(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I'm just going to continue through the book of Isaiah. I mean, we've got six chapters to go through. It's a big book. Even though the chapters themselves aren't that long, the book of Isaiah is a very meaty book. There's a reason why it's called one of the major prophets. And major prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, they're kind of scary books to read because there's just so much volume, there's so much depth. And we're talking about the time of the prophet Isaiah when he's preaching. He's preaching about not just his time, but then he's preaching about future events, about the Babylonian takeover of the southern kingdom. He's speaking of the Assyrian takeover of the northern kingdom. He's speaking about the first coming of Christ. He speaks of the second coming of Christ. And so there is just so much information. And many times in these books, it feels like there's no clear distinction about where Isaiah, like, what are you talking about now? Are you talking about today? Are you talking about the future? What kind of future are you talking about? Are you talking about Christ's first coming? His second coming? And so obviously, you know, understand the Bible as a whole, understand the history of the nation and the coming of Christ and what the prophecies of the book of Revelation teach, it helps us clarify, you know, what Isaiah wrote. There's no contradictions in God's word. But what's wonderful about the New Testament is that it shines a light to the Old Testament, and we have a better understanding today of what Isaiah wrote than what the Old Testament saints understood from the book of Isaiah. So when you look at Isaiah 11, verse number 1, actually, verse number 10, it says, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse. The title of the sermon tonight is A Root of Jesse. Of course, Jesse being the father of David, following that kingly line of David, the kingly line of David, and that root, of course, is speaking of Jesus Christ. Now, if we'll start with verse number 1. Before we talk about the root of Jesse, so it's saying that Jesse has a root. So Jesse has a beginning or an ancestor before him. But before we talk about that in verse number 10, I want you to notice how we're introduced to the same person here in verse number 1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Now we're talking about something coming from Jesse, not the roots of Jesse, not something before Jesse, but the stem of Jesse and a branch. So this stem becomes a branch. This branch shall grow out of his roots. This branch shall grow out of Jesse's roots. And again, Jesse is the father of David, King David. So just as a reminder, keep your finger there and come with me to Isaiah chapter 4. Isaiah chapter 4 and verse number 2. Isaiah chapter 4. So this is not the first time we're introduced to these titles that are given. And in Isaiah chapter 4, verse number 2, it says, In that day shall the branch, there's the branch again, the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent, and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And so what we see here, this branch that's coming out of the root of Jesse, is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that reference that we just read in Isaiah 4, 2, if you remember what I preached in chapter 4, this is speaking of Christ's millennial reign. So when you talk about here that the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely, what the Bible's telling us here in chapter 4 is that when Christ comes back and He rules for over a thousand years, yes, the earth has been destroyed, yes, islands have been flooded and mountains have been demolished by the wrath of God, but when Christ establishes His millennial kingdom, it says that the earth will be beautiful. And so Christ is going to give the earth a new sense of importance, a new sense of life. Geography and topography is going to be slightly different to how we understand it today. But one thing that is very clear is that during Christ's reign, the earth's going to be beautiful, the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that escaped out of Israel. And what I had taught there, and those escaping out of Israel, was before Christ establishes His kingdom, the instruction that He gives about the great tribulation for those that are in Judea to flee, flee from Israel because the persecution and great tribulation will be the greatest in that point in time. But again, you know, many times you see God's wrath in the millennium, a lot of these concepts are kind of mingled in Isaiah, but again, understanding what the New Testament teaches, it helps us identify and clarify what portions are you referring to. So when we come back to Isaiah chapter 11, the reason I'm going through all of that is so you understand that what we read about, this branch or this root of Jesse, or a root of Jesse even, is speaking of Jesus Christ in His millennial kingdom. Speaking of Jesus Christ in His millennial kingdom. It continues in verse number 2, it says, And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Jesus. And of course, the Spirit of the Lord did of course rest upon Jesus when He came the first time. And when we see that He was baptized by John the Baptist, we saw that the Spirit of the Lord descended bodily as a dove. So He came upon Jesus. The Bible tells us that when He was led of the wilderness, He was led of the Spirit. And so many, of course, of the works of Jesus Christ and His guidance and leading was by the work of the Holy Spirit. But again, this is a reference to Christ in His kingdom. And let's understand what the Spirit of the Lord or the Holy Spirit does to someone's life and what it did for Jesus. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of counsel and might. The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Now brethren, these are qualities or characteristics that we learn that have to do with the Holy Spirit of God. And as saved people, if you're saved, if you're born again, you've trusted Christ as your Savior, you have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Ghost living within you. Meaning, you have access to all of these qualities. Let's look at them again. It says, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Now, I don't know how well you did academically in school. You might say, pass, I really failed, man. I didn't even like it. I just mucked around in school. I didn't give it any proper attention. Okay, fine. There is an academic level of achievement. I think if you can excel in your academics, that's a good quality to have. It's exercise of the brain, the brain is a muscle. If you perform well in school, it's going to help you in life, just in general. The exercising of your mind and reasoning and memorization, all that stuff is good for your well-being. It's going to help you also understand the Bible and read the Bible if you can learn grammar and all those kinds of things. But really, when it comes to the academic achievements of the world, they do not compare to the wisdom and understanding that comes from God. To be able to live a life and be able to judge between what is right and wrong and be able to make the best decision in life, you need wisdom and understanding. Now, if you say, pass, I'm someone that is quite simple. I don't have great knowledge. Well, look, the thing is about that is you can have access to those things because you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you. You have God in you is what you have. The Holy Spirit of God knows the deep things of God, and with the Word of God, as you read God's Word, and by your asking God and by His Spirit to reveal truths to you, He will do that. I don't know what you make of me as a pastor as I preach and teach. I don't know if you conclude, oh, our pastor has wisdom and understanding, but really, it's because of the Holy Spirit. If not for the Holy Spirit of God, especially if not for God's Word, I have nothing more much to say to you. Oh, be good and get out there and do something nice. That's probably what I'll be teaching you, right? When it comes to God's wisdom, we can learn about future. We can learn about the past. We can learn of the heart and the mind of God. We can truly enrich our lives and be someone known for wisdom and understanding simply because you're tapping into that wisdom and understanding that comes from the Holy Spirit of God. It also says the Spirit of counsel. Again, you might be going through troublesome times and you need to speak to someone. Again, you've got God in you like God's never left you. He's never forsaken you, and he's someone that can go for counsel. In fact, Jesus Christ referred to the Holy Spirit as another comforter, a comforter, a counselor, someone that can comfort or counsel us in a time of need. He also said the Spirit of might. Are you someone that lacks conviction and courage and strength and boldness to speak of your faith of Jesus? Maybe you say, Pastor, I just can't open God's Word to somebody. I can't give them the Gospel. I feel very scared to do that. Well, you need to tap into the Holy Spirit. Look, that strength is not going to come in your flesh. It's available to us in the Holy Spirit of God. He gives us counsel. He gives us might. Might is strength. When you go out and you preach the Gospel to someone, it's not by your own strength. You'd fail in your own strength. The reason you can do such a work is because the Holy Spirit has strengthened you, has given you the might to be able to speak of Jesus Christ. It says the Spirit of knowledge once again and of the fear. Well, knowledge is a bit different from understanding, but same concept. And of the fear of the Lord, the fear of the Lord. I don't know what kind of fear of the Lord you have. I've mentioned so many times when I get up to preach. There's two times I've got the greatest fear of the Lord, when I get up to preach and when I'm flying to Sydney. Because God could just say, okay, I'm done with you. And that would be it. A few seconds later, that's it. The plane's crashed or whatever. But those are the two times that I have the greatest fear of the Lord is when I'm up in the sky and I wonder, how is it this heavy machinery is just in the sky? I don't know. Okay, by God's laws, of course, man's been able to work through that. But also being able to open God's Word and the fear that comes to me to be able to tell you something that God's Word says. And Lord, can you give me the wisdom? Can you give me the understanding? Can you give me the knowledge to teach your great people? Now, we're there in Isaiah 11. And you know that we've also been going through the books of the Bible. So what is the 11th book of the Bible? Does anyone know? Want to take a guess? We did the second seminar last week. 1 Kings, all right. So come with me to 1 Kings 3. Come with me to 1 Kings 3. So as we're going through these chapters, we're looking also at the books of the Bible that are corresponding by number. And we're seeing, obviously, certain parallels. And I'm going to show you one parallel here, which you'll be able to see the significance. But as we go on later on, you'll see a greater significance with Isaiah 11 to 1 Samuel. Sorry, 1 Kings. So come with me to 1 Kings 3, please. 1 Kings 3. 1 Kings 3. And 1 Kings, the very beginning of 1 Kings deals with the death of David, that David's going to pass away, and he's given the kingdom over to his son Solomon. And so Solomon will soon begin to reign on a great kingdom of God. And God comes to Solomon in a dream. You may remember this story. And God tells Solomon, look, you can ask of me whatever you want. Whatever you wish, Solomon, ask of me, and I'll give it to you. And this is how Solomon responds in 1 Kings 3. 1 Kings 3, verse 9. He says, Who is the spirit of understanding? We saw that as the Holy Spirit. It's the spirit of the Lord. And so he says to God, look, give me an understanding heart to judge thy people. Be able to judge this, thy so great a people. And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. I want you to notice that. Solomon's asked for understanding, and God says that pleased him. Now again, you might read the Bible, you might struggle to understand parts of it or what have you. You might say, pastor, I don't have the wisdom, I don't have the intelligence. Look, why don't you ask God for the understanding? It's going to please God. Do you see that? To know what is right and wrong, to be able to judge for your life, make the best decisions you can in life. And God's already given you the Holy Spirit. Who is the spirit of understanding? And if we keep going to verse number 11, it says, Behold, I have done according to thy words. Lo, I have given thee, look at this, a wise and an understanding heart. The spirit of God was referred to as the spirit of wisdom and understanding. God says to Solomon, I'm going to give you a wise and understanding heart. So obviously, King Solomon is tapping into the Holy Spirit of God through this teaching. And then he continues there, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. Now the reason I bring up Solomon, and we see the similarities here, is because we started with Jesus Christ. And I had explained to you that this is, of course, the beginning of his millennial kingdom, is going to reign with this wisdom and this understanding through the Holy Spirit power of God. And when it comes to the millionaire of Christ, one thing I'm going to show you in this chapter is there will be a physical Israel on the land. Sometimes there's people that we don't toe the line of dispensationalism. Sometimes we're mindful about how we describe Israel. And of course, we need to be mindful about how we teach that. I'm not talking about a Christ-rejected nation that we have today. I'm not talking about 1948 modern day Israel, which has a false religion, is a synagogue of Satan. That's not the Israel that I'm going to talk about. But what we see, you know, when Solomon reigns, this is Israel at its richest, most powerful, most influential. It's Israel at its highest and most climax, like period of its reign. It's the most powerful time that Israel was a kingdom. And of course, when Christ comes, once again, Israel is going to be even greater in power, greater in might. And Christ is going to rule from Jerusalem. Now, we're going to talk about that as we keep going through this chapter. But if we go back to Isaiah 11, come with me to Isaiah 11, verse number 3. Isaiah 11, verse number 3. Remember, God gave Solomon that heart of a wise and understanding heart so he can judge so great a people. And again, speaking of Jesus now, in verse number 3. Very interesting about God. When God makes judgment, or when Jesus makes judgment on the earth, he's not going to make judgment based on what he sees. He's not going to base even his judgment on what he hears. And this is the limitation that we have as men. We make judgments, sometimes wrong judgments, based on these are the senses that we have. What we see and what we hear. And there's nothing wrong with that in of itself. But people can lie. People can act. People can say all kinds of things and cause deception. But when it comes to Jesus Christ ruling on the earth, he will not be deceived. Because the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16, 7, it says, I'll just read it to you. It says, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. And so in the millennial reign of Christ, if there's judgment to be had, like if someone's committed crime, and they're taken before a judge, and I don't know exactly how that's all going to work out, but God will be able to tell, not by what he sees and not by what he hears, he'll be able to tell from the heart whether that person is guilty or innocent. So there's going to be righteous judgment. There'll be no deception of the court systems. And if you've done the crime, you'll do the time and however it is that God has laid out in his word. But if we continue in verse number 4, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And so you can see here, in comparison to how the nation of Judah was, with corrupt judges, with corrupt politicians, no, when Christ judges, he's going to look out for the poor, he's going to look out for the meek of the earth, those that are lowly. And it says here, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. So we learn something interesting about the millennium. If God is to make a judgment call, this person deserves the death penalty, he'll smite that person right there and there by the breath of his lips. But with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And this should remind us, of course, when Christ comes back, if you want to look at it, move away from there and come with me to Revelation 19, keep your finger there in Isaiah 11, come with me to Revelation 19, and Revelation 19 speaks of the time when Christ would come on his white horse and commence his millennial reign on the earth. And in Revelation 19, verse number 15, speaking of Jesus Christ, in Revelation 19, 15, it says, And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that it should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. You know, in Isaiah 11 it said that he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. But it says here they shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. So out of the mouth of Jesus proceeds this sharp sword, this two-edged sword, the Word of God, and if we keep reading through the chapter, he slays the armies of the Antichrist as he comes. But by the same breath of his lips, in the millennium, for those that deserve the death penalty, he'll be able to wipe them out just by speaking. So it's not going to be like it is today. People, if you're guilty, you're guilty. If you deserve the death penalty, you'll get the death penalty. Proper judgment, proper righteousness, and the poor and the meek are going to be looked after on the earth. They're not going to be trampled over. They'll be honored, they'll be given their time in court. There'll be fairness, there'll be equity, as it's said in verse number 4, on the earth. So come back with me to Isaiah 11, verse number 5. And look, every time our government and our politicians and our justice system, every time they fail, it frustrates you. Right now, what's on the news? Jeffrey Epstein's list of those that traveled to his island. And they say Bill Clinton's one of those names, former President Bill Clinton's one of those names on the list. It won't surprise me if that guy just gets away with nothing. It won't surprise me if there are some extremely powerful names on that list, and they just get a little slap on the wrist. And, you know, when that happens, and you get frustrated, and you know how corrupt this world is, let it be an encouragement, let it be a blessing to you to remind you that when Christ rules, it's not going to be like that. And look, the Bill Clintons and these wicked people on the earth, they're going to have their time. They're going to have to stand before God one day. And don't worry, God's going to hold them completely accountable for what they've done. So, where am I reading from, guys? Verse number five. Yeah, verse number five. Isaiah 11, verse number five. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reigns. So Christ is coming in righteousness, in faithfulness. And look how the world's going to be when Christ rules. In verse number six, the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. Now normally, the wolf is a natural predator of the lamb. Okay, so where do we learn something here? That there's not going to be carnivorous animals. Yeah, there's not going to be any rivalries of creatures. You know, these carnivorous creatures like wolves and what have you, they're going to be eating grass. They're going to be like vegetarian. There's not going to be this bloodshed on the earth. So the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. It says, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. The kid there is a goat. Okay, so a leopard and a goat will just be in the same proximity. And the goat's fine. He doesn't need a shepherd. You know, the lamb doesn't need a shepherd to protect it from the wolves and the leopards. It says, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. Okay, the calf, so the lion, the leopard, the wolf, they're not hungry. They're not seeking, right, these animals, right? They're satisfied. It says here, look, and this is the most interesting part. A little child shall lead them. That's amazing. You know, the idea that I have here is maybe you see a child walking his dog like on the street. Well, in the millennium, a child's going to be walking his leopard. He's going to be walking his lion. He's going to be walking his wolf. You go, what kind of dog is that? Oh, it's a wolf. You know, there's no danger to a little child. Like, imagine that. Imagine that idea. Like, you know, right here in Sydney, for those that are parents and with little children, how comfortable would you be to let your kids just run on the streets in Sydney? You wouldn't want that, right? And there's no leopards and lions. There's wolves, as far as human beings go, and predators and all that. But there's going to be this time when it's fine for a kid just to be out there in the wild, in the wilderness, you know, with the lions and the leopards. Mom, Dad, I'll come back in a week after I go and see some lions. Yeah, go for it. You know, it'd be a completely different way, a system, you know, of living, one of peace, not one of suffering and death. It says in verse number seven, and the cow and the bear shall feed. So, again, the bears. Bears are dangerous things. I know they look cute on the outside, and we buy teddy bears for our kids, but instead of teddy bears for toys, they'll have a real bear that they can play with, right? It says their young ones shall lie down together, and the lions shall eat straw like the ox. You see that? The lions shall eat straw. So the lions, all these carnivorous animals that we know as we know today, they'll be all vegetarian. They're not going to be hunting these creatures. And so I believe all of this will be, like, I don't think this is just, like, poetic or something like that. I believe this is 100% right. Like, in the millennium, you're going to be walking down the street, and you'll see, you know, a lion and a young calf just there, just side by side. I take this literally. It says the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together. So a baby cow and a baby bear will just be there laying together. Like, best of friends. And that's just common, what you commonly will just see in the millennium. That'll just be in the normal, like, normal life. And look at verse 8. And the sucking child, that's a little baby, shall play on the whole of the asp. So the little baby is, oh, look, there's a little snake hole, and they'll put their hand in there. And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. The cockatrice is some other type of snake. Okay, so little kids will just be able to, like, put their hands in whatever. Like, it doesn't matter, like, you know, red back spiders or snakes and whatever. They'll play with whatever there is, and there'll be no danger. No concern. I mean, I know Les has plenty of snakes. Like, I think Les wants to live in the millennium. Like, he's literally like this little child playing with snakes all the time, right? These are all his creatures. Yeah, like, he's excited for the millennium. But we're all going to be doing that. Like, all the little kids will be playing with all these animals and all these creatures. And then look at verse number 9. And remember how I mentioned there being an Israel in the millennium, okay? And again, I think sometimes, because we're a non-dispensational church, okay, sometimes I think, just by the conversations that I've had, there was a resistance to say, well, there is no physical nation of Israel in the millennium. I don't know. That could be just my idea, but that seems to be the flavor I feel that I get from a lot of people. But notice what God says in verse number 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. The holy mountain in the Bible is referred to as Mount Zion, okay, which is where Jerusalem is. Earthly Jerusalem in the millennial reign of Christ, okay? It says here, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This is one of my favorite parts. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Like, right now, this church needs to go and give people the knowledge of the Lord. Like, we need to go there and tell them, look, this is how you're saved. This is what God has done for you. This is what Jesus has done for you. All you need to do is put your faith and trust in Jesus and you'll be saved. But there's come a time in the millennium that the whole earth is going to know about Jesus. The whole earth is going to know the gospel. The whole earth is going to understand the gospel. Like, we don't need soul winners. You don't, like, it's information. Look, I'm not going to say, look, I'll be careful. There might be soul winners. Like, someone still has to tell somebody and show them the scriptures. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. There has to be some interaction. But my point is that the knowledge of Jesus is made available to all because he's ruling with a rod of iron. Like, it's, you know, it's without dispute that Jesus is going to be the ruler of the whole earth. And everybody's going to know that. Now, even though all the knowledge is going to be there, does that mean everybody's going to call upon the Lord and be saved? It's so sad. Because even in the millennium. Okay, will there be a majority of people that are saved? Of course. Okay. But will there still be a percentage of people that will still refuse to believe in Christ? Unfortunately, yes. Okay. We read about this later on in the book of Revelation. I'll read it to you later on. But, like, this is the reality even when we go thoughts of soul winning. Haven't there been times where you've given someone the gospel and you've gone back and you've repeated it, you've asked them the questions and they've understood it. They've understood Jesus Christ died for me, rose again, paid for my sins. Understand, it's not by works. All I have to do is put my faith, call upon Him in faith and I'll be saved. And then you say to someone, hey, how about we, how about you accept that free gift right now? You know, why don't we just put your faith on Jesus Christ right now? I can lead you in a word of prayer. Oh, no, I don't want to do that. Oh, I need time to think about it. You see, even when someone understands it, they still have the personal decision to make, do I receive the gift of salvation or do I not? For the life of me, I don't understand why everybody just doesn't automatically receive it. Like, I don't get that. I don't know what the hesitance is. It's a free gift. You've got nothing to lose. No strings attached. It's been paid for completely by Jesus. And people still refuse and push back, oh, no, I need to think about it for some time. And, look, it happens today and it's also going to happen in the millennium. This is just unfortunately the nature of man. But let's keep going there, verse number 10. Now, even though there is an Israel and Christ is going to be ruling from Jerusalem, I want to make this very clear because some of my dispensational brothers and sisters in the Lord will say, well, the millennial reign of Christ is just for the Jews. Have you heard that before? I've heard that before. You know, it's just for the Jews. It's not about the Gentiles. It's not for the Gentiles. It's the most stupid thing because if you keep going there, verse number 10. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse. Who's that? Jesus. We saw that already, right? We shall stand for an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious. So the Gentiles are seeking who? Jesus. He stands as an ensign, a sign of the people. This is our God. This is our Saviour. It's to the Jews. It's to the Gentiles. It always has been. And Isaiah is prophesying of this long before the first coming of Christ. Now, in comparison, let's compare that. Look at verse number 10 again. In that day there shall be a root of Jesse. So we spoke about Jesse before. So Jesse has a root. So something came before Jesus. And then what do we see in verse number 1? And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots, out of Jesse's roots. So you've got Jesus before Jesse, but then you have Jesus coming from Jesse. And of course, what's that reference to? It's the fact that Jesus would become a physical descendant from Jesse, from Jesse's line. Jesse, King David, down the track. But that doesn't mean Jesus Christ came into existence afterward. No, he's always been there because he's the Lord God. Jesus Christ is eternal. Jesus Christ is the creator of Jesse and David. He's the one that's given them life. He's the creator of all things. And so this is what's amazing about Jesus is that he's both the root and the offspring. And what we read in Revelation 22, verse number 16, it says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Of course, in this reference, speaking of David, Jesse's son. But he's the root and he's the offspring. I was before and I've come after. He's part of that physical image line of Jesse and David. Because when Christ reigns on this earth, he's going to be sitting on David's throne. He's going to continue the promise of that eternal kingdom but fleshed out completely in the person of Jesus Christ. Okay, verse number 11. And it shall come to pass. Now, look, before I read verse number 11, if you're reading this in your own time, I was having a hard time processing these verses. But it made sense to me once you read verse number 11 all the way through. So from verses 11 to verse number 16. You've got to read the whole thing to understand the whole thing. Because it says in verse number 11. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again. So notice, again, the second time to recover the remnants of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Paphros and from Kash and from Elam and from Shinah and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. And so God is saying, I'm going to gather my people from all these other places, Assyria and Egypt and whatever, okay? But it says here, he's doing it a second time, you see that? It says that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time. You say, what is the first time that this happened? Well, if you keep this in the context of what we're reading, we're reading about the millennial reign of Christ, okay? And he's grabbing his people from these other nations which I'll touch upon in a moment. But let's learn what is the first time, okay? What is that first time? And the answer to that is verse number 16. That's why you have to read the whole thing, okay? So read verse number 16 with me. It says, And there shall be an highway for the remnants of his people which shall be left from Assyria like as it was to Israel in the day that he came, sorry, that he came up out of the land of Egypt. So, like it was to Israel in the day. So the first time that God set his hand to recover the remnant of his people was when he brought the children out of Egypt, the children of Israel out of Egypt. That's the first time, okay? And so he's going to do something similar again. Out of the foreign nations, his people are going to come forth and they're going to be ruling with Christ in that thousand-year kingdom. Now, keep in mind that what we see here in verse number 16, And there shall be an highway for the remnants of his people. I want you to remember that word, the remnants of his people. Look at verse number 11, which we compare it to. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people. Do you see that connection there, remnant, remnant? Again, just showing you that this came the first time out of Egypt and the second time this will also happen in the millennial reign of Christ. And this is where sometimes we, as non-dispersations, start to get nervous. And I think it's a doctrine that's not well understood, but I'm going to try to explain it to you. In fact, I had to explain it just on Sunday with New Life Brothers Church. We're going through the book of Revelation. So let me show you what this is speaking about. Keep your finger there and come with me to Romans chapter 9. Come with me to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9 and verse number 6. Romans chapter 9 and verse number 6. Romans chapter 9 and verse number 6. First thing I want to clarify before we get to Romans 11 is a few basic principles that I believe you all know. In Romans 9 and 6 it says, Not as though the word of God have taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. So not everybody that is from that nation of Israel is actually Israel. You see that? Okay, so what are you talking about? How do you know who's who? Well, verse number 7. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. What is that about? Well, verse number 8. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. So if you're just a fleshly descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that does not automatically qualify you as a child of God. You say, oh, they're God's chosen people. No, they're not God's people. If the criteria is flesh, which a lot of people think that's the criteria. No, no, no, that's not the criteria. Let's keep going there. It says, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. So if you're a child of the promise, now just to clarify without going into all this detail because I can spend all day on this, drop down to verse number 27. Drop down to verse number 27. Isaiah, now we're going through the book of Isaiah, aren't we? Isaiah also cryeth concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. And so when we talk about the physical people of Abraham, only a remnant of them shall be saved. When we talk about the millennial reign of Christ, we're talking about a remnant that are going to come out of these other nations and they're going to rule with Christ in that millennium. But I want you to notice that it's always a remnant. And you say, well, what about the others? Well, they're not of Israel. Just because they're from Israel doesn't mean they are of Israel. Just because they're fleshly doesn't mean they're children of the promise. So how does someone become a child of the promise? Well, come with me down to Romans 11, please. Come with me to Romans 11. Romans 11 and verse number 5. Romans 11, verse number 5. Now, Romans 11 begins by speaking specifically of Jews of the fleshly nature. And what Paul says in verse number 5, he says, even so then, at this present time, so at the time that Paul is penning these words, he says, there is a remnant. But he says this, according to the election of grace. So the way you're a remnant of that nation, of that physical nation, is by grace. Because it is by grace that you're saved through faith. In fact, he continues in verse number 6. And if by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. He says this is how you become a child of the promise. This is how the remnants are saved, by grace and not by works. And then verse number 7. What then? This is important. Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. Look, fleshly Israel has not obtained what it wanted. It wanted to be the people of God. Because he didn't get it. He goes, but the election have obtained it. And the rest were blinded. What I'm trying to show you here, brethren, is the remnants that Isaiah is preaching about, of that nation of Israel, are believers. Saints. Old Testament saints. They're going to rule in the millennium, like everybody else. But you must be saved. You must be a child of the promise. You must be a child of God. You must be saved by grace through faith and not by works. That's what makes you a remnant. Because the physical nation are largely blinded. And they're going to die in their sins and go to hell. And they're not going to rule with Christ in that thousand year reign. So by combining all these verses, I hope you start to understand the picture. What is that physical nation in the thousand years to come? It's saved people. It's not Christ rejecting Jews. It's not the synagogue of Satan. Those people, if we are the generation that goes through the end times, that Christ rejecting people, they're going to be the ones taking the mark of the beast. They're going to be the ones following the antichrist. They're not going to be the people that are going to inherit the kingdom of God. But those Old Testament saints that have already died. And Israeli believers that are a remnant today, that die there with Christ, and we know that at the rapture they're going to receive new resurrected bodies. And we're going to receive new resurrected bodies. So when Christ rules in that thousand years, we're going to be ruling with him, not in these bodies. In new, resurrected bodies made like unto Jesus Christ. Now I'm going to continue to expand on that as we keep going through Isaiah 11. Come back with me to Isaiah 11, verse number 12, please. Isaiah 11, verse number 12. And just in case you think, again, God's just concerned about the Jews or something like that. No, no, he says in verse number 12. And he shall set up an end sign for the nation. We saw that already. The end sign for the nation is Jesus. And shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. See, once again, the nation of Israel is going to come together, okay, during this time. Now, let me show you a few verses in the New Testament. Come with me to Matthew 19, and also Luke 22. Matthew 19 and Luke 22, I want you to see a few things here. Matthew 19 and Luke 22, we'll start with Luke 22. The reason we're reading from Luke 22, these two passages, they contain parallel teachings. But I want to show you some details from each one of these passages, okay, to help you paint the picture here. In Luke 22, 29, Jesus is speaking to his apostles, to his disciples. He says in Luke 22, 29, And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father have appointed unto me. So Christ will receive his kingdom from the Father, and we know that's his millennial reign on the earth. Verse number 30 says, That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So what do we learn there? That in Christ's kingdom are the twelve tribes of Israel going to be there? Simple question. They're going to be there. And they're going to be judged by who? By the twelve apostles, okay? And the reason I read from Luke 22 is to show you that this is Christ's kingdom, okay? Now, go to Matthew 19. Go to Matthew 19, we'll learn something else. Matthew 19, 28. Matthew 19, 28. Same teaching. Same teaching. But a little bit the way it's phrased a little differently. It says in Matthew 19, 28, And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So what we're seeing here in Matthew 19, Jesus Christ says when he sits on the throne of his glory. Now some people might read that and say, well that's speaking of heaven, or that's speaking of the new heavens and new earth. That's why I read to you Luke 22. So you can see now it's actually his kingdom on the earth, okay? So him sitting on the throne of his glory is not speaking of his sitting in on the right hand of the Father, but sitting on his throne here on this earth. And what do we learn there? Let's read the first part again. And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This is the question, who are these twelve tribes? We know the apostles are judging of them, but who are these twelve tribes? Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne. Now look, I know the Bible also speaks of the regeneration of our spirit when we're saved. I understand that, okay? But this is a regeneration about the time when Christ will sit on the throne. We which have followed me in the regeneration. So if you're saying about you follow me in the regeneration, look, these apostles are already saved, they've already been regenerated in the spirit. So now Christ is speaking of another regeneration. This is speaking of the resurrected bodies, the rapture. Yes, our spirit has been regenerated, but there's a coming a time when our bodies too will be regenerated, and in those new regenerated resurrected bodies, we're going to be ruling with Christ in that thousand years. So who is the Israel? It's those that have followed Christ in the regeneration. Those that have received new resurrected bodies that happen at the rapture. That's the Israel. So think about all the Old Testament saints, and they've come from those twelve tribes. Every one of those that got saved, they're going to receive regenerated bodies, and they're going to be placed in Israel, and they're going to be divided into twelve tribes once again. But this time we're going to have each of the apostles, each of the New Testament church starters ruling over those twelve tribes of Israel. And so we're not talking about modern day Christ rejecting Jews. We're not talking about Jews in God's wrath that people believe will automatically just get saved. No, we're talking about saints that have already believed in Christ, and they have already received new resurrected bodies. And this is why the Israel of the Bible in the millennial end of Christ is a perfect and righteous Israel. It's made up of believers. Believers with new resurrected bodies that can never sin. So that's what... I need to make that clear. There should be no fear to say there's an Israel in the millennium, but what is that Israel? It's not modern day Israel. It's not Christ rejecting Israel. It's not Antichrist receiving Israel. No, no, no. It's that Israel has believed on Jesus Christ. And once again in the millennium, they're going to be divided into twelve tribes judged by the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And look, if you want to expand that to a spiritual nature, well yeah, we've got the Israel of God. We're a Jew inwardly. We're circumcised in the heart. If you want to apply that, I don't know how exactly the framework of God's kingdom is going to be exactly in the thousand year. I don't know whether we'll fall under the line of one of those twelve tribes or not. I really don't know. That's really Jesus' business, how he wants to divide that. But at the end of the day, we're going to see a righteous Israel in the millennium and Christ ruling from Jerusalem. Come back with me to Isaiah 11 now. Isaiah 11, verse number 13. And this is how, verse number 13, this also clarifies for us, once again, there is a physical Israel in the millennium. He says here, now before I read it, remember, as Isaiah is preaching, the nation of Israel has been divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom of Israel, sometimes referred to as Ephraim, which we're about to read, and the southern kingdom of Judah, divided. And sometimes they've been at war with one another. It says in verse number 13, the envy also of Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom, shall depart. And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah. And Judah shall not vex Ephraim. So, not like Isaiah's time, where you've got a divided kingdom. What is it saying? It's going to be a united kingdom. The northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, they're going to dwell together. There's going to be no envy, there's going to be no vexation, there's going to be no division. Christ is going to rule over the nation of Israel in his millennium reign. Now, when we talk about northern kingdom, southern kingdom having split, does anybody know where that is prophesied in the Bible? And where that occurred in the Bible? Which book of the Bible? 1 Kings. Yeah, 1 Kings. It's always going to be the answer that corresponds to the number. It's always going to be the answer. I don't expect you to be like, oh, it must be Ezekiel chapter 3, verse number 12. I'm giving you straightforward questions here, don't worry. You're always going to have the right answer if you work out what the number of the chapter is with the book of the Bible. So, come with me to 1 Kings chapter 11. What's really interesting about this is you've got Isaiah 11, prophesying of the reunation. Is that the right word? Reunification. Reunification, that's better. Reunification of the northern kingdom and southern kingdom. Well, the length of the book of the Bible actually speaks of the division that would come to play this prophecy here in 1 Kings chapter 11, 1 Kings chapter 11, verse number 29. I keep getting confused with Samuel, but anyway. 1 Kings chapter 11, verse number 29. 1 Kings chapter 11, verse number 29. It says that it shall come to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah, the Shiloh knight found him in the way and he had clad himself with a new garment and they too were alone in the field and Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him. So, he's wearing some new clothes and then he takes off his new clothes, like his new, let's say coat, his jacket, and rents it in 12 pieces. He rips it in 12 parts. Of course, these 12 pieces represent the 12 tribes of Israel. And this is in verse number 31. And he said unto Jeroboam, take thee 10 pieces. That's the 10 kingdoms, sorry, 10 tribes. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give 10 tribes to thee. That's the northern kingdom. But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake. The city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. The reason it says one tribe, it's actually two. It's Judah and Benjamin. But the reason it's referred to as one tribe is because Solomon's kingly line, they're already from Judah. They've already got dominance in Judah. So, the one tribe that's being given to them, of course, is Benjamin. But the other 10 tribes are being given to Jeroboam. And if we keep going in verse number 33, this is why it does it. Because they have forsaken me and have worshipped Asheroth, the goddess of the Zidodians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in mine eyes and to keep my statutes and my judgments as did David his father. So, it's very sad in the time of Solomon, even though he had a great kingdom, we know that later in his life he started to allow other false gods to be worshipped on the land. And because of that, God says, I'm taking those 10 tribes away from him and it's going to be given to Jeroboam. And Solomon's son Rehoboam then ruled over Judah and Benjamin, the southern kingdom of Judah. And so, what we see in, of course, first kings is the division of the two kingdoms. But what we see in Isaiah 11 is the reunification of the kingdoms. Alright, back to Isaiah 11, verse number 14. Speaking of the two nations becoming one, verse number 14, it says, But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west. So, you know, the Philippines have been a natural enemy to Israel. But now the Philistines are kind of helping Israel in the millennium. They shall spoil them of the east together. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab. The children of Ammon shall obey them. So, you know, again, the Philistines are kind of involved in helping Israel. And they grow as a people and as a land in that millennial reign of Christ. And then it says in verse number 15, and this part's really interesting. This is how it shows us that when Christ rules, the topography of the land's going to change. He says in verse 15, And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea. I'm not sure if this is referring to Nile River or the Euphrates. I'm not sure which one of these you might be referring to. But it says here, And with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streams to make men go over dry shod. You know, shod is the shoes. When you shod your feet, you're wearing shoes. Dry shod means that you'll be able to cross this area and keep your feet dry. Okay, so, you know, Christ is changing the way the river system operates. He sends a mighty wind on the earth to change this. Verse number 16, And there shall be an highway for the remnants of his people which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came out of the land of Egypt. So, the same story, of course, when Moses came and they passed through the Red Sea, you know, God created dry land for them. Well, as people are travelling in the millennium, in the millennium, and they're travelling back and forth from Israel to these other places like Assyria, that it's going to be dry land. Like, it's going to be easy to be able to walk that distance and, you know, Jesus Christ is going to change, like I said, the topography of the land. Come with me now to the book of Revelation chapter 20. I'm almost done. Revelation chapter 20. Thank you for your patience. Revelation chapter 20. I hope it's interesting for you. You know, we're going to be there in the millennium. We're going to be ruling with Christ. You know, we're going to be the judges of the earth. And it's interesting to know how God's going to set up that period of time. And what I wanted to show you here is, this is something else that people have a hard time grasping. It's like, well, if Jesus is the ruler of the whole world, surely everybody's going to get saved. Look, Jesus already walked the earth and not everybody got saved. Like, people saw Jesus perform miracles. People saw Jesus raise the dead and they still refused to believe on him. I don't, look, I got saved when I was four years old. I heard the gospel. I said, that's great news for me. I want it. I can't put myself in the shoes of someone that says, I don't know, let me think about it. It's like, what do you have to think about? It's like me giving one of my kids a Christmas, we just had Christmas. Could you imagine me giving one of your kids a Christmas present? Ah, Dad, I'll think about it. Ah, I don't know. It's free. It's for you. I've paid for it. It's for you. But it shows you the stubbornness of man, even in times such as this, you will say, you know what, I don't want that Jesus. And again, we don't fully understand it because we live in a time where we think if Jesus rules, then surely everybody's going to submit themselves to him. But if that's your normal life, if you are born in the millennium, and that's the world as you know it, like you've never seen the wolf hunt the lamb. You've seen the wolf and the lamb always there. Like, this is just the status quo at this point. You know, in a thousand years, all these new generations being born at some point because they've still got a sin nature. They've not received the resurrected body like we would have had at the rapture. They're still being born from those that went through the wrath of God, that survived, that go into the millennium. They're still going to be living with their sin-cursed bodies. And so they still have the sinful flesh. And if Christ is ruling with a rod of iron, of course there's going to be some rebellion. Okay, and there's going to be some level of rebellion. And we see that final rebellion here in Revelation 20. The reason I wanted to end on this is because we saw earlier in Isaiah 11 where God promises that nobody's going to hurt the mount of God or Mount Zion. No one's going to be able to hurt Jerusalem. Well, there is an attempt at the end of the millennium to hurt Jerusalem. It says here in Revelation 20 verse 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. So you can see they tried to besiege the beloved city, Jerusalem, where Christ is ruling from. They tried to hurt the city, but what we see is that prophesied in Isaiah 11, no one's going to hurt it. And even in that attempt where Satan is able to get such a large army together to fight against the saints of God, Jesus the Savior sends this fire from God out of heaven and wipes out once and for all the devil, Satan, and all people that have rejected Christ as their Savior. So then at the end of that millennium, of course, then God creates a new heaven and a new earth. And at that point in time, everybody that enters into that will be saved. And so anyway, Isaiah 11, a root of Jesse. And I hope you can see the study of Isaiah is not one that you can just read through quickly. It's not like, okay, I've got to get through my chapter a day. You really have to pause and think, what are we talking about here? There are times that Syria is talking about the northern kingdom in Isaiah. There are times where it's actually talking about the millennial reign of Christ. And I hope, as your pastor, I've been able to give you some clarity of thought and for you to understand what Isaiah is prophesying of and what that points to. But at the end of the day, brethren, while there is going to be a physical Israel on the earth, don't forget that Jesus Christ is an end sign to the Gentiles. And of course, Christ came for the Jews and the Gentiles. There is no difference. Salvation is available to all. Christ died for all people. I'm looking forward to that time when I receive my new resurrected bodies, where Christ is in the clouds, where I can be caught up in the air with Him. And then we're going to come back and rule with Him for that thousand years. Okay, let's pray.