“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.” What a wonderful little description of the church.
In our reading from Isaiah this morning, we heard part of the song of praise that Judah will sing on the day of his victory, on the day when all his enemies are subdued. As we heard yesterday, God has promised that the day will come when His people will triumph over every enemy they have known, the day when the Lord will swallow up death forever and will wipe away the tears from His people’s faces. That day arrived in Jesus Christ. That day began with our Lord’s incarnation, His death, His resurrection, His ascension. Through faith we have joined Judah and have received His promise, His victory, which makes this song our own.
So come, enter the chambers of the church. Shut the doors behind you. And hide yourselves for a little while until God has finished putting Christ’s enemies under His feet. As the world rages, as sin and sorrow scream outside, come hide for a little while in the protection of the church where the blood of Jesus always covers you, always protects you, always keeps you resting in the arms of your God. As kingdoms rage against the rule of Christ, come rest in the church where the Lord who rages back with infinitely greater might does not rage against you, but loves you and cherishes you. As persecution and wickedness howl outside, sleep calmly in your chamber, knowing that nothing and no one can separate you from the God who keeps you safe with every word of the Gospel spoken within the walls of the church, the God who will show you the fullness of His victory on the day when Christ returns and blesses you to see that your little chamber is now His eternal kingdom.
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