Mike Davenport's sermon, 'Our King Is on His Holy Hill', explores the themes of God's promises, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the kingship of Jesus Christ, as illustrated in Isaiah 24 and 25. The sermon begins by highlighting the future reign of the Lord on Mount Zion, where God's glory will be revealed, and the eventual downfall of the city of man. Believers are encouraged to exalt and praise God for His wonderful deeds, rooted in faithfulness and truth. The sermon emphasizes the strength and protection God provides to His people, describing Him as a refuge and shade in times of distress. Davenport underscores the fulfillment of promises through the coming of Christ, who embodies the roles of prophet, priest, and king. The sermon encourages believers to recognize and celebrate the salvation and blessings brought by Christ's reign. It concludes with a call to respond to God's kingship by turning away from worldly pursuits and embracing the richness of the New Covenant, finding joy and satisfaction in the spiritual inheritance offered through Jesus Christ.

Book of Isaiah, starting in chapter 24, verse 23. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders gloriously. O Lord, you are my God, I will exalt you, I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things. Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth, For you have made a city a ruin, a fortified city a ruin, a palace of foreigners to be a city no more. It will never be rebuilt.

Therefore the strong people will glorify you. The city of the terrible nations will fear you. 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. 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. And in this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

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, for on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest, 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 fort of your walls, He will bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust. Let us pray. Great Heavenly Father, mighty God, we come before you now, desiring to hear from heaven, desiring to hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, desiring to delight in Him and in His word. Father, would you give us your Spirit to open our ears to hear? Would you open our eyes to see wonderful things from your law?

Father, we pray, Father, as this passage speaks of such great things, Father, pray that you would be with Mike Davenport as he comes and opens up this text, Father, and expounds upon it. Father, may His instruction be clear. May it be from heaven. May we understand rightly, Father, the hope of Your promises. Father, we pray these things in Jesus' name, by His blood.

Amen. If you have been a believer for some time, I would assume that you are familiar with Hebrews 11. In this chapter, the writer to the Hebrews recounts for us the heroic acts of faith carried out by Old Testament saints. What fed such faith? What kept it burning in their souls?

It was the promises. It was the promises. Our brother Jeff just prayed that God would make these promises real to us this day. These were promises associated with the heavenly kingdom. Promises given by a coming king.

Promises of an eternal and a heavenly country. We read in Hebrews 11 verses 13 through 16, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." Brothers and sisters, these promises, not received by these Old Testament saints, but embraced by them, these promises have come to fruition. They hinged upon the coming of a prophet, a prophet like unto Moses, whom the people would hear. A priest, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, a priest of the most high gods and of a king, David's greater son and David's lord, whose reign and kingdom would be an everlasting one. He has come and God has prepared a city for his people. Having written of the failures of the city of man and the judgment that God was going to bring upon them, Isaiah in this chapter shows us what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like when the government rests upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ.

We get a glimpse of the city of God and we learn the ways of her reigning King. Question 27 in the Baptist version of the shorter catechism, asks and answers the following question, How does Christ execute the office of a king? Now three questions earlier it asked about the offices of Jesus Christ, and it named prophet, priest, and king. Question 27 is particularly interested in how does Christ execute the office of a king? Here's the answer.

Christ executes the office of a king in calling His church out of the world to be a people for Himself and in ruling and defending it, subduing, saving, preserving, and blessing his elect, and then restraining, conquering, and taking vengeance on all his and their enemies. And it is my aim this morning to break down this answer and to use how I break it down as the major heads of the outline as we walk through this passage together. So first of all, Christ executes the office of a king and calling his church out of the world to be a people for himself. In the opening line of Isaiah 25 we have some of the most glorious words ever expressed by human tongue. Oh Jehovah you are my Elohim.

O God of the everlasting covenant, covenant-making God, covenant-keeping God, You, plural, are my strong and mighty one." This sudden, extemporaneous expression of praise arises out of the glorious reality set forth in the last verse of chapter 24. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders gloriously. It is the joyous recognition that Christ is King, that He is my King, and that He is ruling on behalf of His bride, the church. It is the proclamation of a Son of Adam that has been adopted into the Kingdom of God because Christ's call through the Gospel was made effectual in the heart by the work of the Holy Spirit. And it is that same Spirit who has taught Him to cry out, Abba, Father, O Lord, You are my God.

Let the wonder of those words roll over your soul, my brother and my sister. Let the beauty of them enrich your heart. Oh Lord, you are my God. Praise Him who has, as Paul tells us in Colossians 1.13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. O experience the Christ-promised blessing upon those who cry out like Thomas, my Lord and my God." Well, in the remainder of the opening verse, we see the resolve of Isaiah to adore his Lord and Savior, to exalt the Lord and to praise his name.

I will exalt you. I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things. Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. This is nothing short of worship. The full expression of a heart made full.

He deems it right that the person and name of Jesus Christ be lifted up. And the next word after this praise, this word for, ties the reason to the response. What is it that moves Isaiah to worship, to praise the Lord of glory? It is the providential dealings of the King. For you have done wonderful things.

Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." Kyle and Delich in their commentary on this passage state the following, the wonders which are now actually wrought are councils from afar. Councils already adopted afar off. That is, long before. Faults of God belonging to the olden time. It is the manifold counsel of the Holy One of Israel which displays its wonders in the events of time.

What He has executed is the realization of his faithfulness and the reality of his promises. Do you recall the words of Isaiah 14, verses 24, 26, and 27? The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought so it shall come to pass and as I have purposed so it shall stand. This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations for the Lord of hosts has Purposed and who will annul it his hand is stretched out and who will turn it back In his song recorded in Exodus 15, Moses in verses 11 through 13 talks about the wonders of God exhibited in both judgment and salvation. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, The earth swallowed them. You in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation. In Psalm 2, the psalm that we sung this morning, in song, in that psalm we are given a glimpse of this picture set before us here in chapter 25.

In spite of the efforts of the nation to build the city of man, we will not have God rule over us. In spite of that, the counsel of God remains faithful and true. I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. To Christ the nations are promised as an inheritance, the ends of the earth as a possession. The nations will be broken by his rod of iron and dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel.

Yet the mightiest kings who will glorify and fear him, who will bow the knee to King Jesus are blessed and will be saved from the wrath of Him who sits on the throne. O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt you. I will praise your name. Verse two, for you have made a city, a ruin, a fortified city, a ruin, a palace of foreigners to be a city no more.

It will never be rebuilt. We find in this verse the reference to God's destruction of a city. Rereading the verse to reflect the original language. For you have turned it from a city to a heap of stones, the steep castle into a ruin, the palace of the barbarians from being a city to be rebuilt no more forever. It seems to refer to three varying things, a city, a fortress or a castle, and a palace.

What city is being referred to here? There's a lot of debate. Is this a city in Assyria? Is it Great Babylon? What city is this?

Well, I submit to you this morning that the important thing is not the true identity of this actual city. The important thing is to Note that God brings down the established, the fortified, the impregnable, the richly adorned edifices of man He brings the dust of the ground. I submit to you my own humble opinion based on the last verse of chapter 24, that Christ is reigning on the holy hill of Zion in the midst of His chosen city, Jerusalem, from above. And to be found outside of this city is to find yourself within the walls of the city of man. That which man builds to his own glory.

That's the city. Whether it be Babylon, whether it be any of the choice cities, Rome, you name it, the cities of Moab, the cities of Philistia, all the cities that we have mentioned, the city of Tyre, It matters not. God brings down the city of man. All such cities of man's making will be made a heap of stones to be rebuilt. No more.

Forever. In chapter 2 of Isaiah, we were told that in that day that Christ was exalted, what would happen? The pride of man, the city of man would be brought low, and that Christ alone would be exalted in that day. Verse 3, In the midst of this judgment, even by means of the execution of the judgment, Christ calls His church out of the world. Therefore, therefore, notice that word, it begins with Therefore, a hermeneutic principle to be applied, which means how you look at Scripture.

Hermeneutic principle. If you see the word Therefore, ask what it is there for. It is tying everything back to the previous verse because God is bringing this city low, because of, as a result of, due to this truth, therefore the strong people will glorify you. The city of the terrible nations will fear you. It is because of, due to, as a result of the obvious judgment of God that a fierce and mighty people will honor the Lord.

The city of a ruthless and oppressive nation will stand in awe of God." Now the Bible teaches that the judgment of God at times precedes salvation. Note the following verses and illustrations of this truth. Back in Isaiah 2 and verse 4, he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. What is the result? They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Revelation 15, verses 3 to 4. Here John sees the vision and hears the song of Moses, the servants of God, and the song of the Lamb being sung. And here is what is sung. Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints. See how it's talking about those councils of old that are faithfulness and truth. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested." Why is it that all these nations will come and worship before God?

Because His judgments have been manifested in the earth. We see from her own testimony to the spies in Joshua 2 that the judgment of God on the enemies of Israel was what led the harlot Rahab to come to fear the Lord. We also have the personal example of King Nedukadnezzar, whose pride stirred up the judgment of God upon him, and who by that judgment came to fear the Lord. Also in Luke 13, Christ was asked about those Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they sacrificed. And Christ, in answering their question, as well as bringing up the incident of the fall of the tower in Siloam, which killed many, that judgment.

What does he do? He calls his hearers to what? To repentance, lest they likewise perish. And do we not see this as well in the image of the King's dream in Daniel chapter 2? The judgment of the nations seen there in that great idol In King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the judgment of those nations as they crumble to the earth gives way to what?

The establishment of the mountain of the Lord, the city of God, growing up from that stone not cut by human hands, Jesus Christ. Another compelling reason for this interpretation of this verse is the prophets eluding to all people in verse 6 as we shall see in a few minutes, the judgment leads to a saving response of the nations, which leads to the mountain of the Lord being filled with people from all nations. As we saw back in chapter 2, when the mountain of the Lord is established, the remnant from all the nations shall flow to it. That is reason to praise and worship the King of Heaven. As King, He is calling the church out of the world to be a people for Himself.

Our hearts should cry out with the psalmist in Psalm 7412, for God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. My dear friend, do you know this King? You young children who are sitting here this morning, do you know this King? As His herald this day, I plead on His behalf, come, Bow the knee to King Jesus. He stands as a banner to the nations.

Today, there is a highway made clear by the hand of the Father Himself for all of those who will join the remnant on their way to Mount Zion. Today, today is the day of salvation. Kiss the Son who reigns, lest His anger be roused against you, and you perish in the way. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him, who can truly say, Oh Lord, you are my God. Secondly, in this chapter, Christ executes the office of a king in ruling and defending his church.

In ruling and defending His church, verses 4 and 5. 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, as a storm against the wall, you will reduce the noise of aliens as heat in the dry place. As heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones will be diminished. The kingship of Jesus Christ is revealed here in these verses by means of His loving rule as seen especially in His protection and defense of His church. To His people, He is a strength.

That is, a place of safety, a stronghold. To his people he is a refuge that is a shelter, an anchor of hope, and to his people he is a shade that is a shadow. Reading this portion with the sense of the Hebrew root words, For you, O Lord, have been a place of safety for the one who is low, who is weak, who grows thin. You have been a stronghold to him who is in need, who is being oppressed. You also have been a shelter when it is as a thunderstorm and the downpour of rain, as well as a shadow from the parching heat in the midst of desolation and drought.

Do you recall the blessings of the New Covenant mentioned back in chapter 4, verses 5-6. Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion and above her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering, and there will be a tabernacle, There will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge and for a shelter from storm and rain. What is that tabernacle? What is that shelter?

What is that shade for you? You, O Jehovah, you plural, our Elohim, You have been a shelter, a shade. My friend, Do you know something of this shelter? Of this shade? Are you experiencing a time in your life where peace like a river is not in your way.

More like sorrows, like sea billows that roll. Flee to Christ. Take refuge in that strong tower that you may be able to say, whatever my lot, it is well with my soul. Psalm 91 is a beautiful testimony of the Lord defending and protecting His people. I encourage you to get to know Psalm 91.

If you don't need it today, you will need it soon. But this is the way the psalmist opens that passage. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In Him I will trust.

Well in the latter part of verse 4 and the verse 5, we see that when we take our refuge under the shadow of the Almighty, the blast of the terrifying one is expended upon the wall of our God, our fortress. And because He shall not be moved, we shall not be moved. It is as the blast of the terrifying ones upon a wall. We find shelter behind that wall. And Isaiah goes on to show that the defense God provides is not only one of protection as a shield, as of a wall, but also of actively reducing and diminishing the attack of our enemies.

As the heat of the Sun is subdued in dryness and is diminished by the presence of a passing cloud, So our God regulates the intensity of the noise and the blast of our enemies, of our afflictions, and of our trials. God is our refuge. He is our strength. My dear Brothers and sisters, if we fail to take refuge in our God in the midst of trials, afflictions, and oppressions, we are in practice denying the kingship of Jesus Christ. By our actions, we testify to our belief that others may be weak, others may be poor, others may be in distress, Others may need shelter and protection, but we?

We're strong. We can stand and prevail in our own strength, or by our actions We testify to our belief that our Savior is weak or uninterested in our condition. That He is neither unable or unwilling to protect his bride. Do you see the richness there of that New Covenant terminology? Anointing, blotting out, purifying.

This is the feast that God calls us to. So as we view the New Covenant in this verse, as we view this feast prepared for us, we should see these things. Dear brothers and sisters, have we forgotten? Have we forgotten the richness of this feast we have been called to? Are we no better than Esau who was willing to trade his inheritance for a pot of stew?

What table of the world are you willing to set your feet under at the expense of feasting on the mountain of the Lord? Psalm 63 verses 1 and 5 says, Oh God, you are my God, early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. Psalm 36, 8, the children of men are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your pleasures.

Jeremiah 31 12, therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, here on this mountain, streaming to the goodness of the Lord for wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd, their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all." Do you remember the parable that we studied back in Matthew 22, the parable of Christ regarding His Kingdom? Having studied all week in Isaiah 25, I'm prepared to set before you the suggestion that Christ was possibly referring to this passage in Isaiah, or at least may have had it in mind when He spoke the parable. And I think that a look at that parable may also shed some light on the verses that follow here in Isaiah 25. In Matthew 22, 1-4, Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants saying, tell those who are invited, see, I have prepared my dinner.

My oxen and fatted cattle are killed. And all Things are ready. Come to the wedding. But those who were invited would not come. And so the servants of the king were then sent out into the highways to bid all whom they came into contact with to come to the feast prepared.

And we also have in Revelation 19, verses 1-10, the culmination of the blessings of the gospel in the marriage feast of the Lamb. Now, having seen the things implied by the root words, right, anointing, blotting out, purifying, It is interesting to note that the Apostle John, there in Revelation 19, notes not the banqueting table, but the bride of the Lamb. And this is what he says of her in verse 8. And to her, it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Verse 7, and he will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations." Both verses 7 and 8 instruct us that there are not only things being provided to God's people, there are things that are being removed, taken away, swallowed up, destroyed.

Now the words Covering and veil are very similar. They're very similar. The only difference really between the two in the original language is that covering, a masculine noun, focuses on the completeness of the covering. The completeness of the covering. Whereas veil is a feminine noun that focuses more on the thickness of the covering.

Therefore there lies upon, as it says here, all peoples and upon all nations are covering. And that covering is both complete and thick in nature. It is also encompassing as it lies upon all, none accepted, and it is thick, not easily removed, impenetrable. Well note first of all in this verse that the Lord is the one. The Lord is the one who destroys or abolishes the covering.

It is a covering that is not swallowed up or destroyed by His people. The Lord is the active agent. It is Christ our King who subdues and saves, who preserves and supplies. And note secondly that the abolishing of this veil occurs here on Mount Zion. The Lord focuses here that in this mountain, here he will destroy this covering, this covering that is cast upon all.

He does this for his people. Isaiah's use of the phrases, on this mountain, in all people, in all nations, in conjunction with the two Hebrew words translated covering in veil, seemed to indicate a condition that is best understood as a blindness that rested upon the nations. There existed in Jerusalem in Isaiah's day the light of the revelation of God. They had something that the other nations did not have. They had the oracles of God.

Therefore back in chapter 2 Isaiah calls on Judah to walk in the bright noonday light of the Word of God, the light that He had provided. On the other hand, the Gentiles in Galilee are described back in chapter 9 as those who sat in darkness, upon whom a great light was coming with the arrival of Jesus Christ. The surrounding nations, the Gentile nations, are described in Isaiah 60 verses 2 and 3 as those who are shrouded in deep darkness and they don't receive the light where they are. They come to the light that is found in Mount Zion. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people.

But the Lord will arise over you." And over you is this Mount Zion, this church from whom the law goes out in chapter 2. The LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Paul alludes to this saying darkness that rests, he says, upon those who are perishing. Darkness that is dispelled when God is pleased to remove the veil that lies over the heart and to shine the light of the gospel.

Paul tells the Corinthians in his second epistle to them, chapter 4, verses 3 through 6, but even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them, for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your bond servants, for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness there at the day of creation. It is that God who has shown in our hearts, our darkened hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This veil is described by Paul in the previous chapter, chapter 3, as the blinding of the mind. He then says the veil remains unlifted until the Spirit removes it through revealing and in order to reveal Christ in all of His glory.

It is also interesting that chapter 27 of Isaiah, here in the midst of all these details of these chapters about the glorious establishment of the kingdom of Christ. He deals with the punishment and with the ultimate destruction of that great serpent Leviathan. Well, John, in his letter to the churches of Asia there in chapter 20, describes the binding of the great serpent Satan, a binding that keeps him from deceiving the nations for a time. This binding of a strong man, Satan produces a great plundering of the goods of his house as described in Matthew 12 in order to fill Christ's house in the mountain of the Lord to populate his kingdom. In this plundering, Christ the King calls his people, and then bringing them to his mountain, he removes the veil from their eyes, subdues their hearts, and saves them from their sins.

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 of the earth, for the Lord has spoken." The wording of verse 8 should immediately draw to mind the blessed realities set before us at the end of time as described by John in Revelation 21. God has swallowed up. He has abolished death.

And the blow which He has given it is a mortal blow. It is forever. Death has no more sting. This is the blessing of the resurrection. It is a part of the glorious gospel message.

By his death and resurrection, our glorious King has risen as conqueror of all. And the gentleness of our Savior's hand will wipe away tears from all faces. The reproach, the scorn, the disgrace upon His bride the church, both earned and unearned, will come to an end and be taken away. She is by her husband being washed with the water of His Word, and she will be presented as a bride made ready, without spot and without wrinkle. The curse of sin placed upon all creation will be utterly removed.

All things will be new again. Hear me well, brethren. The fullness of the realities of all that Christ has purchased for us in the New Covenant will come to their fullest expression on that last day. The fullness of the blessing. We do not experience the fullness of them here and now.

For if we did, we would not desire our Savior and life forever with Him as we should. We would not cry out as John, even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. But at the same time, we must not live as ones who have no hope, who have no inheritance. Oh, hear the description of the realities of what Christ died to give you from the pen of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the church in Ephesus, chapter 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, in whom also, He has to keep saying also, in whom also, having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. This is yours, my brother. This is yours, my sister. This is your inheritance.

This is what Christ died to give you. If God could say of Israel, who He brought out of Egypt and planted as a vine. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? What shall he say of us? Paul reminds the church at Corinth at the end of chapter 3, all things are yours.

Are yours. And you are Christ's. And Christ is God's. Christ told His disciples in Luke 12, 32, Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And the end of verse 8, For the Lord has spoken.

The Lord has spoken. And all of His promises are what? Yes. And amen. In Christ.

Verse 9. Christ. 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. Isaiah is emphatic. This will be upon the lips of all those people who are the recipients of the blessings in Mount Zion.

It is the song of the redeemed. It is the words of a people made ready for their Lord. The word waited means eagerly longed for with hope and great expectation. For 11 weeks now we have recited together, Isaiah 26. In doing so we have quoted verse 8.

Yes, in the way of your judgment so Lord we have waited for you. The desire of Our soul is for your name and for the remembrance of you. As you sit there in your chair this morning, can you truly say that this is the state of your heart. That even in the midst of judgment, your hope and expectation are upon Christ. Is the desire of your soul for Him and for fellowship with Him.

Are you joining in the riches and are you rejoicing in the richness of the salvation found in Him? Or as you sit there this morning, have you forsaken the fountain of living waters and have gone seeking to dig cisterns of your own making, cisterns that are broken and can hold no water. Hear the words of Martin Lloyd-Jones. As I read them, I'm afraid that they are so often the case of this one who stands before you this morning. But may it not be so.

The tragedy is that many of us are living a desperate Christian life. Sunday comes and we get some strength and then we lose some on Monday. A good deal is gone by Tuesday and we wonder whether we have anything left on Wednesday. It is all gone and then we exist. Or perhaps refreshment comes in some other way, some meeting we attend, some friends we meet.

Now That is the old order of things. That is not the new. He puts a well within us. We are not always drawing from somewhere outside. The well, the spring, goes on springing up from within into everlasting life.

Christ, On the last day of the feast stood up in the midst of the people speaking of the Holy Spirit and the believer and he said out of his belly shall flow forth hidden waters. Christ has prepared the feast. Where are we? Number four. Christ also executes the office of a king in restraining, conquering, and taking vengeance on all his and the church's enemies.

In restraining, conquering, and taking vengeance on all his and their enemies. Verse 10. For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest, 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 fort of your walls he will bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust." While the hand of God's protection and blessing rests upon his mountain, his feet are trampling his and the church's enemies.

Isaiah here, by the use of the name of Moab signifies all of his enemies. And the image of trampling is used here in the instance of the making of Manor. Here on the refuse heap, God works as it were Moab, his enemies, down deep into it with the trampling of his foot as pushing straw into the refuse heap in order to make of it manure. In verse 11, the wording here, some commentators think, and I think that their reasoning is at least worthy of our consideration. But they say that the first part of verse 11 is best attributed to Moab and not to God.

Thus, they would not capitalize the word he and his in the first part. And they say it's best attributed and understood as Moab seeking all means of self-preservation. Here, God's hand rests upon the mountain, but His feet are busy trampling. And so they would say that the image here is of someone reaching out with their arms at full extent to try to stay above, to try to not be mashed in by the foot of God. Whether it is God or Moab, the result is given to us in the last part of the verse.

Moab's pride will be brought down. So whether it be the activity of God in putting down, or whether it be the activity of man seeking to rise above and not give in, the result is the same. His pride will be brought down. Now the word trickery is a difficult word. The Hebrew word appears only in this one place in the scripture.

In fact, if you have a KJV on your lap, it says spoils. Now it could be that it refers as in Jeremiah 48.30, which deals with the punishment of Moab. It talks there in verse 30 of their lies or their idle talk. It could be that is what they're referring to. It could be their spoils as the KJV translates it.

Like I say, it's difficult because this is the only place in the Word of God this Word appears. But the idea is this, whether it be their sin, whether it be their spoils, all their ill-gained things of this earth, they're trampled down. They're laid low. And in verse 12 the fortress of Moab is no match for the power of God. Every lofty thing will be brought low in that day even down to the dust.

Now why Moab as the representation? Why Moab? Well, I will point out two things as a possibility. First of all, two of their particular sins are mentioned by God as He points it out to Jeremiah and Jeremiah 48. And they are trusting in their works and their treasures in verse 7 and in verse 29, their haughtiness, their arrogance, and their pride.

Now these sins describe all of those who will not come to Mount Zion, who will not come under the rule and reign of King Jesus. They are a representation of all outside of Christ, trusting in self, pride in arrogance, trusting in their own riches. But second, their nation, the nation of Moab lies just on the other side of the Jordan River. There is a separation between the people of God and Moab, a thin line on the map, the River Jordan. Nothing but this river separates them from the people of God as they would need to go atop the Dead Sea and make their way towards this city.

So there is a clear division, a clear division in this chapter of the City of God and the City of Man. And you are on one side of the Jordan where you are on the other. You are either among the peoples of Mount Zion or you are among the peoples of Moab. Brethren, these are the manifestations of the Kingdom of Christ. This was what Isaiah had in mind when speaking of Christ's coming.

He said the government will be upon his shoulder. Christ executes the office of the King in calling His church out of the world to be a people for Himself, and in ruling and defending it, subduing, saving, preserving and blessing His elect, and in restraining, conquering and taking vengeance on all His and their enemies. Isaiah gives these precious promises in Chapter 23. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts.

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, a tabernacle that will not be taken down. Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, nor will any of its cords be broken. That's the church. But there the majestic Lord will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams for the Lord is our judge the Lord is our lawgiver the Lord is our King he will save us do you know this King? Do you know Him?

Not have you heard of Him by the hearing of your ear, but Does your eye see Him? Can you say, You Jehovah, You are my Elohim, my strong and mighty One? Are you feasting upon Christ? Are you finding delight at His table? Do you love the city of God, Mount Zion?

God, Mount Zion. Psalm 48 verses 12 through 14. Walk about Zion and go all around her. Count her towers. Mark well her bulwarks.

Consider her palaces that you may tell it to the generation following for this is God our God forever and ever he will be our guide even to death. Oh father we thank you for the glorious majesty, the glorious bounty found in Jesus Christ. Oh Father, as our minds go back to Isaiah 12, may we drink deep from the water of the well of the waters of salvation this day. Oh Father, those who have not come, oh God, remove the veil from their eyes. Bring them to that mountain of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

And may they in grace be conquered by your Spirit. May they be subdued. May they be saved. May they be preserved and know your blessing to us in this covenant. This covenant in His blood.

Oh Father, make it to be so. Add to your church. Oh come this day and make a thousand hearts your own. For you are worthy. You are a great and awesome God.

And oh Father, we desire more and more to see your beauty. Oh God, help us. Help us. Bring us near to You. By Your Spirit, continue to help us that though we see through a glass darkly, O Father, may we see day by day more clearly, remove more and more, that we might see Christ, that we might know Christ.

Oh Father, help us not to go from this place seeking to dig cisterns that can hold no water. Help us to drink deep of the fountain of the living waters. And may Christ be praised. In His name we pray, Amen.