In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the current state of the world and the need for God's intervention. He expresses concern over the increasing wickedness and rebellion against God, as well as the violence and chaos in society. Pastor Chuck longs for the return of Jesus Christ to bring an end to the earth's misery and to gather His people, particularly the Jews, from all corners of the earth. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the biblical prophecies regarding the restoration of the kingdom and encourages believers to seek a deeper understanding of God's plan for the future.

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 11, beginning with verse 11, as we continue with an in-depth message entitled The Restoration of the Kingdom, part 3. 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. The Father is resting, the work is finished. Jesus on the cross said it's finished, the work of redemption. And God is resting in that. The work of your redemption, the work of your righteousness is a finished work that God imputes to you by your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And we have promised in us a tremendous, glorious future when Jesus our Lord and King comes back to this earth to establish God's kingdom. And in that day, His will will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. It shall come to pass in that day. And so now he's going to tell us a lot more about that day. That day when Jesus is reigning as King on the earth. In that day, the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of the Jews which are left in Assyria and Egypt and Pathos and Cush and Elam and Shinar and from Hamath and from the coast of the sea. There will be, when the Lord returns, a second gathering of the Jews back into the land. In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24, Jesus in talking about His coming again, speaks about this gathering together of His elect from the four corners of the heaven. And it's the same reference to the gathering together of His people, the Jews, from all over the world. Now there are many Jews that have already gone back to the land. This will be the second gathering. And thus He speaks of it, that He will again gather in that day, the second time to recover the rest of the people. There are a lot of Jews here still in the United States. There are a lot of Jews still in Europe. There are a lot of Jews still in Asia. And so there will be that second gathering when the Lord returns of the Jews back into the land. And He shall set up a signal for the nations and will assemble the outcast of Israel and He will gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. And in Matthew, it's four corners of heaven. Now the envy also of Ephraim will depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off and Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. Now this is the division that took place in the nation of Israel. The northern kingdom, headed by the tribe of Ephraim, rebelled against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. And the southern kingdom, headed by Judah, there came great jealousies, great vexations, even wars between the Jews. The northern, headed by the tribe of Ephraim, and the southern headed by the tribe of Judah. And this will end. It won't come up again. And of course even now as they have gathered together, they are not interested in whether or not you are of Judah or Ephraim. There is that unity already that is there in Israel today. And so they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west. They will spoil those of the east together. They will lay their hand upon Edom and Moab and the children of Amman shall obey them. So Jordan, Saudi Arabia are mentioned here as well as the Palestinians in the area of the Gaza Strip. They will all be subjected to them in that day. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea. So there will be a geographical kind of a change that will take place and the Red Sea, that tongue of the Red Sea that comes up there, will be destroyed. And with his mighty wind he will shake his hand over the river and will smite it in the seven streams and men will be able to come over dry shod even as when God brought them out of Egypt under Moses. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of the people which shall be left from Assyria like as was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. So God will prepare the way for the Jews to return from all over the world. And in that day, again this day when the Lord is reigning, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. For though you were angry with me, your anger is turned away and now you comfort me. Now God had warned Israel over and over that if they turned from him, he would turn from them. If they rejected him, he would reject them. And this is true not only of Israel but of all people. If you will turn to God, God will turn to you. If you turn from God, God will turn from you. The prophet said to the king, the Lord is with you while you be with him. But if you seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. And that's just in truth. Now, Israel rejected the Messiah. And having rejected the Messiah, they were rejected of God. And God began to work among the Gentile nations and continues to the present day to work among the Gentile nations. We are gathered here tonight and God is working in our hearts and lives, revealing his plan and his truth to us through the word, giving us understanding of his kingdom that is coming. And right now the Spirit of God is working among the Gentiles. And as far as Israel is concerned, a blindness is over Israel for the most part. As Paul wrote of them, he said, when Moses came down with the law, God had to put a veil over Moses' face so that they could not see the declining glory. Even so, he said to the present day, they have a veil over their face when they read the law. They don't understand their own scriptures. Now, God is working among the Gentiles by the Holy Spirit, but God will work again among the Jews when the fullness of the Gentiles is come in. And so Paul, writing in Romans, the 11th chapter, said, so blindness has happened in part to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in. And then all of Israel shall be saved, for the scripture will be fulfilled. There shall come forth the Deliverer out of Zion, who will turn the hearts of the children unto their fathers, that is, back unto the God of Israel. Now, God promised through Daniel that there would be 77-year cycles in which God would deal with the nation of Israel. That 69 of the 7 years would be accomplished between the time the commandment went forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah, the Prince. And that did happen. There were 483 years between the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to Nehemiah from Artaxerxes to the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Prince in His first coming. Now, that leaves one 7-year cycle in which God will deal with the nation of Israel once again. That 7-year cycle will begin when God takes the church out of the earth. Then God will put His Spirit upon Israel once more. But then will the Antichrist be revealed, and the earth will go through this horrible period of great tribulation and destruction. But here we find that they will say, Lord, You were angry with us, but now Your anger is turned away and we are comforted. God will again pour His Spirit upon the nation of Israel, and He will deal with them for this final 7-year period prior to the return again of Jesus Christ. And as God deals with them, it will be harsh. The Antichrist will turn against them and seek to destroy them. They will have to flee once more from Jerusalem, and in a couple of chapters we will come to their flight, and we will see that God prepared a place for them, the rock city of Petra, and they will be taken by Jordan and sheltered there in the rock city of Petra during this last 3 1⁄2 years of great tribulation. It will be a tough time. And again, as we said this morning, it's a composite. There's bits and pieces here, and you have to put the whole puzzle together to see the picture. But as we go through Isaiah, we'll be taking the various parts and putting them together for you. By the time we're through with Isaiah, you'll get a pretty comprehensive picture of what it's going to be, and how it's all going to come to pass. And we will be looking week by week at the various parts of the puzzle, putting them together, giving you the picture of what the future holds for you, for Israel, for the world. So God will deal with them again, and during this time of the Antichrist, their hearts will be turned back to God. They will realize their tragic mistake in the rejection of Jesus Christ, and they will begin to pray, O Jesus, come. And Jesus said unto them, You will not see Me again until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. They'll actually be praying for His return. And He will return at that time, and set His foot upon the Mount of Olives. As He does, the thing will split in two. A new river will come bursting forth out of the bowels of Jerusalem, that will flow on down to the Dead Sea, and will break into another branch, one will go out to the Mediterranean. And we'll get to that also as we move along and get into the prophecies of Ezekiel. We get that part of the picture in the puzzle put into it. But right now, this song that they're singing, it's, you were angry, but now your anger is turned away, and you comfort us. Behold, and we sang it tonight, God is my salvation. You know, that's, the name Jesus is Yahshua, which in Hebrew means, Jehovah, my salvation. God is my salvation. So, here it is. And He said, I will trust and not be afraid for Yah, Yahweh. Notice, Lord Jehovah, or in the Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and my song, and He also is become my salvation. The recognition that the salvation is in Jesus, Yahshua, Yah, Yahweh, is become my salvation, my Yahshua. Therefore, with joy, shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. Jesus said, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. And he that drinketh of the water that I give, as the scripture saith, out of his innermost being there will flow rivers of living water. Wells of salvation, with joy, drawing the water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day, this glorious day of the Lord that is coming, you will say, praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. And so, the glory of the Lord and glory to the Lord in that day. And thus the exhortation, sing unto the Lord, for He has done excellent things, and this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Glorious, glorious kingdom age, that the prayers of the saints fulfilled. The time has come that God's will shall be done in this earth, even as it is in heaven. Satan will be bound and cast into the abyssal. The Antichrist and the false prophet will be in Gehenna. And Jesus Christ shall begin His reign over the earth in a renewed earth, in an earth in which you won't have violent storms, you won't have fear of earthquakes, you won't have the fear of wild animals or beasts, you won't have the fear of war, you won't have the fear of assault, you won't have the fear of robberies. We will be here, actually, as enforcers of righteousness. But you're going to have a tremendous advantage, because you're going to be in your new body. And in your new body, we will have, much as Jesus, the insight into what people are thinking. So you'll be able to stop a crime before it ever begins. A guy will be thinking, oh, I maybe go over there and take that. And you'll say, hey, buddy, we'll go into this a little later. You see, there will be some few people that do survive the Great Tribulation and will be allowed to enter into the kingdom age, when the Lord comes and separates the sheep from the goats. There will be those who will be allowed to enter in. But they will still be living as we live today, only under much better conditions. Jesus will be reigning in righteousness. We will be in our glorified bodies here on earth with Him, enjoying the glory of His reign, and with Him as enforcers of righteousness. Read Revelation chapters 2 and 3 as messages to the churches, to them that overcome. Well, I grant that they should be with me in my kingdom, or they will sit with me on my throne, even as I sat down with my Father in His throne. And they will rule the world with a rod of righteousness. And so, enforcers of righteousness in His kingdom. But those that do live through the Great Tribulation and are allowed to enter into the kingdom age will bear children, and the earth will be in ideal circumstances. It'll be a renewed earth. It'll be an earth with no problems with the ozone blankets, and no problems at all. Just a glorious earth. And at the end of that thousand years of His reign, Satan will be released for a short season once more upon the earth. And those who have never had to deal with the temptations and the power of Satan, who have been forced to serve Jesus Christ during His righteous reign, will then have an opportunity to reveal what is in their hearts. Whether or not it's really their choice to really serve the Lord. And some will rebel and gather together against Christ, even at that time. And then they will be cut off, and then the new heaven and the new earth. We'll get that as we go through Isaiah. We'll get more and more parts of the picture as we are in now to the books of prophecy. We'll begin to see God's glorious plan for your future. And I can hardly wait. Face to face, Lord let me know you. 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 a few closing comments, here is Pastor Chuck. And Lord, we believe your word and thus we look forward with anticipation to its fulfillment. And we do pray, Lord, may your kingdom come in order that your will might be done in this earth even as it is in heaven. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. The earth is in such a miserable state tonight. Lord, things are not getting better, but they're getting worse. And men have turned their hearts against you and have rebelled against you and they blaspheme your holy name. And Lord, we see them killing each other on the streets, even of our own communities. And Lord, we see the chaos and the mayhem. And we desire, Lord, that you would come quickly and spare us. Lord, we see that the iniquity of the earth is abounding. Lord, we see the filth and the pollution of man's minds and the thoughts and the imagination of his heart just evil continually. And Lord, we're exposed whether we want to or not. We're exposed to the degraded mind of man. And we're exposed, Lord, to the lewdness on the billboards. And wherever we go, Lord, we see man who has turned his back and his heart against thee. And Lord, we're beginning to see the consequences of these things. Lord, we have a drug problem that we don't know what to do with. Lord, it's so great and so vast. So many problems, social problems, Lord. We long for your kingdom to come. That your will might be done here on this earth, even as it is in heaven. For our children's sake and for our grandchildren's sake, Lord, come quickly. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This program is sponsored by the word for today. The radio ministry of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.