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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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.