In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith addresses the breakdown of the family unit in society and the impact it has on marriages and children. He introduces his Marriage and Family Bible Study series, which focuses on basic principles to maintain love and harmony within families. By understanding and applying God's principles, families can experience peace, joy, and unconditional love. The sermon also mentions a resource called Christian Family Relationships, which is based on the books of Ephesians and Colossians and provides further guidance on building strong family relationships.

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, chapter 25, beginning with verse 9, as we continue with an in-depth message entitled, The Praise to God. One thing is needful, O my Father, One thing is needful, O my God, That I sit at your feet and pour out my love. This thing is needful, O my God. And now with today's study, here's Pastor Chuck. It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, and we have waited for Him. And He will save us. He is the Lord, and we have waited for Him, and we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Oh, can you imagine what it's going to be? We have been waiting, still waiting. Lord, come, come quickly. Lord, come and establish Your kingdom. We've waited, and we continue to wait. But one day, it's going to be. You know, there are those special days out of the year that you are anticipating, you look forward to them, you wait for them, and it seems like they'll never arrive. Christmas used to be that way with me when I was a kid. Every year I would wait. I would read in the paper and follow it every night. Twenty-nine shopping days till Christmas. Twenty-eight shopping days till Christmas. Man, I'd watch that. Waiting for Christmas to come. Counting the days. And then the day, the magic day would finally arrive, and all of the excitement. We could never sleep the night. Our family always opened presents Christmas morning, and we never slept Christmas Eve. Wake up every little while and wonder, is it morning yet? Just couldn't wait. The longest night of the year was Christmas Eve. Always. And yet, the day would come, and oh, what joy, what excitement. And imagine the joy and the excitement when the day of the Lord does come. We've been waiting. We've been anticipating. We've been planning. We've been praying. And that day when it comes, oh Lord, we've waited. Save us. We've waited on Him, and now we will be glad, and we will rejoice in His salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and the enemies, represented by Moab, shall be trodden down under Him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And He shall spread forth His hands in the midst of them, as He that swimmeth spreads forth His hands to swim. The enemies of the Lord will try to survive, but they're going to sink. And He shall bring down their pride together with the spoil of their hands, and the fortress of the high fort of the walls shall He bring down and lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. Our Lord shall reign, and all opposition will be put down. Now we get to the worship. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. The lyrics, we have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. So the glorious song in that day of God's strength and God's protection and God's deliverance. And then that beautiful verse, For thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusts in Thee. Jesus said to His disciples, Peace I leave with Thee, my peace I give unto Thee, not as the world giveth, give I unto Thee. Paul in one of his benedictions said, And may the peace of Christ keep your minds and your hearts. And then the Bible speaks of the peace of Christ, which passes human understanding. Now, it is one thing to have peace with God. And that is established the moment you surrender to God. That makes sense, doesn't it? As long as you're fighting God, as long as you're at war with God, as long as you're running from God, you can never have peace with God. The first consciousness that a person has when they ask Jesus Christ to come into their life, they repent of their sins, they say, Lord, I'm sorry for my sins. Please forgive me. Lord, come in and take over my life. The first consciousness that a person has is that of peace. Just suddenly there's a real beautiful peace. I'm no longer at war with God. I'm no longer fighting with God. I'm no longer running from God. God, I now belong to you. Man, it feels good. Such peace. But there is also the peace of God. That's peace with God. There are a lot of people who have peace with God who don't have the peace of God. Their life is still in a turmoil. There's still a lot of anxieties. There's still a lot of fears and trepidation about things around them and uncertainty. And you see people who are Christians. It's not really questioning the fact that they are born again or a child of God. But it is possible to be born again and be a child of God and not have the peace of God. The peace of God comes when you rest your case fully in His hands. When you say, well Lord, it's in your hands. And you just look at Him. You don't look at the situations anymore. You don't look at the problems. You look at the Lord. Now it's an amazing thing when I look at my problems in the light of my strength and then I look at my problems in the light of His strength. Very small things can overwhelm me if I think I've got to handle it. But I'll tell you when you figure, Lord, take care of it. There's nothing that God can't handle that I am facing. And if I keep my eyes on Him then I have that peace, that perfect peace. As most of you know, the church has an avocado and citrus farm up in Santa Paula that was given to the church a few years ago and we're holding it and anticipating to sell it before too long because development is finally moving up that way. Last year was the first year that we were sort of able to break even. We had a disastrous fire a few years ago that destroyed most of the avocado trees. We've replanted them in citrus. And last year was a good year for the farm and we just about broke even. But that frost two nights ago was disaster. Wiped us out. Both our citrus and avocados seemed to be gone. The fellow in charge of the farm called me up yesterday. His voice was filled with gloom and discouragement as he told me of the tremendous frost damage that we sustained in that disastrous frost. And I said, well, it's the Lord's. Belongs to Him. And I suppose if there's anybody that can afford to lose a crop of avocados, He can. Not going to worry about it. It's His. Belongs to Him. And so you have that peace. Well, Lord, you know, you control the weather, you can control whatever. And so if you want to wipe out the avocados and oranges that belong to you, that's fine. You're smarter than I am. Thou will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee. That's the secret. Don't let your mind get all caught up in these things. Maybe I'm getting, maybe I'm getting old. I'm getting old. It used to be nothing could disturb my sleep. I was a counselor for years in the summer camps. And the guys, you know, in a cabin and you've got these 20 guys in there, you know, and they're out for a great time. They're up there just to have fun and all. And they don't want to go to sleep at night. They don't want to get up in the morning either, but they don't want to go to sleep at night. There's all this talking, all this, you know, fooling around, playing tricks on everybody, short sheeting and, you know, raiding the other cabins and the whole thing. I mean, it's all there. And as I was counseling them, I'd say, no, look, guys, give me a break. Just be quiet long enough for me to go to sleep. And then you guys can do anything. Because once I'm asleep, I just don't wake up. I mean, I'm gone. I mean, I sleep soundly. And so just let me get to sleep. Just stay quiet long enough for me to get sleep. And then you guys can, you know, do whatever. You can rip the camp. I mean, I'll never know it. The interesting thing, by the time they were quiet long enough for me to get to sleep, they were usually asleep, too. You know, they'd all vibe down. But usually there's hyper vibes in that kind of a situation. Nowadays, I do wake up at night. And sometimes there are nagging thoughts where you seek to sort of solve the problem. The problem will come to you and it'll start sort of nagging on you. Just pray. Commit it to the Lord. And He will keep you in perfect peace if your mind is stayed on Him. Get your mind on the issues, on the problems, and man, you have sleepless nights and everything else. Trust ye in the Lord forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. All you need, it's there. Trust in the Lord. Thou will keep him in perfect peace if his mind is stayed on him because he trusts in the... And then just the commandment, trust ye in the Lord forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. For He brings down those that dwell on high. The lofty city, He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground, and He brings it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy. For the way of the just is uprightness. Thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just. So trust in the Lord. God will take care of it. He will bring down the high ones. He will exalt the needy, the poor. The just will triumph. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee. The desire of our soul is to Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee. And so, Lord, we've waited for Your judgments. Have you ever been in that position where you want to get even? Because they are wrong. They've done wrong. And you want justice in this matter. And it appears they're getting by with it. That's the thing that gets under my skin. They seem to be getting by with their evil. Now we know that the Lord is just. And we know that in the end, justice is going to triumph. Even over the injustices of our justices. You know, I read some of the judges today and some of the decisions and some of the things they are doing. And I think that is not justice. That is not right. That's not even sane. Lord, deal with them. And I wait for His judgments. But one day, as we wait, God will be just. And we will see true judgment come forth. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night, He said. Yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early. Lord, through the night, early in the morning, I long for You, I seek You. I seek Your fellowship. For when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Right now, you see, evil causes can triumph through corrupt judicial systems. Men can get by with evil. And thus, they don't really learn righteousness. The whole idea of the judicial system is to cause people to live right lives, to do the right things. But when the judicial system breaks down, then you have chaos. Because people can get by with evil. But when God judges, it will be righteous. And the people will really learn what righteousness is when God's judgments are in the earth. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. And that's the problem. The justices today showing favor to the wicked. And thus, people are not really learning what righteousness is. In the land of uprightness, will he deal unjustly, and he will not behold the majesty of the Lord. And thus is the condition of our land today. People dealing unjustly, forgetting God, leaving God out, blaspheming God, upholding every rotten cause. But Lord, when your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they shall see and be ashamed. For their envy at the people, yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us. For thou also hast wrought all our works in us. So, the day is coming when God will bring his true judgment on the earth. And God has ordained peace for you. I love that. God wants you to live in peace. He wants you to know his peace. For God has wrought his work in us. I love that. God is working in you. Both to will and to do. He's wrought his work in you. That work of righteousness, he is doing in you. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us. The acknowledgement that I have served other interests, other desires. But by thee only will we make mention of thy name. For these other things are dead. They shall not live. They're deceased. They shall not rise. Therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them and made all their memory to perish. Look back in your life and those things that ruled over your life at one period, those desires that were all consuming. When I was in high school, I lusted after a beautiful little black 36 Ford three-window coupe that was parked on South Main Street in Santa Ana. Smitty mufflers, twin spotlights, the Buick emblems on the fender skirts. Man, what a beautiful car. And I lusted after that car. I'd drive by and just look at it. Get off my bike and just go around and just admire that car and lust after it. And that's all I could think of. Ways by which I might make that car mine. What I could sell and what I could do in order to buy that car because it did have a for sale sign in the window. Oh, how I desired that car. That's all I could think of. And those thoughts ruled over me for a period of time. But as he said, those things that once were lords in our minds, in our hearts, are dead. That little car is probably long, long, long gone. It'll not rise. God is destroyed. The memories perish. Face to face, Lord let me know. Face to face, Lord let me see. Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few closing comments. But first I'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or CD. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD number C-3253. Again, that's tape or CD number C-3253. Well, as the holiday season is approaching, we'd like to bring to your attention a very helpful resource for families, knowing it's the time of year when families gather together. Undoubtedly, one of the most glaring signs that our society is in trouble is the breakdown of the family unit. Marriages just aren't making it today and kids are suffering as they watch the breakup of their homes. The word for today would like to present Pastor Chuck Smith's Marriage and Family Bible Study. In this series, Pastor Chuck discusses basic principles designed to keep your family's love alive. Each member of the family has a different set of needs and responsibilities. And when you know and apply God's principles, everyone in your family can experience real peace, real joy, and unconditional love. And when you call and order Pastor Chuck's Marriage and Family Series, the word for today would like to bless you with a resource entitled Christian Family Relationships. Taken from the books of Ephesians and Colossians, this study reveals the secret to a solid and biblically-based Christian family relationship. And right now you can get it for free when you order the Marriage and Family Series. And remember, the word for today would like to assist you this Christmas in spreading the gospel of Jesus to your family, friends, and coworkers. Please call our customer service department to help you in finding that perfect gift that will reflect the true meaning of Christmas. And if you call right now and mention this radio ad, the word for today will give you a 20% discount on any resource carried by the word for today. So call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD Or write to us at P.O. Box 8000 Costa Mesa, CA 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 a few closing comments Here is Pastor Chuck And may our hearts be open to the work of God and to the call of God and to the promptings of God upon our spirit And I pray that God will raise up from among this body people who will get desperate before God in intercession that it will not be said of God concerning our day and our city that there was no one to intercede that he sought for a man to stand in the gap to fill in the hedge but he found none and thus the judgment proceeded May God really call us unto prayer and may we obey and respond to that call of God and may each of us spend time this week in prayer for our city for our state and for our country that we might see a real spiritual awakening, a move of God's spirit and a return unto the Lord Amen This program is sponsored by The Word for Today The radio ministry of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California