I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 25 for our sermon text, and as a sign of reverence for the reading of God's holy word, I ask that we please rise together. We ask, oh God, this morning that you would take your word and that you would strengthen our hearts. Bless the reading, but especially the preaching of it, we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Isaiah 25, verses 6 to 9. 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. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all the nations. 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. And 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. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Lord, the word of our God, will stand forever. Please be seated. I don't know about you, but for me, there's perhaps no greater pleasure here on earth than to see the mountains. Everything I've ever loved as a kid, every vacation we went on, the one thing that I look forward to more than anything was seeing the mountains. Rather odd as a fifth generation Floridian, I don't care if I ever see the sandy beaches again, but for me, it's the mountains. You think of the Hobbit, the mountains, Gandalf, mountains, such a delight. full of all these provisions and pleasures. I remember as a kid, we would go up and visit my mom's family in Western North Carolina. And one of my favorite state parks was that of Hanging Rock State Park in North Carolina. And we'd go, and my mom's folks would come, and we would ascend the mountain and drive to the top. We'd walk a little ways further, and there'd be a place, a lake for us to swim. There would be places for us to grill out burgers and dogs. Every pleasure you could have as a kid was found there on that mountain. But there are more practical joys to be found on the mountains as well. Namely, that of protection. It's a place of safety. You read the ancient histories, you always see the place of refuge in ancient wars was always the mountain. We see that reflected in our own language today when you speak of the enemy or someone having taken the high ground, it means that theirs is the advantage. And so we find that mountains are not only a place for provision, a place for pleasure, but it's also a place of protection. And what's so striking in the Bible is that the God who, unlike the gods of the nations who dwell in the heights of, let's say, Mount Olympus, or in other mountains scattered throughout the earth, we serve a God who dwells in the heavens. But over and over again it says, this God who dwells in the heavens and who even fills above and beyond the heavens has delighted to stoop and descend upon a particular mountain, that of Mount Zion, to be his base of operations as the war against sin and death goes on. It is the place where his house is built. It is the place where he seats his anointed king, the Messiah, the Christ, who will destroy and vanquish death once and for all, who will be to his people that mighty fortress, who will deliver his people from all of her foes. And when it comes to reading the book of Isaiah, it's one of my favorite books in all the Bible, we find this rather striking feature that Isaiah both begins and ends on a mountain. From the opening in chapter two, Isaiah gives this great promise and this prophecy that one day all the nations will say, come, let us gather and ascend, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. And we find in the closing chapters that that promise comes true. Where in those closing chapters, the Lord's servant king leads the remnant of the nations upon the heights of Zion to worship and to dwell in safety forever. And now we find in our passage this morning, we find ourselves on a mountain even still here in the center of the book. And we were given in vivid imagery a prophetic snapshot of the eternal joy that awaits the Lord's beloved people on the heights of that mountain. There are three features to consider this morning. First, I'd like us to consider the banquet that is to be held. You'll see that here in verse six. Then we'll consider the vow in verses seven and eight, the great promise that the Lord gives his people. And finally, we'll see above all things in verse nine, the church's great redeemer. So three considerations, the banquet, the vow, and the redeemer. I know we've kind of been airdropped into the middle of a book, and it's perhaps kind of jarring to get our footing as we enter not chapter one of Isaiah, but here now, chapter 25. So if I could get the cliff notes, what we find is that the theme and proclamation of Isaiah is rather simple. As deep as its message goes, the book of Isaiah regards the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. And with the arrival of that kingdom, the coming of the king who inherits that kingdom. In the opening chapters of Isaiah, the identity of this king is unveiled. He is one who would be born of a virgin, one who is chapter 9 and 11 clothed in the Spirit's power, who would bear the weight of this heavenly government on his shoulders as this kingdom continues to expand and grow and grow. The expanse of that kingdom shall have no end. There is no foe that will be able to stave off the advancement of the growth of the kingdom of this Messiah. This kingdom expands and extends from sea to shining sea. In the latter half of the book, this identity of this king is fleshed out even more. This king is the Lord's beloved servant, the Lord's beloved son. that he is the lamb who bears Israel's sins once and for all, that he is the priest who lives forever to make intercession for his own, that he is the prophet who proclaims glad tidings of liberty and comfort, who ushers in joy, who expels all sadness and all gloom. that this prophet, priest, and king of this heavenly kingdom is said to be God himself and yet also man. Might I suggest to you that there is not a facet of the doctrine of Christ that is not found in the book of Isaiah. From the virgin birth to his substitutionary death, to his glorious resurrection, his earthly ministry, even to his ascension to heaven and his return as conqueror and king, The subject of Isaiah's prophecy is about him who is seated high on the throne, Isaiah chapter six, him who is holy, holy, holy. But now we make it here to the middle of the book. Chapters 24 to 27 are known among commentators as Isaiah's little apocalypse. It's kind of like a shortened version of the book of Revelation. And here we are given a peek behind the veil as to what this servant of the Lord would accomplish. In chapter 27, he slays the great dragon, thus fulfilling the Lord's promise, the oldest promise of the Lord to his people, that the seed of the woman would vanquish the serpent and deliver Adam's helpless race from the curse of sin. And yet, before that happens, In our passage here, we find the people of God are summoned to the top of a mountain to attend a festival. In the ancient world, grand banquets were said to be held atop mountains to commemorate the coronation of kings. Think about when you read Exodus chapter 24, for instance, when the Lord descends to the top of Sinai, he invites Moses, the priest, the 70 elders to join him in this celebratory feast to commemorate the delivering of the law by the great lawgiver. Similar here, there's a similar situation happening. And yet we find it's not simply the top men of Israel that are invited to this feast. but the remnant of all the nations are gathered together to celebrate the coronation of the Lord himself as king. And here we find the banquet does not take place at Sinai, even as we heard earlier from Hebrews chapter 12, you yourself have not come to Sinai, where there's the burning mountain and the tempest, where Moses himself quaked and trembled in fear. No, it says the nations here have assembled They've come to the heavenly city that has now come to earth. Zion, the dwelling place of God. And the feast they have is no mean cuisine. It's not just a salad bar that they've come to participate and partake in. We see here it's a feast that is full of rich food, full of marrow and the best wine around. One translator has put it like this, that it is a festive banquet of greasy food. And one of my favorite movies as a kid, really silly movie, I'm not saying I recommend it, is this movie called Red Dawn. It's about the inauguration of World War III. The Soviets have invaded, and they've taken the bulk of the U.S. as a stronghold, and it follows the lives of these high school students who flee into the Rocky Mountains and begin this kind of guerrilla attack from the base of operations. And yet, as they are sitting there in the mountains, they're eating leftover beef jerky, food that they can find or steal. What we have here in this particular passage, this is not the image of a city or a people under siege. This is not a people that have gathered like you think of the Jews as they defended themselves in the fortress of Masada against the Romans in the first century and were ultimately defeated. No, this is not simply the nations ascending as one final refuge or resting place as they hold out for the enemy from the enemy advancement. That's not what's going on here. This is a people that are not simply just getting by off of wartime rations. No, it says here that what they are feasting upon is a treasure of rich delicacies. And it's given not simply to the nation of Israel, but to all the nations who come. And yet this feast is found at only one place. It is found at the fortress of the Messiah. It is the great messianic banquet given to all who flee to the Messiah for refuge. And there's a picture of the forgiveness of sins. You see the imagery that's evoked here in chapter 25, Isaiah will pick up on later and tease out in future chapters. Consider Isaiah 55. Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. No money, no problem. Come and buy and eat. Come and buy without money. Come and buy without price. It is a free meal that is graciously and lavishly given to the people who turn to him. Listen to me and eat what is good. Delight yourselves in rich food that your soul may live. For our God will abundantly pardon. Here the people of God have ascended the heights of Zion to participate in this feast that commemorates the forgiveness of sins. That's why there's this emphasis on the wine that they drink here, that picture of the new covenant. I mean to consider this, that here we have the holy God who will one day judge the world in wrath on account of her sins, comes in mercy to deliver sinners from their sins. To feed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness with an abundance of bread and wine. It is the meal to end all meals. And the redeemed here feast. They taste and see that the Lord is good. The rich abundant pleasures that are provided on the tops of this mountain that they know that they are safe. Because we find here that the people of God are not the only ones eating at this feast. As it says too that the Lord himself as it were will eat as well, that he himself will devour a dish, that he will devour death itself. that he will swallow up death once and for all, just as he has promised. We see that here in verses seven and eight. It seems that there are two entrees on the Lord's plate in this metaphor. Again, this is not a literal thing. It's not as though God needs to eat, but there's this beautiful image, this beautiful metaphor that is being conveyed here, that the Lord himself comes to feast. Here he himself comes to devour something. Here he comes to devour two things, death and the veil, that covering that is cast over all men. Here Isaiah describes death as a veil. Here he calls it a covering and I think we should stop and ask ourselves why, why does he call it that? I think there are two particular features if you were to do a word study and see how this word is used throughout the Bible that come into prominent play here. The first is an image that we see today even at funerals, that of the weeping veil. Consider an old man who passes and you attend his funeral and there sitting on the front row is the widow who wears the veil. It's not a veil of wine to cover the face of a blushing bride, rather it is that long black veil given to hide her anguish from those who look upon her. But there's a second way in which this word is used in the Bible that describes not simply that of the veil that covers those who mourn, but that of the shroud of those who themselves have died. It's the same word used to describe the grave clothes in which one is buried. Today, in our funerals, most people are buried in a suit or a dress, but when you read about the ancient world, they are wrapped in linens. You think of that particular scene in John chapter 11, where Jesus goes to the tomb of his friend Lazarus, and after weeping over the death of his only, not his only, but of his dear friend, He tells Lazarus' sisters, I am the resurrection and the life. And as Calvin puts it, as one who has been fit for battle, he makes his way to the grave in this epic showdown that will serve as just a small picture of the very reason why he goes to the cross. And he stands before the grave and he simply speaks. And he says, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus comes forth, but then what does Jesus command everyone around them to do? He says, take his grave clothes off of him. He's been one who's been wrapped like a mummy. And here's the picture of the shroud. You think of Jesus' own resurrection. Remember when the disciples go and run to the tomb upon hearing that Jesus has been raised from the dead. What do they find in it? They find Jesus' linens, the shroud, the grave clothes that have been neatly folded and just simply laid to the side. But here Isaiah says the grave clothes, the covering is that great and terrible net that has been cast over all the nations. It is the image of the reality of death. It is a portrait of the reign of death. If death were to have a flag that demonstrates where his claim is staked, it would be the waving flag of a veil and a shroud. Over and over again, the scriptures speak of death as that great and terrible arch-villain of humanity who has enslaved a people in soul-crushing fear all of their lives. Death is personified here, and the Hebrew is not simply death, word mot, but he is the death, he is ha-mot. He's this vicious tyrant who spares none, and under his reign, the world is covered in a shroud of tears. Now all throughout the Old Testament we have these various images of the grisly reign of the death, the locusts, the plagues, all those things that devour life and joy. Here is the great devourer, the terrible enemy of the human race. But in this passage we see here that the devourer himself is now devoured. The one who consumes all is now himself consumed. Here, death is undone. While the saints feast on this meal commemorating the forgiveness of sins, the Lord himself is said to feast too, as he devours death itself. Here, Yahweh engulfs Hamot. Over and over again, the scriptures remind us that death is the legal consequence of sin. In Romans chapter 6, verse 23, that the wages of sin, it's our paycheck. The consequence for sin is death. But consider this, if the forgiveness of sins are secured, which is what the feast that the people of God are eating signifies, then that means that their debts are pardoned, that their transgressions are blotted out, that their iniquities are washed away. And if that is the case, then death no longer has any legal jurisdiction. Death's flag has been uprooted. He can no longer stake his claim among the nations. Death is defanged. That's why Hosea the prophet, considering these great truths as well, said, oh, death, where is your sting? Death has been undone. One of the things we see over and over again that Isaiah continues to give as words of comfort for his people The Lord tells Isaiah, comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Tell them that their warfare is ended, that all of our sins have been forgiven, and now they come through the arrival of this servant king, the Christ. Whereby his work death is dethroned, whereby his coming death is devoured, whereby Christ's death, death is put to death. Here Isaiah depicts what I think is really beautiful imagery here, this imagery of a great banquet, the unraveling of sin's curse. See the cross marks that moment where the consequences of sin, where the effects of death begin to unravel. Here Isaiah depicts In a glorious fashion, that moment where everything's sad begins to come untrue. Notice this, it's not simply that death is destroyed, and yet the consequences of death remain, as if we're simply left to pick up the pieces after, let's say, the bombing of Dresden during the Second World War. It's not simply that death is devoured, yet all those who have died remain in the grave. See that later in chapters 26 and 27, where now because death is destroyed, the Lord himself will speak to those who are in the grave and he speaks to them as if they're just simply sleeping. So great is the power of the Lord over death and destroying death. He turns to the people who are lying in the dust and says, it's time to wake up. Nap time's over. What do you think Christ says in his earthly ministries? He goes from funeral to funeral to funeral. This little girl, this little boy, he's not dead. He's only sleeping. Everyone scoffs. Jesus' point is not saying that death is not a big deal. Jesus is now speaking of the greatness of his triumph over death, that it has now rendered death's victory as just nap time for the people of God. That's why even the apostles, you think of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, he speaks of those who have died, he says, consider all those who have fallen asleep in the Lord. That even the language of death has changed for the people of God. That the power of death is defeated at the cross. The curse of death is dealt a death blow itself. The unraveling of death's deadly deeds have begun as the Lord begins to wipe away the tears from every face as he removes his reproach from his people." Think of all of our iniquities and sins, all those things that continue to haunt our consciences in the middle of the night. So we look back on our own youthful indiscretions and acts of folly. David himself looking back says, Lord, do not remember the sins of my youth. And here we see a portrait of the Lord's own response to David's prayer where he remembers our sins no more. He takes away the reproach, he takes away the blame, he takes away the shame. Any hint, any vestige of the consequences of sin and the treachery of death begin to unravel, much like the unraveling of Lazarus's grave clothes as he comes out of the tomb. So the Lord wipes away the tear from every face. He removes our reproach and he casts their sins and ours into the depths of the sea. Why would the Lord do such a thing? Why would he act in such a way to a people who have treated him so maliciously? It's to show that he is the Lord, the Lord. A God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, one who does not treat our sins as they deserve, but who is abounding and even super abounding in grace and mercy. The reason the Lord does these things for his people, sinners though they are, sinners though we are, is found here in verse 8. Why would the Lord do such a thing? Because he has promised. Notice how verse eight ends, I the Lord do these things, why? Because I've said so. Oh, the depths of the riches and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments. That though we deserve, for him to come to us and come against us in wrath and fury. Rather, he comes to his people in mercy and in grace and turns the tide of the storm. He turns not the storm towards us, but he turns it against our foes. There's this really beautiful picture in Zechariah. One of the visions that Zechariah has, I believe it's chapter six. If it's not six, it's chapter three. Zechariah has this vision of Israel's high priest at the time, Joshua, standing before the throne of grace and the courts of heaven. And he's covered in his own feces. And standing next to him is the Satan, the accuser of the brethren, pointing his finger at the high priest, saying, look at all the sins he's committed. These are not false accusations. These are not malicious accusations. In this case, Satan is speaking something that is true about the high priest. And he wants the high priest condemned. And here the Lord is standing at the judgment seat. And he looks at Joshua, the high priest. And he looks at Satan. And the Lord turns to the angels and says, clean my high priest up. Put clean clothes on him. And then he turns and he rebukes Satan. Who can bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. It is God who comes to his people and though we deserve death, and though Satan is railing his voice against us, he is the accuser of the brethren, comes and tries to point out the fact that he has legal jurisdiction over us and that we should stand condemned. It is the Lord who turns to Satan and rebukes him. As Christ himself says, as he turns to his disciples in his earthly ministry and says, the accuser of the brethren has now been cast down because there is now one who has come to die in the accused's place. And it is the servant of the Lord, the king of kings. So great is the Lord's mercy for his people that he comes to deliver us from things that we rightly deserve. And we find all of these great pictures here in this passage here. We find the festal banquet here. We find the dethronement and defanging of death. And yet we see one more image that in Isaiah's estimation is far greater than both of these things put together. Here he gets to see his redeemer face to face. And he sees the king of all kings enthroned on As 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. Be very easy to stop the sermon now and simply boast and glory and all that the Lord has done for his people up to this point in this prophetic image. to dwell in the great victory that the Lord has secured by the death of his servant that his people might live. But we find that Isaiah does not stop here and so I think at least this morning neither should we. Now Isaiah begins to redirect our gaze to something even more magnificent where it's not simply what we see in the death of death as death itself is dethroned but now we see the enthronement of him who is our light and our life. as one who will reign forever. Of all the things that our King has won for his people in our confession of faith, our Shorter Catechism speaks about that, all those benefits that attend or flow from our union with Christ, I think there is no greater benefit and no greater joy than this, that one day we will actually see our Savior face to face. Consider what the psalmist says, David, in Psalm 17. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. And when I awake, here we have that subtle picture, that Old Testament image of Christ's triumph over death and man rising from the dead. When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. This is our God, we have waited for him. Him who is the dear desire of every nation, whose gracious kingdom is established and his great foes, both death and Satan, are slain. As we sing in the great Rutherford hymn, the king there in his beauty without a veil is seen. Where a well-spent journey those seven deaths lay between, and the Lamb with His fair army doth on Mount Zion stand, and glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. It is the great promise of Scripture that the Holy God would dwell with the sinful people, and how is that so? He comes to take away our sins. So that man can see God and live to tell the tale. and rejoice. Those Paul who writes to the Church of Colossae and to the Church of Corinth says that when Christ who is our life appears, death will come undone and we will be changed. Of all the benefits lavished on us on that great day, none will be so great as seeing our Savior face to face. Again here, Samuel Rutherford, the bride does not eye her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze on glory, but on my King of grace. Not on the crown that He gives, but on His pierced hands, for the Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. This is, as Richard Sibbes put it, the glorious feast of the gospel. And it leaves in our hearts two burning questions. When and where? When will we taste such goodness that comes from our God on high? When will death be slain? And where can I find shelter from death's destruction? Well, as for the when question, I have good news for you. We find all throughout the scriptures this being recounted the people of God. that Christ's triumph over death has already begun. Like D-Day, the cross depicts the inauguration of the great unraveling of death. At Calvary, our sins were nailed to the cross and all of its legal demands. At Calvary, Christ disarmed the spiritual powers and triumphed over them, as Paul tells us in Colossians 2. The cross is our D-Day. Christ's return is our V-Day. To continue the metaphor, if Christ's death marked the severing of death's penalty and power, then Christ's return will mark the end of death's very presence. So that even now, at the Christian's funeral, we could say, death, where is your staying? Not that death is not painful, not that the grief is not real. but that we, though we mourn, we do not mourn and grieve in abject misery with no hope. But we look forward to that day when death itself will be slain, knowing full well that the cross is the certainty, it is the surety that this day will, in fact, come. that the people of God can now say and sing, oh death, where is your sting? It leads us now to our second question of where, where can we find refuge from the coming storm? Where can we ascend to find the veil of death torn once and for all? As a minister of the gospel, might I suggest to you that that place of safety is found on the heights of Zion. And the good news that we have as we hear every Lord's Day week in and week out is that you do not need a plane ticket or a passport to go there. Because wherever the people of God gather on the Lord's Day, there Christ is in their midst by his Spirit. Whenever we gather as the assembly of the saints, there Zion is. It's how Isaiah's very prophecies began. It's why we began the service this morning with that passage from Isaiah 2, that in the last days all the nations shall say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. And now that the Spirit of the living God has been poured out at Pentecost, whenever we gather by faith to worship the living God, the scriptures tell us that by the Spirit's secret work that we have in fact come to Mount Zion. That by faith the church serves, as it were, as a portal to heaven. accessed by faith, and faith alone, though we do not yet see it. But there is coming a day when our faith will turn to sight, and on that day, we will see the one who has redeemed his people, as he restores to us all that death has devoured, as the Lord himself consummates the new creation that has begun by Christ's resurrection from the dead. as he leads us to that celestial city whose very shores will not even be touched by death's dark shadow. And on that day, everything sad will come untrue, as the trumpet will blast as a giant alarm clock, and the Lord will speak to his people sleeping in the grave and say, nap time's over. Come arise from the dust, awake. And we will say, this is our God. We have waited for him. This is the Lord, we have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for Christ. and the victory that Christ has secured for us by his triumph over the grave and the inauguration of that new and better covenant. We pray that we would taste and see your goodness here as we make our way, looking forward to that day. when you will slay death once and for all. Give us strength for that day and give us grace, we pray. In Christ's name, amen. While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and he said, take and eat, this is my body. And we had taken a cup and had given thanks. He gave it to them saying, drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I love attending weddings, especially when food's involved. And the best wedding that I ever attended was in Philadelphia. I was in seminary and a mutual friend of the Downs and I, Adam McNeil, it was his great wedding. And the wedding took place at 10th Presbyterian Church in downtown Philadelphia. And then the reception took place at the top building, I think it was called the Manhattan Building. It was the top building in downtown Philadelphia and three of the four Sides were just all windows so you could see the entire landscape of the city and it was 4th of July weekend There was a baseball game going on us. So there were fireworks During the dance. I mean it was just like picture-perfect in every way But I think the most exciting thing of all for me was the spread of I get there and there's at least a dozen different food stations, these little kind of food kiosks. I don't know what the right word for them is. So you didn't have to wait in line. And each kiosk had, like, food from different cultures. And each refreshment stand had, you know, all these delicacies and foods. There's this whole side room that was dedicated just to desserts. Had a chocolate fountain, which I actually didn't know was a real thing until that night. It was a very good night. So here I am, I'm filling up my plate, you know, just feasting upon this rich banquet. And then there's this voice that goes over the intercom that says, you know, please direct your way to the main guest hall for the meal. I said, I thought this was the meal. And I turn around and where that fourth wall was begins to open, and it opens up to a whole new portion of a room I didn't even know existed. And then comes even more food. It turns out that what we were having, what I thought was the meal, was just the appetizer. The main course had not yet come. This meal in which we are feasting this morning is the appetizer before the entree. At this particular meal, we are given a foretaste of heaven. To give us a taste of the marriage supper of the Lamb that comes on the final day, when the heavens themselves will rend open and the Lord will say, rise, come, and feast at the banquet. Come see death slain once and for all. Come see that canopy that has been spread out over all the nations finally be put down and devoured. But on this day, as we celebrate, this appetizer is a real meal. And it's intended to adjust our longing and expectation for heaven. As we look forward to that day when we will see our Savior face to face. This is our feast in the wilderness, even as the Lord provided his people for 40 years, day and night, with manna from heaven. to sustain them as they awaited their entrance into the promised land. So this meal is given to sustain his people as we await our entrance into glory. The elements might seem paltry, it's a bread in a cup, but its delicacies run deep. For they signify to us the death of Christ and the benefits that we receive through faith in him. They signify Christ's triumph over death itself. That in the death of Christ, the sting of death is removed and that by his life, the effects of death begin to unravel. That in Christ's glorious return, death itself will be slain once and for all. Psalmist himself says, Psalm 116, what shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. You almost taste it, can't you? The forgiveness of sins. And that is what this meal signifies. It is a feast given to men the brokenhearted. And for those who belong to Christ, for those who hunger and thirst for a righteousness that he alone can satisfy, we find in this meal, the gospel coming to the other senses. We've heard the gospel already proclaimed to our ears but now it comes to our mouth, now it comes to our nostrils, now it comes to our tongue to remind us that the mercies of God are new every morning and that we serve a God who is far more good than you could ever have imagined. And so if you believe in Christ and you have publicly professed faith in Christ, come and eat and drink without money and without price. Taste and see that the Lord is good and that with him is plentiful redemption and that he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. And if you do not yet trust in Christ, Let the elements pass you by and come speak to us afterwards so we can talk to you what is required to come and taste and see, to know that your sins have finally been forgiven and that you have a Savior who has vowed to slay death on your behalf. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, you who have sent your son to be the bread of heaven, we pray that you would feed us till we want no more. Strengthen us in this meal, for our faith is weak, but you are strong. Carry us and comfort us in these times of grief. We ask in Christ's name, amen.