His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): We open and study the Bible each day on His Perfect Love. But can it be trusted?

Matt VanderVen: Your Bible is trustworthy. I mean, we don't need the history to bear out the trustworthiness of the Bible; we know it's inspired by God. But even history and science—nobody can turn around and decry or try to prove in any way that this is not accurate when you have all of the archaeology, all of the extra-biblical references, and all of the history.

There is no way to deny these things. What say you to the agnostic? What say you to the atheist? Give me another book and show me statistically where you can get this same kind of accuracy in any other writing on this earth, in any other book in the last 5,000 to 6,000 years since humanity has been on this earth.

Guest (Male): Chapter 24 of Isaiah is often referred to as Isaiah's Apocalypse because it describes God's judgment upon the whole world for its sin. Today on His Perfect Love, we continue our verse-by-verse journey through Isaiah, zeroing in on the events that will occur during the Great Tribulation in that day in the not-too-distant future when God will pour out His judgment upon the earth. But there is a way of escape. Here is Pastor Matt VanderVen starting in chapter 23.

Matt VanderVen: Well, let's pick up as I mentioned. We're in chapter 23, making our way through the Scriptures line by line, verse by verse. In verse 1, it says, "The burden against Tyre. Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no harbor; from the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them."

One of the things that was interesting about the armada that they had gathered is that Tarshish in that area—those ships would go all the way to the south, as far as Spain, actually. So they had all the waterways and all of this. The Phoenicians, again, were known for being amazing sailors and having a great navy. God is saying, "You know what? You have placed all your trust and faith in this navy and your ships; they're not even going to be able to find a harbor."

There is going to be no place for them. They're going to all be laid to waste. Everything you're trusting in that is temporal, that is man-made, it is not going to help you when the Assyrians come in and they conquer you because you haven't called or cried out to the one true God.

"Be still, you inhabitants of the coastline, you merchants of Sidon, whom those who cross the sea have filled. And on great waters, the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the river is her revenue; and she is a marketplace for the nations. Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken."

One of the things that God is also saying is, "Because you're trusting in your own abilities and all these things, you should have shame. Shame on you for not trusting God, for not going and trusting in the Lord and His strength. Instead, you're trusting in the strength of the sea and the strength of your military, or your armada, or your navy."

The strength of the sea is saying, "I do not labor nor bring forth children." Now, this may seem like an odd verse, but at the time when this was being given by Isaiah the prophet, the Phoenician people, again, there were incredible birth rates. They were growing as a people group. Again, they had a large military and were very prosperous. The Phoenicians were a well-known, strong people.

What God is effectively saying is, "I do not labor nor bring forth children." He's saying basically there's going to be a complete drop-off in their life, as far as young children. In other words, you were once great, but now you will be few. That's what He's really saying here. "Neither do I rear young men, nor bring up virgins." He's saying your population is going to be decimated and dwindle.

"When the report reaches Egypt, they also will be in agony at the report of Tyre." Because, again, Egypt is going to say, "Wow, this can happen to the Phoenicians? If this can happen to the Phoenicians, what happens to Egypt?" They're going to be nothing equivalent to, I guess it would be like today, placing all of your trust in our modern banks, thinking that a bank could never collapse.

If a bank did collapse, or the world system of banks collapsed, it would be catastrophic. And that's exactly what was going to happen at this time. It would be catastrophic for this navy, for all the people that were relying even for vessels that would bring food, or merchants that would bring things back and forth. All of that would stop. It's going to be catastrophic to the business and to the dealings there. It's going to affect every aspect of society in this area.

He goes on to say, "Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coastline. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is from ancient days, whose feet carried her far off to dwell? Who has taken the counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?" In other words, you were all made very wealthy; you made those around you wealthy.

The Lord of Hosts has purposed it, to bring dishonor to the pride of all glory. So they were clearly lifted up in pride, and one of the things that God is going to allow in this judgment to deal with them swiftly is to bring humility. What's the opposite of pride? Humility.

The Lord of Hosts has purposed it, to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, to bring into the contempt of all the honorable of the earth. He's going to bring all their wealth to nothing; they're going to perish. And it makes sense because they were so wealthy and they put all their trust, again, in their navies, their markets, their marketing, their materialism, and they were worshipping that instead of worshipping the one true God.

Verse 10, "Overflow through your land like the river, O daughters of Tarshish; there is no more strength. He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; the Lord has given a commandment against Canaan to destroy its strongholds. And He said, 'You will rejoice no more, O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, cross over to Cyprus; there also you will have no rest.'"

What is He saying? He's saying, "Go ahead, cross over, keep stretching out further and further away." You want to move from the Phoenician area? You want to go to Cyprus? Where are you going to run from the judgment of God? That's what He says. "Where are you going to run from the judgment of God?"

Just recently, I saw an article—I don't know how many of you saw it—just in D.C., they're building underground bunkers for the ultra-wealthy. These things are like $20 million each. They invested I don't know how many billion, but they're supposed to have all of the amenities. So they're going to have an AI doctor. You're going to have the ability that if you have one of these bunkers, you can hit a button, you get a doctor who, by the way, isn't in one of your bunkers.

Did anybody think about that? The doctor that's on the other end isn't in the bunker with you or anywhere. So how are you going to communicate? But anyway, forgive me. But he's literally going to be able to summon a doctor. You'll be able to turn around, and then there'll be a little drawer, and the drawer will pop out, and it'll have all the pharmacy and all the things that you might need. You won't even have to have a pharmacy. They have workout—I forget they said like 20 treadmills. They're going to have gyms down there.

How many of you saw that *Wall-E*? You know what I'm talking about, where they're on the ship and they're off this earth, and there's no civilization, only to find out it's a corrupt carnality of man that's trying to keep them in control and different things. Where does the earth actually think it's going to go or run from God's judgment? It's foolishness. He is the God of the universe. He's not the God of Texas or just the God of Pennsylvania.

I don't think sometimes people think through this. And also, really, you're going to put a bunker in D.C.? Was that well thought out? "Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, this people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert. They set up its towers, they raised up its palaces, and they brought it to ruin."

That's exactly what the Assyrians did. It was like nothing. You build all this, you can create as many bunkers as you want; in a moment, God is going to turn around and eliminate all of it. The only way that you can have true security and safety is to place your trust in Jesus Christ. And it's a free gift. Salvation is a free gift. "Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for your strength is laid waste."

Remember, this is about 700 or so B.C. "Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten 70 years, according to the days of one king. At the end of 70 years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of a harlot: 'Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.' And it shall be at the end of 70 years that the Lord will deal with Tyre."

She will return to her hire. So what He's saying is that there's going to be an initial conquering by the Assyrians. But then as we're reading this, doesn't it sound like later on there's going to be another? Because He says, "And it shall be at the end of 70 years"—in other words, there are going to be more things that are happening—"that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire," so Tyre is going to come back and go back into her fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth, her idolatry.

"Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the Lord. It will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell." There's going to be a time where she actually comes into the right relationship with God, that area, to eat sufficiently and for fine clothing.

Now, this is really interesting. If you go back historically—and that's why I said remember this was about 700 when Isaiah was given this by the Holy Spirit—Assyria came against Tyre and weakened her tremendously. In 586 all the way through 573, she was hit again by the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar specifically went directly after Tyre, hit her again. And then if you go and the final fall was all the way at 332 B.C. Who was conquering the earth during 332 B.C.? Alexander the Great. Finally, Alexander comes in, it's a seven-year skirmish, and Tyre is seized and Tyre is no more.

It is exactly like God said. And I just say that because if you read this and you're with me, you can see this was written—we know this is from the Lord—we know that this is dated. We know that the events that were happening as it was described, we know that Isaiah the prophet's writing about things that happened during 700 B.C. We know that. We can look to the historical record. Remember he says who was king and the kings that died, so we know those are actually historical people that we can look up extra-biblically and know who they are outside of our Bibles and say, "Yes, this person lived at this time."

So we know it was about 700 when he was given this inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And then we can turn around and look at the different skirmishes that happened to Tyre and look at this 400-something years later—well, 500 totally, if you go to 332 there or less—when they were totally destroyed. And if you have this written and you knew that God had given this, and then within 400 to 500 years He brought it to be, just as He said, and how it read that there would be an end of the 70 years and then they would come back in, and he describes it to a tee.

Yet there are men and women walking around this earth that go, "I don't know if the Bible's trustworthy." Have you ever read any other book or any other chapter within a book that can be that accurate? And this is He's been doing this for what? Over 10 different nations, as we've been reading. From chapter 13 he starts with one nation, the Edomites, all the way through, and now we're in chapter 23 and He's doing the same thing. He's calling out Tyre, and it happened just like this.

Your Bible is trustworthy. I mean, we don't need the history to bear out the trustworthiness of the Bible; we know it's inspired by God. But even history and science—nobody can turn around and decry or try to prove in any way that this is not accurate when you have all of the archaeology, all of the extra-biblical references, and all of the history. There is no way to deny these things. What say you to the agnostic? What say you to the atheist that says that give me another book and show me statistically where you can get this same kind of accuracy in any other writing on this earth, in any other book in the last 5,000 to 6,000 years since humanity has been on this earth?

They can't do it; otherwise, what would they have done? They would have produced that evidence if it was possible by now. There is none. The Word of God is sure and true. And so if God has said this is what's going to happen, well, this next section we're going into now in chapter 24, we ought to pay attention.

Because He's going to be going in and out of the thousand-year millennial reign, He's going to go in and out of the Great Tribulation. He's going to talk about prophetically things that are going to come and happen that we just so happen to be in what book again on Sundays? The book of Revelation, which is also tying into the end times and prophecy. And so if God is right and has been right, maybe we ought to pay attention to this because it's expected of the church to know the times in which we're living.

Paul wrote of that 2,000 years ago, even to the Thessalonians. He says, "That I should not have to tell you," in chapter 4, "in the days in which you are living. No, you didn't miss Christ's coming." He expects the church to know their Bibles and not to be biblically illiterate, to know the times in which they're living so that they can conduct their lives appropriately.

The time is short. We need to be ready. Paul says it in another way: "A soldier does not entangle himself in the affairs of this world." I'm quoting Scripture. A good soldier does not do that. Why? Because he's focused as a Christian soldier on the ministry God has given him or her to bring the Gospel to a lost and dying world. So much so that He commanded it in Matthew 28: "Go therefore."

Well, let's go, because now we're going to learn in chapter 24 about this next section and He talks about judgment that's going to come to the whole earth. He's going to talk 16 different times within this section. He's going to come through and he's going to talk about different things that are going to happen to the nation, to the land, and this is all going to happen during the Great Tribulation. We're not going to be here; the church is raptured out. But certainly, He's telling us this is exactly what it's going to look like.

"Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste." That's exactly how it's going to look in the Great Tribulation. It's going to look empty and made waste. "Distorts its surface." So the earth and the way the terra firma and the land—everything we've been reading from Revelation chapter 6 and on describes this as well, that it's going to be almost, we would say, uninhabitable. 4 billion people are going to die in the first three to three-and-a-half years. 4 billion people.

"And scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be"—so He's talking about, again, this is everywhere, right?—"as with the people, so with the priest, so with the servant." I want you to think back about that. Do you remember how we talked in Revelation how Satan's going to have an unholy union? Satan, trying to mock or mimic God, you have the Antichrist, who is trying to be instead of Messiah Jesus. And then where we read in chapter 14—we just covered that—about the false witness or the prophet, and he is trying to be the Holy Spirit.

It's a mockery or a mimicry of the triune God, of the Trinity. And we read, and we're going to keep reading, about how Mystery Babylon, or Babylon, this world, this nation, they're going to be a one-world government. They're going to be a one-world religion. There are going to be priests and religions that are going to pop up on the scene. People are going to be saying, "Messiah's over here, Messiah's over there." Matthew chapter 24.

People, even well-meaning Christians that unfortunately don't know the Scriptures, are going to be pulled in on this, and they're going to be chasing after a Messiah that already came and that when He says, "I come again," I'm coming to take you off this earth. I'm coming to rapture you and then when I physically come again to touch down, I'm going to establish my millennial reign.

But they're going to chase them. So He says, "Don't, don't believe them. Don't believe in these false messiahs, don't believe in these lies." And we read here: there's going to be people, the priests, the servants, there's going to be false priests. People are going to be talking about religion, but they're not going to be talking about a relationship with Jesus.

I want you just to think back about Revelation chapter 6 when the people are fleeing because they see God, they see it's the wrath of the Lamb, judgment of the Lamb. And where do they run? They run to try to hide themselves in rocks and in caves. And they said, "Hide us, rocks fall on us!" The madness, the mental aspect of that, that they're literally talking to inanimate objects. "Rocks fall on us, hide us from the wrath of the Lamb, the one who is to come." There is no agnostic or atheist in the Great Tribulation. They know full well.

It says, "And with the servant, so with his master, as with the maid, so with the mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller," talking about everyone, "as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word." That's like God saying, "Thus saith the Lord."

And if He's been right every other time, this is what's coming. And we might be that—I don't know, no man knows the time or the hour; I want to be very clear here. I don't know when that is. But if I look at some of the things of the labor pains, and I look at the intensity and frequency in which storms and the different things that are happening, He calls them labor pains.

And He lists out six or seven of them. And if you look at every one of them, they've been increasing in intensity and frequency: the earthquakes, storms, all the things He said that would happen as we get closer to the last of the last days. He said the love of many would grow cold. He was talking even to the church and the Jewish people.

And today, I want you to think about how often people actually have their heads down on a device instead of looking up and having a warm conversation with each other, or making time to just stop and give each other hugs. I want you to think about our young people. We were just talking about this. You know, our young people, a lot of our young males are afraid to actually go up and talk to females. They're intimidated because they don't know, "What do I say? What do I do?"

Why do these things happen? Because they get intimidated, because they're on these devices and there's no interaction. The love of many—I want you to think about it right now. I mean, here we are, we're worried about our brothers and sisters to our way that just had a flood. Think about people in Texas, our hearts, our compassion for others. But so many people are already onto the next news thing.

The attention span. It's headline, headline, headline, headline, and things are happening so quick. Do you remember when these storms weren't as bad, where we used to put together teams because we could actually have time? We had a team not too long ago that went down to North Carolina, went down and served, and then shortly thereafter there was another event, and then there's another. And it just seems to keep happening.

And Jesus said it would. And then all of a sudden people just go back to work; they go to their normal lifestyles. "Well, that's good in my house; I mean, I can pay my bills, so everything has got to be okay, right?" Meanwhile, there's a lot of people that are struggling. There's a lot of churches that are struggling just to pay their finances, to pay the mortgage. It's difficult.

It's important for us to understand that He's telling us that no man knows the time or the hour, but we are getting really close. We're in the last of the last days according to the Bible, which means we could be the very last generation. I'm not saying we are; I kind of believe we may be. I think we're really close.

And so if we're the last generation, we're the last people that are going to read this before the next people that read this and are in it. We got a lot of work to be doing. There's a lot of work to be done in this city. There's a lot of people we walk around every day in supermarkets, at our jobs, all around us, and they don't know Jesus. Is that okay with you guys? Like, are you okay with that? I'm not okay with that. And you shouldn't be okay with that either, right? I'm not alone, right? Somebody say amen. It bothers me. It should bother all of us.

Guest (Male): There is a lost and dying world all around us, and God help us to reach them with the good news while there's still time to do that. You've been listening to His Perfect Love with Pastor Matt VanderVen and a study based in Isaiah chapter 23 and 24.

Catch a replay when you visit hisperfectlove.org. That's hisperfectlove.org. We're also at 1place.com and look for us wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a mobile app. Now this is a great way to take Pastor Matt's teachings with you wherever you may go. You can learn more about the mobile app and start your download when you visit our website, hisperfectlove.org.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. You can make a contribution to the ministry and send us your prayer requests through the website, again at hisperfectlove.org. Those of you that live in the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania area or will be visiting the area, we want to cordially invite you to join us for a worship service. Just like on the radio, Pastor Matt teaches verse-by-verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.

Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek service on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You'll find us at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Go to ccharrisburg.org for more information. Set aside another half hour to join us tomorrow at the same time on the same fine station where Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Isaiah. His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.