Let’s stand together and read aloud the first nine verses from Isaiah 25. We’ll be reading from the ESV version, so you can either use your Bible if you have that version or there are some extra Bibles in the chair backs. The verses will also be up on the screen as well:
1 O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Prayer – Dana
This morning we’ll be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together as a church family. One of the things that I love about the Lord’s Supper is that it has so many different aspects to it. So that is why each time we observe this ordinance together, we try to focus on a different facet of this celebration.
Certainly, the Lord’s Supper is a time to look back and to give thanks – not unlike our Thanksgiving Day which we observed a week ago Thursday. It may very well be that our traditional Thanksgiving holiday can trace its roots back to the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, not surprising given the connection between feasting and giving thanks throughout the Bible. Even the Passover meal, which Jesus used as the basis for establishing the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, was a time to look back and to give thanks for how God has brought His people out of bondage in Egypt.
So as you take the bread and cup in a few moments, it would certainly be appropriate to give thanks to God as you remember the price Jesus paid on the cross to cover our sins and make it possible for us to have a relationship with God.
But this morning, I’d like for us to focus on the future aspects of the Lord’s Supper as pictured by Isaiah here in chapter 25. There is little doubt that Jesus had this passage in mind as He instituted the Lord’s Supper with His disciples:
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:26-28 (ESV)
In particular, I want you to focus on the last statement of Jesus when He claimed that He would not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day that He would drink it with His followers in His Father’s kingdom. That is the scene pictured by Isaiah, particularly in verses 6-9. And, as we have seen previously, this is also the same scene pictured by John in Revelation 19 as he describes the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
One of the reasons that we observe the Lord’s Supper together is in anticipation of this great feast in the future when the small piece of bread and cup that we take now with be replaced with an abundant feast where Jesus will join us face-to-face and share the fruit of the vine once again with His followers.
So before we share the bread and the cup this morning, I’d like us to take a few moments to meditate on three aspects of God’s character that are revealed by Isaiah in this passage and which will be on full display for God’s children as we share in this feast with Jesus upon His return.
1. The God who graces
When we gather together for a meal, one of the activities that often takes place is story telling. I’m not talking about made up stories here, although we all probably know a few people who are really good at that, but rather the recounting of the past events in our lives that tend to draw us together as we remember those events. Certainly the Passover meal that Jesus used as the basis for establishing the observance of what we know as the Lord’s Supper was such an occasion. Even the elements of the meal are symbols of the account of how God delivered His people from bondage in Egypt.
And when the entire remnant gathers together for this great feast that Isaiah describes, they will certainly have some stories to tell. Isaiah even reveals what they will be celebrating and remembering. That’s why the chapter begins with praise to God for the wonderful things that He has done. And what is it that will be the subject of that song of praise? It is the fact that God is going to preserve His remnant even through the utter devastation that will result from God’s judgment. God will be a stronghold and a shelter and a shade for His people.
And all of that is completely a result of the operation of God’s grace. In fact, everyone who will be there at that great banquet will only be there because of God’s grace, not because they have done something to earn or deserve their invitation.
Over the past couple of weeks Tareq and Michaele Salahi have been all over the news for “crashing” the state dinner at the White House on November 24. Apparently the couple had tried in vain to secure an invitation to the event, but when they were unsuccessful, they showed up anyway and were mistakenly admitted to the event. The fact is that the invitations weren’t issued based on the merits or the efforts of those who wanted to attend. It was up to the White House, in their sole discretion to determine who they wanted to invite.
That is exactly what will happen with the invitations to the banquet that Isaiah describes. God alone determines the guest list and no one can get on the list based on their own efforts. All they can do is to accept the invitation when God gives it and be thankful for the operation of His grace in their lives. And we also know for certain there won’t be any “crashers” at that banquet.
2. The God who gathers
When God saves and rescues us through the operation of His grace, He never leaves us alone. He gathers His followers into communities of fellow believers. He has done that in the present age in local bodies of believers which we call churches. And as God embarks on that gathering process, it is interesting how many times that the process includes a meal of some kind. Although in our busy culture, we have sometimes missed out on it, meals in biblical times were not just an occasion to eat, but also a time for intimacy and acceptance and an opportunity to develop community. Unfortunately, the cultural constraints of the current day have caused us to miss out on those aspects of our observance of the Lord’s Supper.
In this passage, Isaiah makes it clear that the participants in this great banquet won’t be limited just to Israel. He uses phrases like “all peoples”, “all nations” and “all faces” to emphasize that His grace is available to all, even to those who had been enemies of God’s people at one time. Jesus certainly modeled the nature of this great banquet when He dined with tax collectors and others who were considered despicable sinners by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.
That does not mean, however, that everyone will receive an invitation to the banquet or that everyone will be able to attend. When we look at this passage in its context in both the Book of Isaiah and the Bible as a whole, it is absolutely clear that a place at the table has been reserved only for those who have come to God by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
3. The God who gives
The Bible, from cover to cover, reveals God’s nature as a giver of good gifts to His children. But the banquet pictured here by Isaiah is a reminder that the best really is yet to come. When we gather together with other believers for the banquet, God is going to provide the very best of everything – the finest wine, the best meat. It will far surpass even the greatest meal that we have ever eaten here on this earth because it is God’s nature to give the very best to His children.
But far more valuable and satisfying will be the fact that we will physically be in the presence of Jesus Himself, sharing in an intimate meal with Him. And as a result, we will eternally experience joy to its full. There will be no more sin, no more death, no more pain, no more tears. And that would certainly be more than enough. But there is one more gift that God is going to give to His children. Notice in verse 8 that God will take away the reproach of His people. In other words, we are going to be vindicated four our faith in Jesus. Those who have rejected Jesus are going to find out once and for all that our faith in Jesus was not in vain and that they have been fools for rejecting Him.
As followers of Jesus, we have a glorious future in store. And the observance of the Lord’s Supper is our proclamation that, as it says in verse 9, we are waiting for God. It is our testimony that Jesus is alive and that He is coming back for us some day so that we can enjoy an intimate meal together with Him. In a sense, the small piece of bread and cup that we will take in just a moment are tokens of our invitation to the great banquet at the end of the age.
So this morning, I invite you to focus on God as a gracer, a gatherer and a giver and how we’ll be able to celebrate those aspects of His nature as we gather together with other believers to share an intimate meal with Jesus.
Before we take the elements, let me provide some instruction as well as some Scriptural admonitions.
In a moment, we will begin to sing a total of four songs, ending with “How Great is Our God”. During that time, we invite you take part in the observance of the Lord’s Supper as God leads you. The bread and the cup are available at the two tables and you may come and take the elements any time during those four songs. As you take the elements, you may want to sing, meditate on the passage in Isaiah, pray, or respond to God in some other way. You will also notice that there is an offering plate at the center of each table and if you would like to respond to God by giving an offering, we ask that you just place it in the offering plate during this time. You may take the elements whenever you wish.
If it is difficult for you to get to one of the tables, you may ask for some help from someone around you or raise your hand and one of the elders will be happy to assist you.
In the Bible, we have some clear guidelines that are to govern our conduct during the observance of the Lord’s Supper, particularly these words of Paul:
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (ESV)
If you have committed your life to Jesus as Lord and Savior, then regardless of whether or not you are a member here at TFC, then we invite you to take the elements. However, if you have not yet made that decision, then we ask that you not take the bread and the cup since you would be taking it in an unworthy manner and therefore bring judgment upon yourself. You are certainly welcome to sing, pray and meditate on the Scriptures and it is our prayer that in doing so you would come to the place where you make that decision.
I would also encourage all of us to make sure that we examine ourselves before taking the bread and the cup and confess any sin that God brings to mind and also make sure that we are coming to the table with the proper attitude and focus.
[After the last song]
Dana:
Isaiah reveals in verse 9 what our response will be when Jesus gathers us together for this great feast. So as we are gathered together as a body here today to partake of this symbolic meal together, we’re going to close our time by reciting those words together:
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
