This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, this is Pastor Tom and welcome back to day four, week three of our look to
the book of Isaiah. We're looking at Isaiah chapter 25 today. As we begin this
chapter, I just want to mention that the phrase "Oh my God" is one of the most
common expressions of the day.

We all hear it many times every day. We all see it if we're watching media, many
times in media. Most of the time we say it, most of the time even Christians say
it, we're not thinking about God.

We're just expressing surprise, it's just an expression, it has nothing to do
with God even though it has God's name in it. Isaiah 25 has an invitation in it.
It invites us to change from "Oh my God" living to "You are my God" living, to
change from an impersonal expression about God to a personal expression to God
in our lives, to change your surprise at what's happening in this world to a
sense of awe in what God is doing in this world.

That's worshiping through your day. We've been talking about change. One of the
keys to change is perspective, seeing things as God sees them.

That's what we're talking about when we talk about this "You are my God" living.
What does it mean to live in this way? How does it cause you to think?

What perspective do you have? Well, we're going to talk about three of them
together. This perspective that you have is, you look at God, "You are my God.

You do wonderful things. " Verses 1-5 of chapter 25, "Oh Lord, I will honor and
praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things.

You planned them long ago and now you have accomplished them. You turn mighty
cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble.

Beautiful palaces and distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt.
Therefore strong nations will declare your glory. Ruthless nations will fear
you.

But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, oh Lord. A tower of refuge to the
needy and distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat.

For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a
wall or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of
foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful
songs of ruthless people are stilled.

" You do wonderful things. These verses tell us that what God plans, he
accomplishes. And all that God accomplishes, he has planned.

Specifically, in these verses, he talks about two things. He brings down the
mighty and he lifts up the lowly. He brings down the mighty.

When the prideful, the powerful lose their position, that is a "you are my God"
moment for us. God's in control, we're not. Human beings think that they're in
control.

So we control a nation, so we control a region of the world, so we control
certain weapons. We think we control our lives, we think we can control our
world. But those nations fall.

They fall. If they last a hundred years, they fall. If they last two, three,
four hundred years, they fall.

Different leaders come in, different rulers come in, and it shows again and
again that God's in control and we're not. We're not able to hold on to the
power that we have, as much power as that might seem to be in this world. You
are my God.

You're in control. You have the power. You are my God.

You're also a refuge to the lowly. Whenever God cares for the hurting, you
should say, "You are my God. That's why I serve you.

That's why I love you, because you care for those who are hurting. " Now he
might do it through you. He might do it through the church.

He might do it through a miracle. He has a lot of ways of caring for protecting
the lowly. But every time he does it, every time you see him do that, when you
see a hurting person find healing in Jesus Christ, you are my God.

You do things nobody else can do. So you do wonderful things. You are my God.

A second perspective is you prepare a feast. Isaiah 25-6 talks about this. In
Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven's armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the
people of the world.

It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat. This
verse is where history is headed. The most important fact about history is not
the daily headlines that you read or the great biographies that you might read.

It's that God prepares a feast for all people. And he says here specifically,
"The Lord of Heaven's armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the nations
of the world. " Who is this?

Who is the Lord of Heaven's armies? Although there's not one verse that clearly
states this, an extensive study throughout Scripture points to Jesus Christ as
being the Lord of Heaven's armies. He's the Lord.

So He is the Lord of Heaven's armies. As you see the angels appearing, you see
that He is the Lord of the angels. Heaven's armies are the angels.

So an extensive study of all the verses about the angels, the hosts of God, the
power of God shows that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Heaven's armies. Look at
this. The Lord of Heaven's armies will prepare a wonderful feast for all the
people of the world in Jerusalem.

The idea of Jesus preparing a banquet for all people in Jerusalem, it's
extremely powerful. In Jerusalem, Jesus went to a cross. In Jerusalem, Jesus was
buried in a tomb.

In Jerusalem, Jesus rose from the dead. In Jerusalem, this feast of God's
forgiveness, this feast of God's salvation, this feast of God's presence, this
feast of God's promises, it was prepared for all people, not just those in
Jerusalem, but you got to come to Jerusalem, you got to come to the cross, you
got to come to the tomb, the empty tomb, to find this feast in your life. That's
what history is all about.

Right in the middle of history, He did this, and at the end of history, we're
going to enjoy that feast with Him forever. That's the perspective we have. You
are my God.

Only you could do this. Only you could call all people to yourself like this.
Even though we are sinners, He has a plan to bring us to Himself.

He has a feast for every one of us. You are my God. Third perspective, you
swallow up death.

When you think about God being your God, He is a God who can help in every
circumstance of life that you face, every difficulty that you face. But if He
could not do this, swallow up death, then no matter how good our lives were made
here, we'd be looking forward at the end of our lives to the greatest tragedy,
separation from God. But He swallows up death.

He ends the power of death. You are my God. Only God could do that.

Isaiah 25, 7 to 8, there He will remove the cloud of gloom. There is Jerusalem,
where we just talked about the cross, the resurrection. He will remove the cloud
of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.

He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.
He will remove forever all insults and mockery against His land and people.

The Lord has spoken. When we hear that somebody is sick, when we hear that
somebody has died suddenly, that's maybe the greatest time when you hear people
say, "Oh my God. " But for you and I as followers of Jesus Christ, when we hear
that somebody is sick, when we hear that somebody has died suddenly, those are
moments when we can say, "You are my God.

" You move to "You are my God" living when you recognize that God swallowed up
death and that that sudden death did not take away that person's life, that in
knowing Jesus Christ, they have an eternity with Him. Jesus did on the cross
what every one of us needed to recognize that He is our God, that He is the God
that we need for the greatest tragedies of life, and He solved it. He settled
it.

He swallowed it up. It's gone. You can't even see it anymore.

He swallowed up death. These verses we've just read, Isaiah 25, 7, and 8, they
are so significant. Both of them are quoted in the New Testament.

Then when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that can never die,
this scripture will be fulfilled. Death is swallowed up in victory. That's the
scripture that we've just read.

And then Revelation 21, 4, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There
will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away. " This is our God.

So verse 9 says, "In that day the people will proclaim, 'This is our God. We
trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord in whom we trusted.

Let us rejoice in the salvation that He brings. '" So in that spirit, in that
heart, let's take a few moments to talk to Him. And in prayer, you might just
say, "Father, You are my God.

There is no God like You. There is no one like You. You are my God.

You do wonderful things. Let me see the wonder of what You're doing in this
world today as I walk through the day, the wonder of how You judge the wrong,
and the wonder of how You care for those that no one else would care for. You
are my God.

You've prepared a feast, a feast of salvation for me now, a feast of joy for me
in eternity. You are my God. You have swallowed up death.

There's no more sting in death. There is hurt in it. There's loss in it because
we're separated for a time before we all get to heaven.

But there is no more sting in it. There's no more eternity in it because You
changed all that at the cross. You changed all that in Your resurrection, Jesus.

You are my God. And I praise You. In Your name, Amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to talk together about how to live lighter.