His Perfect Love

Matt VanderVen: Think about this. Can you imagine no more violence on this earth? No more walking out of your house having to worry about your daughter or your son riding their bicycle around the block and something happening or going off to school and something happening or all these things in the world where it just seems like so much chaos and violence.

No more. Never to have to worry about that again. Violence shall no longer be heard in the land. See, that is what it looks like in God's theocracy. That is what it looks like in God's kingdom. His very best. His very best. This is exactly what he desired for all of us.

Guest (Male): This is perfect love, the word goes out. It's what real love looks like in truth and power. This is perfect love. From Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore comes His Perfect Love. Our pastor and teacher, Matt VanderVen, has been leading us through the Old Testament book of Isaiah.

We find ourselves in chapter 60 today. Some of you are old enough to remember Frank Sinatra's tune, "The Best Is Yet to Come". Well, for the Christian, that rings true. The best is yet to come. And if you need proof of that, just study the millennial reign of Christ with us. This is perfect love.

Matt VanderVen: So again, Isaiah chapter 60. If you look at verse one, again, this is prophetic. Remember that. This is future, thousand-year millennial reign. So certainly we don't know when that exact time begins, but the minute the rapture starts, that starts the seven-year count, and then after that seven-year count comes in the 1,000-year millennial reign.

So this is what this is going to be talking about in context. "Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth." He is talking about the Great Tribulation that is coming. "And the deep darkness, the people." Okay, those that will proceed then from the second coming.

"But the Lord will arise over you and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising." I mean, this is really amazing. This is a promise that is going to happen and come in Jerusalem. He is talking about that.

And he is also talking about how the kings to the brightness of your rising—I mean, just the majesty of the millennial reign that people will travel from all over the world to go to Jerusalem for this. And he says, "But the Lord is going to arise over you." And then I am amazed by verse three because to hear about Gentiles coming and Gentiles coming to salvation.

I mean, here you and I are thousands of years removed from this time of 700 or so BC, right? At least 2,700 years. We don't think much of the Gentiles getting saved today because we've been getting saved for 2,000 years, right? But at the time of this writing, he's talking to Judah. There weren't very many Gentiles that were coming to salvation at that time.

As a matter of fact, Judah was supposed to be as Israel was, a witness to the surrounding nations. And the promise that one day Jerusalem would be inhabited not only by Judah, but also by Gentiles? And this is prophetic. It is in there, and it is amazing. If you go over to Israel right now, there are many, many Christians.

People are surprised because they think, "Wow, there are so many things that are similar." We actually have a family that was in the school today. Their parents are missionaries from Israel and they live over there, and then they come over here for a few months and they visit some of the churches and then they go back to Israel and they are ministering in Israel.

And their children attended the school today, and it was wonderful for our children to be with their children—missionary children—to actually have that time together from Israel. And it was wonderful. But you look and you see they are just like our children, right? Here they are over in Israel, but they have all the same likes and dislikes, the same mannerisms, the different things like that.

And it was neat to see that and to think that one day that Jerusalem is going to be completely inhabited that way. Jew and Gentile, all there to worship Jesus Christ. "Lift up your eyes all around and see that they are all together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar." The Jews are going to be making aliyah and continue to make aliyah.

The Gentiles are around the world, and they are going to come to Jerusalem as well. "Your sons shall come from afar and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant." It is going to bring God such a joy and a happiness. "And your heart shall swell with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you."

Now he starts talking about something that we don't read really in very many books, not even in the Book of Revelation necessarily, about this millennial reign, about where some of the wealth is going to come from. How is this all going to work because so much was destroyed? Well, we are literally told here in this passage that the rest of the world is going to start bringing their wealth to Israel, to Jerusalem.

People are going to be bringing—the nations are going to use this to worship the Lord. So we start to get some additional detail here about what it is going to be like. So he says, "Your heart shall swell with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. The multitude of camels shall cover your land."

And this is also speaking when you think of camels and you think of the multitudes. He is also talking about the Arabs and the Jewish people all coming to worship in peace. And that idea of the camel—the multitudes of the camels shall cover your land—all peoples. Because what if you went over to Israel today?

Probably some of you have heard people who've made trips and gone on holiday to Israel. What do they do? You will sometimes they show the pictures. They come back and what have they had? Camel rides or different things like that. The idea here clearly is speaking to the fact that the multitude of camels, the wealth to the land, the inhabitants to the land.

"The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah." These today, if you were to look at Midian and Ephah, these today are Arab and Muslim-controlled areas within this Middle Eastern area. They are also now going to be coming to Jerusalem. So we are learning we won't see anything to do in the millennial reign—there will be no more Islam.

There will be nothing like that. Those that would practice Islam or Muslim, there will be nothing like that at that time. They will be coming in and they will be coming to Jerusalem—Midian again, Ephah, which is again predominantly Muslim. They are going to be coming and worshipping Jesus.

It says, "The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah and all those from Sheba shall come. They will bring gold." This is interesting here, look at this, gold and incense. What is missing? We just talked about Christmas. We know roughly 16 months after Christmas, what happened?

The wise men make that trip and they go down to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus who is now probably a toddler more likely in age. And what did they bring with them? Gold, frankincense—incense, frankincense, that is what it is—and what else? Myrrh. That's right. What is missing from this list? Myrrh. What is significant about that, friends?

What is the gold? Gold is for a king. The frankincense, what does that specifically talk about? It is priestly, the incense. You might know or you think of the sprinkling of the incense, the frankincense, that was for a priest, one that is a priest. But in the kingdom age, there is no need for myrrh. What is myrrh for? What was myrrh used at the time?

It was actually something really interesting that when the baby Jesus came and then we all know following his life, Emmanuel, God with us, but what did Jesus come to do? He came to die. And myrrh was something that was used to anoint the body upon death. And very significant that one of the gifts that the three wise men bring is not only the gift for a king, not only the gift for a priest, but the gift that you would give to one that would be anointed for death, speaking to the work of Jesus Christ.

But in this lesson, the millennial reign, there is no longer a need because what has been conquered? Death. Do you see that with me? So that is really interesting. No, just gold and incense. There is no longer needed anymore because there is no second destruction or anything like that, no second suffering.

No, a king, a priest, but no more suffering for Jesus Christ when he comes back. No more suffering. And so there is no need for myrrh. "And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you. The rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you," given over to Jesus in the kingdom age.

"They shall ascend with the acceptance on my altar and I will glorify the house of my glory." Speaking of Israel, gathered into the land. "Who are these who fly like a cloud?" Wait a minute. What do you mean, fly like a cloud? "And like the doves to their roosts." What is Isaiah saying? Did Isaiah know what an airplane was? Did he?

Was there an airplane in 700 BC? Anything like that? No. So if you were God and you were trying to communicate this to your prophet, your mouthpiece, how exactly would you describe a plane or something that is going to fly or something that is going to come through the air? He says, "Those who fly like a cloud."

I mean, isn't that a pretty good description if you don't know what an airplane is? Because you see the clouds moving in the air and it's kind of like they're flying. I think that's a pretty good description of what an airplane would look like, like flying in a cloud. You are like in a cloudmobile, right? And that's exactly what he's saying here.

You've got to remember he is a real man, he has no idea what exactly an airplane is and he is writing this down and he is probably scratching his head going, "Huh, I don't know what this is." Well, we do. "Those who fly like a cloud and like the doves to their roosts. Surely the coastland shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish will come first."

So he is talking about boats. So we see people coming by what? Air, by boat. We know they are already coming by land. So by air, by sea, by boat, that way. "To bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord your God and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you."

Now what is so significant about these first nine verses that I just read? We just came off the Book of Revelation. It is perfect time to be going through this in Isaiah. God knew it, He inspired it by the Holy Spirit that we would have just finished the Book of Revelation, we'd be in the Book of Matthew, we're in Isaiah here, and we have it fresh in our mind's eye of exactly what the Great Tribulation would be like.

And after the second coming, which leads to the millennial reign, and what was God turning around and doing when He was bringing judgment? Because it is the wrath of the Lamb of God, Revelation chapter six. He is bringing this judgment to a Christ-rejecting world.

And what are some of the people that are upset because Mystery Babylon, or Babylon as we know it, the commercialization, materialism of the world, is on fire, as we would say? And they talk about oil, wine. We talk about things that we would think of as not necessarily needs, but luxuries, maybe we can say it that way.

And they look at it burn and all the merchants were sad, the people were sad. Why? Because they watched all their profits that they worked their whole lives for, all their buying and selling and trading and everything that they made their idols and their gods, their money and all these things, and it is just literally burning.

And they can do nothing about it. And instead of turning around and repenting and being humble to the God and acknowledging God, they're still committing their idolatry and they're upset because they're seeing it all burn. So this is a very materialistic—the Great Tribulation—even in the Great Tribulation, it is a very materialistic, idolatrous world.

Now you and I just read in the first nine verses, specifically verses eight and nine, that when Jesus Christ comes back and the Great Tribulation is over, the whole world travels via boat—well, many people, by plane, by boat, and by land. And are they coming just to come and see what they can get from Jesus, or are they coming to worship a King and they're bringing their offering of worship?

No longer are they greedy or worried about their finances or their materialism or their money. They're now using what money was always meant to be used for, and what is that for? Worship. Worship. It was never meant to be something that we just hoarded. It was always something that was God's—God's given—and it is unto God we return it.

It is all His. We know there is nothing of ours. We can't create it. I mean, we can by working, but God is the one that gives us the gifts to work. And so we learn something amazing. How does all this change? Well, because at the end of the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, the false prophet, Satan himself—where are they cast again?

Into a pit, Satan is, for a thousand years. There's nobody turning around and tempting and, "Oh, you've got to have this material. You need this thing." And you know what they're doing? They're worshipping God. They're worshipping God and it's beautiful and they're literally turning around and they're giving these things back to the Lord.

They're using it for more. You go from this materialistic world in a matter of a day to a world where people will use that money to come and see Jesus and worship at his feet. Isn't that beautiful? Only God could do that. How does the change of the heart happen so quickly after the Great Tribulation?

Because people are coming to salvation. People are coming to salvation. People are going to have changed hearts. People in the Great Tribulation are going to get saved. There is going to be many people in that Great Tribulation. Again, at least half of the population is going to die, but it is not because Jesus Christ isn't doing everything he can to make an invitation to every single person to let them know it is by my blood that you have been redeemed.

And so in verse 10, "The sons of the foreigners"—that's the Gentiles, right?—"shall build up your walls." We see an expression of work and love and worship. Just think about this. "And their kings shall minister to you." Now by the way, do they need walls for protection or for an army at that time? No. Who are they going to—Jesus Christ is on the throne.

There's nobody attacking them. There will be one last battle, but Jesus Christ handles that quite quickly, doesn't he? He releases Satan, Satan goes to the four corners of the earth, the one more rebellion happens and what happens? God says, "Done." Not even the angels get involved in that battle.

You know, like we read in the Book of Isaiah, 185,000 angels—one angel takes out 185,000 Assyrians. There's not even angels involved. This is simply God Himself that will turn around and say, "Done. Over." And all evil and wickedness will finally be judged on this earth.

It says, "And their kings"—so apparently there's people that are still leading in the Great Tribulation, right? People that were over different things. And he says, "And their kings shall what? Shall minister to you. For in my wrath, my judgment, I struck you, but in my favor, I have had mercy on you." Thank you, Jesus.

Do you also see this here? This is important. This is one of those passages, verse 10, that I've circled in my Bible and I wrote, "There is no replacement theology." Do you know what that means? What people have come back and tried to say? Israel has been replaced by the church or God is done with Israel.

It is this verse right here in verse 10 that reminds me that is not remotely possible. Because he says, "The sons of the foreigners, the Gentiles"—so he is clearly differentiating between Jew and Gentile at this point, he's not talking about the Jew here, he's talking about the Gentile—"shall build up your walls and their kings shall minister to you. For my wrath, I struck you"—Israel—"but in my favor"—Israel—"I have had mercy on you. I have what? I have redeemed you."

Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31, which we will get into as we move into the Book of Jeremiah if the Lord should tarry. God has a plan and a purpose for the Jewish people and we see it right here in verse 10. And he has a plan and a purpose for the Arab people, doesn't he? As we already read about, didn't we?

He wants everyone to get saved. "Therefore your gates shall be open continually"—talking about the gates in Jerusalem—"they shall not be shut by day or night, the men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles and their kings in procession. For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish and those nations shall be utterly ruined."

So any nation rising against Israel is going to be defeated by Jesus. Do we see that here? Verse 13, "The glory of Lebanon shall come to you." So all the nations continue to bring their wealth. What wealth did Lebanon have? What in our Bible do we look at? Think back to King David, I want you to think back to his son Solomon.

What was the wealth of Lebanon? It was the trees and the cypress that they put on the boats and sailed down all the way down and brought to have a temple built, right? So look what he says here, "The glory of Lebanon shall come to you." What is the glory? He talks about these cypresses.

They are huge. If you've ever seen them, I mean, they are huge trees. Large, very large. "The pine and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet and they shall call to you, 'The City of the Lord,' 'Zion of the Holy One of Israel'."

So all of Israel's former enemies, they're going to come to peace with Israel, they're going to come to worship Jesus, and they're going to all be united in worship. Isn't that beautiful? Look at verse 15, "Whereas you have been forsaken and hated"—right?

Because of Jesus and certainly because of God as we read in the Old Testament, they were certainly felt that way during the captivity, no doubt, at the time of this writing or right before the captivity. But God is saying, "I am not done with you." Again, remember when they read these things, many of them will be in captivity.

Many of them will be the next generation, Isaiah's children's generation, if I can say it that way, that will be in captivity during that 70 years reading this. And they are in Babylon, they are in literally pagan land, and they are enslaved to some extent. And can you imagine reading the goodness that God has planned for them?

It almost seems too good to be true, doesn't it? How, God, are you going to work this out? God, we're literally enslaved. And as a matter of fact, in the future chapters, he is going to talk about that because he is going to go back and remind them of what he did during the time of Pharaoh in Egypt and how he was faithful to deliver his people out of Egyptian prisons and out of Egyptian slavery and what have you, and bring them into the promised land.

And how he is going to be faithful to do that once again. God is looking to save each and every human being that is willing to come and to believe on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. He says, "Whereas you've been forsaken and hated so that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations.

You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles and the milk of the breast of the kings. You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." He tells us the reason. You will finally acknowledge that I am Messiah and I am your Savior and I desire to save you.

I am the Mighty One of Jacob that you've been looking for. "Instead of bronze, I will bring gold. Instead of iron, I will bring silver. Instead of wood, bronze. And instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace and your magistrates"—oh man, underline this—"and your magistrates righteousness."

That is a breath of fresh air, huh? Righteousness. Violence no longer—shall no longer be heard in your land. Can you imagine no more violence on this earth? No more walking out of your house having to worry about your daughter or your son riding their bicycle around the block and something happening or going off to school and something happening or all these things in the world where it just seems like so much chaos and violence.

No more. Never to have to worry about that again. Violence shall no longer be heard in the land. See, that is what it looks like in God's theocracy. That is what it looks like in God's kingdom. His very best. His very best. This is exactly what he desired for all of us.

Guest (Male): This is perfect love, the word goes out, the perfect love of Christ to shine. Our lives will show, I am my beloved's and he is mine. Every heart is in his hands, we'll never stop reaching out. This is perfect love, the word goes out. This is what real love looks like in truth and power. This is perfect love.

This is His Perfect Love. Pastor Matt VanderVen is leading a study of Isaiah right now, and if you enjoyed today's message, we'd like to know. Email us at our website, hisperfectlove.org. Be sure to include your prayer requests. And while you're there, you'll notice a place to listen to Pastor Matt's sermons, including all of Isaiah. That's hisperfectlove.org.

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Just email us through our website and ask for the free Bible offer. Here is our web address again: hisperfectlove.org. Are you looking for a Christian school that offers a quality education and a nurturing environment for your children? If so, you might be interested in Calvary Chapel Christian Academy, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.

Calvary Chapel Christian Academy is a non-denominational Christian school that serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The academy's mission is to provide a Christ-centered education that equips students to love God, love others, and serve the world.

The academy offers a rigorous academic curriculum, a variety of extracurricular activities, and a caring and supportive staff. The academy is located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit our website at ccharrisburg.org/academy. That is ccharrisburg.org/academy.

There's much more to come in Isaiah. This has been His Perfect Love with Pastor Matt VanderVen. His perfect love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.