Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21:4

Theme: The millennial kingdom in Isaiah, and Christ’s Second Advent.

Let me say it right up front ... this is not a typical Christmas Day sermon!

And yet it has everything to do with the theme of Advent.

This year’s Advent theme has been Christ in Isaiah.

Isaiah, more than any other Old Testament prophet, describes the life and ministry of God’s Messiah, whom Isaiah comes to call God’s Righteous Servant whom we know to be the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah, has more to say about Christ’s 1st Advent than any other Old Testament prophet.

But Isaiah also has as much, if not more to say, about the Christ’s 2nd Advent.

The two are connected.

Chapters 24-27 of Isaiah are referred to by Biblical scholars as the Apocalypse of Isaiah because these chapters all point to “end of world” events.

Chapter 24 begins with this ominous prediction ... “See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants—” (Isaiah 24:1, NIV84).

Like I said ... this is not a typical Christmas Day sermon.

It’s not going to be “Global Climate Change” that destroys the earth.

Nor will it be by Nuclear Holocaust.

Even World-wide Pandemics will not end civilization.

Some day, at the end of time, when the Earth lies desolate, and it’s inhabitants ravaged it will not be because of man’s poor stewardship of the environment, or his inability to control his aggressive instincts, or a genetically engineered virus set loose.

It will be because God decides it’s time for the Christ to reign and that all his enemies become his footstool.

“In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below.

They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days.”

(Isaiah 24:21–22, NIV84).

There will be inescapable judgement of both rebellious angels, and rebellious men.

So “Merry Christmas,” and “Happy New Year” ... right?

Throughout the history of the Church, Advent has always been as much about Christ’s 2nd Advent as it was his 1st.

At his 1st Advent he came humbly, unnoticed by the wider world save for some scruffy shepherds, and Persian astronomers who perceived the heavenly signs, and came to worship him.

Thirty-three years later, the child born in a manger would die a criminal’s death on a cross, and in doing so accomplish God’s redemptive plan.

At his Ascension he promised to come again.

Our text for this morning points us to the next great event in God’s plan.

It is Christ’s 2nd Advent and the establishment of his Millennial Kingdom.

It is a message of hope and promise to the Jews.

Yet, as I read these verses, I am reminded of a parallel passage in Rev. 21:4.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

I don’t know about you, but I like the thought of Jesus wiping all of our tears away!”

This morning, I want to take some time to look at this prophetic passage.

I want to look at what Isaiah is saying and I would like to preach for a few minutes on Some Tears Our Lord Will Wipe Away.

• I want you to know that there is a better day coming for all of God’s children.

• I want you to know that weeping and sorrow will not last forever.

• I want you to know that trials and heartaches will come to an end one of these days.

• I want you to know that one day, God’s children are going home and, when we arrive there, God will take His great handkerchief of grace and all of our tears will be wiped away.

Here are some of the tears our Lord will wipe away.

I. AT HIS SECOND ADVENT HE WILL WIPE AWAY THE TEARS OF DEATH

“he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.

The LORD has spoken.”

(Isaiah 25:8, NIV)

1. death has a universal impact on mankind and most men live in fear of death and dying

ILLUS.

History is full of men who feared death when it suddenly came calling.

Philosopher François-Marie Arouet (Ar-way), better known as Voltaire, was a famous anti-Christian deist.

He spent his life ridiculing Christ and his Church.

Suffering from pain in his lower abdomen, Voltaire visited his doctor who informed Europe’s most famous atheist that he had just a short time to live.

He told his physician, “I am abandoned by God and man; I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months’ life.”

When his doctor told Voltaire there was nothing he could do, Voltaire lamented, “Then I shall die and go to hell!”

While on his deathbed a priest was summoned.

He asked Voltaire, “Sir, do you acknowledge the divinity of Jesus Christ?” “For the love of God, do not mention that man’s name,” was Voltaire’s response.

A short time later he died.

2. the Bible is very clear that physical death comes to all men and there is nothing we can do about it “No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.

As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.”

(Ecclesiastes 8:8, NIV)

3. the Bible is equally clear that after physical death, men will stand before God and give and accounting of their lives

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27, NIV)

4. ever since man sinned in the Garden death has reigned over this world

a. it is the #2 fear that Americans list in their top fear in life (interesting enough, speaking in public is the #1 fear)

b. we have all been touched by death in some way, and if the Lord doesn’t return in our lifetimes, we will experience it personally

5. Isaiah gives us hope when he writes that a day is coming when God will swallow up death forever and in the next chapter over he promises resurrection

“But your dead will live; their bodies will rise.

You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy.

Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.”

(Isaiah 26:19, NIV84)

A. JESUS HAS CONQUERED DEATH SO WE CAN CONQUER DEATH

1. in Isaiah 25:7 Isaiah paints a picture of a dead body covered in a shroud

a. then God snatches the shroud away, and dares us to believe that one day death will be swallowed up forever

2. we can believe it because death died when Jesus rose from the grave

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

Come and see the place where he lay.”

(Matthew 28:5–6, NIV)

ILLUS.

William Saroyan was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer.

He had achieved great success in his field.

His works had been acclaimed in the literary world, his name was a familiar entry on best-seller lists, and he had even been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his play The Time of Your Life.

Early in 1981 he lay in apartment dying of cancer.

One evening, as Saroyan reflected on his life and what the future held for him, he placed a phone call to Associated Press.

After identifying himself to the reporter who answered his call, he posed a searching question.

It was a final statement to be used in his obituary.

He said, “Everybody has got to die.

But I have always believed an exception would be made in my case.

Now what?”

And then he hung up the phone.

He died a few months later.

3. Jesus has answers the ‘now what’ for those who call upon His name

“And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”” (1 Corinthians 15:49–55, NIV)

4. for believers death is not a sad end to life, but a new adventure that ushers us through a doorway into the presence of God

a. on that day the Lord Jesus will reward us with the crown of righteousness