along and the reading is on page 77 in the back of the Psalter hymnal sort of this walk through the the great doctrines the teachings of of the scriptures the the doctrines the summary of of the holy word that we find here and now we come to It's a wonderful article, it's brief, but it is truly a tremendous testimony arising out of Scripture. On page 77, article 17, concerning the recovery of Paul and man, we believe that our most gracious God, in His admirable wisdom and goodness, Seeing that man had thus thrown himself into physical and spiritual death, and made himself wholly miserable, was pleased to see and comfort him when he trembling fled from his presence, promising that he would give his son, who would be born of a woman, to bruise the head of the serpent, and to make him blessed. As we see in those clear testimonies of Scripture, the part that's in italics is from Genesis chapter 3, described as the Proto-Evangelion, or the first gospel, or sort of the incipient gospel that our Lord declared on the heels of the great fall of man and woman into sin. Well, let's take up the testimony of Scripture, Isaiah chapter 25. Isaiah chapter 25, we'll read there the whole chapter. stepping into a portion of the prophecy of Isaiah, but it's a rich part. There's so much here. I'm trying to bring some of it out this afternoon as we are together. Here we hear God's very own word. Oh Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you. I will praise your name. For you have done wonderful things. Plans formed of old, faithful and sure. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin. The foreigner's palace is a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will glorify you. Cities of ruthless nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against the wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners as heat by the shade of a cloud. So the song of the ruthless is put down. On this mountain the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, a rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the Lord we have waited for Him. Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. And Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in the dunghill. And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it, as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim. But the Lord will lay low his pompous pride, together with the skill of his hands. And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low and cast to the ground, to the dust. Well, so far the reading of God's holy and inspired word. I pray that he adds a rich measure of blessing to every one of us here together. Dear congregation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, if you are preparing to watch any of the Olympic Games coverage that's coming up, the Olympic Games in Rio in Brazil, you're going to hear, as you hear some of the reports, as you hear especially some of the extended coverage, a theme. that I would say has a potent spell or has a great hold on every child of Adam. There's a theme that emerges in coverage of things like the Olympic Games that really powers the quitses. One of self-reliance. The idea of total concentration on the power of an individual to achieve great things. Perhaps some of you are lesser athletes than those who are present at the Olympic Games, those who are preparing for that, but even you know what it is to be able to focus or to be able to get really intensely into whatever it is that you are pursuing in order to achieve some target, in order to achieve some outcome. Total concentration on the power of an individual to achieve great things. You see that in marketing. It's a whole athletic complex. This idea of mastery of an art or a sport, the ability that athletes have to block out all other distractions and then make their sole focus rest on the target that is in front of them. It's marvelous. When athletes are interviewed, dramatic stories are told about their background or their determination, the odds they've overcome, and the will to succeed that drives them. It's almost universal. Nobody that accidentally shows up at the Olympics, right? We can't just sort of back our way into it. Or perhaps if you're watching it in the Euro Cup right now, soccer. There are two teams from tiny countries, Wales and Iceland, and they made great strides in the competition through this balanced approach. They did it together as a team. And so they were working together to overcome the better skilled teams that they came up against. players were very low parts of the soccer rankings and they were accomplishing great things by working together. With a singular focus on winning, on a singular focus on doing it together. To achieve dominance in Olympic sport or in international soccer. The news media will tell the story and we see set before us this intensity, this focus, this self-determination. That is lifted up as a model for every other area of our lives. Schools, universities, corporate retreats that bring in athletes. They tell us your story and we'll see how we can apply it to ourselves. To achieve dominance in life. working, focus really hard. To find satisfaction in our circumstances, work at it, think good thoughts, and eventually you'll get it. By way of introduction, to point out, we live in a time when we see many things being promoted as objects of salvation, as objects of deliverance, as objects of attaining some life that is better, that is lasting, that is more significant than anything else. diets, technology, cars, getaways of any kind are promoted because they transform your life. What's the common truth about it? What's the common focus? It is and it remains on the self. It remains on the self. In a multi-billion dollar self-help industry that declares we are our own savior. That's the good news. We find salvation by looking inward. We find salvation by doing what lies with us. We make our lives better. We ultimately secure blessing in some vague or ill-defined afterlife as we live on in people's memories. And that's what it's good to get. As you saw this in the tributes that came forth, Muhammad Ali, a great boxer, sky priest, sort of lives on in people's memories. So that's what I get. But that's not good enough. The theme this afternoon is to demonstrate, to see that those things are not good enough. That those things are incomplete, that those things are ultimately bankrupt, they're counterfeit for sin. In R.C. Sproul wrote, there is no part of us that is left untouched by sin. Our minds, our wills, and our bodies are affected by evil. We speak sinful words, we do sinful deeds, we have impure thoughts. Our very bodies suffer from the ravages of sin. It's in that that no amount of self-reliance, no amount of self-dependence, no amount of self-striving can be achieved. If our very bodies suffer from the ravages of sin, if we speak sinful words, do sinful deeds have impure thoughts? We've got to stop. The Lord makes that clear. So in Isaiah chapter 25 of the Lord's Prophet, he brings this message to the people as a call to worship. But it's also, as we'll see, this call to a different perspective on life, and how we change our lives, how our circumstances are changing. but also the hope that we have as we hold on to this truth when we consider our sin, our misery, and the need for redemption and change. The following weeks we're going to keep coming to this theme over and over very soon. Thinking of what does it mean for us to change and why do we need that change? What's so bad about sin? This afternoon our focus is going to be particularly on the great need we have for God to do something so that we would receive. Particularly in the gospel. God to do something that we might receive. So this, Isaiah 25, is not about the message itself. Why? Not a message of reliance on any other god or any other source of salvation. It's a celebration. It's a celebration of God's people, of the fact that our most gracious God, in His admirable wisdom and goodness, seeing that man had thrown himself into physical and spiritual death and made himself wholly miserable, was pleased to see and comfort him with a promise of a better life. That God, seeing our statement, seeing our problem, was pleased to offer a way out. Was pleased to seek and comfort the one who had just rebelled against us. Was pleased to seek and comfort him with a promise. So we're celebrating the intervention of God. We celebrate the way of God in contrast to the way of unbelief of the nations. The lies that are sold by those who tell us to make things better for ourselves. We'll sell you a book on how to do that. We'll tell you lots of things on how to make things better for yourself. How we might, to use the language of a prophecy, how we can go about rebuilding our own city. Or how we might restore our own broken lives. or how we might provide for ourselves a great feed, a great wine, a lot. The Lord shows us something very different. In verse one of our text, the prophet lifts up the praise of believers who declare, oh Lord, you are my God. That's the difference right there. Oh Lord, you are my God, I will exalt you. Now I will praise your name for what? For you have done wonderful things. Plans formed to hold faithful and sure. This is an incredible summary, isn't it? Lord, you have done wonderful things. We read it from Genesis to Exodus. You've planned them from a pole and they are faithful and they are sure. There's so much richness in a passage there. To show forth, to declare what it is that we believe about our God and what we believe about His pleasure, His delight, that comes in our salvation. His interest in every one of us. the fact that he cared so much about you that he made a plan. He formed it a plan that is faithful, that is sure, that results in our praise of him for the wonderful things that you've done. Because we're often reminded, and need to be even more regularly reminded, in Adam's fall we all fell. a basic summary statement, a theme that we'll take up in coming weeks. And in Adam's fall, we became, in the language of the Confession, wholly miserable. And in need of comfort and redemption, we became dying people. Very terrifying. So, what are we doing this afternoon? Well, we're going to take up these words in chapter 25. It's really part of a much larger work of prophecy that I see a record. We're going to sort of dive in, take up this part of chapter 25, and bring it to bear on how we behold our God. How we're mindful of the way that the world says, think about these things in a different way. We are to have our minds conform to God. Our minds conform to Christ. to behold our God in this world. Behold our God whose plans are formed of old, faithful, and sure, our God who has done and is doing wonderful things. For the prophet reminds us in verse 23 of the previous chapter, the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem his glory will be poured out. It's your God. Perhaps for some or many, we only hear this all the time, If we hear this, why do we have to rehearse? How about quick responses? One, God tells us this, so we ought to be attentive. Two, God repeats this frequently. The whole of the book of Psalms is carried out with this. Isaiah carries on extensively about these things. Jesus declares this. that it is good for us to be reminded that which we are in danger of forgetting or clouding out. So we're going to look at three points. The first being that God acts against sin and injustice. We'll touch on that briefly. That God acts against sin and injustice. A second, that God hears the cries of the miserable and the broken hearted. That God hears the cries of the miserable and the broken hearted. Described in our confession as this misery, this whole hearted struggle, misery, and the consequences of sin. And then third, that God prepares a wondrous meal of meat, and a broken hearted calf. I don't want to be old, that's wrong. I just see His claims on our lives. To see His presence. So that God would be glorified. As the previous chapter says, that His glory would be before His elders. That God's people would praise Him. We've already been doing that. The call to be saved. The call so that We would love you more than we already do. We love God more than we already do. The first one. The first one begins, oh Lord, you are my hope. I will exalt you. I will praise you. You have done wonderful things, plans wonderful things. Thank you Lord Jesus. The Gospel of the Lord gives us a script for how we should speak to this Lord. God does not simply let us look at the creation that is around us, though He certainly does, and says, bring worship. We hear often in the call to worship sort of a general or a broad call to worship Him, but also here through the words of Isaiah, we have specific things to worship. To exalt Him for His wonderful things, for His plans that are faithful and sure. For as the prophet goes on, knowing that God acts against sin and injustice. Some of the most discouraging things that we encounter that cause us to question God is this problem of sin and injustice. These last few weeks have given us stern reminders. Late yesterday, 125 people were killed, about 150 injured and bagged. Earlier on Friday, were killed in Bangladesh. And Tuesday we saw an attack in Istanbul that killed at least 44 people and injured another 50, perhaps 100. This is the last week. We see an increase in violence. We see an incredible brutality. Injustice and sin just pouring forth. We're more aware of these things in our lives because of the news media, because we have access to stories about all of these things, but even still there's this intense pitch increase in these things. Trouble. Grievance. Wickedness. Men and women become powerful. And other forces continue to express themselves in other ways, perhaps not with violence, but with growing pressure against those who are Christian. or growing carelessness towards those who are poor, or growing desensitivity to those who are in distress. All of these things, whether physical violence or political actions against others, are attacks on those who are image-bearers of God. One of the wonderful things that we exalt the Lord for is His creation of men and women, and yet His own image-bearers attack Him. violence to wickedness on a personal level as we struggle to love our neighbor. The specific violence that we see against Christians is to be increasing. Stories of martyrs and stories of those who are being persecuted and threatened. This is our God who knows these things. God who knows what is happening. What's more, He does not merely just know it, He acts against it. It's in His nature to right wrong. Store up judgment against the evil. Verse 2 of our text, We have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin. The foreigner's palace is a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. That's a very specific context for the people of Israel, for the people of Judah. For these foreign palaces in their cities would have been this continued reminder that all was not well, that they'd been overtaken, that the land had crumbled, these fortified cities that host the foreign armies that kept them safe. It's this expectation of the day when the cities would become heaths, they would become You've been a stronghold to the needy and the distressed. You've been a shelter from the storm and a shade. And we see the other side expressed, of God being concerned about those who are impoverished, those who are much shunned. So the Lord acts against sin and injustice. And psalmist is describing the various ways that you subdue the noise before you. We struggle fast. We hear the Song of the Ruthless. We hear the Song of the Ruthless as it comes in in various extracts. It's interesting that it's a song that provokes loud people to create more music and to spread it. Think of the grotesque songs of ISIS, videos that they produce online. Think of the grotesque violence that is portrayed in the music video and a host of other things glorifying slavery, glorifying slavery and justice. I mean, the music video seems to be just about second to none in getting us to look good. You could say this is a song of the ruthless in her own name. And that's a part of our confession of the beholding of our God. And it also brings into focus then something of what we are confessing in the Vow to Confession, that there's a problem and God addresses it for you. So that God does prepare for judgment, He is preparing the world for judgment, the judgment against sin, while at the same time being pleased to provide a Redeemer. that He both relieves the oppressed, that He both relieves the distressed and the poor, but also provides them with the very thing that they need. If you read in chapter 24, verse 21, there's this vivid description of that coming judgment against sin. On that day, verse 21, the Lord will punish the host of heavens in heaven and the kings of the earth on the earth. This is your You can sometimes limit things to just this world. That's sort of an impoverished view of the entire heaven and earth. And Isaiah says, on that day, the great day of the Lord, the Lord will punish even the host of heaven, the kings of the earth, yes, but even those in heaven. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pen. They will be shot up in a prison. And after many days, they will be right. It's funny. then even the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be the fullness of the earth. Everyone who plots against the Lord will be scorned, and will be punished after that. So it's acceptable for us to cry out, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, But we can know and have certainty that God acts against sin and against justice, and He will act in a fuller way, in a great way. That is, the actions are for His glory. Isaiah 25 verse 3 says, Strong peoples will glorify Him, and cities of ruthless nations will fear Him. What else does God do? God does a lot of things, like what sin is. He breaks the law, and we might know what his demands are. We might know what God expects, what God demands. Then he also explains what's, in terms of injustice, this making The actions they have taken against the poor, by the noise of the foreigners, is quenched by the shade of the ground. Not as we consider the poor down there, but as we behold them. We come to see and we come to understand that God acts against us. God also hears the cries of the miserable and the broken hearted. We are going to touch on this briefly before coming to the verse. That God hears the cries of the miserable and the broken hearted. When did this begin? In Adam and Eve. That God, in fact, even anticipates their cry. God even anticipates it because they're still in rebellion mode. They're still in hiding mode. They're still in, let's see if we can sort of sneak this one past God mode. And God says, no, no, no, no, no. Yes, why are you hiding? Oh, we want to keep away. We want the Lord in. We want to renegotiate our terms. I'll send one. I'll send you three. I will send one to overcome rebellion. So that the very cry of Adam and Eve in the garden is anticipated, is known by God. And they had just rebelled again. Uncover it after yourself. You find comfort in that in the same way that the people of Israel would know that when they cry, the Lord hears. Verse 8, the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It is as sure as his word. What is it that drives away our doubt? What is it that drives away our fear? James says, perfect love drives away fear. The Lord will lay low his pompous ply, and together with the skill of his hands, the high fortifications of his walls, he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground those who oppress the image-bearers of God. Those who oppress Christ. Isaiah 2.6 continues. We have a strong city. He set up salvation in all the poor. Open the gates of the righteous nation that keeps faith and may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is everlasting God. I'm so struck by that in this country. Isaiah is ministering to, he is speaking forth to a people, one, that really doesn't want to listen to him all that much because of sin. But for those who are listening to them, and for those who would later come and take up these words, even for them, there was not yet this strong city. There was not yet this place of walls and bulwarks and gates that could never be overcome. a place for the righteous nations to enter in. But the city of Jerusalem never had that status, had never had that power. So that there is an expectation, this description of God who keeps him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed on him. It's a note of anticipation. It helps us to understand the cry of the miserable. You're coming, right? That we understand that there is a note of anticipation, of expectation of perfection. There's more trust in the Lord forevermore, for the Lord God is everlasting God. Go back to how it began, a very different way. Do it in your power, do it in your strength, do it with your resolve. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is everlasting love. God believes that. But when it's also said before, it's a wonderful word, it's a sickness. This is our God. This is our God who hears the cry of His people, who knows the misery that sin has brought us into. The death of man. As the Belgics have seen, that man had thrown himself into physical and spiritual death by his God. A feast of well-aged wine, a rich food full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined. The Word of Education, the prophecy of that which is still to come. We gather for communion or we gather for a supper with friends or things like that. We don't yet have a feast this time. There's no wait. That's okay. The oppressed, the persecuted, the weary, the needy, the sick are not yet receiving this in its fullness and yet we are serving. What will God do? God will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all people. The very thing He describes as a veil spread over all the nations. What is this swallowing? What is this veil? What is this covering? It's death. He will swallow up death forever. The same verb is used there. To swallow up on the mountain death which has been cast over all. The veil has spread over all the nations. God cleanses and purifies the heavens and the earth. He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth for the Lord has spoken. We sat 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. The Lord spoke to Isaiah in Isaiah 35. The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion to save them. Neverlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and they shall obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. The prospect of a time without sorrow. The prospect of a time without sin. The prospect of a time without happiness. The prospect of a time where we will rejoice and be glad. to give you courage to both know that your sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ, but also that God is preparing for you something that is going to far transcend, far exceed any of our expectations. So that what we endure in this age, and this is the Catechism Paul said, in the veil of tears, will be for our good, for God's good, but also that The great and tragic truth is that man made himself miserable through the sin of Adam and the death of Spirit. Through the righteousness of Christ, life has been gained. Life has been given. When God provides this comfort in Christ's verses, our Confession says, by promising His Son to bruise the head of the serpent and to make man blessed. So we turn regularly to talk of Paul's faith. Say, I've been crucified for Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We declare, with boldness, with confidence, that God has done this, and commands it. so that we might have hope, so that we might anticipate the come what is, an eternal celebration