In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the future events of complete judgment upon the unrighteous. He emphasizes the importance of keeping our trust in the Lord and keeping our focus on Him to experience perfect peace. The sermon also mentions the breakdown of the family unit in society and offers a resource called Pastor Chuck Smith's Marriage and Family Bible Study to help families strengthen their relationships. Towards the end, the sermon references a future period known as the Great Tribulation, where God's judgment will fall upon the earth. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the happiness and forgiveness that comes from confessing our sins to the Lord.

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 if you're following along in your Bible, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah, Chapter 26, beginning with verse 12, as we continue with an in-depth message entitled, The Song of Salvation. One thing is needful, O my Father, One thing is needful, O my God, When 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. 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. But thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation, and thou art glorified, for thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee and poured out a prayer when thy chasing was upon them. So that is so typical. In times of trouble we call upon the Lord. We pour out our prayers when God sees fit to chase in us, draw us back to himself. And like as a woman when time is drawing near for the child to be born, time of her delivery, she is in pain and cries out in her labor, so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain, and have, as it were, brought forth wind. And we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Lord, we've been in pain, but we haven't seen any fruit, we haven't seen any results. Now, as you notice in many of the Psalms, when David would pour out his heart to God, so often there would be a change of voice and God would respond to the words of David the prophet. So David talks about the happiness of the person whose sins are forgiven. And he talks about his own personal experience when there was a time when he was trying to hide his sin. And the misery that he went through, how that the heavy hand of God was upon him, and he became so spiritually dry, shriveled up, like the drought of summer. Night and day he was just under that heavy pressure of guilt. Until he finally said, I'm going to confess my sin, and then, Lord, you forgave me my sins. Oh, how happy is the man whose sins are forgiven. And then, at the end of that Psalm, the Lord speaks. He responds to David. And the Lord said, I will guide you with my eye. Don't be like a mule where you have to put a bit and a bridle in its mouth to lead it around, lest it step on thee. And so God is responding to this prayer of David and saying, don't be stubborn. It only hurts. It only brings pain. Be sensitive. Be attentive. I will guide you. I will lead you in an easy way if you are open and sensitive and obedient. Don't make me have to use painful methods to get you where I want you to be. Jonah is a classic example of God using painful methods to get him. And Chuck Missler is a good classic example of God using painful methods to get him where he wants him to be. And God's saying, don't be like a mule where you have to put a bit and a bridle. Now, that bit hurts. Painful. But it's necessary to lead them around. But God's saying, I don't want to have to lead you that way. I don't want to lead you through painful processes. Now here, as he talks about, you know, we've been in pain, we've been in travail, but it seems like nothing has come of it. The Lord gives to him a glorious promise of the resurrection. Now, in the King James Bible, when the words are printed in italics, that is an indication that those words are not in the original Hebrew or Greek text. But when they translated, they could not seem to make sense out of the literal Hebrew. And so, in trying to interpret or give to you a possible understanding of what the Hebrew text did say, they often inserted words, but they were careful to put them in italics so that you would know these are not really the original text, but these words were inserted by the translators to help sort of give you an understanding of what the original text was saying. And sometimes where these words were inserted, I think that they sometimes change the meaning of the text. This is what I thought the Lord was saying. Now, if you take out the words that are in italics, I think that you'll understand what God was saying. I think God meant what he said. And I think that God is talking about that day of resurrection. Thy dead shall live. With my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of the vegetables, and the earth shall cast out the dead. So there is a declaration that the dead are going to live. That they will arise with his dead body. I believe that this is a reference to those souls who died prior to the crucifixion of Jesus, but believing in Jesus, dying in faith. Your dead bodies will live. They will arise with my dead body. The Bible teaches us that when Jesus died on the cross, his soul went into the grave, Sheol or Hades, where he had the promise of the Father that he would not leave his soul in hell, neither would he allow the Holy One to see corruption. That was God's promise to him. But he went into hell. But at that time, hell had two compartments. One of torment and one of comfort. In Luke's Gospel, chapter 16, Jesus tells us of the rich man who died and the poor man. And the poor man carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man in hell lifted up his eyes. Being in torment, seeing Lazarus, asked Abraham to send him with water that touched my tongue. I'm tormented in this heat. Two compartments. When the Jews were asking Jesus for a sign, he said, no sign will be given to this evil and adulterous generation except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the well, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So when Jesus died on the cross, his soul went into hell, the grave. Into that place where Abraham was comforting those dead throughout the Old Testament period who died in faith of the coming Messiah. And Peter tells us that he preached to those souls that were in prison. Now the prophecy of Isaiah when we get there in the 61st chapter that Jesus read to the Jews in the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry, spoke about the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor and to open the prison doors to those that are bound to set at liberty the captives. And he said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your sight. In other words, I'm the one that was prophesied here. Peter tells us that Jesus died and went into hell, but God had promised that he would not leave his soul in hell, neither would he allow this holy one to see corruption. And Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that he who has ascended into heaven is the same one who first of all descended into the lower parts of the earth, but when he ascended he led the captives from their captivity. And I believe that this is a prophecy of that where the Lord is encouraging those. The resurrection. Thy dead shall live. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and life. He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Thy dead shall live. With my dead body shall they rise. So that when Jesus ascended out of the grave on the third day, he emptied hell. That portion that was being overseen by Abraham. That he emptied that part of hell, leading the captives from their captivity. For it was impossible that they could enter into heaven until the atonement for sin had been made. That complete atonement through Jesus. It was not possible that the blood of goats or bulls could put away their sin. All it could do was cover their sin and point to the perfect sacrifice by which the sins would be taken away. So as the author of Hebrews writes concerning those Old Testament saints, it says, now these all died in faith, not having received the promise. God having reserved some better thing for us that they apart from us could not come into the perfected state. Without the death of Christ upon the cross, they couldn't enter in. But when he died on the cross, he went down and said, hey, look, it's done. Your redemption is accomplished. It's complete. I paid the price. And I imagine there was shouting and praising like you can't imagine. And then on the third day, he says, OK, time to go. Let's get out of here. And he broke asunder the bars and gates of hell and delivered those righteous who were waiting for the promise of God. And so this glorious promise, thy dead shall live. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. With my dead body they will arise. And thus, awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust. Down there, wake up, sing. And I imagine that's what he said when he arrived. He came in and said, hey, wake up, sing, victory. For thy due is as the dew of the herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. And it did. Now, these last two verses seem to be unconnected with the rest of the text. For these last two verses take us out to a point in the future when God's judgment is going to fall upon the earth in the period known as the Great Tribulation. And it is referred to here as His indignation. And the word indignation is an Old Testament term for the Great Tribulation period. And so the Lord is saying, Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as it were, for a moment until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. And the earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain. So there is coming a period of time in which God is going to deal with the Jews again, referred to here as my people. And this will be a seven-year period. And in the middle of this seven-year period an event will take place in Jerusalem that will trigger the wrath and the judgment of God upon the earth. The abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, when the Antichrist comes to the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and stands in the Holy of Holies and proclaims that he is God and demands to be worshiped as God. That will be the final event of man's rebellion that will trigger the indignation and wrath of God that is to be poured out upon the earth. Now, Jesus talking to the Jews about his return and the signs of his return to the earth to establish his kingdom. He said, when you see the abomination of desolation that was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, that is the Antichrist standing in the temple causing the daily sacrifices and prayers to cease. He said, when you see this happening, then he said, flee to the wilderness. If you happen to be in the fields, don't even return to the city to get your stuff. Just get out. If you're on the rooftop, don't even stop as you're passing through the house to get a jacket. Just get out of there as quickly as you can. Flee to the wilderness. We are told in the book of Revelation that the seed of the woman Israel will be given wings as of an eagle to bear her to a wilderness place where she will be nourished and protected by the Lord for three and a half years. This is the prophecy regarding that. During the tribulation period, God will protect certain of the Jews, those who escape to that place in the wilderness that God has prepared for them where he will sustain them and keep them for three and a half years. And so he is saying, come my people, enter into your chambers and shut your doors about thee, hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation or the great tribulation is over. For behold, the Lord is going to come out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, which would preclude the church being here and being a part of that judgment. Because your iniquities have been cleansed by Jesus Christ. You've been washed and cleansed. God's wrath against my sin was taken by Jesus Christ upon the cross. He received my punishment and the judgment for my sins so that I'm exonerated. I'm justified. I stand as righteous before God in Christ Jesus. He bore for me the penalty of my sin. This business of penance or purgatory is hogwash. It's a denial of the complete work of Jesus Christ. He did a complete job of forgiving, cleansing, washing. And there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. But to those who are not under that covering of Jesus Christ. There remains that certain fearful looking forward to the fiery indignation of God's wrath by which he will devour his adversaries. For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain. Complete judgment upon the unrighteous. So, interesting little insights that God has given to Isaiah of glorious events of the future and of rather horrendous events of the future. Some of these things have already happened. Some of them are waiting to happen. Remember that he will keep you in perfect peace if your mind has stayed on him and if you trust in him. Keep your trust in the Lord. Keep your eyes on him. The Lord will take care and you will have the peace of the Lord in your heart and in your life. Let me see you. 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 at 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 co-workers. 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, 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's Pastor Chuck. Father, we thank you for that perfect peace that we have through Jesus Christ. And through knowing, Lord, that our lives are in your hands, that nothing can touch us unless you allow it to touch us. And if you allow it to touch us, then you have a reason and a purpose for having allowed it. And the reasons and the purposes that you have for us are good because you love us. And you are only doing that which is necessary that good might come from it. Oh, Lord, how thankful we are that we can live with this confidence and this assurance that you love us and that you are in control of the circumstances and the issues of our lives. So help us, Lord, to just keep our minds upon you that we might experience your perfect peace. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.