Isaiah 11-12

Take another turn here going through the map. We're going to go through Isaiah 11 and 12. That sounds real aggressive, but they're two very short chapters.

If you're writing notes, you want something for the top of your page in terms of a title.

It would be Isaiah 11 and 12. God, His plan, and His people are victorious.

God, His plan, and His people are victorious.

This section of Isaiah concludes a section that began in chapters 7 through 12, a major section of Isaiah containing a series of prophecies. Basically, these prophecies are discussing the invasion of Judah by Syria and Israel. These prophecies were aimed at calling Judah back to the faith in God. Just to give you a very brief sketch of what we've covered to this point, chapters 7 and 8 of Isaiah have a theme. The theme for those two chapters is, Stand firm in the faith, not trust in flesh, or you won't stand at all.

Stand firm in the faith, not trust in flesh, or you won't stand at all. That's chapter 7 and 8. Chapter 10, we talked about how God judges the heart. We saw how God judges the heart of Judah, bound at wanting, and then judges the heart of a Syria who was punishing. God used to punish Judah, and their heart was lacking.

So that's the theme of chapter 10. Chapter 9, in between the two sections, the prophecy is talking about Israel being punished, but the rule of Christ to bring hope.

So these prophecies have much broader application. As you and I study the scriptures, we don't just study prophecy to understand what's going to happen in future events and kind of have a heads up. We study prophecy, and we'll talk more about this toward the end of the sermon. We study prophecy because we need to look at our walk with God, and how are we doing with our walk of God? Prophecy is always a call to a better walk with God, a more clear walk with God, a repentant walk with God. And of course, God takes no pleasure in punishing anybody. Let's take a look at Ezekiel 18. Let's turn there. Ezekiel 18.

We're going to see where God's heart is in all of this. We talk about prophecy and people being punished and this and that and the other. But does God rejoice in having to do that sort of thing?

Do we as parents, do we as grandparents rejoice in having to punish our children or our grandchildren?

Last night, I do this thing called Google Duo. Does anybody here do Google Duo? It's kind of a Skype type of a thing. I get on the computer, and I call my son through the computer, and I see him on the computer, and I see my grandkids. You know, I only get the chance to go over there maybe once or twice a year, but it's remarkable as I'm looking at those three grandkids. Forget my son for a bit, you know. Well, I want to look at the grandkids. My grandson is about a year and a half old, and he is a spitting image of his daddy. I look at him, and I think that's what makes all of us, as grandparents, our hearts melt. We take a look at those little ones, and we see our kids, but now we have a chance to spoil them and do all sorts of things we never did with our kids, and of course our kids remind us of that. But, you know, I'm looking at the little guy, and he looks just like his dad, and then the two girls, the two twins, there's still only about 40 percent of their height in white for what they should be, but then they were born, both of them, at 1 pound, 13 ounces, 1 pound, 14 ounces. They were, you know, three months premature, but now they're, of course, I'm very biased. They are now two beautiful little redheads with big blue eyes, and it's just remarkable. You know, they're about three and a half years old. I enjoy talking with them. They don't have a real heavy conversation, but it's just nice looking at those little kids.

But God, you know, when I look at my grandkids, or I think about my kids, I want to think about doing nice things for them, not punishing anybody. And God in the same way. Here in Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 30, Ezekiel 18 verse 30, therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone, according to his ways, says the Lord God, repent and turn from your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. This is a heartfelt statement from our great God, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. And the same thing, brethren, is true for us. God doesn't want us to fall into all sorts of things where iniquity would be our ruin. Verse 31, cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore, turn and live.

This is always the heart of God. This is always what God wants. He wants us to turn and live.

Part of that, Terny, is what we heard earlier today in the sermon. It's a first split sermon about daily prayer, staying close to God, so we can turn from our wicked ways and our old ways and be at one with God. Let's look at 1 Timothy. We read in the Old Testament where God's mind was. Let's take a look at the New Testament. 1 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2, 3, and 4.

1 Timothy 2, 3. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved, and they come to the knowledge of the truth. God doesn't want to lose anybody. God would love the fact that there was a third resurrection. There wouldn't be anybody there. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. As we look at prophecy and we look at what the Bible says, apparently there are some people who are going to be in a third resurrection. I've told parents from time to time, sometimes as parents we feel badly. Maybe we've not done the job we want to do with our kids. But you know something? God's a parent, too. And some of God's kids, and God has the abilities that we don't have. He can read hearts, he can read minds, he can alter circumstance or alter what's happening. He can do all sorts of things, but people are still free moral agents. Our children are free moral agents, and they can do what they want to do. In some cases, God is loving his he is. In love, we'll have to march people into the lake of fire. Does that make God a bad parent? Does that mean God is not a success?

Well, the responsibility comes to the kids at a certain point in life, and that's something that all of us as parents need to appreciate. You know, we can only do with what we have to do in terms of our own walk with God. But here we see in Timothy where God wants everyone to come to a knowledge of repentance. Everybody. Okay, so let's now turn over to Isaiah chapter 11. Again, these are these two chapters are small, very short. Here we see chapter 11 of Isaiah is one of those chapters that has so many scriptures that we know by heart, and we simply just love reading. There's a lot of millennial scripture here. There's a lot of very inspiring scripture here in this chapter, and we're going to take a look at it. Chapter 11 verse 1, thou shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Now, remember what we saw in chapter 10. In chapter 10, we saw the king of Assyria boasting about his great conquests.

And in chapter 10 of Isaiah, we see where he's this great, arrogant king, the king of the Assyrians, talking about all of his conquests. Well, here we start chapter 11 with humility. With humility. A humble spirit, a humble shoot from the stump of Jesse, which will eventually be Jesus Christ, who will rule this whole planet. Put a marker here in Isaiah, and let's go over to Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2, we've got the vision of the image.

Daniel chapter 2, we see the image of gold and silver and bronze and iron and clay.

The gold being the Babylonian Empire, the silver being the Persian Empire, bronze being Greece, and the iron and clay being Rome. And that they have their time on earth. God gives them their opportunities. They, of course, each in their own way, fail. But notice now Daniel chapter 2 and verse 44. And in the days of these kings, that God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. Every great empire, no matter where on the face of the earth, has come to an end. The American Empire is going to be coming to an end. In the days of these kings, this is talking about the end of the age, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. This kingdom, brethren, will be left to Jesus Christ and those who return with Jesus Christ, that Christ's Second Coming, the glorified saints, you. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

You and I can look forward to that. You know, here we are. We're about ready to, we've already started in one sense, talking about the next president of the United States.

And all that's taking place, and all the things you see on TV and on the news with politics in this nation, and what you see about all in the whole world, what's taking place politically. And yet, it's so good to realize that at some point, God is going to say, Christ is going to say, enough is enough. Going back now to Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 2 and 3. Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 2 and 3.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Now, when you take a look at this, you see seven things here. You see the Spirit of the Lord, that's one. Then you see three couplets, Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. It is thought, as Isaiah was one of the men of letters, kind of like Paul in the New Testament, it is thought that he did this for a specific reason. Of course, obviously, God was inspiring him. But what we're looking at here is qualities that are attributed to Jesus Christ, showing that with the number seven, we've got a ruler who will completely be able to guide and rule planet earth the way God wants it to be done.

And you and I can rejoice that there's coming that time. The Messiah is coming. He's perfectly endowed by God to do what needs to be done in a world that's full of chaos and heartbreak. Again, put a marker here. Let's go over to Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew chapter 11.

Verses 28 and 29, 30.

Matthew chapter 11 of my Bible, all read lettering.

The words of Christ here. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, Come to me, all you labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest.

You know, in a world full of sin, people are laboring. They're laboring under the kind of society we have to live in. People don't have the kind of rest they would like to have. But Christ says, verse 29, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So Christ basically is saying, I'm coming to give you the abundant life.

The world can't give it to you. It hasn't given it to you in 6,000 years. And as time has gone by, things have only gotten worse. So now we go back to Isaiah. Let's take a look again at verse 2. It says, The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him.

You know, there have been times when there have been people like you and I who have had God's Spirit. But you and I have God's Spirit on a limited basis.

When Jesus Christ is ruling the planet earth, he is unlimited in terms of the Spirit working with him. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.

Okay, what's wisdom here? Wisdom is practical knowledge, practical insight that enables one to know what to do and how to do it.

Is there a need for that in our planet today? Is there a need for a practical insights that would enable the leadership to know what to do and how to do it?

Well, Jesus Christ will have that gift of wisdom. He will also have, with the gift of wisdom, the gift of understanding.

Understanding means the ability to grasp facts, the ability to grasp knowledge, which leads to proper understanding so problems can be solved.

So we will have a leader in Jesus Christ and those who rule with Jesus Christ. People have an understanding, a wisdom plus an understanding so we can solve problems. Problems the world today wrestle with. Think are insoluble, insolvable, but they'll be solvable. Also, they'll be the gift of counsel.

The gift of counsel, no matter how complex an issue. There will be empathy for those who are suffering. There'll be a way for us to counsel them so they can cope and begin a healing process. Cope and begin a healing process.

How many people do you know right now are just not able to cope with life?

I had an uncle who had a mental breakdown many, many years ago, and he simply could not cope with life. Couldn't work, basically had to stay home, basically never went out of the house. He simply couldn't cope. He had a hard time even getting through each and every day. And yet, we will have the ability, as the children of God, under Jesus Christ. Christ obviously will have this counsel, but we will have the ability to help in this process to empathize with people's sufferings and to be able to help them manage that and overcome those sufferings. Another gift is the gift of might, it says there in chapter 11 verse 2. The gift of might, in other words, that means to act mightily, to accomplish every task that needs to be accomplished. Not just look at things and say, well, I wish we can do something about that, but we as spirit beings and of course under Jesus Christ, we will roll up our sleeves and get to work with a spirit of might. And of course, we've got the might combined with wisdom, understanding, and counsel. Then it says the gift of knowledge there in Isaiah 11 verse 2. The gift of knowledge to really be aware, to have full comprehension. You know, so many times a day things can't get done, can't be accomplished, because there isn't a real comprehension of what is the comprehension of what the problem is. Sometimes people don't want to discuss where they're really coming from. Sometimes they really may not even know.

They just know they've got anger issues.

And yet we will have that gift of full comprehension as, you know, under Jesus Christ. And of course here it says also the gift of the fear of the Lord.

The gift of the fear of the Lord. A profound reverence. A humble walk that Jesus Christ has with the Father, and we will have with Him. You put all those things together. Wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord.

Those things all add up in a very beautiful way so that when Christ returns and we with Him, we will be able to make a real impact on planet Earth.

Going on to Isaiah 11, verse 3, "...his delight is in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears." True judgment. True spiritual judgment. And notice our Savior takes great delight, takes great joy, rejoices in the fear of God.

Through the course of world's history, people have had fear of despots. They've had fear of people like Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Edie Emeen, you name the despots we've had over the course of history, human history. But here we see somebody who delights in the fear of the Lord. Different age, different setting. As world ruler, our Savior will establish true righteousness and justice on the earth. He will not be like any ordinary judge who has to give opinions based upon imperfect knowledge. Christ will have perfect knowledge. He will judge properly, factually, spiritually. Verse 4 and verse 5, 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 rot of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist. So, one of the hallmarks of Christ's rulership is righteousness. Righteousness. In your notes, you might want to jot down Psalm 119.172. Psalm 119.172. I'll read it for you. My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness. All your commandments are righteousness.

So, when it says here that with righteousness he shall judge the poor, people today want to say that 10 commandments are done away. And yet, in the world tomorrow, the 10 commandments are the basis for a just society. They're the basis for success in life. They're the basis for a society that really works. In your notes, you might want to jot down Romans 7, verses 12 and 14. Romans 7, verse 12, where it says, Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Why would you do away with something that is holy, just, and good?

If you want a society, wouldn't you want it based on laws that are holy, just, and good? Romans 7, verse 14, says, For we know the law is spiritual.

We've had our share of doing things physically on this planet for the last 6,000 years. It hasn't worked out, has it?

So, here in chapter 11, we see the basis for a new society under Jesus Christ and those who come with them to rule. Let's go back to Isaiah 11, going now to verse 6. Isaiah 11, verses 6 through 9. Take a look at that section. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

Now, I'm not wearing it today. I'm wearing my koa ring that comes from Hawaii. Koa wood is a very rare wood, very pricey wood that people even smuggle. But a lot of times, I'll wear my ambassador college ring. And when I'm wearing my ambassador college ring, it's got that symbol there of the lie and the lamb, the little child, and it's got this inscription. Isaiah 11, 6. A beautiful picture of the world tomorrow. Verse 7. An a cow and a bear shall graze, their young one shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox, the nursing child shall play by the ox, the nursing child shall play by the cobra-thole, the wind shall put his hand in the vipers then. And they shall not hurt nor destroy at all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the seas. So here we see not only a dramatic change in the leadership in the world tomorrow, we see a dramatic change even in nature, even in nature. Reading from our United Church of God Bible commentary, they say this about this section of scripture. The very nature and perhaps even physiology of many animals will be changed. Thus, requirement would seem a restructuring of the global ecosystem. A restructuring of the global ecosystem.

But also, it says in the commentary, it should be noted the animals here may well also be symbolic of the nations of the world with their peacefully dwelling together and representing an end to war between people. The lamb, the kid, the calf, the fatling, the ox, the cow are often used in scripture to symbolize generally peace-loving Israelite peoples. So God has something else in mind here. Not only where animals are going to live together properly and not hurt humans, but the nations of the earth will be able to live together properly and not hurt one another. Of course, Isaiah chapter 11 verse 9 again, one of those beautiful scriptures, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for there shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. What would it be like wherever if you know I don't know what the education is gonna be like in the world tomorrow. I don't know if education is going to be all homeschooling, but what would it be like to have every elementary school, middle school, high school, university, every library, everybody who publishes books, everything that is written is true, it's factual, it's according to the ways of God. Everywhere you turn. Now today, in today's world, it's just the opposite, isn't it? Everywhere you turn, there's falsehood, there's lie, there's misdirection, deception. You know, there is some truth here and there. Satan has done a wonderful job in terms of deceiving people.

Verse 10, Isaiah 11 10, in that day there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people, for the Gentile shall seek him and his resting place shall be glorious. When I spend a little time here in verse 11, it shall come to pass in that day. Now, as I've told you, in that day is symbolic of end-of-the-age prophecy. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people who are left. We know our nation is going to fail. We know our nation is going to to be dissolved. We know that our nation, our peoples, are going to be scattered to the winds. And there's going to become a time for a second exodus. Notice where our people are coming from here. From Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Kush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. Now, those lands, for the most part, you don't recognize. But again, going back to our Bible commentary, the United Church of God Bible commentary, let's go through these particular areas of the world where our people are going to be coming back from. And you're in a sea, brethren, that a lot of these nations, a lot of these areas, are Muslim countries. Muslim countries. You've got Assyria. Now, we've talked last time about how we can trace Assyria, ancient Assyria, back to Central Europe. So some of our people will be coming back from Central Europe. You've got Egypt. Egypt is Egypt. Muslim nation. Pathros would be southern Egypt. Again, you don't necessarily need to write all this down. If you've got a computer, you go to our Bible reading program. Go to Isaiah chapter 11. You'll have this list. Kush is Sudan and Ethiopia. Elam would be Eastern Europe, perhaps Turkey. That also can be considered Asia. Shinar would be Iraq and Syria, parts of Turkey. Hamith, Syria. And, of course, the islands of the sea could be talked about as our peoples coming from all around the world. Now, why, brethren, are so many of these nations where our peoples are coming out of slavery, why are they Muslim countries? Why is that? Well, what do we know about prophecy? Let's take a look at Revelation chapter 18. Again, put a marker here in Isaiah. Revelation chapter 18.

Starting here in verse 11. Talking about Babylon, the end time Babylon. Revelation chapter 18 verse 11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her for no one buys their merchandise anymore. Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet. Every kind of citrine wood, every kind of object of ivory, most precious wood, bronze, iron, marble. Cinnamon, verse 13, incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine, oil, fine flower and wheat, cattle, horses and chariots. And notice the very last item. And bodies and souls of men. The end time Babylon, the end time European power, is going to deal in slavery. Now we have that as a fact. We add to the fact. Let's go over to the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 11, longest prophecy in the Bible. Daniel chapter 11, verses 40 through 43. Daniel chapter 11, we went through this some time ago. But let's take a look at review. Daniel chapter 11, verse 40. At that time, at the end, the king of the south shall attack him, and the king of the north shall come up against him like a whirlwind with chariots, horsemen, many ships, and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. So the king of the south, which we believe to be Muslim countries, there's something's going to happen where they're going to push against the great European power. European power is going to push back. European power is going to go into that part of the country, part of the world. They're going to be victorious. They're going to stay in those largely Muslim countries, and they're going to need help once they're there. And so that's one of the reasons why our peoples are used as slave labor in those various Muslim countries. Because the Europeans want manpower to man the bases they now have, and those countries the way this may mention of. So we see a little something there that perhaps we've not quite seen in the past. Let's go back now to chapter 11 of Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter 11, verses 12 through 14. He will set up a banner for the nations, will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. So here in this section we're seeing how the Israelites are returning back to the Holy Land. Also, the envy of Ephraim shall depart, the adversary of the Judah shall be cut off, Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. In other words, there is a oneness where there was animosity between the northern and the southern kingdoms.

That is now dispersing because of the teachings of Jesus Christ, who's now ruling planet earth. But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philateines toward the west, together they shall plunder the people of the east. Okay, some of this is talking about what happened in history. Verses 15 and 16. The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt.

With his mighty wind he will shake the fist over the river, talking about the Euphrates, and strike it in seven streams, and make men cross over dryshod. There will be a highway for the remnant of the people who will be left in from Assyria, and ask for Israel, and the day he shall come up from the land of Egypt. So verses 12 through 14 talk about coming back to the Holy Land, the various dispersed peoples, our peoples. Verses 15 and 16 also describe this miraculous return. As God opened the Red Sea for ancient Israel, he will do the same thing for modern Israel in the second exodus, not just the Red Sea but also the Euphrates, to make it possible from every direction for our peoples to come back.

Chapter 12, just six verses here, In that day you will say, O Lord, I outpraise you, though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you comfort me. So God is going to show grace toward his people. He will show grace. Of course, the people need to repent, and they will be doing so. In your notes, you might want to jot down Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16, where it says, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4, 16 goes very nicely with Isaiah chapter 12 verse 1.

Verse 2, Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For YAH, the Lord is my strength and song. He's also become my salvation. Now verse 2 is interesting, because you've got the same same idea here, where it says, For YAH, the Lord is my strength and song.

He's also become my salvation. You see that in Exodus chapter 15, in verse 2, we know that being the song of Moses, we know that is in the law of God. The Bible, the Old Testament, has three divisions. The law of the writings and the prophets, the law of prophets and writings. Here we see this same verse, Isaiah 12.2, in Exodus 15.2, we also see it in Psalm 118 verse 14.

Psalm 118 verse 14. So what we're seeing here in Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2 is found in all three sections of the Old Testament. The law, the prophets, and the Psalms is the writings. In other words, it's covering all of Scripture in the Old Testament. Verse 3, Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation, water being symbolic of God's Holy Spirit, a conversion process taking place for mankind.

Verse 4, and in that day you will say, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His deeds among the peoples. Make mention that His name is exalted, sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O what happened to Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst. So verses 4 through 6 talks about us to worship God in prayer, to worship God in song. You know, Mr.

Christiansen was talking about that earlier today when he was leading the first set of songs, how we worship God with our singing. We praise God with our singing.

I'll take you over just a few minutes. We missed a couple of services. You owe me some time. Probably only about five minutes or so. Brethren, why do we study prophecy? You know, today we looked at Isaiah chapter 11 and 12. And as I keep on saying, we don't just study prophecy so we have a heads up for what's coming down the road. Let's take a look, and I gave you this. If you've got good notes, you've got this in the very first sermon I gave you when we started looking at Isaiah. I asked the question, why do we study prophecy? What are its purposes? Number one, to build faith and hope. We study prophecy to build faith and hope. Let's look at Isaiah chapter 46.

Isaiah chapter 46 verses 9 and 10. Isaiah 46 verse 9. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there's none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all of my pleasure. We realize that God is true to his word, and because he is true to his word, that helps us build faith. That helps us to have hope, because we know what God says in his word he will do. Now today, you and I can look at a lot of Old Testament prophecy. We can look at that as history, because it's come to pass, and we realize God was faithful. You know, God asks us to be faithful, but he's faithful first. He's going to do exactly what he said he was going to do. So one of the, I'm not going to go through all the various purposes here and now as to why we study prophecy, but I'm going to go through just three of them here. A second reason we study prophecy is to encourage us. We study prophecy to encourage us. Let's go to Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. I read this all the time when I'm doing a funeral service.

This gives a number, it gives people a great deal of hope.

Very encouraging scriptures. Revelation chapter 21 verses 3 and 4. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. The tabernacle of God is with men.

Christ has been in the millennium the whole time, but now the Father is going to live with us. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Sometimes we use the euphemism when somebody has died, they have passed away. Well, death itself at some point is going to pass away. Prophecy tells us that. Prophecy is very encouraging along those lines.

When you think about the various people in your life, loved ones, friends, different people that you've known, to know that if they were in the faith, they're going to be resurrected in the first resurrection. If they weren't in a faith, there's a second resurrection for them, that they will have an opportunity, a first opportunity, not a second chance, a first bona fide opportunity to know the truth of God. That gives us encouragement. I think about my father, I think about my older brother, and I think about so much of my family. Never had a clue what the faith was about. When I think about the year that Mary and I were in Italy for the feast, and I visited a little village my dad was born in, Barzano, about 90 miles to the east of Rome, up in the mountains, a little village about 1700 people. I went to the cemetery and saw the various dell'esandro graves. There were two or three mausoleums in that little cemetery for dell'esandros. When I saw some of the faces, they had pictures of some of the people who had died. Their pictures were covered with a plastic bubble, and I looked at those faces, especially one in particular. I said, boy, that! His name is dell'esandro, but he looks just like my dad.

Of course, that year at the feast in Italy, I gave a sermon on the last great day. So it was very meaningful to me to be in that cemetery and see these dell'esandros. In other parts of my family, the Castelionis, the Sanovikas, they were there, too.

We can be encouraged to know that there is that resurrection. The third thing, and again, I had seven, I'm going to give you three here today, but another reason we study prophecy is to keep us on our toes.

To keep us on our toes. Help us to stay ready.

Matthew 24, the Olivet prophecy. Let's go over there for a moment. This last scripture for today, Matthew 24.

Again, all read lettering here. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

He would have been vigilant. He would have been on his toes. He would make proper preparation. Verse 44, Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour, you do not expect. You know, brethren, that's true in so many ways. Christ may come at a time in history that we're not expecting. Or, you or I could die.

Unexpectedly.

We could be killed in a car accident.

As I've said in the past, Mary and I have had four fatal car accidents in our two families. Her father, her uncle, her brother, and my niece.

Four fatalities. For them, that was the end.

The oldest was Mary's dad, who died the day before her tenth birthday. He was in his early forties. Her uncle, who survived Vietnam, was in his mid-twenties. My brother was, or my, her brother was, I think, 33, and my niece was 20. Young people. Their end came.

So, in that sense, the Son of Man for them came at an hour they weren't expecting. And it can happen to us.

Verse 45, Who then is faithful and wise servant, whom his master made rule over his household to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. We study prophecy so we know what we're supposed to be doing, in amending our lives.

Okay. Took eight minutes of your time, overtime. It's not too bad. You still owe me about an hour and a half, so I'll catch up some other time.