His Perfect Love

Matt VanderVen: Pastor Matt VanderVen says the future is bright for believers in Christ.

The best is yet to come. This isn't Jesus giving us a hollow promise. This is the Word of God that you have lifted directly before you here this morning in your lap, that Jesus Christ declares there is a literal return where He is going to rule and reign forever and ever, and you and I will be with Him.

All those that have come before us, none will ever be lost, none will be forgotten, and none will ever be left behind. Only those that have chosen to reject, but everybody else will be together and will rule and reign with the King of Kings.

Guest (Male): In the book of Genesis, we read about the Garden of Eden, and some of us have wondered how great would that be to experience paradise on Earth. Well, if you're a Christian, that's in your future. You see, after Jesus returns, paradise will be restored on planet Earth for 1,000 years.

What's it going to be like? You're about to find out today on His Perfect Love as Pastor Matt VanderVen opens Revelation chapter 20. We'll start off today in the book of Daniel, chapter 2.

Matt VanderVen: Verse 40: "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, as much as iron breaks the pieces and shatters everything, and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes to their feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile." We haven't seen this kingdom yet. This kingdom hasn't come to Earth yet.

As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men. That's interesting. But they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. That's why it's divided. And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. Please underline that. That's a qualification. He is saying that the kingdom that He sets up next is not going to be destroyed and never ends. Have we seen a kingdom that Jesus Christ on this earth has set up that has not been destroyed and never ended yet?

No, right? No, we haven't seen that. And it's okay. No, we haven't seen that. And we won't see it until this other kingdom rises, and this is what this kingdom will be in the last of the last days. And then right after that, we already know at the end of the seven-year great tribulation, that kingdom will come to an end. It says it shall be left over to the other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. That's Jesus Christ and His theocracy, and it shall stand forever. Forever.

He tells us this kingdom so we could know with 100% certainty here this morning that the millennial reign has not happened yet. Because Jesus hasn't established a kingdom as we read in Daniel that is forever and ever yet on the earth. It hasn't happened. None of us can debate that. There's nobody that can go back in history and this one, I call it the overwhelming confirmation, because people could have said, "Well, yeah, he could have established another kingdom or maybe a kingdom within China or maybe there was something that happened in another part of the world."

The last kingdom that Jesus Christ establishes is going to be forever, and that will be His theocracy that will come at the beginning of the millennial reign. There will be no other kingdom after that ever again. So we can't possibly be in the millennial reign yet. Hence premillennialism, which is what we've been reading in Revelation. Turn to Zechariah, please. Zechariah in your Bible. I'd like to look at Zechariah chapter 14. Let's look at Zechariah chapter 14, verse 9.

He says, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day it shall be the Lord is one and His name is one." So where is He going to be King again? It says over all the earth. Is right now Jesus Christ the King of the United States of America? No. I mean, yes, He ultimately is, isn't He? But is He on the earth? No. If we just read the Word of God, He qualifies for us what it will be like when Jesus Christ reigns.

Are you excited about the millennium? I'm excited about the millennial reign. I want to be a part of God's millennial kingdom. I love this, and if you're a born-again believer, you will be a part of that. It's wonderful. Just a couple more scriptures here this morning. Would you turn to Psalm 110, please? Psalm 110, verses 5 and 6. Think of all the calories you're burning right now with your little fingers. Psalm 110, verses 5 and 6. This describes what He's going to do in that beginning part of that millennial reign.

Remember the war that's going to break out? Well, it's not really even a war, it's God's judgment. He doesn't use us, as we already read in Revelation chapter 20. But if you look at Psalm 110, verses 5 and 6: "The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath." So those ten kings that we read about in Revelation already that are going to rise up, He's going to execute them all. He's going to destroy them with His coming. It's not even going to be a difficult thing.

He speaks it as though it's already done and it's a spoken word. He says, "He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up His head." The Lord will speak it. How did we read it in Revelation 20? He said He would call fire down. That's how He's going to do it right there. If you wondered how are the kings going to be defeated, it's not even a war. It's not like you and I are even a part of it. He just calls the fire down, and those ten kings that had been with the Antichrist and aligned with the Antichrist, they're immediately destroyed.

Friends, we know how the battle ends. We're on the winning team. You've been given victory. This isn't even a thought here this morning. You, if you're a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, you are victorious. This is done. It's a done deal. And He declares it so. Please turn to Isaiah chapter 9, right? We're not too far from there. Isaiah chapter 9, I should have maybe one of your other fingers kept you there. I don't know if your fingers are like this now, crossing over all the other passages.

Isn't our Bible rich? The Word of the Lord is rich. I love the Word of God. I love Jesus, I love His Word. Thank You, Jesus. He just goes on and He just keeps blessing us and blessing us and blessing us. Look what He says in chapter 9, verse 3: "You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian."

"For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, and all the garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire." An end to all war and oppression. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." This was His first coming. "And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end."

The latter half of verse 7 describes His second coming. "There will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." He says it's going to happen and He's going to do it just like He says. I love this, and I love the harmony of creation. Since we're already here, just turn two pages over to Isaiah chapter 11, please.

Just look and this is the passage we'll close with here this morning. I know we got through one word in verse 1. "Then." And I know for some of you that's progress. But I really hope you're enjoying this study of the Word of God that He is showing us these things that we can go to one word and we can camp out for hours. I hope every one of you are in love with Jesus and love His Word. We're never going to grow tired of His Word, and His Word is everlasting.

I hope it fills you with the same joy it does me and encourages you here this morning, whatever you may be going through, that He is going to meet you where you're at. There's nothing you're going to go through without Jesus. He's going to be with you and He knows the beginning from the end and He has created this world for fellowship and for His glory. If you'll just be partakers of that, just be partakers of that.

What did Moses pray, as close as he was to God? He didn't say give me this, give me that, I want more houses, more boats, more of these things. He said, "Lord, the only thing I want more of is Your Shekhinah glory. I just want more of You. More of Your glory, Lord. Show me more of Your glory." You see, when you have that experience with Jesus Christ, that's what you want. You come away, you know the materialism, you know these things of a temporal world can't fill you, they can't help you, they don't even do nothing for you.

But when you have an experience with Jesus Christ where you are transformed and conformed to His likeness and image, you know every part of your being is changed forever. The things of these world lose its flavor, the salt of this world loses its, all of it. Because your heart for Jesus Christ just is like marinating in His love and truth. It doesn't mean we're perfect. Look, there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. If you're here this morning, you're struggling with things, please don't read into that.

Please don't walk out of here going, "Maybe I'm not a believer, maybe I'm not good enough." No, it's His purpose, His plan, it's our surrender. Can we say that again? It's His purpose, His plan, and it's our surrender. That's all He's ever asked us to do. He's a good Father. He's a good Father. Well, look at this beautiful passage here in Isaiah 11, and I just want to close us because this is a gift from Jesus. He tells us and I know why God told me, "Now go back and teach the millennium, don't keep going on."

Because He wants us to camp out here. He wants to wash and renew our minds, because it's tough living in these days, isn't it? I think it's tough living in a world like this that's calling evil good and good evil. It's oppressive, there's a lot of terrible things happening. I don't need to bring the culture into this church. No, the church is a hospital and the Lord uses the Word of God to bring light to the culture, not the church being changed by the culture. So we don't need to do that.

But God, He wants to restore what the cankerworm's eaten. He wants to take what is not joy and bring joy. He wants to bring encouragement, He wants to strengthen and build up. Look at verse 5: "Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins." Well, let's wear it. "And faithfulness the belt of His waist." Let's wear it. Now this is what it's going to look like. "The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb." No more predators and preys.

"The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together." Just think about that. The animals are going to, all creation, when He comes, animals are going to get along. I'm going to like cats. I'm excited about that. Did I tell you what people do in this church? I love you, but what you guys do to me, the way you taunt me. People on the radio need to know this. Pray for me. They come in here with these cat shirts and they sit right in the front row sometimes and they wear their Hawaiian cat shirt like they're coming for me.

I love you, I pray for your soul when you wear those cat shirts to try to taunt me. "A little child shall lead them." I love this. Please look at this. A little child shall lead them, leading these animals. Would you ever trust your little child to go with these wild animals today? Not one of us as a parent would ever do that. No way. You hear about the things that happen in these zoos when these animal get out and do terrible things, because all creation is moaning and groaning, waiting for the coming of Messiah Jesus to come on the earth and set things right again.

"The cow and the bear shall graze." That bear normally is thinking hamburger helper, right? No, "Their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." And then He's going to speak about the Gentiles. We'll look at that more later.

But I just want to share an account with you here this morning in regards to this, especially this passage here. I know there's been questions I've had over the years. People have asked, "Pastor, do you think there's going to be children in the great tribulation?" And from this verse, we know that in the millennial reign there will be children. Because he talks about child, a young child. I don't have time to bring it out this morning, but I really believe that when we are in heaven and we've got our glorified bodies, we'll be like 30-year-olds.

I know that's a declarative statement and I should back that up with scripture, and I will in the future. I promise in the future, if the Lord has me here, I will go through those passages with you sometime when the Lord gives me a breakout and we can do that. There are several passages that I think talk about that. And I love to study those things. But that's my opinion, okay? That's not "Thus saith the Lord." Please understand the difference.

But this isn't my opinion. God declares that there are young ones and little ones. And so that answers a question of will there be people having children and nursing during the great tribulation? The answer was already answered by Jesus when He said for you who have children that are of the suck, and that means that are nursing, and they will be. He says it's a heavy moment, go and get out of there, flee to the wilderness. So we know that young children, babies will be in the great tribulation.

We know that there's going to be births of children, and many of them will survive. And we know if you're under the age of accountability, all children go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ because He's a righteous and holy judge. How can He judge a child who hasn't even come to the age of understanding salvation? Of course they're going to go right to be with Jesus in heaven. I can't think of any other way, because that doesn't line up with anything contrary to His character. You look at the character of God in all 66 books of the Bible, nothing lines up like that.

Well, it reminded me and I shared this with first service and I didn't intend to, but I'm going to share it with you as well. There was an account, a story I heard about 20 years ago and it's something that really changed me. And again, I want to be sensitive to any ladies here who've ever experienced this or had this. Please know I want to speak to your hearts in love, and husbands as well, of course.

There was a gentleman I knew. He had about nine or ten children, okay? I can't remember exactly. And as you can imagine, when you come from a family with that many children, the house is always a lot going on. He came home one afternoon after work and he came into the house and he's so used to, "Okay, bracing himself," as you walk into a house with that many children because the kids are going to run up and grab Daddy or grab Mommy, grab on one of the legs, the other one grabs on the other leg, and they jump up in your arms. It's wonderful, right?

But he comes in and for the first time that he could ever remember, it was silent. Not a single thing. I mean, to the point it was almost eerie. And he got this check immediately, and he thought, "Oh no." And his mind started going to all these bad places. He's calling for his wife and there's no answer. He doesn't see any of the children, and he doesn't know what's going on.

He makes his way up the stairs and he's going towards his bedroom. He says, "Okay, I'm going to take off my suit." I don't know, guys, if you've ever got home, you're used to your wife greeting you or vice versa. Sometimes I'll go up, I'll change my, when I used to wear a suit, put my suit down, I'd change my clothes, hang my stuff up, I'd go to the bedroom. Often I'd find Lisa or whatever, near somewhere doing something.

He walks upstairs thinking the same thing, "I'm going to find my wife, right?" He goes into the bedroom, he can see the light on in the bathroom in the corner, but his eye immediately kind of goes there and he's starting to go put stuff away. But then he hears out of what sounded almost like a whimpering, like a crying. And so as any of us would do, he makes his way, he walks over and he goes to the bathroom. Probably the most frightening thing, husbands, men, is to see your wife on the floor in a pool of blood.

He looks in her eyes, she's alive. He looks in her eyes and he doesn't know what to say at this moment because it looks like she has something in her hand that she's holding, or someone. And she's holding her hand like this, cup-shaped, and he just looks at her and he says, "Honey, are you okay?" And she said, "Yeah." And he says, "I don't know how to ask you what's going on here." I was trying not to do this. This happened at first service too, I'm sorry.

He says, "I want you to meet Grace. I want you to meet Grace." And he makes his way over and he kneels in the blood. And he looks at his wife and she says, "Isn't she beautiful?" as he's staring into what he can't make out. He's not a medical doctor or a nurse, he doesn't know what's going on, but he's catching on pretty quick that she had a miscarriage.

He's looking into the hands of this baby, and he's looking his wife's eyes, and he's thinking, "What am I going to do in this moment? How do I help my beloved, how do I help her?" She starts talking and she says, "You know, while this was happening, I have no other words but to explain that while I was giving birth to this child, the Lord Jesus visited me. And I now have an understanding of the helmet of salvation, the armor of God. You know Ephesians 6, verses 11 through 18."

He says, "In that moment never before had I understood the way the scripture jumps off the page." My wife explains who Grace is and who she's going to be and all that God has for her. She starts describing this to him, that the Lord had visited her almost like touching, almost like putting that helmet on her. That she sees the child running in heaven. There comes a point where she said, "When we were there and when we got up to heaven, it was the most amazing thing."

He says, "We stepped forward and I was looking where am I, and Jesus, and then you had stepped forward too and you were there and who do you think comes from behind Jesus and runs right up to her? It was Grace, and she came right up into Mommy's arms and she came right up into Daddy's arms. And Jesus looked and said, 'Did you expect something different? I don't make mistakes. What happens in the temporal is one thing, but what God has established is eternal.'"

And when I read a passage like this, I understand in context it's talking about the millennial, but please don't forget who comes back with Jesus Christ. The angels and the saints. And they're playing together, they're in the millennial reign. And I often have looked at this and I said, "Lord, is this You telling me?" I just hope this is an encouragement for anybody who's ever had anything like that ever happen in their lives.

That helmet of salvation, it gave me an understanding of the armor of God in a way that I have never understood before because I know the sword, the Word of God. I understand the shield of faith to protect against the fiery arrows. I understand the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth and walking in truth and the shoes shod with peace and walking in that. But to have the moment of where I think that one day I will see that child again and that I will spend forever with that baby, and God doesn't make mistakes.

I can't even begin to explain the comfort, the encouragement, and that's only just the tip of the iceberg of what it's going to be like in the millennial reign with Jesus Christ where He makes all things right. There's no more evil, there's no more wickedness, there's no more disease, there's not going to be anything like that, things that we have been struggling day after day with. He's going to bring an end to all of it and He is going to bless our socks off while we're trying to bless His socks off.

So that's why I've come to the understanding and He's washed me and encouraged me and maybe you this morning to really come to that place, to come to the place of where I know these words are true: the best is yet to come. This isn't Jesus giving us a hollow promise. This is the Word of God that you have lifted directly before you here this morning in your lap, that Jesus Christ declares there is a literal return where He is going to rule and reign forever and ever, and you and I will be with Him.

All those that have come before us, none will ever be lost, none will be forgotten, and none will ever be left behind. Only those that have chosen to reject, but everybody else will be together and will rule and reign with the King of Kings.

Guest (Male): Pastor Matt VanderVen on His Perfect Love. Thanks for taking part in today's study of Revelation, a book that comes with a blessing attached to those that read and study it. If you were blessed and encouraged by the Lord, we'd like to know. Email us while it's fresh on your mind there at our website: hisperfectlove.org. Be sure to include your prayer requests.

Also at our website, you'll find an archive of these studies in Revelation, making it easy to replay a message you enjoyed or catch what you miss on the radio. Again, we're at hisperfectlove.org and now at oneplace.com as well. Look for us wherever you get your podcasts. We also have a free mobile app. This is a convenient way to listen to Pastor Matt on your mobile devices. Go to hisperfectlove.org for more information about that.

If the Lord is leading you to support this ministry with a one-time gift or ongoing monthly support, you can do so through the website at hisperfectlove.org. We want all of our listeners to have access to the Word of God, so if you're in need of a Bible, we'd like to get one into your hands. Just email us through our website and ask for the free Bible offer. Here's our web address again: hisperfectlove.org.

As you know, Christmas is right around the corner, so we're going to break away from Revelation for just a couple of weeks so we can bring you a special Christmas series here on His Perfect Love with Pastor Matt. That all starts next week.

His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.