talking about an 80 year old man who loved the Lord, who lived a life of love and devotion and worship and service to the Lord all of his life. Or whether you're talking about a five year old who was taken from our midst too soon.

In the midst of this, preparing for funerals, being a pastor, you always feel so inadequate. What can I say to capture this? What can I say to address these questions? There's a special, poignant sense of difficulty in trying to answer these things and trying to address these questions and these doubts and these this pain and the sorrow and to bring comfort to these difficult situations. But it's that poignant pain in the midst of death and sorrow that always, always drives us back to the gospel. The unshakable, immovable foundation of the Gospel. That our only hope in life and in death, our only comfort, is that we do not belong to ourselves. But we belong body and soul to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Now, if you've been with us normally, regularly, you know that right now we're normally regularly in the middle of a sermon series through the Gospel of Matthew, where we have a very zoomed in, focused look on the life and ministry and teaching of Jesus, our Savior. Right now, we're in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five and looking carefully at his teaching on the nature of the law. Today, we are going to zoom out. We don't want to lose the forest for the trees. We don't want to miss the big picture in the midst of all of the details. The details are so important, we need to hold them up, like looking at the different facets of a gem to see all of the beauty of the glory of Christ. But today we want to zoom out and see the whole picture. To see it once all that Jesus Christ came to do and to accomplish in his earthly life and ministry.

So our big idea as we study Isaiah 25, a prophecy written hundreds of years to foretell what Jesus would accomplish by both his first coming and the second coming that we are still awaiting today. Our big idea is this that Jesus came to swallow up death forever..

As we look at this prophecy, we see three parts here.
1. Devastating Storm of Salvation
2. Death Swallowed Up
3. Dung Hill Swimming.

Devastating Storm of Salvation

Well, let's look at first the first five verses, a devastating storm of salvation. To understand the passage we just read, I mean, it's not totally fair to just drop into the middle of Isaiah. This is such a long book, first of all. It's also just a towering book in terms of its importance in the Bible and understanding the whole scope and sweep of salvation. Some theologians have called Isaiah the fifth gospel. We have the four gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They've called this the fifth gospel written from the Old Testament because it's so central in understanding the person and work and accomplishments of Jesus Christ.

To understand this passage in particular, without going into all that's happening, Isaiah, we actually have to turn back to Isaiah 24 if you want to flip the page back. I want to point in Isaiah 24, Isaiah foretells the judgment that is coming upon the whole earth. The entirety of the judgment that is looming, looming over a wicked world where God is coming to undo creation itself as a curse and a punishment against the sin of this world.

The focal point of that is a city. It's not that God's judgment is going to fall just on one geographic location, one locale, one city of all the earth, but that this city is a symbol for all of the wickedness throughout all of human history. We see this city talked about in verses ten through 13. When we read that, "the wasted city is broken down, every house is shut up so that none can enter. There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine. All joy has grown dark. The gladness of the earth is banished. Desolation is left in the city. The gates are battered into ruins. For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations." This city is symbolic. It's representative of the judgment that's coming upon all nations against the sin of all nations, against the sin of all the earth.

So we come to Isaiah 25 and if we're not aware of that context, then we won't think much of this first sentence, this first verse. But it's really important in light of that judgment to understand that Isaiah is praising God for this judgment. In Isaiah 25, verse one, he says, "Oh, Lord, you are my God, I will exhort you. I will praise your name for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure." That's not just a generic praise that's particularly reflecting the judgment that God is bringing against the Earth. We know that from verse two. Here's that city again, "For you have made the city a heap." Why do we praise God? Because he has made this rebellious city symbolizing all the wickedness in all generations, in all cultures and civilizations throughout history. This city will be made a heap. The fortified city a ruin. The foreigners palace is a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. God's judgment is coming.

Isaiah praises his God for this. Which is why it's so unexpected. It's really striking in this passage to come to verse three, where we read that this judgment doesn't lead probably to where we think it will lead. Look at verse three as a consequence of what we just read, as a consequence of this judgment, "Therefore, strong people's will glorify you. Cities of ruthless nations will fear you." This is shocking. The judgment of God leads to salvation. The judgment of God leads to the faith of the nations. The judgment of God leads the nations, these ruthless nations, to not only fear God, but to glorify God. This judgment leads to salvation, the salvation of the world.

Now, part of the way that Isaiah in this oracle describes the way that salvation comes out of this judgment is to depict God as a defense, a place of refuge, a strong wall against the storm of the ruthlessness of the nations. Look at verse four, "For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress. A shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place."

In Nebraska this time of year, we all kind of buckle in for the season of severe weather that we're going to face. So this past Tuesday, when the tornado sirens went on in our house, it wasn't entirely unexpected. We knew the drill, knew just what to do. Got the kids out of bed, took them down to the basement until it passed. You know, I've been through so many tornado warnings in the course of my life, but every time I'm always mindful of just how vulnerable and precarious our situation is. I mean, if that tornado does descend and cut right through my neighborhood, if my house is in the center of the path of that tornado, it doesn't matter how strong of a house you have, you don't stand much of a chance. You do your best to get in the safest place in your house, nut you are always utterly exposed. You're always vulnerable. You are always completely dependent upon the grace of God. Now, that's always true, but when this tornado sirens go off, you are reminded of that afresh.

God is depicted here as the stronghold in the midst of the whirlwinds and the tornadoes and the storms of this world, God is depicted as the refuge in whom we find shelter. God is the one bringing a storm of judgment and yet God is also in some way, in some sense, the refuge from the storms of the world as our salvation. How does this work together? Well, keep reading. Part of the way through verse five, "You subdue the noise of the foreigners as heat by the shade of a cloud. So the song of the ruthless is put down." The images here are all of weather. There's heat beating down of the world and God is like the shade of a cloud to give refuge and defense to this. One part of the weather disrupts another part of the weather.

It was ten years ago this week, April 14, 2012, that there was supposed to be the tornado to end all tornadoes. That's how they talked about it a little bit beforehand, raging through Lincoln, Nebraska. I know because I lived there at the time. It was also a very memorable event because Nebraska canceled their spring football game for the first time since 1949 because of this severe weather that was supposed to come through. My infant daughter was not even three weeks old. My wife and I took her and even our two cats and we went to my in-laws house into the basement. They had a basement, we did not at the time. We wanted to go somewhere safe because of the violence and devastation that was going to rain down on Lincoln. I remember early that morning it was cold and then a little bit later that morning, the temperature swelled very high. When you have those two fronts, the cold front and the warm front, and when they collide and this is what meteorologists were looking for, that is a recipe for a devastating storm of salvation.

I remember around noon and this actually delayed the start of the spring game. Around noon, a small rain shower crept up. A small rain shower crept up and it wasn't much of anything, but there was a little bit of lightning. So they had to delay and postpone the spring game until eventually they canceled it altogether. But eventually, that storm never came. I understand people from the Weather Channel had flown in to journalistically show what was about to happen here. This tornado never came. And as they explained it later, apparently that small little rainstorm sapped the energy from that warm front and that cold front. One part of the weather interfered with another part of the weather so that the judgment and the devastation never came.

This is what Isaiah is saying. God is in some sense not only the raging storms of this world, but even the raging wrath of God, which is often portrayed as the devastating thunder of weather. Think of Psalm 29, "The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The Lord thunders free." God's wrath is depicted as the raging of the storms. Somehow, in the midst of the judgment of God, the people of God are kept safe as a refuge.

What's he talking about? Isaiah doesn't make it clear here. We need the rest of Scripture to unfold to us how God can be both the raging storm as well as the shelter from this storm. The scriptures tell us very clearly this happened at the cross of Jesus Christ. When our Lord Jesus came into this world, when God of God, the Son of God came into this world and took on human nature so that He could suffer and bleed and die.

There as Jesus hung on the cross, all of the raging wrath of this world, the wrath of the nations, as he was nailed to the cross by Romans, condemned by his Jewish brethren, all of that fell upon him. But not just that storm, it was also the storm of the raging wrath of God against us, against our sin. And all of that fell on Jesus. At the cross, Jesus stretched His arms out to protect us from the danger that looms and lurks against us. The danger of God's wrath against us, his judgment against us, his curse against us. Jesus became a stronghold for us and the storms of this world. And in the storms of God's own wrath against our sin.

This is the story that Isaiah is looking forward to. From that hill, that mountain outside of Jerusalem on Golgotha. Isaiah skips past that in the rest of his vision to see far beyond that. Another day on another mountain, very close on Mount Zion. Where we read and versus six through nine of another scene, another event. The scene changes very quickly where we see the second section where death is swallowed up. Maybe Isaiah's thinking in this passage, in this oracle goes like this, well, this is the first part, the judgment that brings salvation. But no matter where you live, no matter when you live, even if you get through the raging of the nations in your day, what about death? Death comes for us all. We all must face it. What about the enemy of death? What will God do to disrupt death?

Death is Swallowed Up

This is what we see in verses 6 to 9 where death is swallowed up. Again, a sudden shifting of the scene. No longer are we talking about the scenes of the world, the city of this world. No longer are we talking about Jesus becoming our stronghold in a refuge and shelter on the hill of Calvary Golgotha. Now we are on another mountain, Mount Zion, in Jerusalem and inside the city of Jerusalem.

In verse six, "On this mountain." How do we know we're talking about Mount Zion? Well, again, flip the page back, Isaiah 24:23, "Then the moon will be confounded in the sun ashamed for the Lord of hosts reigns. He reigns as a king on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders." Well, back to 25:6, "On this mountain, (Mount Zion) the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined."

The Biblical background to what Isaiah is talking about here, where God feasts with his people on a mountain, goes to yet another mountain to Mt. Sinai back in Exodus chapter 24, where God made a covenant with his people. Then after he had made a covenant with his people to seal, to confirm, to ratify this covenant with his people, he called up a representative sample of his people. Moses was there, Aaron Moses brother the high priest was there. Aaron's two sons, who would be the priests after him, should have been, they died before this. Nadab and Abihu, they were there and then 70 of the elders of Israel were all on top of that mountain.

Remember at the end of 24, where it talked about the Lord as glory being seen with his elders? Well, that's again reminding us of Exodus 24. Where on that mountain, this representative group of God's people, we read, they beheld God, and they ate and drink in Exodus 24:11.

This was a foreshadowing of the great feast that God's people would enjoy with him. What Isaiah looks forward to here, all of that was foreshadowing this same scene. But look here now there is no more representatives. It's not that the elders alone will be on the mountain with the Lord. We see that not only that, but all God's people will be there. Not only all God's people, but we also see that this is a feast for all peoples everywhere. In the previous section we saw that God's judgment was coming against all people here, the feast is for all peoples on top of Mt. Zion.

Now, this is a rich feast. It has rich food. It has aged wine, well, refined. The description here of aged wine, John Oswald talks in his commentary, he says, "This was a practice of keeping the dregs the ingredients from the wine continuing to soak in the wines. You just left them soaking and soaking and soaking and continuing to give off their flavor until the time came to serve the wine. And that refers to the well refined part. Then you would filter out those drags." So this is absolutely as flavorful and full of just aged glory on this mountain that they're going to eat from this rich feast. Here we are on the mountain of God with all the peoples.

What's happening here? Well, this is a feast fit for the coronation of a king. I remember the last verse of Isaiah 24, "The Lord reigns, the Lord reigns as a king." This is His coronation party. This is when He is proclaimed king over all the peoples.

This isn't just a party. This is a momentous shift in all of human history. Nothing from this point on will ever be the same because in verses seven and eight we read that the Lord swallows up. First, we read the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over the nations. This is probably referring to the death shroud covering an individual, but symbolically the shroud of death as a whole that covers all peoples and all nations. But to make it very clear in verse eight, we read again, "He will swallow up death forever." Now, this is a great reversal because it is death, it is the grave, it is Sheol, the Bible says, that swallows us up.

That's the main problem that we have. Forget about these nations. Forget about the rebellion of the world. Our biggest problem is with death that swallows all of us up. No matter what, we escape from this world. But here, death is not swallowing us up. The Lord is swallowing up death forever. In that he is taking away the reproach of all the people. The Reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth. Our shame, our sorrow will forever be removed. We will no longer have those questions that we have at every funeral we encounter in this life.

I want you to see also the universality of this. Alec Mortier points out, notice how in verses six and seven twice we read of all peoples, and then in verse seven we read about all nations. All peoples that be reference to the ethnic groups, the tribes and the languages, whereas the nations would refer to the political entities. All peoples, all nations, and then in verse eight, we come to all faces. That God is going to wipe away the tears from all faces. Every individual will be able to interact with God on this mountain. All of these peoples, all of these nations, every individual has become in verse eight, his people, God's people. The reproach of God's people He will take away from all the Earth.

Well, in this scene, it's not hard to see why in verse nine, Isaiah returned to the praise that it began in verse one. In verse nine, he says, "It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him that He might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him. Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Now again, Alec Mortier commentary points out, Notice the confession here. Notice the declaration. Part of this is subjective and experiential. This is our God. We have waited for him. But then it turns objective. He's not just our God, some small tribal deity in some remote corner of the earth. This is the Lord. This is Yahweh. We have waited for him.

This is our God, this is Yahweh. We read that all of this is happening. It will be said on that day, this great confession of praise will happen on that day. Well, once again, Isaiah is looking forward. But he's not only looking forward into a time that is still in the future for us. He's also looking forward, again this is hundreds of years before Jesus's birth and death and resurrection. He's looking forward to Jesus's resurrection.

What we're told in the Scriptures is that the resurrection of Jesus, what we are celebrating on Resurrection Sunday is not one event, and then there will be another resurrection later that it will be a different event. We are seeing two parts of the same resurrection. They're described as a single harvest where we have with Christ, resurrection from the dead, the first fruits, the first fruits of a harvest, the first ingathering of the crops. So then at the end, when Jesus returns, He will bring in the rest of the harvest. He will bring us up from the dead with him. This will be one harvest so his resurrection is our resurrection. It's on that day in the future when we will see all that Christ came to accomplish and to begin and his first coming and all that Christ will bring to its completion at a second coming. This is our God. We have waited for Him that He might save us.

You know, we live in an age of anxiety. Now, this isn't because we suddenly have new pressures that people before us didn't deal with. In the past, people dealt with death, and death was actually much more present in ages past. But we live in an age of a heightened anxiety. And one of the biggest reasons for this is our technological ability to share in a broadcast the things that we are doing. This has given rise to what people call the fear of missing out FOMO, FOMO, fear of missing out. This especially as striking teenagers. Teenagers have a far higher sense of anxiety and depression and tragically, rates of suicide than other people in the past. And it's because a lot of people have traced this to social media. We see all of these parties going on. Someone else is doing something that we're not able to do, and that can be a crushing weight. Why wasn't I invited? Why am I not there? My life isn't as exciting as all of that.

We come to this story. This oracle, this prophecy and Isaiah is broadcasting to us, the party, to end all parties. The greatest party from all human existence. Here it is before our eyes and we should fear, lest we miss out on this event. We should fear less we are not involved in this party, because even though this is for all peoples and all nations, this will not be for every last individual. Isaiah makes this clear in the final section in verses ten through 12, where we come to this odd section, how does this fit in this dunghill swimming? It's a graphic, vital section to this passage that seems so out of place next to the glorious coronation feast of the Lord. But there is right here a purposeful contrast.

Dunghill Swimming

On one mountain, there is a great feast, as Yahweh is celebrated as king over all his people. In verses ten through 12, we come to yet another mountain, the mountain of Moab. Verse ten, "For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain and Moab shall be trampled down in his place as straw trampled down in a dung hill."

Mount Zion is a is a glorious mountain where the Lord is coming down in His glory and dwelling with his people and this other mountain, Moab, is contrasted as nothing more than a dung hill. A filthy, smelly pile of dung. That's what this text is telling us.

Now, why is this telling us this? Well, it's not just picking on Moab here, although Moab was a particularly arrogant nation against the nation of Israel. But singling Moab to show us here that the world will tell you that there are other parties you can join. There are other places where you can celebrate. There are other places where you can be made happy and satisfied, perhaps for all of eternity. But understand, there is no other mountain. There was no other party because there is no other savior. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ. He alone can save. He is the King who will reign on Mt. Zion and every other mountain is a false counterfeit.

So this is depicted graphically the fate of those who rebellious, arrogantly, prideful, rebel against the king who has made a feast for all the peoples. We read in verse 11, "he the Moabite will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim. But the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of His hands and the high fortifications of his walls, he will bring down, lay low and cast to the ground, to the dust."

You know, as we have young children growing up in our house, it's a joy to see them become self-sufficient in their lives. We want to train them to gain life skills they're going to need to survive. But sometimes it can be a little bit frustrating when they insist, I can do it myself. Sometimes this means insisting I can do it myself when we are late and they want to buckle their own seatbelt and they can't quite yet. It's just one more delay and it's child, let me help you, but "I can do it myself."

Other times it's something they shouldn't be doing. Something that is dangerous, something that I can see will make a mess. We've walked out and we've seen high stacks of things they've clearly climbed on to get something they really shouldn't have had from a high shelf. You think you could have been seriously injured child, what were you thinking? Or you see a child just confidently, triumphantly carrying something you know will devastate your carpets if they spill it. I can do it myself.

You want your children to have this sense of self sufficiency. You want them to grow in these life skills that they can't survive without. The whole point of raising children is to send them out. But you also have to train them about their limitations, to be aware of what they can and can't do.

God is showing to us here our limitations. You don't have an answer for death. You don't have the means, by any stretch of the imagination, to throw your own alternate party on another hill. All you will get is swimming in a dung hill. There's a poignancy here. What do we do with death? Well, understand, we have no hope except for what Isaiah prophesies here.

Application

So our application this morning is from verse nine. Behold your God. As you wait for the salvation of the Lord. Now on Easter Sunday. I'm very mindful that people have come here this morning from a variety of places. Welcome, it's really good to see you this morning. This is always true. We talk frequently about how we are a church of many stories who are united as one body in Christ. But this is especially true on Easter. For those of you who have been here every week. You know, we've been working again slowly through the gospel of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount. Again, we've been zoomed in on individual facets of Christ glory of what he came to do. Today is an opportunity to zoom out so that we don't lose the forest for the trees. We don't miss the big picture in light of the individual details, as important as those are. This morning's message helps us to see the goal of redemption all at once.

But for those of you who are not here every week, maybe you regularly attend elsewhere. Maybe this is your first time here, I want to absolutely make sure that you leave today, having heard the truth that this message points out in the fifth gospel, in Isaiah, the prophecy that foretells so much about who Jesus Christ came to be and what he came to do.

Isaiah is seeing a vision where he is foretelling a day far off in the future, still a day when Jesus Christ, the king, the King of kings, will come to judge the world. On that day, we are told that Christ will condemn those who have rebelled against him. Those who have persisted in their arrogant pride, I can do it myself, through whatever avenue that is for you. Jesus Christ comes to judge the wicked rebels who have resisted his reign and his rule.

On that day, Jesus comes to establish a feast forever. A feast on Mount Zion in a new heavens and a new earth where he will forever dwell with his people, where he comes to serve us at table as though he were a common servant, and yet he is our Lord. Where he comes to celebrate with us his victory forever, because He comes to swallow up death forever.

This is the hope that we have of the gospel, but there is a difference. Some will end not at this eternal, joyful party with Jesus, but some who do not look to Jesus and faith will spend an eternity separated from Him in hell. The difference between whether you spend your eternity in the dung hill of Moab or at the Feast of Mount Zion, has to do with whether you turn from your rebellious sin against God now and instead look to Jesus Christ who has come into this world. Who lived the absolutely perfect life. Who completely fulfilled every bit of God's requirements in His righteous law. Yet, though he was perfect, though he was righteous, this same Jesus came to die. He came to give up his life so that as he stretched out his arms on the cross, he covered us over as a mother hen covers her chicks. To shield us from the wrath and the storm of God. Not just the raging storms of this world, but to protect us against God's judgment that we have earned and deserved because of our sin. As he gave up his life, he was buried in the grave, but on the third day, on Easter Sunday, our Lord Jesus rose then from the dead, as the first fruits of the resurrection. As the first fruits of those whom God is going to bring again from the dead. Christ is risen and Christ is coming again. When He comes again, we will be raised up with Him who are looking to him with faith now.

Jesus came to swallow up death forever. When he returns is when all of this comes to its completion. This will be his coronation day. This will be the day when we will feast with him at the wedding feast of the lamb. If you want to be at that party, if you fear missing out from that party, then turn this morning to faith in Jesus Christ. Turn this morning to him. This isn't exclusive. Jesus Christ says, come, come. All those who are weary, all those who are in sin and struggling, all those who are guilty wherever you are coming for them, your sin is not too great unless you don't go to your great savior.

The heart of rebellion is this go it alone. I'm swimming for myself. I'm going to make this, sink or swim on my own. I want to do it my way. I can do it myself. But this is the opposite of the heart of faith, which is captured in verse nine. The heart of faith will say on that day, "Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him, that He might save us." It's looking to Jesus Christ to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It's waiting for Him to do all that He is promised in those scriptures.

Have you turned from your own self-determination? From your own I can do it myself-ness. Are you looking to Jesus Christ who died and rose again as your Savior, he's the one who shed his blood from your sins. If so, oh, keep waiting and hoping on the Lord. But if you've never known Jesus, today ought to be the day. Every Lord's day, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But this day should be the day when you come to know Christ. If you want to know more, please come talk to me. I would love to tell you more about Jesus, but turn from your sin and look to Christ and faith and be saved.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would give us grace. I pray that you would bless us. I pray that you would encourage us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that none who are sitting here today would miss out on this feast. I pray that you would open eyes and unclog deaf ears and that you would give soft hearts to respond in faith to the Gospel of Jesus, as is proclaimed in this prophecy, written hundreds of years before our Savior's birth. We pray that we would love Jesus as we expectantly await Him here on Earth. Oh, Lord, let that day be such a joyous, wondrous day as we praise you for the wondrous things you have done, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. Father, we pray, bring everything about that you have promised. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.