A CHRISTMAS MEAL (Is. 25:6)

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1 A CHRISTMAS MEAL (Is. 25:6) On the Lord s Day morning, December 20 th, 1868 Spurgeon preached a sermon entitled, Good cheer for Christmas. It s interesting reading over old sermons from such preachers, and it is also encouraging they preached the same messages in their day as we preach in ours. Now, some people would say we ought to have moved on but how can we move on when we have exactly the same issues to deal with as they did! Here is how Spurgeon began his sermon, We have nearly arrived at the great merry-making season of the year. On Christmas-day we shall find all the world in England enjoying themselves with all the good cheer which they can afford. Servants of God, you who have the largest share in the person of Him who was born at Bethlehem... Behold, how rich and how abundant are the provisions which God has made for the high festival which he would have his servants keep, not now and then, but all the days of their lives! As the thousands gathered into the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear him preach, Spurgeon read to them from Isaiah 25:6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts [YHWH Tzva ot] make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. Geneva Bible, And in this mountaine shall the Lord of hostes make vnto all people a feast of fat thinges, euen a feast of fined wines, and of fat thinges full of marow, of wines fined and purified. I m not intending to duplicate Spurgeon s sermon, but it is nonetheless a passage worthy of our attention as we approach Christmas. For the Old Testament Jew, a feast was often the picture given of the Kingdom Age when Messiah would reign over Israel and the nations of the world. That was how the Jews anticipated their glorious future. There would be a great feast of celebration and victory. Israel would enter into her glory, and the Gentiles would come to Zion to worship the Lord, Is. 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

2 2 And so it is, that when Jesus used the image of the feast in Mt. 8:11 (And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven) and Lk. 13:28-29 (There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God), the people knew exactly He was speaking about the promised Kingdom the Jewish nation was awaiting. At the feast, of course, the food would be of the highest quality. It was the provision of the King, - the very best of the very best! In Is 25 alongside life, death is also emphasised but the point is being made that at this feast even death itself will have been conquered, - notice again the tense and the assertiveness behind these words, - Is. 25:7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD 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 hath spoken it. In other words, the language used of the funeral will turn into the language of the wedding for they will sing the song of v.9, And it shall be said in that day, Lo, 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. There is no doubt in God s mind concerning the glorious outcome. This picture is used throughout the Old Testament, - of the Bridegroom and the Bride, as in the Song of Solomon, for example. And it wasn t a truth that was only to be confined to the Old Testament for Paul quoted Is. 25:8 (He will swallow up death in victory) in I Cor. 15:54 and John quoted another part of it in Rev. 7:17 and 21:4 (God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes). So, why did Spurgeon preach to his congregation of over six thousand from this passage in Isaiah? How does Isaiah 25:6 illustrate the Christmas message? Well, basically and fundamentally, the Christmas message is about the Gift of the Lord Jesus Christ by His Father to the world. It is not so much about gifts It is about the Gift. Because of God s gift of His Son, we have been graciously granted the privilege of our relationship with God. Just to consider that once we were heading towards a lost eternity away from God, and without God but the very moment we believed all our sins were pardoned forever. What a Gift! It has no equal! Before God, I became accepted because of what His Son did for me at Calvary.

3 3 When I repented of my sin, God declared, I forgive you, for my beloved Son died on Calvary bearing your burden so as to set you free. Now don t forget we are at the feast in Is. 25:6, so feed on that! Ps. 34:8 taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. There is no other table that brings such lasting satisfaction to the believer s soul as feeding from the table of the Lord. All His provisions come with a lifetime s guarantee! Such is the great truth we share from the table of the Lord! There is nothing on the Table that is of second-hand value. Satan no longer has any claim over you, believer. Yes, God loved you and Christ died for you... Who then, wrote Paul, shall lay any thing to the charge of God s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us (Rom. 8:33,34). Feed on that! And how do I know I m saved? How can I be certain my sins are truly forgiven? I know because I trust the promises of God, God has spoken, Jn. 11:25 he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 3:17 He that believeth on him is not condemned 5:24 He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Sometimes the devil comes to you and casts doubt on your salvation. He tells you that you can t be saved Don t listen to him You simply remember when you handed your life over to the Saviour, and you are trusting in what His Word says, Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You are saved not through your own efforts, but you are saved because you are feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply and that Table has been spread before you by none less than the Lord Jesus Christ! Yes, you have been a rebel, - you won t deny that for all have sinned, there is none righteous (Rom. 3) but by saving grace God has turned you around, lifted you up, and set your feet upon the immoveable Rock! Prior to His grace being applied to your soul, you didn t want anything to do with Him but He loved you and His love won your heart! He has saved you, He has sustained you, and He satisfies you. You wouldn t change Him for all the wealth of the richest men and women in this world. What you have will last longer than time, for it will last forever out into eternity. You know your sins are forgiven and you re a child of the Heavenly King. You know the moment you leave this earth you will enter His presence in Glory.

4 4 You are not trusting in a religion, you are trusting in your relationship with Christ. You know He has bought you with His own precious blood, and you are His! You will never stand before God s judgment throne and answer for your sin because all your sin has been placed on His Son at Calvary and it has been completely dealt with there never to be remembered against you ever again! And that is why Jesus came to Bethlehem to begin His earthly journey that would culminate on the cross for your sins. In fact, believer, here is what being truly born-again actually means Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Such a union! One in Christ and that union can never be dissolved! The devil is powerless to take me out of His hands. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Glory of His people! Are you still feeding?! Imagine the joy in the hearts of the wise men from the east and the shepherds as they knelt before Jesus. We have heard in this past week how the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting her first child, - we pray for her and we wish her well. That child, in the will of God, will be the third in line to the throne But do you know, as a child of the Heavenly King you are already joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ! That was what Paul wrote to the Romans, 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. You belong already to Heaven s Royalty. You are a child of the King of kings! Consider the delight of your loved ones who have died in Christ when they first looked upon the face of Jesus. It is all ahead of us when we shall see Him some day. He is not coming back as a baby to a manger, but He is coming back as the Sovereign Lord, the Almighty and Everlasting King and His people shall be His joy, Is. 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm His arm! Is. 53:1 To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows Ps. 98:1 he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. 2 The LORD hath made known his salvation. These are just a few thoughts relating to the feast of fat things we enjoy, - you can think of many more and I trust you will. Because of Christ we fear no Hell, no judgment, no wrath of God for Christ is perfecting His work in us and so He will continue to do until it is completed in Glory.

5 5 And notice also how Isaiah prophesies concerning a feast of wines on the lees. That is the old wine that has brilliantly matured. The Jewish Bible translates it as the superb and elegant wines the very best, the well-proven. The word is shemer, and it means something preserved, the sediment. It is in its best state, - the wines well-refined. I looked it up on the internet and discovered the sediment settles at the bottom of any wine container, such as the bottle or the barrel. It is a highly heterogeneous mixture [composed of different kinds of substances] consisting of dead yeast cells [fragments of grape pulp and skin that will not dissolve], and the seeds that settle out of new wine. The experts tell us sediment in bottled wines is relatively rare these days because modern consumers (erroneously) view it as a fault. But it is actually a sign of the good wine! In other words, it is a wine that has stood the test of time. There is a timely reminder here for us not to trade the old truths for the new. The sediment lying at the bottom of the bottle is being removed by many in the Church. The so-called modern exponents are quick to throw out the old to remove all the Church has held precious for centuries and bring in the new wines that has nothing like the same substance. However, the old truths upon which the Church has been nurtured and matured don t need changing, - they remain the best for our generation, and the generations to come until Jesus returns. There is no need to tamper with that which is perfect already Paul wrote, II Thess. 2:15 stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. They weren t the traditions built upon men cleverness, but they were the traditions built upon the Word of God alone. Hold them, keep them, live by them! They are neither frothy nor superficial they are necessary and they never lose their taste. In this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees And look again at where this is all happening, in this mountain. That is where we were studying last Lord s Day morning the mountain on which Jerusalem stands. It is where, - outside its walls, - Jesus was crucified. It was where the body of the Saviour was broken and His precious blood was shed. But there is no body of Jesus there any longer, - He is alive today, and we are saved through Him. He is our salvation! He is in Glory, and He is coming again to this mountain! This mountain can also refer to the Church. This is the Redeemed, - God s Elect, - Who are saved by faith in Christ alone. This is Church of Christ He purchased on Calvary!

6 6 And not only does this mountain of the Lord relate to the past to Mount Calvary where Jesus died and not only does it relate to the present to the Church but also remember the words of the hymn, Behold! the mountain of the Lord In latter days shall rise; On mountain tops above the hills, And draw the wondering eyes. To this the joyful nations round, All tribes and tongues, shall flow; Up to the hill of God, they ll say, And to His house we ll go. On that glorious day, we shall see Christ in all His glory on that mountain. No longer Mount Calvary but Mount Zion! Consider again how the hearts and minds of those wise men and shepherds were enthralled with Christ. That is how it will be and even more wonderfully! And notice also how Isaiah wrote, the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast. He is making all the preparations. It will be perfect! And there is one final thought You will notice it is a feast unto all people. In the plan of God, even we Gentiles have been included, - ingrafted (Rom. 11). We belonged to the wild olive tree (Rom. 11:17). Formerly we were afar off (Eph. 2:17), v.13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. It is God s grace that has brought it all about and His grace will continue to search out and to save precious and lost souls until Christ returns. Yes, the Gospel is for all people, Mk. 16:15 Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The disciples were given the bread to feed the multitudes, and to leave none of them out - there was enough for them all, and they all needed feeding! A person s standing in society is of no relevance when it comes to the issue of the eternal destiny of their soul all men and women, boys and girls need to be saved and Christ is the only Saviour. That is all we can preach, and it is all we must preach. Isaiah 25:6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. There is so much to feed upon, and it is all of the very, very best from the hand of God Himself. I trust we are enjoying the blessings He affords us, and that we are looking forward with great anticipation to many more. Amen.