Please turn in your Bibles back to Isaiah chapter 65. God's help this morning, we'll be considering then verses 17 to 25. The theme is new heavens and a new earth. There in verse 17, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. So here in Isaiah, really much like the whole of the book, but in these chapters, there's much in the way of judgment, but also in the midst of judgment, hope. Hope held out just in, even in this chapter, we see almighty God in his mercy, holding out his hands to those, even to his rebellious people, as he calls sinners to himself. And we see his promise that he would preserve a remnant, that he would always have a people on the earth to serve him, even as he also describes the judgment that he would bring on those who maybe have a name of being one of his people, but yet are hypocrites. Well here, and he's spoken, as we've read through the chapter in verses 15 and 16, which we considered last, last Lord's Day, but of times to come of blessing and that we would see the church not only in Israel as we find in the Old Testament, but through the world. He that blesseth himself in the earth. shall bless himself in the God of truth. He that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth. And these things meaning, among other things, that the church would no longer be located and limited to Israel in the main, but would be throughout the earth and God would be worshipped and called upon throughout the earth. And there are times that would be coming where former troubles would be forgotten, And he goes on to speak more of these things. The past to be forgotten in times of great joy. And he speaks here then in this section of a new heavens and a new earth. I want to consider then these verses with you this morning. They are not There have been different ways of understanding this passage and these words, variously understood among God's people. Are the things that are described here, is this before Christ's return or after His return? Is Isaiah describing this world, things that happen in this world, or in the next, in the resurrection? Is what is prophesied here a literal new creation, a literal new universe, or is it a picture of spiritual realities? And so, a will, So that we can have an understanding of this passage, it does mean I'm going to have to, in that sense, set out different views that there are, in general terms, and also to seek to go through the passage and consider, well, what is the meaning? And then, hopefully, some application. So there's three sort of areas today. Firstly, different views. And then secondly, discerning the meaning of the passage that we'll go through and consider, compare scripture with scripture. And then thirdly, does it matter? Does it matter? If there's all this controversy and different views, does it matter? And yes, it does. So firstly then, different views. Different views of this passage and what it means. We could say there are three main views among Christians. But there is, of course, as with any Whenever there are different views, then you'll find someone who holds a bit of that one and a bit of this one. So there's overlap and variety. But there are three main views. And these views and their labels, I'm going to label these views, are related to the millennium. So a millennium is a thousand years. And the only place in the Bible where it actually speaks of a thousand years is in Revelation 20. We're not in Revelation 20 today, we've been there before, we will again, no doubt, but there in Revelation 20 there's a time described called a thousand years, whether that's a literal thousand or an extended period of time of spiritual blessing, of spiritual prosperity, the time when Satan will be bound and so on. And there are different views of that millennium and what it means, and that's related to also how this passage here in Isaiah 65 is viewed. Different views of when that millennium happens in relation to Christ's return and the resurrection. And so even though the word millennium isn't used here, I'll mention it a few times as we're going through, This, the view of this passage is related to a millennial view. So the first view that we might mention is what's called pre-millennial. That says that Christ is coming before the millennium, pre-millennial. That's, and on that view, which we'd probably say would be the majority view among professing Christians today, is that the new heavens and new earth that we read of here is after Christ's return but while sin still remains in the world so it's in this world but after Christ's return so they would say this passage is before the actual end of all things but after Christ's return. That's the premillennial view. The second view is the amillennial view, or amillennial. The are is a negation. We might speak of someone as amoral, they have no morals, or they think they have no morals, they're acting as if they have no morals. Amillennial means no millennium. And in this view, the new heavens and the new earth here are after Christ's return and there's no sin in the world. So they say what we read of here is after Jesus returns and the resurrection and the final judgment and everything is made perfectly new and that's what's being described here. That's the amillennial view. The third view is the postmillennial view. And that is, Jesus comes after the millennium. And in terms of this passage, the new heavens and the new earth happens before Christ returns to the earth in the body, before he comes in the clouds, and before the final judgment, before the resurrection, final judgment, and everything being made perfectly new. Now there is variety in all these views, but that's generally speaking. If we were thinking of Reformed churches, Reformed and Presbyterian churches today, Reformed Baptists and so on as well, then you would either find, generally, with a few exceptions, but you would find either people of the amill or the postmill, amillennial or postmillennial view. So either they are saying, look, Isaiah 65, the aiming of Isaiah 65, this is talking about the recreated heavens and earth where there's no sin, there's no death, there's no suffering. That's what Isaiah is talking about. Or the post-millennial, which would be my view, that this is a time of blessing, which Revelation 20 speaks of as the millennium before Christ returns. So it's a time of blessing, but there's still sin. There's still death. So those are different views. And then secondly, discerning the meaning. And I think there are two main questions that we want to ask as we go through the passage. And the first is, is Isaiah speaking of this world or the next? Is he speaking of what happens in history or after the resurrection? And then once we've worked out that, then we ask, well, when does Christ return in the midst of this? So, is this, is what Isaiah is describing in this world or the next? Is he describing what happens in history or after the end, after the resurrection? I would suggest to you that verses 17 to 19 could refer to either. Let's read those verses. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." If we only had these verses in this description, I would be saying to you, we should be thinking about the situation when everything is renewed and there's no more sin and no more death and no more suffering. because it is that language of a new and perfect creation here. We think of Genesis 1 verse 1, children of the very first verse of the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And here is a new heaven, new heavens and a new earth. That's going back, but then we go forward. We read in 2 Peter chapter 3, I won't read that whole section again, but there, Peter describes this universe, this heavens and earth that we live in now being dissolved and a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. He says, this is what God promised. Now there are some who would say, what Peter's talking about, not the end, actual end of the world, but the end of the Jewish age or something. I don't believe that that fits. Peter speaks of, is speaking of the literal creation we're standing upon. He says there in verse 5, For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. See saying you're standing on this heavens and earth are now, that's going to be there until the day of judgment and that's the coming of the Lord at the last day. And so there's a looking forward in Peter to this new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. It's very similar language, isn't it? And in fact, in terms of that Peter is talking about, the renewed creation at the end, that was the view of the Westminster divines. This 2 Peter 3 is one of the proofs given when they are speaking of the final judgment, the day of judgment. Another passage, of course, which speaks of, in the New Testament, speaks of new heavens and new heavens and new earth is in Revelation. Revelation 21 and 22. Let's read from chapter 20 verse 11 and through into chapter 21. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place with it. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, God himself shall be with them and be their God. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. The former things are passed away. So here is the totally renewed creation. Peter spoke of The old creation, this creation being burned up and dissolved. John speaks of earth and heaven fled away from his face and then there's a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And then we see the New Jerusalem therein. So, this is speaking of the very end Again, as with Peter, there are some also among Reformed ministers that would take at least part of these verses through into chapter 22 to be referring to the Millennium or Christ's Kingdom even now. But there is enough, plenty of evidence here, I believe, to show us that this is speaking of the very end, and especially it speaks of the final judgment there. Well, if we go back to Isaiah 65, these passages, in the light of these passages, if that was all we had, I'll be saying, well, Isaiah is speaking of the very end. But it's not all we have. See also in the New Testament, the language of a new creation is applied also to Christians and to Christ's church now. So in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. And yet, we know that sin still remains. So there can be a new creature, a new creation in the Christian while there's yet sin, as we're on this world. Galatians 6 verse 15, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. New creature again. Also in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 5, For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. Paul speaks of Psalm 2, shows how Christ is that one crowned with glory and honor, all things put under his feet. Yet we don't yet see all things put under his feet. He's speaking here, in terms of the world to come, of Christ's kingdom, which has come. Just back in Isaiah, just in actually the next chapter, chapter 66, in verse 22, We'll read from verse 20 to 23, this gives some context. They shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses and in chariots and in litters and upon mules and upon swift beasts to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel unto the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed in your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. Now, obviously we bring our interpretation, our presuppositions to a passage. But if we compare this, what's described here of this new heavens and new earth that God speaks about here, there is evidence there, just in the very next chapter, of it being now, a time when the nations are being brought in, a time when the Lord is taking from among the nations those who would be as priests and Levites, a time when from month to month and Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh are worshipping Him. So even though this language of New Heavens and New Earth is taken up in the New Testament, significantly concerning the very ends, when in an absolute sense there's no more weeping, no more crying, there is joy, Verse 19, I will rejoice in Jerusalem and join my people. The voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. You might say, well, these things, isn't that talking about heaven? Isn't that talking about the totally renewed creation? Yes, it certainly can apply to that. But also, that language can apply in a relative sense to now, in Christ, in his kingdom, and to in history. We just go back to Isaiah 61, speaks of Christ coming and of His ministry and of this fruit in terms of joy, there being joy and no sorrow and so on. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the broken heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that morn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. So what we see in such passages as this is that we can speak of Christ's kingdom now has been that place of joy, and that for those who are in Christ, as they're looking to Christ and trusting in Him and receiving of Him, that there is no more mourning and weeping and sorrow, but joy in the Lord. So, I would say to you that these verses, if we only had these verses, we'd be saying, well, here is the very end, but they can be speaking of that which happens in history, of God doing a great work, doing a marvelous work in history. And I believe that as we go on then to the next verses, we see this is what it has to be speaking of. Because verses 20 to 23, they can only refer to this world because sin is still there. So it's not like there's a break, there's another verse in our Bibles, but it's the same description continuing on. From speaking of no more weeping, no more crying, there shall be no more things, an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his years. So no more, you know, the high, the child mortality, children dying in only a few days, or those old men dying early in that sense. For the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. Now there's long life described here. There's blessing in terms of No child mortality, but children living a hundred years even. It's patriarchal. It's been described as, you know, think of the years, how long. I mean, Abraham was 185, but think of those before him and Noah 900 and so on. Even though there's length of days here, and even though there's that blessing, There is death. The child shall die at 100 years old. That is, someone who dies at 100 will be thought to have been young, taken before their time. And this sin, the sinner being at 100 years old, shall be accursed. As in, be a mark of not having been one of the Lords to die at such an age. And there's a contrast, it describes this long life but not eternal life. There is still sin, there is still death in this new heavens and new earth which isn't in that new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, that Peter and John described. And there's a contrast there to, say, what Isaiah speaks of elsewhere in chapter 25, verse 8, where it speaks of death being swallowed up in victory. He shall swallow up death in victory. The Lord God shall wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. See, that's speaking of the end, when death has been conquered, after the resurrection. So there's sin and there's death at this time. Also then verse 21 and 22. So here is described building and planting and fruitful labor. and enjoying the fruits of labor. And that's also certainly a picture of blessing and contrast that to the curses that God said would come on His people. For example, if they would not obey Him, if they would not seek after Him, they would not have these things. So, Deuteronomy 28 verse 30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. Thou shalt build an house, thou shalt not dwell therein. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. Those who take these things to be speaking of heaven in their sense, or perfection, having ignored the reference to sin and death, would take these verses as proof that on the perfect new earth, in a sense, it's going to be life as usual, but without sin. We're going to be still building and planting, and in fact, there are those who speak of, well, that dominion mandate given to Adam, that's going to be going on for all eternity, and so we're going to get to the ends of the galaxy and beyond. Now, I'd suggest to you that's just fantastic in terms of imagination, rather than based in Scripture. The question is, well, aside from this passage, if it was taken, speaking of perfection, does the Bible describe, in that sense, not only the glories of heaven, but the future glory in such ways. And we don't have much information, but on the basis of this passage will such things be advanced. These things are the things that we do here and now. And it's a description of God's blessing on such things. But then into verse 23, which I would again say cannot be speaking of after the resurrection. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. So fruitful labour, but also childbirth, bringing forth, not bringing forth for trouble, for those children to die young. But the Bible is very clear that in the resurrection, as Jesus calls it, there is no marriage. There is no marriage, there is no childbearing. So in Matthew chapter 22, verse 30, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage. are as the angels of God in heaven. So this description which hangs together shows us that this new heavens and new earth, this time of great blessing and joy, is yet a time when there is sin, death, marriage, childbirth. It's in this world. It's in history. Verse 24, And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, while they speak in I will hear. That doesn't really describe to us when. It describes to us the grace of God here in our prayers. Describes access to God. God's readiness to answer prayer. Certainly in eternity, as God's people will be about His throne, and we'll see Him face to face, there'll be that access. But also now, in Christ, we have access to the Father. God's people, believers, through all ages, have been able to call upon Him. See, David didn't have the same knowledge as we have in terms of Christ, of the way of salvation, and of God, God as a Trinity, access to God. But see how intimate he was with God, how he drew near to God and longed for God. But it is true that in the New Testament, Christ has opened the way into the presence of the Father, And John Calvin says, the fathers indeed enjoyed the same access and there was no other way in which they could be heard but through Christ. But the door was narrow and might be said to be shut, whereas now it has been most widely and perfectly thrown open. And so this is a reminder to us of the mercy of God and that we might call upon him and know he hears us. He knows what we need, even before we ask, before we know it. Although you're speaking all here. But also it's an indication that at this time, there's the description of material prosperity. And we can sort of, well we are flesh and blood, and so we can sort of gravitate to that. But what is being described is primarily spiritual prosperity. And When we speak of the millennium, when this is described, we're not only to be thinking of, in a worldly way, of long life and material prosperity and so on, though these are blessings from the Lord, but of spiritual revival and reformation. and of a people seeking the Lord earnestly, finding Him. But then we come to verse 25, and here also, and here again, there are those who say, well, surely this has to be a whole new universe. because this doesn't exist in our world. I mean, we might see every now and then you have an example of someone who brought up a wild beast, and so they came and so on, and they might sit together with their lamb or their calf. But what's described here? The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat, food. They shall not hurt nor destroy. In all my holy mountain saith the Lord. Now this verse, as I said, is often taken literally, exactly literally. And that's either by those of the premillennial view, so they say Jesus will come, in the midst of all other things they say the rapture and so on, but Jesus will come and then he will reign in Jerusalem on a physical throne there for a thousand years, and during that time, those saints resurrected who have been on the earth before, then we're going to see this in nature, in creation, wolves and lambs together, carnivorous beasts turned back into vegetarians and peace also among the creatures. So either that view, the premillennial view, or the amillennial view, they'll say, look, this is proof that this is talking about a whole new creation after Jesus' return because things will be back to the original design and there won't be any more sin. What can we say about these things? Well, the first thing we might say is that before the fall, there were no carnivals. We're told that all creatures, in Genesis 1.30, let's just turn that up, to every, from 29 and 30, God said, behold, I've given you every herd there in sea, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for me, and to every beast of the earth, to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth. We're in his life. I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. And so on the basis of those verses, we see God's creation, in God's creation, for all his creatures, they were eating vegetables. They were eating green herbs. Well, when Adam sinned, his sin not only affected him, not only affects us that we sinned in Him and fell with Him and are guilty with Him before God, but also brought curse and death to the creation. Make it hard work, there'll be thorns and thistles and so on, but also we see the effect of the fall in the creation. And so we see death. Not only in us, but in the creation. And so if, in terms of what is said here, the wolf and the lamb together, the lion and the bullock, if there are animals, Adam's sin and death. What's the overturning of that curse? Christ's resurrection, in principle, but ultimately the resurrection at the last day. That's when death will be done away with. Before I go back to what I was going to say there, in Romans chapter 8, it describes how the creation or the creature, verse 20, was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." So when we see death and destruction and so on, in creation, the law of the jungle, tooth and claw. That's the creation, groaning and travailing. Until now, Paul says. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit. Christians. Even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, that is, the redemption of our bodies. Now what's Paul saying? He's saying that we Christians, We are a new creation, he says elsewhere, but there's still sin within us, and we struggle with that, and there's still the effects of sin in us and in the world, and that's hard for us, and we are waiting to be set free from all that. Not only when we die and go to heaven, but the redemption of our body. He's talking about the resurrection. That's what Christians are waiting for the resurrection at the end when all will be made new and that's what Paul is saying the creation is waiting for. In that sense, in an inanimate sense, the creation waiting for the resurrection because then the curse will be taken from it. So if we were going to think of a time when there's going to be no more carnivores and all the animals are going to be just eating together and lying down together and eating the same things, it would have to be after the resurrection, when there's no more sin and no death. We cannot expect Biblically, in terms of what the Bible says about sin and death and death in the creation, We cannot expect such a time while there's sin in the world. We cannot expect such a time while there's sin in the world before everything is renewed. Because the relief to the groaning of creation is going to come at the resurrection. And so this, in terms of what Josiah says here, this cannot be a literal description of any time before the final resurrection, before Christ's return. This is not describing, and in terms of the package, this is not describing life in the resurrection, because there's sin, there's death, there's childbirth. And so, the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the bullock, as much as it gives us a lovely image. And it might well be true if there are animals on the earth in the resurrection, if that's the Lord's will. I don't believe the scriptures give us that detail. But we have to understand here as a description of that peace that Christ brings to man. a description to be taken spiritually of God's gracious work in the church. And I believe that this understanding is reinforced if we look in Isaiah chapter 11, because there we have much the same description, and we're given a particular context for it and when it happens. I understand that there will be those who disagree with this, and they will say that these are both talking about the same, either millennium or the consummation. But I believe there are things here that help us understand, speaking of what God's doing now and in history. So, Isaiah 11 verse 6. And so he's just spoken of Christ, the King who will come, upon whom the Spirit of God will be, and what a righteous King he will be. And then we read, the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them, and the cow and the bear shall feed, and the young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the ass, And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's hand. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountains. See, it's the same reference as in Isaiah 65. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Talking about God's glory throughout the earth. Now, verse 10. And in that day, There shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day. And it goes on to describe the Lord gathering a remnant of small nations. In that day, these things will happen. Which day? In the day that the root of Jesse, this is Christ, would be set up as an enzyme, as a banner for the people to come to and to find rest in Him. This is describing the time of Christ's kingdom. It's describing the times of the gospel going out into the world, of the nations being gathered, of sinners being gathered to Him. Romans 15 and verse 12, these verses are quoted in terms of what was happening in Paul's time. And again, Isaiah said, So this is talking about Christ coming, the gospel going out into the world, the Gentiles coming in. So when it speaks of, and that's when, the wolf and the lamb and the leopard and the kid and the calf and the lion and the fatling and so on. It's describing God building his church. It's describing God having within his church all kinds of men and that they will be sitting together, eating together at the table of the Lord in their homes and in fellowship as it were the wolf and the lamb, the persecutor, there's Paul, sitting next to those who were persecuted, those who he was hounding to death and hailing to prison. This is what God has been doing and is doing, wild beasts of sinners, tamed by his grace. And I would suggest to you that Isaiah, in chapter 65, Isaiah in a summary form is referring back to that same thing that is already spoken of. This is what Christ will be doing. And in this time of great blessing that we will see such spiritual prosperity. It speaks of the dust being the serpent's meat. We can see there the curse on Satan. I believe this would be rightly understood a reference to the serpent and the devil being bound during this time. In Revelation 20, verse 1 to 3, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season. So as we look through this passage, while there are things taken in themselves that would seem to refer to perfection, I believe that taken as a whole It's referring to a time of great spiritual and material prosperity in this world, in history, often called the millennium. Now, very briefly, under this point still, discerning the meaning, is this before or after Christ's return? I think I've already probably said enough in what I've said already. that we understand that these things are before Christ's return. Because the Bible, the premillennial scheme, which has multiple comings of Christ and multiple resurrections and multiple judgments, which has these things separated by seven years, by a thousand years and so on, is unbiblical. The New Testament shows that Christ's return, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, all things being made new, they belong together. And it's called, that's the end. That's what Peter's speaking of. That's what John's speaking of in Revelation. It's what the Apostle Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 15. I just want to read a few verses from there. say any more than that. Here we see this is a single complex of events, not looking for this coming and that coming and this resurrection and that resurrection and this judgment and that judgment, separated by different times and is it halfway through the seven years or a full seven years? No, it's the end. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. but every man in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. The resurrection is at the coming of Christ. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. The resurrection destroys death. There can't be death in God's creation after Christ's return and the resurrection. That's the end. So this time of spiritual and material prosperity, a time when Isaiah says elsewhere, The knowledge of the Lord and His glory will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. Speaking of a time before Christ's return. A time of great blessing. And yes, we do have to remember there will still be sin. There will still be death. And so it will not be the best. The best will be yet to come. There is an ultimate hope of the resurrection, life in the world to come, but there is hope for this world. Finally, the thirdly, does it matter? Does it matter? You might say, others might say, well, okay, you've shown that these views are wrong, But does it matter? Is it necessary to understand these things to be saved? Do you have to really, do you have to understand what the new heavens and the new earth here in Isaiah 65 refers to be saved? What if you have a premillennial view or an amillennial view or a postmillennial view? It's true. You do not have to have your doctrine of the last things, your eschatology, you do not have to have it down to be saved. You do have to believe that Christ is in heaven and returning. The resurrection from the dead, that is part of the Christian hope. But, in terms of the order of these things, in terms of the ins and outs, as it were, of these things, we can say they are not the most important thing. The most important thing we have to reckon with is, am I right with God? That is the most important thing. And if your answer to that question, am I right with God, is no. Or if your answer to that question is something other than, if your reason for saying yes is something other than because of what Christ has done and what he alone has done, am I right with God? Then you need to sort that out. That is the key thing. That is the thing of first priority. And today is the day that you ought to be calling on the Lord. But just because it's not that which must be believed in order to be saved, or just because it's not the most important thing, doesn't mean that it's not important. It's important because it's in God's word. And God is glorified not only in souls being saved, men and women and boys and girls, believing on Christ and repenting of their sins and being saved. He is glorified in that. He's glorified in those sinners being sanctified, growing in the likeness of Christ. And to grow in the likeness of Christ, what does that look like? It means thinking like Christ. It means speaking like Christ. It means doing like Christ. And by that I mean thinking and speaking and doing biblically. And so, how we understand the Bible matters. Sound doctrine matters. The truth matters. Because it's God's truth. It's God's work for us to receive and to seek to understand. Will we ever understand it fully or perfectly in this world? No. Does that mean we ought to not try? No. Our endeavor ought to be, and Paul describes in his prayer for the Ephesians, prayed for them that they would be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and the breadth and the depth and the height of the love of God and Christ Jesus. We're to be seeking to understand God and His word. And it's important because doctrine affects life. What we think affects what we do. And eschatology matters. The doctrine of the last things, it matters. We can't just say with this or perhaps other difficult areas or areas where there have been differences, oh well, I just won't worry about that. No, it's not that we can study everything at once, of course, or gain the same level of understanding on everything in the scriptures. But if God has spoken, our duty is to seek to understand and to receive it. We do need to be humble. We need to recognize that truly godly men have differed on this as well as other areas of doctrine and practice. But our duty is to prove all things, hold fast that which is good. So don't just take what I've said is true because the pastor said it. Prove all things, study. Read. Ask God to teach you. And we can't just say, oh, it's in the future. It doesn't matter. God will sort it out. Yes, he will. What we believe about what will happen affects what we do now. We read that in Peter, in 2 Peter. Peter's setting out before them the things concerning the day of the Lord and what's going to happen to this universe. He says, verse 11, saying, this is what's going to happen. What sort of persons ought ye to be? It affects how you live. The Apostle John, 1 John 3, 3, he says, he speaks of the hope of Christ's coming. He says, he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Because there's a hope in Christ returning and being like Christ by His grace. And if you have that hope, you'll want to be pure now. That's where the rubber hits the road. So do you believe that Christ's kingdom will advance on the earth prior to his return, and that there will be a time, whatever it exactly looks like, of such spiritual and material prosperity as described in this part and other parts of the world? of the Word of God. If you have that hope, and you have it biblically, in a biblical way, you won't just be sitting on your hands and, oh, I'll see what God will do, I'll wait for that to happen. You'll be wanting it. You'll be waiting for it, you'll be praying for it, you'll be working for it, seeking that kingdom to come now. If you don't believe that there's any future for the church in this world, if you don't believe that Christ's kingdom will gain any real traction, aside from souls saved here and there, then you will be You might be still waiting for His return. I hope you are. We need to be looking to His return, waiting for God's Son from heaven. We don't know the day or the hour. We need to be ready to stand before Him, whether it be the day of our death, whether it be the day of His return. But if you're not expecting that God will do these things upon the earth, you won't be waiting for them. You won't be praying for them. You'll be expecting things to go down and down until Christ's return. Our chief hope as Christians is the resurrection. No more tears, no more crying, no more mourning, no more pain, no more death. Life with Christ and his people forever and ever in body and spirit. Our intermediate hope as individuals and for Christians is heaven when we die. Great comfort in that. Comfort one another with these words. Those that are sleeping, those that are asleep in Jesus, are with him in glory. But there's also hope for history. Hope for what God will do in his church, through his church, in this world. Psalm 46 verse 10, be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. May the Lord enable us to seek his kingdom, to pray, thy kingdom come, that he will bring these things to pass. Amen. Let us stand up and pray to God. Our Father in heaven, Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Thou art the God who is over all, and Thou art the God of truth, and Thou hast spoken in Thy word. We thank Thee that we have that liberty, that opportunity to gather about Thy word. We are to consider from it also something of Thy promises. We do ask for grace to be understanding, to be discerning, to be proving all things and holding fast that which is good. We thank Thee for the promises that Thou set before us of the resurrection and life in the world to come. We thank Thee for that hope, especially in times of trouble, in times of difficulty, when the sorrows of the world can seem to overwhelm us. We thank Thee for the hope of heaven, of glory, for each believer and that comfort we may have too for those suffering, there's comfort for those regarding those believers who have left this world. We do thank thee too for those promises for thy church in this world and though we do not in these times see such such knowledge in the earth and such glory and such spiritual prosperity O God, enable that we would be seeking first Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness. We pray, may Thy kingdom come, that the kingdom of Satan would be destroyed more and more, that Christ's kingdom would be advanced, that He'd be gathering us and those with us and many others into it and extending Thy kingdom through the earth, that the gates of hell would not prevail against it, and that Christ, the kingdom of glory, would be hastened. that we would ever be praying, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.