Okay, Isaiah 25 and verse number 8,
He will swallow up death in victory, is the title for the sermon.
Swallow up death in victory is the title for the sermon tonight.
And just very quickly, I want you to just go to the previous chapter there in Isaiah 24
and verse number 23, it says,
Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed,
when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
and before his ancients gloriously,
and I had preached last week that this was showing us about the end times in Isaiah 24
and of course that final verse demonstrates that Jesus Christ
is going to rule for that thousand years coming from Mount Zion in Jerusalem
is where the headquarters of his kingdom will be.
Now I believe Isaiah 24 is a continuation of Isaiah 24, okay?
And so we're still dealing with end times events and I'll show you why that is.
But before I get into Isaiah 25, I want to remind you
an easy mistake that you can make when you read through the Bible on end times.
We have the book of Revelation, it's called the revelation, it's called the revealing
and the book of Revelation clearly lays out the chronology of the end times.
In fact, most of the New Testament books when it touches on the end times
it lays out a clear chronology such as expecting a seven-year period to come
where the first three and a half years of that time is known as the beginning of sorrows
then at the midst of the week the Bible calls this period
great tribulation when the Antichrist will begin persecuting the people of God.
But the great tribulation ends when the sun and moon are darkened
and then Christ comes in the clouds and raptures his believers
in a post-tribulation but pre-wrath rapture
because the rest of the seven years will be God pouring out his wrath on the earth, okay?
But at the end of that seven-year period Christ returns on his horse with his armies
with his saints coming down from heaven and he sets up his thousand-year rule
thousand-year kingdom rule.
Once he's done that thousand-year period he hands the kingdom to God the Father
and God creates a new heaven and a new earth which is the eternal state, okay?
I've just summarized what the end times is and you can go, you know,
New Testament is very clear especially the book of Revelation
very clear on this chronology.
But when you read the Old Testament I'm not saying it's not clear.
All I'm saying is that the chronology isn't as transparent
like all the elements are there but it's not always following a concise
and consistent structure.
It's sometimes it's kind of merged and all over the place, okay?
But again all the elements are there.
It's not that there's a contradiction.
It's not that we should take the book of Isaiah and develop an end times chronology
is that when we read the book of Revelation
then we can shine light on a book like Isaiah
and get a better understanding of what God is teaching us
through the book of Isaiah, okay?
So for example, why I wanted to read in Isaiah 24 was
we've seen Christ ruling from Mount Zion, Jerusalem
very clear that's his thousand-year reign, okay?
But when we get to Isaiah 25 we're kind of backtracking again, okay?
But Isaiah 25 verse 1, it says,
O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee,
I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things,
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
I love verse number one, how it begins.
When it comes to Isaiah, he wants to exalt Jesus Christ.
He wants to exalt the Lord God.
He comes to praise the name of God.
And I hope that's your purpose for church tonight
as you come here and I hope your desires to praise God,
to exalt God, to lift up the name of God,
and then we can talk about the wonderful things
that God has done in our lives.
Isn't it true that he's done wonderful things?
He's saved our souls, he answers our prayers.
And then it says thy counsels of old.
His counsels, where do I find God's counsels right here?
This is a really old book.
I mean, going back to the writings of Moses,
I mean, and the thing about this book is
we know that history is perfect
because it's the word of God.
You know, you go back and look for history books
around the time of Moses, you're not going to find them.
Or you just can't trust what was written.
But you know, the counsels of God are old
and it's also his counsels of faithfulness and truth.
Okay, so it doesn't matter if we live in 2024
or if we live in the year 5000 or a year, you know, live 2000 BC.
You know, God's words are faithful and true.
They're applicable as much for us today
as they were the day they were written.
Okay, we're in Isaiah 25.
What's the 25th book of the Bible?
Who wants to say?
Lamentations.
Come with me to Lamentations, please.
Come with me to Lamentations chapter three.
Lamentations chapter three.
Now last week, I told you how in Isaiah 24,
I could clearly see the book of Jeremiah.
Well, in Isaiah 25, I clearly see the book of Lamentations as well.
Okay, because Lamentations was written by Jeremiah as well.
And Lamentations is kind of known as Jeremiah part two.
It's kind of a continuation of the same book.
And so I see a lot of similarities.
The other thing that helps bridge in Isaiah with Jeremiah's writing
is that they were kind of contemporaries, you know.
Isaiah was the first preacher.
Jeremiah came later on, but they kind of did at some point
cross paths in their teachings, their doctrines, their prophecies.
So there's a lot of, you know, correlation between Isaiah and Jeremiah.
But if you look at Lamentations chapter three,
and this is one of the most famous verses.
I think when you look at Bible verses,
and you look at Bible verses that you can kind of print
and put on a wall, things like this,
usually Lamentations 3, 22 and 23 come up quite often.
It says,
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness.
So in Lamentations, you see Jeremiah speaking of
the great faithfulness of God.
He says that his new, his compassion, his mercies are new every morning,
which is a good reminder for me because I know I mess up every day.
So, you know, if I mess up and I sin against the Lord every day,
or I don't live the perfect life that I know God would want me to live,
I know that tomorrow he's not going to be sick and tired of me.
He's got a brand new set of mercies,
a brand new set of faithfulness, right?
And forgiveness, and I can go to my Lord God at any time
and ask for his forgiveness.
But great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3, 22.
And what did Isaiah say?
He says,
Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Keep a finger, Lamentations.
I've got a lot of references that correspond with Isaiah.
But if you can come back with me to Isaiah 25 in verse number 2.
Isaiah 25 in verse number 2.
It says,
For thou hast made of a city and heap,
of a defensed city a ruin,
a palace of strangers to be no city,
it shall never be built.
Or what it means is it will never be built again.
This city that God destroys will never be rebuilt again.
And just as a reminder,
why I believe this is a continuation in Isaiah 24,
if you want to come back to the previous chapter,
Isaiah 24 verse number 12,
it says,
In the city is left desolation,
and the gate is smitten with destruction.
I don't want to re-preach last week's sermon,
but I think I made a good case for that to be
Mystery Babylon the Great of the End Times.
A city that will never be inhabited ever again.
A city that will be destroyed by fire.
And like it says in Isaiah 25,
it shall never be built.
Once God destroys the city,
it will never be inhabited again.
This is why the idea that Mystery Babylon is Jerusalem
doesn't make a lot of sense,
because when Christ comes back,
he starts reigning from Jerusalem.
You know, a lot of his saints are going to be living
and ruling and reigning with Christ from Jerusalem.
And so it makes a lot more sense for Mystery Babylon
to be some end time empire,
you know, the capital city of that empire,
and once it's destroyed by God's wrath,
it will never be inhabited,
it will never be built up ever again.
If you've got a finger back in Lamentations,
come back with me to Lamentations chapter one.
Lamentations chapter one, verse number one.
It was this verse in number two
that reminded me of Lamentations.
Because Lamentations chapter one,
verse number one, the very first verse,
Nebuchadnezzar destroying the city of Jerusalem,
destroying the temple of God.
And once God's judgment has fallen upon the land of Judah,
Jeremiah begins to write Lamentations,
begins to lament,
to weep over the destroyed city of Jerusalem.
And this is why Jeremiah is commonly known
as the weeping prophet.
Because seeing God's judgment,
even though he knows it's righteous,
and he's been preaching the truth of God's word,
and he's been proven true as a preacher,
it still put a great burden on his heart
to see once a great city being destroyed
by the hand of God.
Come back with me to Isaiah 25,
Isaiah 25, verse number three.
When the city is destroyed here in Isaiah 25,
again, I believe this would be Mystery Babylon the Great,
it says in verse number three,
so because the city's been destroyed,
therefore shall the strong people glorify thee,
the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee.
And what I had shown you from last week
is that when the city Babylon the Great is destroyed,
God's people are going to be rejoicing.
If you want to just quickly look at Isaiah 24 again,
Isaiah 24, verse number 14 about the destroyed city,
it says, Isaiah 24, 14,
they shall lift up their voice,
they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord,
they shall cry aloud from the sea.
And so again, you can see Isaiah 25
is just repeating the same information
that we've seen in Isaiah 24.
Once again, the strong people being who?
God's people, the saved, the righteous,
you know, glorifying God at the destruction of Babylon
but then when it comes to all the other people
that are living on the earth,
when they see it's going to bring great terror,
great fear of God in the hearts of the people
that are not saved.
Back to Isaiah 25 and verse number four.
Isaiah 25, verse number four.
For thou has been a strength to the poor,
a strength to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm,
a shadow from the heat,
when the blast of the terrible ones
is as a storm against the wall.
Now again, we're talking about the strength of the poor,
the strong people being God's people
but notice the one that gives people strength,
the one that makes people strong is the Lord God.
Because in verse number four it says,
there has been a strength to the poor,
a strength to the needy in distress.
You know what, brethren,
something I learned from this verse
is that we can be strong people
even when we're poor,
even when we're needy,
even when we're struggling,
even when we're despised or rejected.
We feel cast down.
We feel like nobody cares about us.
You know, maybe inside you feel brokenhearted, right?
You feel rejected, whatever it is,
but you know what,
it's not our strength that makes us strong people.
It's the strength of the Lord.
Here's the one that strengthens the poor.
Maybe you're having a financial difficulty.
Okay, God's going to strengthen you.
Maybe you have a need in distress.
You know, you've got a problem.
The Lord will strengthen you.
A refuge from the storm.
Brethren, we can't,
look, we're constantly battling.
There's constant issues.
You know what,
and sometimes it's okay to retreat,
but it's where you retreat that matters.
A refuge from the storm.
We call people refugees
when they escape one nation to another nation.
Okay, so why don't you stay in your nation?
You know what I mean?
You can fix things.
Sometimes it's time to leave
because of the persecution, the distress.
Refugees, you know,
sometimes we that are trying to live
these righteous and holy lives,
we need a place of refuge.
It's not easy to be constantly battling
with the world, with the devil, with our flesh,
but sometimes brethren,
so I give up and I just,
where am I going to go?
You run to the Lord.
You find refuge in the Lord.
It says a shadow from the heat
when the blast of the terrible ones
is as a storm against the wall.
What I believe the direct correlation
or application of this verse I should say is,
is again in the end times.
We know that bad mystery Babylon
is destroyed at the end of the seven years.
The rapture has already taken place,
but people are still getting saved.
You know, the antichrist is given power
by the devil to rule for three and a half years,
to make war against the saints
for three and a half years,
even though we, if we're that generation,
we're going to be raptured,
but I've already shown
how people get saved even after the rapture.
Like the persecution will still continue
for people that have lived after that time
while God is pouring out the wrath.
But one thing we see with these people,
especially if they were
in mystery Babylon themselves,
they have a refuge.
Their strength comes from the Lord.
The Lord's going to be there with them
during this time of persecution.
It says in verse number five,
they shall bring down the noise of strangers
as the heat in a dry place,
even the heat with the shadow of a cloud,
the branch of the terrible ones
shall be brought low.
And in this mountain,
I'll stop there for a moment.
So verse number five, I believe,
is like I said,
we've seen the destruction of mystery Babylon,
once again, been destroyed.
God's wrath and God's people
being strengthened.
But then when we get to verse number six,
again, I believe we've just now
jumped into the millennial reign of Christ.
Because it says here,
and in this mountain,
I believe that's Mount Zion on the earth,
and in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts
make unto all people
a feast of fat things,
a feast of wine on the lees,
of fat things full of marrow,
of wines on the lees well refined.
The Lord's going to hold a feast,
a celebration,
a party,
at the beginning of his millennial reign.
And this will be a feast for all people.
This is the feast that is
spoken about numerous times in the Bible.
Can you come with me to,
well, actually, before you turn there,
I just want you to notice something.
I want to just debunk something very quickly.
In verse number six, it says,
a feast of the wines on the lees,
and then at the end of the verse,
of wines on the lees well refined.
Now, today, when someone makes alcoholic wine,
the yeast that turns the sugar into alcohol,
when there's no more sugar,
all that yeast eventually dies
because there's no more food source for it.
And then the little particles end up
dropping at the bottom of the wine barrel.
And people refer to that as lees,
the lees that need to be refined.
So before you drink the wine that's alcoholic,
goes through a refining process
to remove all the little particles
that are left in the drink, okay?
And then now you're left with alcoholic wine.
So there are those that will teach,
so, oh, Jesus Christ is making us,
drinking us out and bringing us alcohol
during the melody reign of Christ, right?
It's wines on the lees, there's lees.
It's been, you know,
those little microorganisms have been
removed and refined from the wine.
And that is one argument.
In fact, I think this verse,
Isaiah 25 or six,
is one of the strongest cases
that people make that God is fine with alcohol.
But even though I say it's the strongest case,
it is just easily debunked, okay?
Because, you know, I looked into this.
I looked into this in great detail.
And while the language we use today,
like, wouldn't you admit that
the language that God uses in 1611
when he translated the King James Bible
is a little different
to the language we speak today.
The sort of words that have even
changed its meaning somewhat,
and that's just the nature of language, okay?
So today, if you were to ask someone today,
in 2024, what is wines on the lees,
well-refined, oh, it's alcohol, of course.
Because the little microorganisms
have been removed, it's been refined
because of alcohol,
and now we can drink it up.
But if you go back and look further back
as far as what it means
to be a well-refined drink,
this is not speaking specifically.
It can be about alcohol.
But when we talk about a drink
that is well-refined,
I wanted to just think about your everyday.
I don't know, I remember as a kid,
I used to love my mom, you know,
bringing oranges home,
and we had a juicer,
just one of those, you know,
those old plastic juices,
that little pyramid thing there.
And I cut the orange,
and I get that orange,
and I want orange juice,
and I get a few oranges,
and you squeeze it,
and try to get every little drop,
and you squeeze,
and every little drop, right?
You get another orange,
and you do it again,
and then you pour it into a cup.
You guys know what I'm talking about?
Well, that drink is not well-refined.
Why?
Because sometimes there's going to be seeds
that are in the drink.
There's the pulp from all the stress,
and all the little bits and pieces
besides the juice
that are going to fall in there,
and it gets into my cup,
and then I need to well-refine it.
And I remember back in the day,
my mama had a little,
little scoopy thing.
We've all,
I don't know,
little cross,
little stainless,
drainer,
that's a drainer,
thank you, brother.
And then you put the drink,
the juice into the drainer,
and then you'd have just the juice
coming through there,
and all the little,
all the things,
all the particles
are going to be stuck in the drainer.
That's a well-refined juice,
isn't it?
Well, that's what he means.
Leaves.
Leaves just means particles,
you know?
So, you know,
if you were to grab,
you know,
grapes off the vine,
we want to make fresh grape juice.
You know,
you grab the grapes in the old days,
you maybe step on them or whatever,
you know,
and you got bits of grape skin,
you got bits of seed,
you might have a little bit of leaf
or a little bit of branch
as people are stepping down that juice,
then you need it well-refined.
So we need to get rid of the particles.
And so by getting rid of the particles,
you make a drink that is nice and clear
and easily to be digested.
This has nothing to do
with making an alcoholic.
So anyway,
a little bit of research
made me realize,
oh, you know,
the word leaves just means
any kind of particle
that needs to be removed
to make it something
that is very drinkable,
easy to digest
by removing all the other physical particles
out of the drink.
Anyway, the point being
is that when Christ
comes and serves us
at the beginning of the millennium,
that's going to be hard to accept.
Like,
Jesus, you want to serve me?
Wow, that's crazy.
Like, wow.
I think I had a hard time accepting that.
You know,
I remember like Peter,
remember when Jesus Christ
came to wash Peter's feet?
No, no, no,
I won't let you wash my feet,
Jesus Christ.
I'm kind of like,
Lord, you're coming to serve me?
I should be serving you.
I mean, this is your millennium reign.
This is your kingdom.
If anyone's serving anybody,
surely it's me serving you, Lord.
I love the humility
and love of our Lord Jesus Christ
and his faithfulness
at the beginning of his millennium.
Hey,
I'll put a feast on.
I'll put a party on.
Let's enjoy each other's company.
Come with me to Matthew 26, please.
Matthew 26 and verse number 27.
Matthew 26, verse number 27.
I want to show you
just a passage of the Bible.
I think I've already proven to you
that it's not alcoholic,
but I proved it to you
from my wisdom,
from my research.
Let me show you
scriptures with scriptures, right?
Comparing scripture with scripture.
Matthew 26, verse number 27.
This is at the Lord's table.
Matthew 26, 27, the Last Supper.
It says,
And he took the cup and gave thanks
and gave it to them,
Drink ye all of it,
for this is my blood
of the New Testament,
which is shed for many
for the remission of sins.
Now verse number 29.
But I say unto you,
I will not drink henceforth
of this fruit of the vine
until that day
when I drink it new
with you
in my Father's kingdom.
So Jesus says,
Look, I'm not drinking anymore
with you until the kingdom,
until he refers
to his Father's kingdom here.
But what's it says?
When I drink it new,
new, new wine,
freshly squeezed grape juice,
not just new,
what we see in Isaiah 25,
well refined.
High quality grape juice
is what Jesus Christ
is going to offer us
in his kingdom.
Come with me to Luke chapter 14.
Now come with me to Luke 14.
Luke 14, 15.
This is a story where Christ
is simply just having a dinner
and a lot, whatever,
a meal together
with some of his believers.
And in Luke 14, 15,
it says,
And when one of them
that sat at meat with him
heard these things,
he said unto him,
Blessed is he
that shall eat bread
in the kingdom of God.
So this guy that sits down,
like this is great
to be eating with Jesus,
but even better,
at his kingdom,
eating bread,
like that's a,
what a blessing that'll be,
he says, right?
And then Jesus Christ says this,
Then said he unto him,
A certain man
made a great supper
and bade many,
and sent his servants
at suppertime
to say to them
that were bidden,
Come,
for all things are now ready.
And they all with one consent
began to make excuse.
The first said unto him,
I have bought a piece
of ground,
and I must need go
and see it.
I pray thee,
have me excused.
And another said,
I have bought five yoke of oxen,
and I go to prove them.
I pray thee,
have me excused.
And another said,
I have married a wife,
and therefore I cannot come.
Look,
if you,
this is about a soul winner,
by the way.
You know what?
When we go and win souls,
we're also inviting them.
They don't realize,
but we invite them
to the great supper,
to this great feast.
And you guys know,
when you knock on someone's door,
can I give you five minutes
to share with you
how you can be sure
of going to heaven?
What are the responses?
Ah, I've got food on the stove.
Can I be excused?
I don't have time for you.
Ah, just about to leave for work.
You know,
can I be excused?
I don't have time.
Maybe even you blame your wife.
Ah, my wife, you know.
I need to go see my wife.
Whatever it is, right?
I cannot come.
I cannot.
I don't have time to hear
the gospel message.
That's all.
We see this all the time,
okay?
And so, you know,
God's inviting everybody
to the supper.
You know,
everyone has an opportunity
to be saved
and to eat and drink
with Jesus Christ
in the millennium.
Verse number 21.
So that servant came
and showed his lord these things.
Then the master of the house
being angry
said to his servant,
go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city
and bring in hither
the poor and the maimed
and the halt and the blind.
And the servant said,
Lord, it is done
as thou has commanded.
And yet there is room.
Brethren,
what has God commanded from us?
To go out to the streets,
to the lanes of the city
and bring in hither
the poor, the maimed,
the halt and the blind,
preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Notice that it's said
that he gets angry
for those that have
refused to hear the gospel.
It's very interesting,
you know,
those that refuse to hear you,
those that reject you,
go away,
don't have time,
not interested,
or they might say profanity,
or, you know,
treat you badly.
Don't worry about it.
God knows he gets angry.
Let him deal with it,
okay?
Don't worry.
Man, you're just a servant.
You're going to be enjoying
the feast with Jesus Christ.
Why get offended?
Like you, you, you know,
like you've got this great news,
you're looking forward
to the celebration.
You know,
let God deal with those
that reject the gospel.
And then it says here,
I love how it says,
and yet there is room.
Brethren,
we're never going to be able
to get to a point
where we finish soul winning.
You say,
pastor, we've knocked
all of Fairfield,
and yet there is room.
There's still more to be saved.
People come and go,
right?
People that were living
on one street next to you
may not be living on that street.
The door that you knocked
when nobody was home,
maybe there's someone home
next time.
That's why I don't mind.
Sometimes people say,
we doubled up by accident.
Doesn't matter.
You double up by accident,
there's probably someone
that you've not spoken to anyway.
Guaranteed,
there's going to be someone
that you've not spoken to.
I love how many times
where I've gone
to a street incorrectly,
or I've encroached
somebody else's territory,
because I didn't follow
the plan properly,
and yet I got someone saved.
There's still room.
Don't worry about it.
If we double up,
or we do an area twice
by accident, who cares?
Obviously,
we're trying to reach everybody.
But brethren,
there is yet,
yet there is room.
Verse 23,
And the Lord said unto the servant,
Go out into the highways and hedges,
and compel them to come in,
that my house may be filled.
For I say unto you,
that none of those men
which were bidden
shall taste of my supper.
Anyone that said,
no, no, don't worry,
I'm not interested,
I don't have time,
I have excuses,
I can't hear it.
They're obviously not going
to be partaking
in this great supper
in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Okay, back to Isaiah 25
and verse number seven.
Isaiah 25, verse number seven.
It says,
And he will destroy
in this mountain,
again, I believe that's
Mount Zion,
and he will destroy
in this mountain
the face of the covering
cast of over all people,
and the veil that is
spread over all nations.
And verse number eight,
so interesting,
this is where we get
the title for the sermon.
And he will swallow up
death in victory.
What does that mean?
He will swallow up
death in victory.
Because death,
you know, is the concept,
is the, you know,
for the wages of sin
is death, right?
Like death is the result
of Adam's sin.
You know,
we're all going to die,
but you know what?
There's coming a time
when God's going to
swallow up death,
it's not going to be,
it's not going to have
a power over us,
and the swallowing
of the death is victory.
Okay?
It says here,
and the Lord,
this is so important,
and the Lord will
wipe away tears
from off all faces.
And the rebuke of his people
shall he take away
from off all the earth,
for the Lord have spoken it.
So the rebuke,
people that persecute,
that hate you
just for being a Christian,
the tears that come
from serving the Lord,
Christ is going to come
and wipe away all tears
from our faces.
Now, back to lamentations,
if you still got a finger there,
Lamentations chapter one,
and this one should be obvious,
like I told you before,
the book of Lamentations
is to lament, to weep, okay?
And in Lamentations chapter one,
verse number two,
again speaking of earthly Jerusalem
in the eyes of Jeremiah,
it says,
She weepeth sore in the night,
and her tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers,
she have none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt
treacherously with her.
They become her enemies.
I want to show you
just another correlation
with Lamentations.
But you know,
to lament is to weep,
to have sorrow,
to have to cry,
and please don't ever think
it's like not manly to weep,
to shed a tear.
You know,
there comes a time,
I don't care,
like to me,
if you're a man,
you say,
no, I'm never going to shed a tear.
To me, it's just pride.
Because how can you live a life
without troubles and difficulties,
where it breaks your heart,
and you're so downcast and burdened,
and God's put it in our nature,
you know,
for relief,
you know,
for the ability to vent,
for tears to come out of our eyes.
But obviously,
when the tears start to flow,
who do we go to?
We go to our Lord.
Our Lord is the one
that wipes tears from off our faces.
Can you come with me
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
1 Corinthians 15, please.
1 Corinthians 15.
I don't know,
I'm sure I've taught this church
this doctrine before,
but it's pretty important
if you can turn there.
1 Corinthians 15 verse number 52.
Because this statement,
he will swallow up death in victory,
is explained,
like what that means.
Say,
what does that mean,
pastor?
Well,
I kind of gave you what it means,
but when does this actually take place?
The Apostle Paul reviews it to us.
In 1 Corinthians 15,
verse number 52,
you know this passage,
1 Corinthians 15, 52.
In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump,
for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
We know that's the rapture.
Amen.
This is the second most famous
passage on the rapture.
Look at verse 54,
drop down to verse number 54.
So when this corruptible,
this corruptible flesh,
shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory.
When does this phrase come to pass?
When we receive new resurrected bodies
at the rapture.
Can you see that?
And then what?
We receive new resurrected bodies.
What else did we see in Isaiah 25?
Once we receive the new bodies,
Christ is going to wipe away
all tears from our eyes.
Okay?
Now come with me to the book of Revelation,
Revelation chapter 7.
I wish I had more time to
get deeper into this,
but I hope I give you enough
to do your own study,
your own reading.
In Revelation chapter 7,
verse number 9.
Revelation chapter 7,
verse number 9.
This is obviously following
Revelation 6 after the sun and moon
are darkened and the stars
fall from heaven.
In Revelation 7, 9 it says,
after this I beheld and lo,
a great multitude
which no man could number
of all nations and kindreds and people
and tons stood before the throne
and before the lamb
clothed with white robes
and palms in their hands.
Drop down to verse number 13.
And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me,
what are these
which are arrayed in white robes
and whence came they?
And I said unto him,
Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me,
these are they
which came out of great tribulation
and have washed their robes
and made them white
in the blood of the lamb.
So who is this great multitude
that have appeared in heaven?
Those that have come
out of great tribulation.
They went through great tribulation.
This church believes in a
post-tribulation pre-Rapture.
The great tribulation has taken place
and now we have this multitude
caught up into heaven.
They appear suddenly.
Who are they?
Well, you know,
those that came out of great tribulation.
So if these are raptured saints,
if the timing of the rapture is correct
as we teach in this church,
we know that these people
will have new resurrected bodies,
won't they?
They have immortal bodies
that have put on immortality,
corrupted bodies
that have put on bodies
that are incorruptible.
And then look at verse number 17,
Revelation 7 17.
For the lamb which is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them
and shall lead them
unto living fountains of waters
and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes.
That's the consistency of the Bible.
Okay, when does God
wipe away our tears?
When death is swallowed up in victory.
According to the Apostle Paul,
when is death swallowed up in victory
at the rapture?
So when does the rapture take place
by starting from Isaiah 24?
Five, after great tribulation.
You know, the sun and moon are darkened
in Revelation chapter 6.
Christ comes in the clouds,
takes us home to be in heaven with him,
gives us new bodies.
You know, we stand before God's throne
a great multitude,
praising the Lord,
and then God comes and wipes away
all tears from our faces, from our eyes.
Back to Isaiah 25 and verse number 9.
Isaiah 25 and verse number 9.
So even though I wanted to show you
how in Isaiah 25, you know,
we see in Christ's millennial reign,
but then we get back to this
death swallowed up in victory.
We know which is before
at the rapture, again,
looking at the book of Revelation
to help us with the chronology
of the events.
But in Isaiah 25 and verse number 9,
and this is so important,
because if this is the rapture,
I know in Isaiah 25,
it doesn't sound like the rapture,
like death swallowed up in victory,
like how is that the rapture?
But then when you understand that it is,
then verse number 9 makes perfect sense.
It says,
And it shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is our God.
We have waited for him,
and he shall save us.
This is the Lord.
We have waited for him.
We will be glad and rejoice
in his salvation.
Why?
Because when the sun and moon are darkened,
the Bible says to lift up your heads
for your redemption,
draweth nigh.
Lift up your heads,
because Christ is coming in the clouds,
and those that went through
great tribulation,
they're going to be saying this,
you know,
We've waited for the Lord.
He's finally come, right?
The sun's gone dark.
The moon's turned to blood, right?
Everything switched off,
and then we see the glory of Christ.
You know, our blessed hope,
we're called Blessed Hope Baptist Church,
because we're looking forward
to the coming of Jesus Christ.
We have waited for him,
and he comes to save his people
from this great tribulation.
Now, I hope you still got a finger
on Lamentations.
Come with me to Lamentations chapter 3.
Lamentations chapter 3 in verse number 25.
Again, just showing you the correlation
with Isaiah 25, the 25th chapter,
with the 25th book of the Bible.
Lamentations 3, 25.
The Bible says,
Now, look, this is not about being saved,
our souls being saved and going to heaven.
We don't need to wait for that.
Like, if you believe in Christ today,
you are saved, okay?
It's a done deal.
Obviously, what we're reading about,
waiting for the salvation of the Lord,
is him coming through during hard times.
Times when we're weeping,
times when we're sorrowing,
times when we're concerned.
We've gone to God.
We're waiting,
Lord, can you come through?
Lord, can you help me?
And we wait for him,
and he answers our prayers.
He does an amazing work,
and we can turn around and say,
Lord, you've wiped away
all tears from my eyes.
You've come through,
you've delivered me.
And of course,
the correlation to the end times.
Believers going through great tribulation.
You know, not being able to buy nor sell,
being persecuted,
being put to death,
being thrown in prison,
what have you.
And then to see Christ coming in the clouds.
What a beautiful sight that would be
if you're going through great tribulation,
great sorrowing,
great weeping during that time.
Verse number 10 in Isaiah 25.
Isaiah 25, verse number 10.
For in this mountain
shall the hand of the Lord rest.
Again, I believe that's Mount Zion.
And Moab shall be trodden down under him,
even as straw is trodden down
for the dung hill.
So it sounds like Moab in the millennium
is going to be a bit of a troublemaker,
at least at one point.
God is going to trod down that nation.
Moab today is,
I think it's situated in modern day Jordan,
at least that kind of region.
Okay, so yeah,
you know, when Christ reigns again,
don't forget, it's going to be wonderful.
You know, there's going to be
the laws of God,
but we know that it's going to rule
with a rod of iron.
So any nation,
any people that step out of line,
Moab, okay,
they're going to be trodden
under the foot of Jesus Christ.
One more passage in Lamentations, please.
Lamentations chapter three.
Just one more correlation there.
Lamentations chapter three,
verse number 25.
Lamentations 3, 25.
And I've got the wrong passage.
Sorry, I already read that one.
Lamentations.
I don't think I'm going to find it.
Let me think.
Sorry, just bear with me.
What's that?
Lamentations.
Let me see if I can find that.
Can you read it out for me, brother?
Yeah, that's a reference.
Yeah, all right, there you go.
So I just want to show you,
once again, Lamentations,
we see a correlation
where Christ is going to trod
certain nations under his foot.
So the millennial reign of Christ
is one where Christ has all power,
all authority.
You step out of line,
man, it's going to be a problem
for those nations.
Back to Isaiah 25,
Isaiah 25, verse number 11.
It says that he shall spread forth
his hands in the midst of them.
The them is Moab, okay?
And then it says this,
as he that swimmeth
spreadeth forth his hands to swim.
So the idea there
is that like, you know,
as symbolism,
you know, you've got a rebellious nation,
then Christ comes,
he puts his hands in the midst of them,
in the middle of the nation,
then it's like he goes for a swim.
He spreads his hands, right?
And so Moab's like just wiped out,
as it were, right?
During the millennial reign of Christ,
you know, you're going for a swim,
maybe doing like a breaststroke
or something like that,
and that's the imagery
that this has given us.
It says, and he shall bring down
their pride together
with the spoils of their hands.
And the fortress of the high fort
of thy walls shall he bring low,
lay low,
and bring to the ground
even to the dust.
All right, so again,
in the millennial reign of Christ,
look, you want to fight against Jesus,
you want to rebel against Jesus,
you want nations to be
full of pride,
be lifted up,
Christ is going to bring
swift destruction
upon those lands.
But look,
title of the sermon was
Swallow Up Death in Victory,
okay?
When God's going to wipe
all tears from our eyes.
Can you come to me,
we've met in one more passage,
in Psalm 42,
Psalm 42,
and then we're done,
Psalm 42,
verse number three.
Because I don't want you
to just learn more about
end times tonight.
It's good you learn more
about end times.
But I want you to take away
a practical lesson today.
Okay?
In Psalm 42,
Psalm 42.
Now,
we know,
we know in the end times,
we know when we have
our new bodies,
Christ will wipe away all tears.
And praise God for that,
because the Bible says
there's going to be no more sorrow,
no more death,
the former things have been forgotten,
they passed away.
Look, when we come,
and especially when it comes
to the new heavens
and the new earth,
there's going to be
no more sadness.
There's no more heartbreak,
okay?
No more tribulations and problems,
and wars and sin and wickedness
and, you know,
concerns and trials.
I'm looking forward
to being with my Lord God,
where I don't have to
deal with problems anymore.
There's too many problems.
Again, like my heart
breaks as a pastor.
When people call me pastor,
I'm in a bad situation.
Can you pray for me?
Oh man, I can't believe it.
Because, you know,
sometimes I think,
man, brother so-and-so,
sister so-and-so just
seem like they're doing great.
Right?
And, you know,
we greet one another.
How's it going, brother?
How's the week?
It's been great.
But for a lot of people,
there's been heartbreak.
There's been sadness.
There's been sorrows.
Whatever it is, you know,
problems, relationship issues,
like so many,
so many burdens.
Fears.
Fears of government
and government, you know,
government abuse of powers
and wars and, you know,
any kind of, you know,
Guys, get off the internet.
Sometimes these things
just bring sadness
and there's no point, you know.
But in Psalm 42,
I want you to,
look, I don't know.
I don't know if you have tears.
Maybe, you know,
if you have tears,
you've had tears this week
or, you know,
problems and worries and concerns
and maybe you're at church
and you just want to forget about it.
But I want you to remember here
and in Psalm 42,
verse number three,
this is the psalmist, okay?
And he says,
My tears have been my meat
day and night.
The psalmist says,
I've been weeping all day,
all night,
because I can't even sleep.
Look, has that been you this week
or some expression of this?
I don't know.
I'm not going to,
you don't have to tell me.
I'm just saying, look,
this is like life is not easy.
All right?
I know we come to church,
we put in a smile
and we try to be encouragement.
Nothing wrong with that, okay?
We come to praise God.
Sometimes we come to church
just to get away from all the issues
and just to hear God's word
and to praise Him.
I think it's wonderful
to be able to do that.
In fact, we're going to keep reading.
That's something we must do.
But he says,
My tears have been meat day and night
while they continually say unto me,
Where is thy God?
Now, this is poetic language,
but as he cries,
as his tears come,
his tears poetically are saying to him,
look, the reason you're weeping
and crying is because where's God?
God's not coming through for you.
God's not answering your prayers.
Of course, those tears are himself.
He's got those doubts.
He's got those concerns.
God, where are you?
Like, Lord, you know my problem.
I can't handle it any longer.
Look at me.
I'm broken.
I'm weeping.
I can't even lift my face before you.
Where are you, Lord?
Then verse number four.
When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me.
So, yeah, it's his soul.
It's not his tears.
He's blaming the tears
because, no, it's a problem I got in here.
He says,
For I had gone,
for I had gone with a multitude.
I love this.
I went with them to the house of God
with the voice of joy and praise,
with a multitude that kept holy day.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
Why art thou disquieted in me?
Hope thou in God,
for I shall yet praise him
for the help of his countenance.
What a great answer.
Like, just weeping.
Where are you, God?
He goes, I don't know what to do.
I'm going to go to church.
I'm going to go to the house of the Lord, right?
And I'm going to sing praises.
I'm going to be joyful with the multitude.
I'm going to get about my brothers and sisters,
and we're going to encourage one another.
That's the answer.
Sometimes we get downcast and depressed.
And we think maybe it's best to just stay home.
I don't want to go to church.
I don't feel like it.
No, no.
Feel like it.
Force yourself.
Get out of that negative situation for just a moment.
Give your mind, your mental health a bit of a boost
by coming around God's people to praise him.
Then he says, why are you cast down, my soul?
Like, once he's praising God,
and he's happy to be at church,
he's heard some good preaching,
and he's like, why am I so cast down?
You know, hope thou in God.
Like he's speaking to himself.
He's speaking to his soul.
Like, you're an idiot.
It's like the new man speaking to the old man.
Like, man, why'd you lose hope?
Hope in God.
And I love the end of it.
Verse number five, for I shall yet praise him
for the help of his counselments.
He goes, you know what?
I feel like God's not coming through.
I'm still going to praise him.
What a great man.
What a great man that is.
And so just to walk away like, yes,
Christ is going to wipe away our tears.
Don't worry, in the end times.
You know, Christ can wipe away our tears even today.
You know, I don't know,
maybe he had tears even today.
You've come to the house of the Lord
to praise him, to rejoice,
to have hope in the Lord.
Look, the Lord can wipe away your tears even tonight, okay?
So brethren, swallow up death in victory.
We have this great promise to come in the future.
But don't think, okay,
that's when it's going to be wonderful.
No, things can be wonderful for you today.
You just have to hope in the Lord.
Let's pray.