You guys can have a seat. My name is Eric.
I am glad to be here with you today.
I'm one of the pastors here and we are starting or taking a
break from our Matthew series book of Matthew.
For the next 4 weeks we are going to be talking about
Advent. Advent means the coming of
Christ and and Christmas is the first Advent.
That means that Christ came for the first time, which was
prophesied about 2000 years ago. That's why we celebrate the
holiday of Christmas. But in this series, we're
actually going to be looking at the two advents of Christ.
Historically, in the very, very early church, when they would do
a sermon series on Advent, they would look at the second Advent
and the first Advent. And so the tagline for the
series is looking backward and forward to Christ.
As we're anticipating Advent, we're going to look back in, in,
in history and see what happened.
That will be the last two weeks leading up to Christmas, what
happened in the first Advent. But for the first two weeks,
we're going to, we're going to look at what the Bible has to
say about Jesus coming the second time and how we should be
living in anticipation, much like the the Israelites in the
1st century and before should have been living in anticipation
of this coming Savior, this Messiah.
And many of them missed out on it.
We as Christians who have the fuller story, knowing who Jesus
really is and what he said in the rest of the New Testament,
we don't want to miss out on the second Coming.
We want to make sure that we're ready and we're living in in
hopeful anticipation. And so today that's actually
what we're going to look at. And I had Mike read 2 famous
Christmas passages. These are always read around the
Christmas time. I'm sure you've, you've known
those verses, Micah 5/2 and Isaiah 9/6.
And, and, and it talked about in Micah, it said a ruler in Israel
is to come in that passage, it's often focused on that there's a
prophecy of someone being born in Bethlehem.
And in fact, that was Jesus who was born in Bethlehem.
And so that prophecy was fulfilled in the first Advent.
But then there's that other part of the verse that said one who
is to be ruler in Israel. Well, did he come?
And was he a ruler in Israel at that point in time?
Or in Isaiah 9, six and seven it talks about for unto us a child
is born, a son is given again, we do entire series is on all
the names that that are mentioned in that verse.
But then later it says of the increase of his government and
of peace, there will be no end. And So what does it mean?
Did Christ come as a ruler to set up a new government in the
first Advent? And the answer is no.
Many were fooled by this because of these verses.
In fact, after Jesus gave them the Great Commission and it was
about to ascend to the Father, in Acts chapter one, verse six
and seven, it says, so when they had come together, they asked
him, Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom of Israel?
He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons
that the Father is fixed by his own authority.
And then he proceeded to ascend from the ground up into heaven.
And, and now what we know, the Bible says that he is seated in
heaven as king of kings and Lord of Lords.
But yet they were confused because they thought, you know,
things are going on that are, that are not favorable.
And I thought when this Messiah came that he was going to come
and set up this new government and, and rule and, and kick out
the Romans and free us from oppression.
But yet that's not what happened in the first Advent.
And so that's why we we should look at the promises of the
second Advent. In fact, the New Testament then
made it more clear that Jesus not only came the first time,
but He was coming again. In fact, some of the last words
in the Bible, Revelation 22, seven.
And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the
words of the prophecy of this book.
Christians are supposed to live in anticipation for Christ to
come again, and this time it will be to set up His rule and
reign on the earth. What they were looking forward
to, they missed out on the meaning of the first Advent,
which we now get, that He came to save us from our sins
spiritually. And He does rule and reign as
king in a spiritual way from heaven.
And all of us who are believers in Christ are the Kingdom of
God. We are the Kingdom of Christ
here on earth as the visible church.
And yet there's this sense of already and not yet, there's
already a Kingdom that God has established, but it's not yet
fully fulfilled. And so we want to look at when
or how or what it's going to look like when that is
fulfilled. And so I've titled today's
message Anticipating Eternal peace under the one true King.
We're going to be in Isaiah chapter 2, verses one through 5
in this series. We're going to look at an Old
Testament set of verses and we're going to exposit those
verses. We're not going to we'll, we're
going to pick a main text and we're going to walk through that
as we normally do. We're doing an Old Testament and
a New Testament verse on his second coming.
And then we'll look at an Old Testament and New Testament set
of verses on his first coming. So I'll read this to you and
we'll get into it. Isaiah 2.
One through 5, The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the
latter days, that the mountain of the House of the Lord shall
be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be
lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to
it. And many people shall come and
say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
House of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and
that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord.
From Jerusalem He shall judge between the nations, and shall
decide disputes for many peoples.
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
Spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
O House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Now let's do a little bit of background to this.
All throughout the book of Isaiah, there are a lot of
prophecies. In fact, Isaiah is a prophet.
The book of Isaiah is the third largest book in all of the Bible
as as as far as word count goes, as far as chapters go, it's the
second largest book next to the Psalms.
And in it there are many prophecies of Jesus's first
coming, but also the second coming of Christ or the day of
the Lord that that when when he comes to establish his rule and
he'll set up the new heavens and the new earth.
And so when we walk through or when you read through Isaiah, it
is very critical that you understand which one he's
talking about. And it does take some study,
some some some discernment to understand what prophecy you're
reading when you're in the book of Isaiah.
Many of these prophecies have already come to pass, but many
of them haven't yet. But because many of them have,
he should be looked to as a trusted prophet that his words
will come true because these are the words of God.
So let's get into kind of the the context of this first part
of this in verse #1 it says the word that Isaiah, the son of
Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Now there's a background to this, that this is around 739 BC
and 689 BC. So there's a time period where
he served under many different kings.
If you go back to chapter 1, verse one, it kind of has a
similar introduction there in the first part of the book, it
says the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
And you can read about these kings in the book of second
Kings and in the book of Chronicles you can.
That's how we can find the timeline of when this was
written. And and they support one
another. The historical books of the
Bible also support the prophetic books of the Bible.
And what's going on in Jerusalem and Judah at the time is there's
been a split between the two, the northern and the southern
Kingdom. And that's why it's called Judah
and Jerusalem. There's kind of a, a difference
of, of, of opinion and leadership and they're sometimes
at war with one another and at war with other nations.
And so often times God would bring about judgement on the
nation of Israel through other nations coming in and
disciplining them, so to speak. So that's some of the, the, the
history of this where this prophet pops up and he gives
words of hope to them in these times of struggle and
oppression. And, and they're in shame and
guilt because of their sin and they've been called out because
of their sin. And he speaks of a Savior, A
forgiving God, a coming Messiah, and a day of peace.
And but I want to focus on this, this first part of this verse
where it says the word that Isaiah, the son of Amos saw.
Now that seems like kind of a weird sentence.
Can you actually see a word? Was was Isaiah seeing words
coming down before his eyes kind of like this slide before you
today? No, What would happen when a
prophet received a word from the Lord as they would most of the
time get a vision and it would be interpreted to them alongside
of the vision. Many times in Isaiah there are
beautiful visions and some of them are literal and some of
them are figurative. And in order to interpret these
things, you have to understand what's literal, what's
figurative. And one of the most beautiful
prophecies or, or visions that Isaiah gets is in chapter 6 when
he's brought to the throne room of God.
And it said in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord
sitting upon a throne high and lifted up in the train of his
robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim.
Each had six wings. With two he covered his face,
with two he covered his feet. And with two he flew.
And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord, Lord of hosts. The whole earth, it's full of
his glory. And the foundations of the
threshold shook at the voice of him who called.
And the house was filled with smoke.
And I said, Woe is me, for I am lost, for I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, For
my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning
coal that he had taken from the tongs from the altar.
And he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched
your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and
your sin atoned for. Now in that very vision alone,
some of the things are literal, the the throne room and temple
of God. He sees the glory of God and
that's to be showing that that God and his glory is just it's
it's a fearful, fearful thing to be in the presence of God as a
Sinner. And he says I'm a Sinner in that
part where the Angel brings a colon touches his lips.
That's a a figurative statement about his sins being atoned for
and forgiven when he says I'm a man of unclean lips and the toll
the the coal burns his lips. That's a figurative statement
talking about the atonement of Christ there, right?
So it's no joke when you're going through these prophecies
that it takes some understanding and discernment to try to
understand the picture that that God is painting for the prophet.
And just so you know, second, Peter says no prophet interprets
his own vision, but he's carried along by the Holy Spirit and he
speaks these things. These are God's words.
And so as we get into this, I've got three points I want to look
at. And the first one then is this
worship Christ above all. Now you probably hear that a lot
when you come to this church. We talk about it a lot because
it's in the Bible a lot. In fact, a majority of the Bible
is God correcting his people that they have other gods or
other things that they put in higher priority than God.
And God's constantly trying to remind his people, come back to
me. Stay away from idolatry, quit
living in sin and and living for your own selfish pleasures and
come back to me. Worship me above all.
That's what I created you for. The the majority of the Bible is
focused on that. And so that's why we're going to
hear this over and over and over again when we're walking through
Scripture. Worship Christ above all.
Now let's look at what Isaiah says that he saw and what he
hears. It says it shall come to pass in
the latter days that the mountain of the House of the
Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains and
shall be lifted up above the hills and all the nations shall
flow to it. OK, so what's going on here is
he sees that the, the, the place where people worship God is
lifted up in his in this vision and all other mountains are laid
low. And, and what he's saying is, is
that this represents how God will be worshipped above all
other gods, above all other high places, above all other
mountains. You see, mountains have always
played a significant role in the relationship between God and
man. Where did Moses go get the 10
commandments? It was on Mount Sinai where the
Temple Mount, which is on Mount Moriah where Jesus walked up the
mount to Calvary, which is in the same on the same mountain as
Mount Moriah. There's always something about
mountains and worship and relationship to God.
And what he's saying is, is that the mountain that God is on is
going to be higher than any other mountain where other gods
are worshipped. You see in Second Kings 153233
and and through 35, it gives us a little bit of a back story
about this idea of Israel worshipping other gods on
mountains. It says in the second year of
Pika, the son of Ramallah king of Israel, Jotham, the son of
Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign.
He was 25 years old when he began to reign and reigned 16
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha,
the daughter of Zadok. And he did was what?
What was right in the eyes of the Lord court according to all
that his father Uzziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places
were not removed. The people still sacrificed and
made offerings on the high places.
And So what happened was that they saw that that that things
that they worship should be elevated.
And so they would go build altars to these other gods,
foreign gods that other nations around them believed in.
And that, in fact, was why they were disciplined so much and why
God sent prophets so much to the nation of Israel to bring them
back from their spiritual adultery and idolatry.
And then if you go back to Isaiah chapter one, verse 4, he
starts out the whole book with a sinful nation of people laden
with the iniquity offspring of evil doers, children who deal
corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel.
They are utterly estranged. So in the first part of the
book, it's kind of a, a correction that you've been
worshipping false gods, you've been worshipping falsely.
But one day the mountain of the Lord's going to be higher than
all other mountains. Now does this mean that in the
end, one day that there's there's not going to be any
mountains, but they'll be 1 mountain and that it will be
literally higher than every other mountain?
Well, as far as I know, the, the, the highest mountain on
earth is Mount Everest at 29,000 and 32 feet, while the Temple
Mount that exists now is only 2428 feet.
And so does that mean there will be no more mountains when Jesus
comes back? Well, I think again, this is
figurative language where we have to understand what is he
getting at? He's, he's saying that when
Christ comes back, there will be a time where there won't be any
of this sinful idolatry anymore, but in fact, his people will
worship him above all else. There will be no other gods
because there are no other gods. He's the only God who created
heaven and earth. In fact, Isaiah says that
several times. I am the Lord God and I know no
other. There is no other, so there's
only one God. And all of that will be revealed
when Christ comes back again and all people will finally worship
him. Even his own people will worship
him and not be distracted by idolatry and sin.
And mountains also denote forms of government authorities, as it
says nations. And so think about it like this.
If Jesus comes back, he came as the suffering servant the first
time. Next he comes as the conquering
king. And we think about how our world
is so corrupt, right? Think about just America.
No longer will we have to put up with voting for the lesser of
the two evils anymore. No longer will we have to see.
Our own government officials affirming all kinds of sin, all
kinds of abominations to the Lord, watching babies sacrificed
on the the altar, so to speak of so that people can worship
themselves and not have to deal with the decisions that they've
made. I mean, so many corruptions just
in our own country alone. And not only that, we also live
in a pluralistic country, pluralistic meaning you can
believe whatever you want. And so we think about this and
some of us are the holdouts were like, well, this was a Christian
nation and we want to fight for that and we want to keep those
principles. But then there are others that
are like, no, we want all forms of religion in our country.
And so therefore what ends up happening is all kinds of chaos
and, and sin and worship of other gods.
And now our children and our families are being pulled away
and fooled by other so-called faiths.
That will be no more. That will be no more.
And we can look forward to that. We can look forward to the day
where righteousness will dwell on the earth and there will be
no more corruption and sin. The worship of the one true God
will be the top priority of all people on earth.
That is so hard to imagine, right?
And we're kind of fooled into this, this idea that, you know,
we all need to just accept everybody else's faith and kind
of coexist. And for a time being, the way in
which we help other people see the truth is through sharing the
gospel and the truth. But one day everybody won't be
doubting us anymore. The Bible says every knee will
bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and
everybody will see for their own eyes.
We who had faith will be ready to reign with him, and we who
did not will not be. So that's what Isaiah is getting
at. And so then if we go to the next
part of this verse, we're coming back to chapter 3 or verse 3.
It says it shall come to pass in the latter.
Wait, sorry. And many people shall come and
say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
House of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, that
we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Now this same exact passage is actually in the book of Micah as
well, chapter 411 through 5, which also proves it proves its
importance, but also truth that another prophet in the in the
same days as Isaiah got the same message.
If you go to it, you can see all of maybe the same same wording
in his verses, but it's saying that we all finally walk the
walk. I know that you're probably with
me in this if you're a Christian, but yet you are
distracted by, you know, kind of the things that are going on in
the world. You are you are pulled apart in
different directions with sin. And if you're anything like me,
we I long for a day when I don't keep failing over and over and
over again. And what this verse is getting
at is we're all going to say, come, let us go walk in his
ways. Let us go walk in his past.
Let us go sit at his feet and and learn from him.
It says the word of the Lord will come from Jerusalem and the
law will go forth and and that means that we will all desire to
know these words in this book. Right now.
The Bible says we sit, we see dimly a little bit and some of
these things are hard to understand, although God helps
us. And I do believe that this book
generally is is easy to understand.
It's understandable for everyone who has faith.
You can read these words and get something out of it for your
faith and you can know the the simple parts of salvation in
Christ and how how to be saved from your sins by by faith
alone. That is not not, you know, a
puzzle that you have to figure out.
It's clear in Scripture, but one day we will, we will worship him
because we understand even more so than what we understand now,
the things that he's wrote in this book.
Now some people might think, why would we need the Bible when we
have the presence of God with us in the new heavens and the new
earth, when Jesus comes back and we just have to go off what
Scripture says and it says first Peter 12425 it says all flesh is
like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass Withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord
remains forever. That that's a literal statement
that you can take to the bank, that no matter how many times
people try to critique the Bible or disprove the Bible, it's
never happened and it never will happen.
I have never watched a debate between an atheist and A and a
Christian, you know, theologian where the atheist actually won.
It just doesn't happen. And and they can get into all
kinds of philosophies about, you know, why does God exist?
But when it comes to the Bible being true or not true and
inspirely, divinely inspired, nobody can ever really disprove
these words. It will always be.
And when we are with God, whether in heaven or in the new
heaven and new earth, when He comes back again, we are going
to be worshipping Him according to these words.
And if I go on in first Peter, it says, and this word is the
good news that was preached to you, we are going to worship
Christ because of the gospel. In fact, if you go to the Book
of Revelation chapter 5, it tells us that we can still see
the scars on the Lamb who was slain.
Now all of us will have perfect bodies, glorified bodies.
But we know that Jesus, even in his glorification, kept the
scars in his hands and his feet and his side that he ended up
showing the doubting Thomas. We will be able to see those
scars still because why? Why do we see those scars in
Jesus, on Jesus for all eternity?
Because we're going to be worshipping him because of that
work that he did the good news of the Gospel, that he was
crucified for our sins, that he died on the cross for us.
And that's the only reason that we'll be standing with Christ
and sitting at his feet and and learning from him.
There will be no more doubting in in Jerusalem at the end
there. This is where the gospel was
first proclaimed. And by the way, God has a
special love for that piece of land.
The Bible says, the Bible says that Jesus is going to step down
in Jerusalem when he comes back again.
Now it also says that it's not just going to be like he appears
one day and then you're going to hear a bunch of rumors.
It says as the lightning flashes as far as the east is from the
West. We're going to know that the Son
of Man has returned. Everybody will know that Christ
returned, but yet listen to this Acts 111 men of Galilee.
This is at his ascension again. He ascended.
Why do you stand looking into heaven?
This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in
the same way as you saw him go to heaven.
Jesus will come back to the very place that he left.
And where was that place specifically?
It was the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives where he
lifted up. In fact, there's a prophecy in
the Old Testament, Zechariah 14 four, about this same thing.
When Jesus comes back the second time, it says on that day his
feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before
Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be
split in two from east to West by a very wide valley, so that
1/2 of the Mount shall move northward and 1/2 southward.
Christ is going to touch down right where he left 2000 years
ago, right there in the Mount of Olives.
And the Bible tells us in so many different places, and it
confirms itself under so many different authors.
And so we are going to worship and we're going to know how to
worship because we studied the Word here on earth now.
And so that's why we gather together.
That's why we do what we do. We, we, we are anticipating how,
how will we, how will things be new and different?
How will I worship my God? Because again, I'm we're sick of
being sick and tired all the time, right?
Well, we have and are supposed to have joy and peace in this
life. Now we are not fully saved from
this earth yet. Our souls are saved.
If you're a believer in Christ, you don't have to worry about
losing your salvation. But our bodies and our we're not
fully saved yet until we either go to heaven to be with Him
through death. I heard somebody went say that
death is the Christian's best friend.
Why? Because it is the only way you
can be delivered to your Savior. Unless He comes back before
then. Then we'll be changed in the
blink of an eye. But in either case, we long for
this. We're anticipating this day.
Which leads me to my next point is that He is and will be our
peace and safety as the Ruler of heaven now and the ruler of the
heavens and the new earth later, We will find our ultimate peace
in him and looking at passages like this should bring us peace
and safety. Security.
You know when, when, when you know the end of the story, when
you know that you have security waiting for you.
You're not as anxious, right? You're not as worried about the
future. You can go through some things
because you know ultimately the outcome is going to be in your
favor. That's what we'll get into in
the next part of this. In verse 4, it says he shall
judge between the nations and he shall decide disputes.
For many peoples, they shall beat their swords into
plowshares and their Spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war anymore. This sounds like peace.
This sounds like a time of no more worries.
I want to walk through these verses and let's look at some of
these words like the judge part. What's he going to be judging
when he comes back? Well, that word means to govern
or administer justice, to rule. And so he will come and
literally set up his rule in this nation's part.
People sometimes get this confused, but nations in its
original Hebrew means either Gentile or it means just
different groups of people submitted under 1 governor,
government, or one leadership. And So what does this mean?
It means that that Christ is going to come and he's going to
judge between who has faith and who doesn't, and he's going to
settle the disputes between nation.
Right now, nations hate each other.
You know that, right? I mean, we look, we look on the
news and all we ever see is nation rising up against other
nation wars and rumors of wars. But one day that will be all
settled and done. I know we had some promises that
some wars were going to be over, but when people say that, do we
really do we need to believe it? Because people are going to be
people and people are going to hate each other, especially
godless people and godless nations.
They will continue to do what godless people do, but one day
Christ is going to come and settle all of those wars, all of
the disputes, and there will be a universal peace.
But again, this comes after His judgment.
So when He comes, there will be a judgment, and then He'll
create the new heavens and the new earth.
And in Isaiah 11, three through 4, it says He shall not judge by
what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness He shall judge the poor and decide with
equity for the meek of the earth.
He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with
the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
That's justice. Praise God, for justice is going
to be served. And so if you, as you look
around at the the world and injustices are happening, you
can say, and you ask the question as many others have in
Scripture, and you say, God, why aren't you doing anything about
this? Well, there's a time where it's
going to be settled and dealt with and we will all rejoice
over that. But the other thing you have to
remember is if you want justice now and you are not saved from
your sins, then you too would be included in the judgement of
God. You see, we cannot stand there
before God at the end and say, well, thank God you judged all
evil. We're going to say, thank God
that you judged evil and Christ was made sin so that I could be
made righteous because my evil didn't get judged, because I put
my faith in Jesus Christ. But all those who did not have
faith in Christ, that evil will remain in that judgement when
Christ comes again. Now let's look at these these
tools. Tools for war will be turned
into tools for cultivation again.
A plowshare or a pruning hook for for growing crops and
sustaining life instead of taking life will happen.
That's the the picture that we have there in Isaiah 11/6.
It goes on and talks about it like this.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the young goat and the calf, and the lion and the
fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie
down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the whole of the cobra, and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the outer Sten.
We're looking forward to this. And I would say children, if
you're listening right now, you know, I hope your parents
probably have shown you that it's not OK to play with snakes.
You know, it's not OK probably to go out and, and, and play
with the the lion. But one day, kids, you will be
able to ride on the backs of lions and leopards, and you'll
be able to play with these snakes because there will be a
piece, a safety that is just beyond what we can understand.
And that's the picture that's being painted here as we know
that there is danger in the world.
But one day, as Adam, the first human being before sin entered
the world, the Bible says that God made all animals that he
created passed before him. And Adam got to name every
single one of these animals in the new heavens and the new
earth. We will get to see all of these
named animals that Adam named and get to live with them.
We get to have safety. There will be no more worry of
danger. I don't know if it means that
they're all going to be vegetarians or and we are as
well. I, I'm not going to go any
further with that because I'm not sure.
It does say that the lion's going to eat straw like an ox.
But just remember, this is figurative language, right?
So sometimes we want to make things literal.
This is a figurative metaphor for us to understand.
Wow. Like a wolf.
We know that wolves kill lambs. We know that the leopard hunts
the the, the vulnerable young go.
We know that that lions are, if you watch any of those shows,
like, you know, the cool, like African safari animal, you know,
hunting it's prey videos. I mean, I don't know if you're
into that. Every once in a while they pop
up on YouTube and I'll watch it and I'm like, man, this is
brutal, you know, but it's a it's a reality that they've got
to eat. But one day this will be no
more. See, I believe in heaven.
We won't have to eat to be sustained anymore.
It will be for pure pleasure. It won't be the curse in in in
Genesis chapter 3 was that we would have to toil for our bread
and buy bread. We would have to live and
survive, but we won't have to survive that way anymore.
And I believe that the what this is what Isaiah is getting at
here, the peace, safety and security.
One day that surpasses what, what our minds could even
imagine that we would be OK with our child next to the snake.
Or maybe even you're an adult and you don't like snakes and
you might like snakes. One day as an adult, you won't
be afraid of them. You won't be afraid of spiders
anymore. And you know, the, the, the wife
won't say to the husband, kill it quick, you know, But with
this also points to one day we're we're this, this longing
that we have to, to not have sicknesses anymore, right?
There won't be that that thing that starts eating away at our
our, our bodies like like cancer.
There won't be violence to be afraid of anymore between human
against human. There won't be this despair or
this depression that we feel this or being in poverty and not
having enough anymore. There won't be danger.
There won't be accidents, so many senseless accidents that
you, you look at that happened with car accidents and things
like that, that hurt or maim or kill people will not happen
anymore. And we will.
We, we then should be longing for that.
And this should bring us hope because that's what the advents
are all about. The coming of Christ is supposed
to bring us hope, and we as Christians, we look back at the
first one and we get our hope from the Messiah saving us, and
then we look forward to saving the entire creation with us
included. Making all things new.
Second Peter 313 But according to his promise, we are waiting
for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 21, Four says it like this.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall
be no more. Neither shall there be mourning,
nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed
away. And he who was seated on the
throne said, Behold, I'm making all things new.
Also He said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy
and true. OK, so those are the promises,
but what does it mean for us right now?
And that's my last point. Walk with God now then.
And while these things are about future events, I also believe as
I opened with an already, but not yet, you can experience some
of the joy and hope that will be experienced later in the future
now. And that's what he ends with.
He says, Oh House of Jacob, as he gives them this vision, as he
declares to them what the word of the Lord was, the message of
hope to them. He says, come, let us walk in
the light of the Lord. We should walk now in the light
of the Lord. We should follow Christ and
anticipate his second coming. Now, do we think about this
enough, Christian, we're we're constantly thinking of the day
today. What's going to happen today?
What about tomorrow? What about next week?
Do we think about when Christ will make a new heaven and a new
earth? Or have we have we got our
affairs in order for that? Do it while there's still time
and there still can be a way that we live as the House of the
Lord here. And although we're not all, you
know, transplanted and and overseas in the Middle East, in
Jerusalem, what was symbolic of the House of Lord there, we now
are the House of the Lord. You see, the Bible also says
there will be no temple. There will be no need for a
temple in the new heavens, in the new earth, but Christ and
also a light there. There will be no need for a son
anymore because the light of Christ will light up the whole
creation, the whole universe. We are the House of the Lord,
though as the church. Are we living in such a way that
we're drawing people by the word of God to Christ the King, the
church? We should be unified now, and we
should put down our weapons against one another.
Yeah, we, we want to fight for truth and we want to keep the
main things. The main things, yes, But there
are so many things that we can agree to disagree about and
still have unity, not be against one another.
Christians need to be planting spiritual seeds and cultivating
hearts with the tools that God has given us now.
Because we're called the light of the world, like Christ was
the light of the world. He says now we're the light of
the world. And in fact, Ephesians 58, Paul
says it like this. For at one time you were
darkness, but now you're the light in the Lord.
Now walk then as children of light.
And we know that light represents 2 things.
It reveals sin and truth about who Christ is, who God is.
So we're to be doing that now. How do we live in anticipation
for Christ to come back as Christians now we're to be
following the word of God, to worship him because of the
gospel. The Lamb who was slain for my
sins by faith alone, not by works, not by joining a
religion. Did you and I, Christian, gain
this assurance of hope for eternal life and forgiveness of
our sins, but by the sacrifice of Christ?
And we should be worshipping Him now in front of all people,
professing it to all nations and all kinds of people, not being
ashamed of our faith in the Gospel.
Jesus said in John 12, The light is among you for a little while
longer. Walk while you have the light,
lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in darkness
does not know where he's going. If you're in darkness now, if
you're not walking with the Lord Jesus Christ right now, accept
the light while it's still light, while you still see
light, while you still have the chance to put your faith in
Jesus. I'll close with some of the
things that Isaiah says in his book, Isaiah 118.
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as
snow. Though they are red like
Crimson, they shall become like wool.
Isaiah 66 Two, he says He will look to the one who is humble
and contrite in spirit, and trembles out his word.
So this is a call to you, Sinner.
He wants to reason with you though you have many sins.
He wants to cleanse you and wash you clean of that Crimson stain
that you have on yourself and make you white as snow.
But how do you do it? You put your faith in Jesus.
If you feel Him calling you now, if you feel any sort of urge by
the Holy Spirit now, you come to him with humility, you come to
him with repentance. You say, I know I'm a Sinner.
I know what the Bible says. And you, you don't have to prove
it to me because I'm a selfish person.
I'm a prideful person. I'm a lustful person.
I hurt others and I hurt myself. And it happens often in this
life and I wished I didn't do it.
But now you've revealed to me, Lord, that I am this way, and I
do deserve judgement from a holy God.
But yet you say you want to wash me clean and make me new.
And then Isaiah says this. And Isaiah 53, verse 5, the
greatest chapter on the prophecy of what was to happen to Jesus
700 years before he was crucified.
What does Isaiah say? He says he was pierced for our
transgressions. He was crushed for our
iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement
that brought us peace, and by His wounds we are healed.
Place your faith in Christ. If you haven't done that yet,
and if you are a believer in Christ, live in anticipation,
spread your light and worship Him because of the gospel, and
let Him and worship for Him be the highest priority of your
life. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you, Lord Jesus, thank you for your spirit
that we have the ability to interpret your scripture and
that that you gave prophets your word so that we could read of
and study of and hear of the hope that we have waiting for
us. Lord, we do long in this body to
get away from our own sin and to get away from the dangers and
the struggles of this life. Help us to live with
anticipation for the new heavens and the new earth and start to
not hold so tightly to the one we live in now.
I pray in Jesus name, Amen.