ISAIAH 252008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 25

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008.

We started his conversation, his prophecies regarding the end times. We looked at the tribulation period that will come upon the earth. It's something yet future. Seven years of God's wrath being poured out, of trouble and tribulation like this world has never seen. It will be concluded with the return of Jesus Christ. And when he returns, he will set up and establish his kingdom again.

That will be here on the earth for 1,000 years, also known as the millennium. And during this millennial period, there will be a time of peace. The devil will be bound in the abyss for 1,000 years so as not to deceive any longer people.

And there will be a forced righteousness that takes place. There's going to be a great renewal in the earth as far as the agriculture and the earth is concerned. And there's going to be great restoration much like it was before the fall of man back in the Garden of Eden.

And so it's going to be a wonderful time. And he ended up, chapter 24, talking about this time, the time when Christ will reign and he will physically be here on this earth in Jerusalem.

And it's on the heels of that that we begin chapter 25. After looking at the great judgments that God will be pouring out and the misery that will accompany that, the judgments of God are not pleasant or something happy to talk about, but they are severe. They're greater than what we could even really imagine. But after that, as God establishes His kingdom, there's going to be great rejoicing.

And so chapter 25 is really a praise to the Lord, a reflection upon what God has done by those who are now in the millennial period. And they're reflecting and looking back and considering and praising God for all that he has done. And so here in chapter 25, verse 1, he starts out by saying, Oh, Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you.

Now, as we go through the chapter this evening, I would encourage you to pay attention to all of the times that the Lord is referred to. Notice here in verse 1, he's referred to quite a few times.

Throughout this chapter, he will be focusing on the Lord. And it's so important for us as believers in Jesus Christ to be focused on and centered around the Lord. As they're in this millennial period, as they enter into this time of peace, this time that Jesus Christ will rule and reign, they take a moment to recognize, to consider, to pronounce and declare, Lord, you are my God.

It's important for us as Christians today to take the same consideration. To stop and let the Lord know, Lord, you are my God. Not because he needs to know, but it's important for us to remember and reflect as things get out of hand, as things get difficult, as things, well, they just don't go exactly the way that we planned.

or as our hearts begin to be captivated by other things, as our lives begin to be filled and consumed with other things, we need to come back to this point and remember, Lord, You are my God.

And if God is our God, then what is the appropriate response for us as His people? And that's what they go on to say. He says, I will praise your name, for you have done... I'm sorry, I will exalt you, and I will praise your name. Notice the I will there at the beginning of these two statements. I will exalt you, and I will praise your name. If God is our God, then that means we've made the choice...

to exalt Him and to praise Him. If God is our God, then we can say, like Isaiah here, or like those who are in the millennial period, I will, I choose, I have determined, I have made a deliberate choice, decision, to exalt God and to praise His name. When you came today, as we have spent time in worship and praise this evening already at the beginning of service,

Had you made that decision, that choice, I will praise God. I will exalt Him. There's so much we could talk about there. I'll leave it at that and I would encourage you and challenge you. Each time you come, as we gather together for worship, let it be a deliberate choice that I will worship God. I will praise Him. I will exalt His name. God is worthy to be exalted.

Now, we've been looking at a lot of judgment in the book of Isaiah. God pronouncing that he is going to bring judgment upon this nation, upon that nation. Here in chapter 24 last week, he's bringing judgment upon the whole world. And God's judgment is always dealing with man's pride. He's dealing with man exalting himself instead of God. There's lots of

Things that we could talk about in ways that man does this. But ultimately, anytime we disregard God's word, anytime we do our own thing, anytime we disobey God, it's an act of pride. We're exalting ourself. We're considering that we know best. We're considering that our way is better. We're disregarding what God has said. And we, in our pride, are saying, I'm going to do it my way. Instead of, I will exalt God,

We then are saying, I will exalt myself and I'll do what I want to do. It's a choice that we make. And we need to make the choice. We need to make the statement, Lord, you are my God. So I will exalt you. I will praise your name. I will make the choice, a deliberate decision, to lift you high and humble myself.

God will bring low all those who are lifted up, all those who are full of themselves, all those who are full of pride. God will humble them.

We've seen that already. Pride goes before destruction. We saw in James that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. We've seen over and over again that God brings His judgments upon the nations that set themselves up against Him and are lifted up in pride. And we'll even see it again here at the end of chapter 25 as God deals with Moab as a result of their pride.

And so this evening, God wants to deal with our pride by reminding us that we need to say, the Lord, He is our God. And that if we have made that statement, if He truly is our God, that we are willing, are purposefully exalting Him and praising His name.

Why ought we to exalt Him and praise Him? Well, first of all, He's worthy. We know that, and we could look at many scriptural accounts of that. But here in the chapter 25, they go on to tell us why they exalt God and why they praise His name. Look at the second half of chapter 25, verse 1. He says, Notice he starts with the word for. Why do I exalt God? Why do I praise Your name? For You have done wonderful things.

Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Why should you exalt God? Why should you praise His name? Very simply, because He has done wonderful things. Hasn't God done wonderful things in your life? For you? Spiritually? Physically? Emotionally? Financially? Hasn't God done wonderful things for you?

He's worthy of exaltation. He's worthy of our praise because He's done wonderful things for you. And I would challenge you to consider and think and don't be satisfied. Don't rest until you can think of something wonderful that God has done for you. We could look at salvation, of course. That is something wonderful. Wonderful just seems like not a sufficient word to describe the salvation that God has given to us. But there's also much more that God has done. He has done wonderful things.

Another reason to exalt God and praise Him is that His counsels are faithfulness and truth. He says His counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. The word counsel there, it's not like we go to a counselor today and the idea of counsel being like dealing with emotional things and hurts and issues like that. But this counsel is one who gives advice.

The advice or the purposes of God, the counsel that he gives us and the things that we ought to do, they are faithfulness and truth. Now, that's something that we ought to praise God for. You and I as human beings and our words, we can be very crafty, we can be very tricky, we can be wrong, we can be incorrect, we can be uninformed, we can be deceived. Our counsel is

the advice and the purposes that we give and share with people, those things are fallible. You know, someone could come to you with a problem and you could share with them, well, this is what I think you ought to do. And they could go and do that thing and put your counsel into effect and wind up in a worse situation and be worse off for following the counsel that you give to them.

You guys understand that, right? Make sense? Yeah, we can give bad counsel. How many of you have ever received bad counsel from somebody? Anybody? Yeah, we all have, I'm sure. There's been those people that tell us, and especially when you're having problems and you've got some co-workers, they all like to pitch in. Oh, well, here's what you ought to do. And oftentimes the counsel contradicts each other. How do you determine? How do you figure out what to do?

How do you know that if you put this counsel into place, if you follow it, that it will be, well, the outcome will be what you want it to be or what you expect it to be? Instead, in dealing with the Lord, His counsels are faithfulness and truth. You can count on them. He's faithful. His counsels are faithfulness. They're going to happen. If you apply God's counsel, you'll find that His counsels of old are faithfulness.

You'll find that what he has said and what he has told us to do, it's the truth. That we can count on it. We can bank upon it. We can stand upon a sturdy foundation like the wise man who built his house upon the rock. Now, if you build your house upon the counsel of others, that's equivalent to building your house upon the foundation of sand. It won't stand. It won't last forever.

Man's counsel will fail, but God's counsels, their faithfulness and truth, they will be established. They will be firm. They will not let you down. If you apply what God has said in his word, if you put into practice what he has instructed us to do, you will find the solid rock that is Jesus Christ as we live according to his word. His counsels of old. What are his counsels? It's his word.

In Psalm 119, verse 24, the psalmist, most likely David, says, Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. Who's your counselors? The psalmist says, Your testimonies, Lord, Your Word, Your principles, Your truth, what You have written down, that's my counselors. Those are my advisors.

Who's your advisors? Well, I've got Paul and David and Solomon and Peter and Jesus. I've got the greatest set of counselors in the world right here in this book giving me the instruction that I need. And I'll find if I put them into practice that they are faithfulness and truth. The counsel of nations, Psalm 33 says, the counsel and the plans of kings and men, God will bring that to nothing.

And it goes on to say in Psalm 33, 11, that the counsel of the Lord stands forever. It will not be shaken. It will not be moved. We can count on Jesus.

Believe and put into practice the counsel of God. Why ought we to exalt and praise God? Because we never have to worry or wonder, well, where does God stand? What does He want me to do? How does He want me to respond in these situations? Because we have His Word. We have His instruction. What does God think about this? And it's not going to change.

You know, sometimes you talk to people and you have people in authority over you and their mind changes. And what used to be right is no longer right. Corporate policy has changed and now, nope, that's not the right way to do it anymore. Now this is the right way. God doesn't do that. They don't change their faithfulness and truth. We can trust and count on His Word, His counsels of old. We ought to praise God.

We never have to worry about where we stand. As we've just been studying about the grace of God, that's not going to change. We don't have to worry about waking up one day and God says, grace, that's no more. Now, back to works or some other thing. Now, all of a sudden, you have to relate to God based upon something else. No, His counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. That's something worthy of praising God for, exalting Him. Going on in verse 2.

He gives us another reason why we ought to exalt him. He says, Notice again the references to the Lord. The strong people will glorify you in verse 3.

The terrible nations will fear you. God is the center of this person's focus. The person who says, Lord, you are my God, it's very evident because he is the center, the central focus of their praise, their prayer, their words. But he says, I will exalt you, I will praise you. Why? Well, because you've made a city a ruin.

It might seem kind of strange to praise God for making a city a ruin, a fortified city a ruin, making it so that it will never be rebuilt. But again, these are those who have gone through the tribulation period. They've now entered into the millennial kingdom. God has dealt with and judged righteously with the sin of mankind. This is an exaltation, a praise to God for His righteous judgment.

I won't go into detail. We covered it thoroughly last week. And so if you weren't here, you can get the CD. But God's judgment is righteous. It's right. It's what's deserved. And these people, as they've gone through, they've endured, they've suffered through all of the horrors of the tribulation period. They're on the other side and they're able to praise God because His righteous judgments have taken place. They're right and they're true. They're what was needed. They are just.

And he has destroyed sin and the effects of sin upon the world. And so they're able to praise God for his righteous judgment. Again, that's something worthy to exalt God for and praise God for. If one of us was God, we couldn't count on righteous judgment. We could count on judgment, I'm sure. But whether it's right or not, or just what's needed...

whether there would be mercy involved, whether there would be the right timing involved, whether there would be patience or whether we'd be judged on the spot. If we were God, we would respond and react quite differently because our nature is, well, it's not quite matching up to the nature of God yet. His righteous judgment in the perfect time. He's not slack concerning his promises as some count slackness, but he's patient, not wanting any to perish.

Then in verse 4,

More reasons to praise God and exalt Him. It says, For you have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Let's go on and read verse 5 as well. You will reduce the noise of aliens as heat in a dry place, as heat in the shadow of a cloud. The song of the terrible ones will be diminished. Here he goes on to explain that we ought to exalt God and praise Him because of what He's done for those who are in need. He says, you are a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy, a refuge from the storm, a shade in the heat.

You've been a wall against the blast of the terrible. You reduce the heat, bring the heat to nothing for those who are going through. Now, this could easily and rightly be spoken by those who the Lord carried through the tribulation period. I mean, you've got to understand, with all of the turmoil and all the difficulty and the cataclysmic events that would be taking place, the only way for anybody to survive the tribulation is

is for God to be a strength for the poor and the needy, a refuge from the storm, a shelter from the heat, a wall from the blast of the terrible ones. The only way is for God to be intervening and divinely protecting those that will survive through the tribulation period. And so they're able to look back and say, Lord, you're my God. I exalt you and I praise you because you're the strength. You're the refuge. You're the shelter.

You're the provider. You're the protector. I like the picture he paints here with the wall. And there's the blast of the terrible ones that's likened to a storm against a wall. And it doesn't move. It can't be shaken. It can't penetrate. God is the ultimate protector. So he's worthy to be exalted. He's worthy to be praised. Isaiah says, God, you are my God.

I will exalt you. And I would challenge you and I, this is those who have gone through the tribulation period, they're entering into the millennium, but as they enter into the kingdom of God in the same way, for you and I, spiritually speaking, we have entered into the kingdom of God. Jesus came proclaiming and pronouncing that the kingdom of God is at hand. And these same things can be said of us and of our lives.

Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you and praise your name. Why? Because for me, God has done wonderful things. For me, his counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For me in my life, God has imparted righteous judgment, both to me and for me. And in my life, he's been a strength, a refuge, a shelter.

We'll come back to this thought at the end. I want to encourage you to consider those things and think of specific examples in your life when God has done wonderful things, when His Word has been proven faithful and true, when righteous judgment has been imparted upon you or for you, around you, and when He's been strength to you, a refuge for you, a shelter from the storm. But let's move on and look at verses 6-9.

It says,

He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth for the Lord has spoken.

Here in verses 6-9, we find another section, a division we could say of this chapter, chapter 25. Verses 1-5, he's been talking to the Lord. You are my God. I exalt you. I praise you. And then in verses 6-9, the pronouns change and now it's he and his and what he is going to do and how he has saved his people. First, we see

The need to exalt and praise God. And in verses 6-9, now we see the salvation of God. The salvation of God. Those who exalt God will experience the salvation of God. Those who exalt God, those who honor Him, those who obey Him, those who lift Him high will experience the salvation of God. And so we see the salvation of God here in verses 6-9.

Talking about, again, this kingdom that God will establish. In verse 6, he's talking about this feast that the Lord will make. It will be a feast for all people of the best things. Everyone will be invited. Zechariah chapter 14 tells us that during that reign of Christ, the millennial period, that each year the Feast of Tabernacles will be celebrated. And everyone, all of the earth, will come to celebrate this feast.

And he even goes on to say, whoever does not come, their land will not receive rain. They will receive judgment and consequences for not coming and participating in the feast of God. But here, the people are rejoicing. Here, God is throwing this feast. He's having this celebration, this reminder of his salvation and what he has done.

So, as part of the salvation for God is going to be a feast, a great celebration. But also, as part of the salvation of God, we have verse 7, where God will destroy, it says, the surface of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations. He's going to destroy the covering or the veil. What is he talking about?

What is this covering that covers all people? This covering that's been cast over all people? What is this veil that is spread out over all nations that God will destroy in that day? Some connect it to the next verse, verse 8, as he talks about death and how Christ has defeated death. It's been swallowed up forever. And that's definitely possible. But for me, I considered the word veil.

He will destroy the veil that is spread over all nations. You know, in Hebrews chapter 8, it tells us that the temple, the tabernacle, were simply shadows of a reality that is in heaven. They were shadows, and that's why God told Moses, make sure you do it exactly like I said, because this is modeling or shadowing something that really exists in heaven.

And so I considered, if you remember when Jesus was upon the cross, there in Matthew chapter 27, verse 51, it tells us that as Jesus died, the temple was torn, not the temple, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. And we look at that and we recognize that that means the way has been opened.

That no longer are we limited to the holy place, but the most holy place where the presence of God dwelt. You and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, we have access into the presence of God. The veil has been torn. We have access through the veil that is his flesh, Hebrews chapter 10 tells us. And so we have access to the presence of God, to the person of God, to a real, meaningful, and personal, intimate relationship with God.

That's powerful. That's something that we could spend much more time considering and reflecting upon. And I'm sure you've heard it often. And it's something that God will remind us of over and over again. But here's what I went on to consider. That's just the shadow. The veil in the temple that was ripped in Matthew chapter 27. That's just the shadow. That's not the reality. That's the shadow. Yeah, it's a big deal. And we're blessed as a result of it.

But there's still a veil to be torn. And see, on that mountain, as Jesus will establish his throne, the reality, the veil will be torn. You know, Jesus told the disciples, Thomas specifically, hey, blessed are you because you believe. More blessed are those who believe even though they don't see. Jesus is going to come not as a humble servant when he comes again, but he's going to come in his glory. The veil is going to be removed.

And that day we will see Him as He is. Right now we know in part, but then we will fully know even as we are fully known. There's going to be a removal of the veil. A reality to God like never before experienced, except in Adam. A reality to the presence and person of God. It says in verse 7, "...He will destroy on this mountain there in Jerusalem as He establishes His kingdom there in the millennial period."

He will destroy that veil that keeps people from the person of God, the presence of God. There's going to be a newness in the relationship with God that men can have. So the salvation of God includes the feast, includes the destroying, the removing of the veil.

And it also includes the swallowing up of death. Verse 8. He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, the rebuke of His people. He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. And that day, death will be no more. Paul quotes this in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 54 and 55. When he says, talking about the rapture,

That death has been swallowed up. Oh, Hades, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? There's no more sting in death. There's no more victory for death. It has been swallowed up by Jesus Christ. There will be no more death. No more tears. God will wipe them away as we also read in Revelation. The rebuke of His people, the judgment, that time will be over. Life everlasting. Life eternal.

With no more sorrow. Verse 9, And it will be said in that day, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him and He will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. This is the salvation of God. The salvation of the Lord. There's great joy. There's celebration. There's great intimacy and a far greater relationship with God than we've ever known before.

Death will be swallowed up. There'll be no more pain, no more sorrow. Notice they say we have waited for Him a couple times there in verse 9. Right now that's what we're doing. We're waiting. We can walk in relationship with God. We have a real relationship with the Lord. And at the same time we're waiting for the reality of our salvation. The day that we will stand with Him, before Him. The day that He returns.

And this salvation will be realized. It will be fulfilled completely. The fullness of what God intends for us. Those who exalt God will experience the salvation of God. It's so important for us to lift Him up, to praise Him, to honor Him, and to put Him above us, to esteem Him before ourselves, to obey Him instead of doing whatever we desire to do and want to do.

We need to exalt God. To be able to say, Oh Lord, You are my God. To make the choice and the decision, I will exalt You. You will be the center of my life. You will be the purpose of my life. I will praise Your name. I'm going to honor You for all that You have done. Those who exalt God will experience the salvation of God. But those who exalt themselves...

We'll experience the judgment of God. And that's what we see in the final verses, verses 10 through 12. It says,

And Moab shall be trampled down under him, as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. And he will spread out his hands in their midst, as a swimmer reaches out to swim. And he will bring down their pride, together with the trickery of their hands. The fortress of the high forts of your walls, he will bring low, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust."

Those who exalt themselves will experience the judgment of God as seen here in Moab. Here he says, he's talking about this great salvation, this wonderful things that God has done, and the salvation that we have on him. On this mountain, it's all going to take place in Jerusalem where God establishes his kingdom. But he also goes on to say, on this mountain, Moab will be trampled down under him.

And again, I share with you that judgment is always God dealing with pride, with man exalting himself. We've seen it over and over again, time and time again. Moab was known for its pride. God had already pronounced that he would bring judgment upon Moab as a result of their pride in Zephaniah 2, verses 8-11.

He's dealing with Moab for their pride. And they represent the proud. They represent all who will exalt themselves above God. All who will disobey God or rebel against God. And so God is going to bring His judgment. They're going to be trampled down for the refuse heap. In verse 12, He says, He will bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust. It's kind of like...

How else can you say any lower? I mean, you can't get any lower than that. Being brought down and laid low and then bringing to the ground and then even down to the dust. God is going to completely let them know who they are. And we need to understand, this is who we are. We're nothing. We may not do much for our self-esteem, but that's okay. We've got too much self-esteem.

We exalt ourselves when we're consumed with ourselves. We exalt ourselves when we're intent on doing what we want and we disregard what God has said. When we do not follow the counsels of God that are faithfulness and truth, we exalt ourselves and we esteem ourselves too much. This is the judgment of God that's poured out upon those who exalt themselves. That He will prove once and for all, He is exalted. He alone. He is high and lifted up.

And so here Moab, because of their pride, because they've exalted themselves, will be brought low, down to the ground, down to the dust. It's not lower than they are or lower than they deserve. It's where they truly are, but they just don't recognize it. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. See, in the dust, laid low, that's where we belong. But if we recognize that, if we agree with God, confess to God,

He gives grace, undeserved favor and kindness. He lifts us up. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. But if we are full of ourselves, if we exalt ourselves, if we esteem ourselves instead of God, then we will be brought low. And so we find here in chapter 25, those who exalt God will experience the salvation of God, but those who exalt themselves will experience the judgment of God.

And so I want to encourage you this evening to exalt the Lord, to put Him first, to honor Him, to praise Him, to make the decision, to make the choice, to honor Him for what He has done. Again, looking at some of those things, He has done wonderful things. His counsels are faithfulness and truth. He has made a city a ruin. He's been a strength to the poor, to the needy, a refuge from the storm.

God has been those things for you and in your life. And I want to encourage you and challenge you this evening to exalt Him and praise Him for that. And so the worship team is going to come up and we're going to worship the Lord. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.