In this sermon, the preacher discusses two parables from the Bible. The first parable is about the separation of the righteous and the wicked, where Jesus tells the workers of iniquity to depart from him. The second parable is about the Lord entrusting different amounts of money to his servants, and rewarding them based on their faithfulness in using what they were given. The preacher emphasizes that only Jesus has the power to bring about the changes described in the Bible, including the restoration of peace and harmony in nature. He also highlights the importance of using what God has given us faithfully, as it will determine our reign in the kingdom age.

Welcome to The Word for Today. The Word for Today is a continuous study of the Bible taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament, and for those of you following along in your Bibles, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah 11, beginning with verse 5, as we continue with an in-depth And out of his mouth, and this is the scripture we wanted to come to, there is a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. That is, it's just his word, he speaks his word, and with his word he smites the nations. That's just what Isaiah tells us. His word will be like a rod in punishment. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name that is written, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And John tells about, saw the angel standing in the sun, crying with a loud voice, for all of the fowls to come and feast upon the bodies of those that will be slain in this great carnage of the battle of Armageddon. And then he saw the Antichrist, the beast, and the kings of the earth and their armies. They were gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. So Satan's diverts the people. Now the Antichrist will be the incarnation of Satan, and they will try to stop the reign of Jesus Christ. And so they turn to make war against Jesus and against his army as we come with the Lord back to the earth. And the beast, the Antichrist, was taken, and with him the false prophet that worked the miracles before him, by which he deceived those that had received the mark of the beast and those that worshipped his image. And these were both cast alive into a lake that is burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth. And all of the fowls were filled with their flesh. Now it's not going to be much of a contest. Jesus will just say, drop dead. And it's over. That's it. Even as he spoke the world into existence. In Genesis you read, and God said, let there be light, and there was light. He just said it. Let there be light. In Hebrew it's a little more intense than that. It is Yahiyar wa Yahir. And God said, light be and light was. I mean, that's the power of God. He can speak into existence, and he can also speak out of existence. And having spoken the world into existence, he will also speak out of existence, those who have gathered together to oppose his reign upon the earth. When he came the first time as a child, it was prophesied that he would be despised and rejected by men. It was prophesied that he would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver. It was prophesied that he would be slain or put to death with the transgressors. But it was also prophesied, and the prophecy here is concerning his second coming and his reign, and his glorious reign over the earth, and in righteousness, in power, in judgment. And not judging by what he sees or by what he hears, but just by what he knows about man and the hearts of man. And thus his judgment will be true and righteous. And by his word, the judgment will proceed. And thus we see that the book of Revelation confirms that which Isaiah is speaking about here, that with the rod of his mouth, he will smite the earthly minded, and he will slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. He speaks the word and the judgment is fulfilled. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, wrapped around in righteousness, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. So, the two characteristics, the righteousness and the faithfulness. Remember his name in the book of Revelation is faithful and true. Now, during the time of the reign of Christ upon the earth, and when you pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. This is what we are longing for. And as I said, as we proceed through Isaiah, he will give us a lot of insights into the new age. Now, the people are saying that we are in a new age now. Don't you believe it? God has much better for us than what's currently going on. And the new age is not going to be brought to pass by man or by channelers, but the new age will be brought about through the return of Jesus Christ, and that's the age of his kingdom and his reign upon the earth. Now, during that time, it's interesting, I was reading where 5,000 people gathered in Stockholm, Sweden to think good thoughts, and project these positive thoughts towards the situation in the Middle East to try to diffuse this whole thing that's happening down there. And how people are trying to, by meditation, come into this consciousness of the, you know, God consciousness. And the new age movement is declaring that they have entered into the next realm of the evolutionary process of man. And in tying it together with evolution, they say that evolution actually is an evolution of consciousness, as well as a physical kind of an evolution from a worm to a man. It's also an evolution of consciousness because you have a greater consciousness than a worm. And so, as we make these changes in the evolutionary spiral upwards, we have this evolution of consciousness. And that man is on the verge, mankind is on the verge of making this next evolutionary change. We're going through a process right now of evolutionary change, and they say that some have already entered into the new level of the evolutionary chain, and that is this level of consciousness, which is that God consciousness. And so, the whole idea is for you, through meditation and all, to make this transition and the evolutionary change, and you can come into the universal consciousness. And that, of course, comes directly out of the Hindu religion. Sai Baba, the Rajneesh, and so forth, are bringing men into this new level of consciousness. And thus, you can actually have an evolutionary transformation and come in, you know, and we're going to change the world by our thinking and by this consciousness, and we're going to save dear Mother Earth. And it's a whole thing that man is, you know, talking so much about the environment and saving the environment and all. It's true that our whole environment is suffering tremendously because of man and because of man's greed. But man does not have the capacity to save his environment. We can't change it. Only Jesus will be able to make the changes that are described here. For during the time that he reigns, the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling will be together, and a little child shall lead them. That ferocity of nature in the animals will be removed. They will all be peaceful and docile. The lions and all of them, the elephants, you can, you know, they'll all be peaceful and docile, and it'll be just the world as God created it. Not a world that is suffering as the result of sin and the curse of sin. So the beautiful picture of a little child leading a lion around and probably just grab hold of the mane and pulls the lion the direction he wants it to go. The cow and the bear shall feed together, and their young ones will lie together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. No longer carnivorous, but eating, grazing in the fields. And the nursing child, and it's interesting that the children are brought into this picture of the Kingdom Age. We are told in another passage of Scripture that they will play in the streets in safety. That here the little children, the nursing child, will play on the hole of a poisonous snake, and the weaned child, one who's just a little above the nursing age, will put his hand upon the cockatrice's den, which of course is another poisonous snake. Now the, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And so a glorious time when the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord. Psalm 2 comes into play here, where God says to his son Jesus, ask of me and I will give to you the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. And it tells how the kings of the earth had gathered together against God, the scene that we read in Revelation 19. But it says the Lord who dwells in heaven shall laugh, for he shall have them in derision. And he will establish his righteous king upon the throne. So it all ties together. The future day, when Jesus comes to reign over the whole earth, and it will be an earth that will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse. God's promise to David will be fulfilled. David's seed, the Messiah, Jesus Christ will sit upon the throne. And as we read in Revelation, he shall reign forever and ever. And so in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for a signal of the people. And to him will the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. Now when Jesus comes to reign upon the earth, he will reign in the holy mountain, Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. And we read that the kings of the earth will gather each year to present their gifts unto him. Now who are the kings of the earth that will be gathering in Jerusalem? Well, you're looking at one. In Revelation chapter 1, as he is describing Jesus Christ for us, he tells us, verse 5, and in giving the John to the seven churches grace and peace from God and from the seven spirits. And as we mentioned, that is a reference, they feel, to the 11th chapter. Here's sevenfold working of the spirit. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his father, to him be glory and dominion forever. So he has made us to be kings. In chapter 5 of the book of Revelation, when Jesus opens the, or takes the little scroll to break the seals, in verse 9 it declares, and they sang a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals, for you were slain, and you've redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and you have made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. So you'll have a free trip to Jerusalem every year to bring to him the gifts and to just sit and worship and enjoy. Now, the church of Jesus Christ has this promise to be kings and priests, reigning with Christ upon the earth. You remember that Jesus gave us a parable that dealt with the master who went away, and when he came back again to the kingdom, he gathered together the nations, and he separated them as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. And to those on his right hand, he said, Come, ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundations of the earth. But to those on his left hand, he said, Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. Now, he gave another parable in which he said that the Lord went away and entrusted the servants with different amounts of money. To one he gave ten talents, to another five talents, to another he gave four talents, and to another he gave one talent. And when the Lord returned to find out how the servants had done, to the one to whom he had given five talents, he said, Lord, I took your five talents, and I invested and used them, and I have now ten talents. And he said, Well done, good and faithful servant, I will make you ruler over ten cities, enter into the joy of the Lord. And the same with that of four, he brought back eight, enter. To the one who had given one talent, he said, Lord, I know that you're, you know, you're a hard businessman, and you really want to exact where you haven't sown and all. And, and thus, I, I was very careful with the talent you gave me. I buried it, and now I've dug it up, and here it is. And he said, You know that I want interest in all on my investments. And he said, Take away the talent, and give it to one that has ten. And so to him who is, to him that hath is given, but to him who hath not is taken away even that which he hath. In other words, we're to use what God has given us, and my faithfulness in what I do with what God has given me now will determine the degree in which I will reign in the kingdom age. And so here is a prophecy of that time when Jesus will be reigning in Jerusalem, and it will be a signal, really, to the world, and the Gentiles will gather unto him, and his rest shall be glorious. Oh, the peace. The Bible, in another place, says that in that day there will be peace like a river, and the earth will just be filled with peace, and his rest will be glorious. Today, we look at a world that's filled with strife, filled with chaos. There's no rest in the world today except for the righteous. And the world is like a troubled sea, driven to and fro. There's no rest, the Bible said, for the wicked. But our rest, even now, is in Jesus Christ. And he has a place of rest for you. And they who have entered into that rest have ceased from their own labors. The rest that we have in Christ is that rest of faith, where I am trusting in him fully and completely for my salvation and for my righteous standing before God. Face to face, Lord, let me know. Face to face, Lord, let me see you. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD number C-3247. Again, that's tape or CD number C-3247. As we come to a close in today's program, we'd like to introduce a brand new book written by Pastor Chuck Smith, entitled, Six Vital Questions of Life. Once again, Pastor Chuck has helped us to understand the scriptures with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In his new book, Pastor Chuck considers six life-changing questions asked by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans, and then expounds upon the biblical answers that can revolutionize your Christian walk with God. After discovering this revelation, the change was so profound in Pastor Chuck's own life, he says it was almost like a second conversion, putting him in the winner's circle. So, if you have any questions concerning your relationship with God, the book Six Vital Questions of Life by Pastor Chuck will reassure and reinforce God's special plan and purpose for your life. To order Pastor Chuck's new book, Six Vital Questions of Life, for yourself or for a friend, you can call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD. Or write to us at P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California, 92628. Once again, that number to call is 1-800-272-9673. And for those of you that would like to visit our website, you can do so at www.twft.com. Or if you would like to email us, you can do so at info at twft.com. Well, coming up next time on The Word for Today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of Isaiah. That's coming up next time on The Word for Today. And now, with our closing prayer, here's Pastor Chuck. I'm so glad that I'm a child of the King and that there is therefore now no condemnation because Jesus took the guilt of my sin, died in my place. And all I'm going to face is the beautiful favor of God and the blessings of God and the glory of living forever in His kingdom, in His presence. That's my choice. I'm sticking with it. And may the Lord bless you and may His love be showered upon you as you walk with Him. The word of the Lord to Ace of the King was, the Lord will be with you if you'll be with Him. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. But if you seek Him, you'll find Him. It's perpetual. If you want to be with the Lord tonight, He'll be with you. If you want to just walk your own way, He'll let you. But if you seek the Lord, you'll find Him. And may the Lord bless you as you seek Him and seek His will, His plan, His purpose for your life. May you live in such a way as to please Him. I could live again. Lord, let me love You face to face. Amen.