In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith takes us through various passages of the Bible, focusing on God's goodness to Israel. He starts by discussing the importance of truly apprehending and seeing God, rather than just hearing about Him. Pastor Chuck emphasizes that God is with us and will sustain us as His children. He then shares a personal story of witnessing tribal dances and offerings to a king, drawing parallels to the future gathering of kings in Jerusalem when Jesus reigns over the earth. Finally, he delves into Luke chapter 16, explaining the story of the rich man and the poor man, highlighting the division of Hades and the consequences of our actions in this life.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that mold you And His Spirit like a dove Will descend upon your life and make you whole Now the psalmist, as so often in the case of David, because he was a prophet, just began to lapse into prophecy. And these next scriptures are actually prophetic of Jesus Christ. And Paul quotes them in Ephesians 4 as referring to Jesus Christ. Thou hast ascended on high Thou hast led captivity captive Thou hast received gifts for men Now, in Isaiah 61, the prophecy concerning Jesus Christ It declares, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me Because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings to the meek He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted To proclaim liberty to the captives And the opening of the prison to them that are bound When Jesus began His public ministry, He came into the synagogue of Nazareth They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah He opened the scroll and He read this passage of scripture to them And then He sat down and said, this day has this scripture been fulfilled in your eyes What was He to do? Preach the good tidings to the meek Bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captive Notice, verse 18 again, Thou hast ascended on high Thou hast led captivity captive Or the captives from their captivity And you have received gifts for men Before the death of Jesus Christ It was impossible for the Old Testament saints to enter into that perfected state Because it was impossible that the blood of bulls or goats could put away their sins The sacrifices of the goats, the lambs, were all anticipatory They looked forward to the sacrifice that God would provide in Jesus Christ They served to cover the sins They could not put away the sins We are redeemed from our vain manner of living Not with the blood of bulls or goats Not with silver or gold But with the precious blood of Jesus Christ Who was slain as a lamb without spot or blemish And thus all of those who died up until the time of Christ Went into the grave, which in the Hebrew was Sheol And in the Greek, Hades Now in Luke chapter 16, Jesus tells us that Hades Was divided into two compartments And he tells the story of a certain rich man Who fared sumptuously every day And of a poor man that was brought daily and laid at his gate Begging for bread or hoping for the bread that would fall from the rich man's table Eating the bread that would fall from his table Now in those days when they ate They didn't use utensils They didn't have plates and knives and forks and spoons and napkins and all of that The food was usually in bowls Usually it consisted of soups and sauces in bowls Maybe the lamb or the beef out there on the table And you would just take and pull off the meat with your hands And eat it with your hands You would take the bread and you would Pull the bread off from the loaf and you dip it in the sauces and in the soups And you still do that in eating over there today I love the sauces and the breads And this business of just dipping in the sauces and eating great stuff But naturally eating that way, your hands get pretty greasy And there's no napkins And so at the end of the meal you would take the bread and you'd pull it off And you'd wipe your fingers and your hands off with the bread And that bread you'd just toss aside You'd toss it to the little dogs Well that's what Lazarus was waiting for He was a poor man filled with sores lying there Eating the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table However, Lazarus died Carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom And the rich man also died And in Hades and in hell he lifted up his eyes Being in torment and he saw Abraham far off And Lazarus being comforted in Abraham's bosom And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me And send Lazarus to me That he might take and dip his finger in water And touch my tongue for I'm tormented in this heat And Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime Had the good things, Lazarus the evil Now he's comforted while you're tormented Moreover, beside this there is a gulf that is fixed between these two places So it's impossible for those that are here to come over there Or those that are there to come over here And he spoke then of the two places And this impassable gulf between the two In Hebrews chapter 11, speaking of Abraham and the Old Testament saints It said, these all died in faith Not having received the promise They saw it afar off They believed that God would send his sacrifice That would take away sins And they believed in the promise of God But they died in faith not having received it God having reserved some better thing for us That they apart from us could not come into the perfected state That is apart from the work of Jesus Christ They could not come into the perfected state And so in a sense they were in a prison They were being held captive by death Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life He that believeth in me, those in the past Though they were dead, yet shall they live He who lives and believes in me shall never die These are going to be delivered from their captivity So that when Jesus died His spirit went into Hades To the place of Abraham's bosom And there he proclaimed to them The finished work of the cross And when he rose from the dead He led the captives from their captivity This psalm was fulfilled And in Matthew 27 we read that The graves of many of the saints were open And they were seen walking in the streets of Jerusalem After his resurrection from the dead In the second chapter of the book of Acts As Peter is preaching his message concerning Jesus Christ He speaks about him being crucified And buried And how that he descended into hell But he declared That it was not possible that he could be held by it For he quoted the psalm that said Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell Neither will you allow the Holy One to seek corruption And Peter affirmed this same Jesus Hath God raised from the dead He did not leave him in hell So he who has ascended, that is Jesus Who has ascended into heaven Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 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 he gave gifts unto men To some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor, teachers For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry One further scripture in Peter Where he declares that Jesus When he died he went and preached to those souls that were in prison But he came to set them free from the prison To loose the captives And he led them from their captivity So an interesting prophecy Concerning Jesus Christ buried here In this psalm of exultant praise Unto God for his victory and for his triumph And of course the tremendous triumph of Jesus Over the grave, over death and hell So this thou hast ascended on high Thou hast led captivity captive Thou hast received gifts for men Paul quotes this in Ephesians 4 Yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits I love it, I've got that one underlined I just think of how the Lord loads on his benefits daily Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits Oh my, how God has just loaded his blessings On our life Even the God of our salvation He that is our God is the God of salvation And unto God the Lord belong the issues from death But God shall wound the head of his enemies And the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses It is thought that this perhaps was a reference to Absalom His beautiful curly hair But he was going on in rebellion against his father And he became of course an enemy of God And going on in his trespasses The Lord said I will bring again from Bashan I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of your enemies And the tongue of thy dogs in the same David perhaps when he had fled from Absalom The promise I'll bring you back Your foot will dip in the blood of the enemies The dogs will lick the same They have seen thy goings oh God Even the goings of my God my King in the sanctuary And now he is describing The worship of the people And it must have been a wonderful thing to have national worship Where the whole nation gathers to worship God Think of what that would be Think of the glory Of that kind of national worship Where the nation congregates together To acknowledge God and to worship God And he sort of describes And of course they did this three times a year The people would gather in Jerusalem For these feast days three times a year To worship God there in the temple And there would be these processions There would be this glorious Congregating of the people before the Lord And the various means of worshipping And the dances and the women with their timbrels And in their singing And the tribes coming in as a group together Must have been glorious It's interesting even at the present time To go over in Jerusalem on the Sabbath At the beginning of the Sabbath They welcome the Sabbath day at the western wall And hundreds of people gather There at the western wall on Friday evening As the sun is going down To welcome the Sabbath and to worship God And in the upper portion The Jewish section of Jerusalem There is a yeshiva A school for young men Aspiring to be rabbis And it's always a fascinating sight When they come down to the western wall Because as they come down They're usually five or six abreast Their arms over each other And they come down singing the psalms Chanting and sort of dancing They have a little dance step They come together And it's a moving sight To see them come to worship this way And then when they get down in the pavement In front of the western wall Then they begin their dances And their singing and all unto the Lord And it is a very moving, touching sight Think of what it would be when the whole nation Would gather to worship The singers were going in the front And then the players with the instruments following And after them were the young girls Playing their tambourines So can you get the picture now? Here they come to worship the Lord In the front are those that are coming Singing the praises to God Those with the instruments falling behind them And then the girls with their tambourines Sort of like the rose bowl parade You know just here they come To worship God And he said Bless ye God In the congregations Even the Lord From the fountain of Israel There is little Benjamin One of the smallest tribes of Israel But there are the representatives From Benjamin Their ruler The word with was added And should not have been It's a reference to Saul Coming from the tribe of Benjamin The first king to rule over Israel Little Benjamin their ruler And there are the princes of Judah Their council The word and is inserted You notice And just the princes of Judah Their council And then the princes of Zebulun And the princes of Naphtali Zebulun and Naphtali were the Two of the northern most tribes They were powerful tribes They were in a very fertile part of the land And thus they were prosperous tribes And so Judah and Benjamin Represented the southern most tribes As did the Naphtali and Zebulun Represent the northern most tribes Thy God has commanded thy strength Strengthen oh God That which you have wrought for us Because of thy temple at Jerusalem Shall kings bring presents unto thee This again is going into prophecy And we know that in the kingdom age When Jesus is reigning on Mount Zion Then shall the kings of the earth Gather together annually Bringing their presents and laying them before him When we were over in Tonga To celebrate the king's 70th birthday The various tribal groups Of the Tonganese people Each one had their dances And their songs And the king was sitting in this little Thatched raised area And we were nearby in a thatched area Watching as the various tribal groups From the different islands One after another Would come and the people, the men Would be dancing Doing their tribal dances Which were usually declaring some war That they had gone through and all So they'd have their spears And they'd do their dances and so forth And tromping and the rhythms And it was a very exciting thing But then the ladies would bring out The presents for the king They would bring out tapa cloth And they were offering their presents At this time And this is sort of what's going to be happening In Jerusalem when Jesus reigns over the earth And the kings of the earth Will gather yearly in Jerusalem Bringing to him the presents Oh, what a sight that will be We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse venture Through the Bible in our next lesson As Pastor Chuck Smith continues with God's Goodness to Israel And we do hope you'll make plans to join us But right now, I'd like to remind you That if you missed any part of today's message Or perhaps you'd like to order a copy For that special friend or loved one You can do so by simply contacting One of our customer service representatives And they'd be more than happy to assist you With the ordering details Simply call 1-800-272-WORD And phone orders can be taken Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time Once again, our toll-free number is 1-800-272-9673 And for your added convenience You can order online, anytime When you go to TheWordForToday.org And while you're there, be sure to browse Through the additional resources That include Bible studies, commentaries CDs, DVDs, and so much more Once again, that's The Word for Today online At TheWordForToday.org And for those of you who still prefer to write You can use our mailing address Which is The Word for Today P.O. Box 8000 Costa Mesa, California 92628 And be sure to include the call letters Of this station with your correspondence And now, on behalf of The Word for Today We'd like to thank all of you Who share in supporting this ministry With your prayers and financial support And be sure to join us again next time As Pastor Chuck Smith continues His verse-by-verse venture Through the Psalms That's right here On the next edition of The Word for Today Now once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith With today's closing comments May the Lord bless you And keep His hand upon you Guide you with His counsels And keep you in His strength May you rest upon Him And may you experience His strength And His love And may God help you To really come into a full Understanding and knowledge Where it isn't just hearing Him With the hearing of the ear But is really coming to apprehend To see God To see the truth of God You might be strengthened Knowing that God is with you And shall sustain you as His child Hi, this is Pastor Jerry Brown Of U-Turn for Christ Jesus delivered me from the addiction Of drugs and alcohol And if you or a loved one Is struggling with any type of addiction I'm here to tell you That Jesus can deliver you as well Today as a pastor, my heart breaks To see families and marriages destroyed Because of the power of addiction So it's with great love That I tell you about U-Turn for Christ An affordable, Christ-centered Ministry of restoration Hi, this is Pastor Chuck I'm well acquainted with Pastor Jerry And the ministry of U-Turn for Christ It's my estimation That it is one of the most effective ministries I know To help people turn their lives around Without reservation I recommend this ministry If you would like more information About U-Turn for Christ Please call us at 951-943-7097 Again, that's 951-943-7097 Or visit our website at U-Turn for Christ dot com This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today In Costa Mesa, California