Old Testament Maranatha! (Part A)

Consider persecuted Christians. I mean, they didn't feel good about what was happening to them physically. Spiritually, man, they were in the zone.

Many of them again burned at the stake singing hymns to Christ. And so what is a perfect peace? Well, it's trust. It's trust in the Prince of Peace. I'm simplifying it because it is simple. Christ didn't say, you know what, now I'm going to lay out some heavy doctrine. You're going to take years to get this. No, this is basic Christianity.

It's deep enough. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of Isaiah.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 26, with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Isaiah, chapter 26, he began talking about the Kingdom Age in earlier chapters. Even in chapter 25, that was what his message was centered on. And again, I believe that most of these prophecies we have in print are the outcome of the prophets' preachings. They were under the anointing when they shared these things verbally and put some of it in print.

It still happens today. Most books written by pastors are the product of their preaching. In Isaiah's tone, in this 26th and 27th chapter, I sense a longing in his tone, a hope, an anticipation.

We know this tone. In the New Testament, we call it Maranatha, which is one word in the Aramaic, maranatha, Lord come. And it's translated in some of our Bibles as O Lord come, three words, but it's two in the Aramaic. And we want that better life in Christ. Well, Isaiah wanted that better life in Yahweh. And Yahweh, again, is Christ in the Old Testament.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians at the end of his first letter after he had dealt with them the first nine chapters on their aberrant Christian behavior. He says in the end of it, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema or accursed, O Lord come. So if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, O Lord come. And to God, you just come.

That's how he summed it up. There are going to be those that are Christ haters. They want to be that way. Fine, let them be, but O Lord, would you come? And there's a lot of emotion in that. An exclamation there in Corinthians 16, where he talks about let them be accursed, O Lord come. There the divine judgment and yet the profound hope right on the heels of it for the righteous.

It's up to the individual. Their destiny is in their hands once they hear the gospel. This hope of Maranatha to the first Christians, it warmed their hearts in the midst of temptation and sin.

They think, you know, there's going to be a better life. I'm going to a place at the end of this life where I won't face trials and temptations and seductions and sin. When they went through sorrowful times, they would, you know, this is not all that there is to my existence.

There is a heaven and I am going there. It expresses so much that one phrase, Maranatha. It armed them in conflicts with the pagans of their day in that world that was ignorant of Christ.

And again, much of it wanted to remain that way. It knew and pronounced the final victory of Christ and his kingdom over the kingdoms of men and the kingdoms and principalities and powers in high places in the spiritual realm. When he writes to the Corinthians, he says, when Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Now, I will add, when Paul wrote these letters, the product of his preaching, sometimes it went the other way, sometimes in his writings. You get something and then I'm going to preach that. And I think it's just a very human element with divine guidance.

And it's the way it should be, I think. And I think the Bible preaches it throughout. Now, the first 19 verses of this 26th chapter, it is a song or a poem.

He's going to call it a song. It is the song of the saved Israel, the remnant that comes through the tribulation period and enters into the kingdom age where Christ is king in Jerusalem and ruling the world. And those who have not died but survived the great tribulation period and are having children and families and life is going on, they will be thronging to Jerusalem to worship. The Jews that have not died, again, that will be part of that, they will be preaching the gospel to people. They will be teachers of the Bible. And we will be kings and priests with the Lord. Ensuring that the governments of the earth will be righteous. And there's going to be radical changes on the geography of the planet.

Places like Antarctica will likely be very much built up and habitable. Anyway, verse 1 now, in that day, and that lets us know this is that end time. Isaiah uses that phrase more than anyone in the Bible. Zechariah comes in second. In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah.

We have a strong city. God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. There's his Maranatha. That day is coming. And when that day comes, we're going to be fortified with salvation. And he pictures salvation as a protective wall, a fortification.

And that's what it is. Those behind those walls have come through and will not have to face judgment or temptation the devil ever again. Isaiah, he writes this in chapter 60, violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting or destruction within your borders, but you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise.

And so he's painting, again, this emotion in that. I'm kind of just reading it out, but how can you not be excited if God is showing you these things and giving the details of what's ahead for us for we who believe? The day of judgment and the day of ultimate salvation are both introduced with that phrase in that day. There's going to be a judgment for the wicked, which would be an injustice if they were not dealt with. It would be a crime to let the wicked continue to be wicked and get away with it. And that's why there are many who've taught various teachings that, oh, don't worry, there's really no judgment.

That was shaped and fashioned in hell. Jerusalem today is not, of course, Christ-centered. Israel is not, and they're not even Yahweh-centered, really.

They're really into the rabbis or their tradition, but not God, and that's why so many of them will be wiped out in the Great Tribulation. It will be a judgment and a consequence. But it all changes. The day is coming. In that day, Zechariah 13, 1, here he echoes Isaiah. He says, in that day, because he comes after, 500 years almost after, in that day, a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. So that fountain's going to wash away the sin. I said 500 years, not that much.

Probably more like 200 and something. Anyway, verse 2, open the gates that the righteous nation, which keeps the truth, may enter in. And yeah, there's not going to be any unrighteous. Well, there's going to be some, perhaps. There's some hints to it here and there in Isaiah that there may be some that are lagging behind. But Christ will rule with an iron rod.

He's not going to put up with that. For 1,000 years, there will be no reason to say the devil made me do it, because he won't be around. But in contrast to the unrighteous nations, today, for example, you have Myanmar, which was Burma. There's heavy persecution against Christians. The government has launched troops to purge the land of Christians, to kill them, to molest the women.

It's awful. This is going on right now in the days we live in, trying to violently purge the land of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and did no harm to them. Isaiah 32, 17, the work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. So parents, you can use this verse in your kitchen. Use this verse in your kids when they're loud. Righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. Tell me how that works out for you.

Anyway, it's the joy of kids in the house, right? You know, Isaiah lived almost his entire life under the threat of a Syrian invasion. I think about if you lived in a country where your neighbor might invade you at any time, to live your entire life in the shadow of death. And so when he writes these things, this is coming from a man that is facing fear. And fear is a beast, it can be. A beast, you just don't turn the switch off. Sometimes you can, but other times it's really, you can say, I have a peace about this, I'm good.

But other times you're scrambling. You don't have a peace about it. And that is the battle of the righteous. We want peace because of what the Bible says. And because we want peace. Whereas the people in the world, they just want the peace part, not so much the Bible. Verse three, you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

Now I would think that many of you have had a chance to demonstrate that this is not easy. You have been faced with something in life that is terrifying and you have been calling on the Lord, quoting this verse, you will keep him in perfect peace. Lord, my mind is stayed on you, but yet I am trembling over here. How is fear to be faced? It can be a personal Leviathan.

It can spread throughout the family. And you know, the parents are not trying, I'm not going to let my kids see me, I'm terrified. And they put up the stoic face and so they should. We have a picture of David facing fear. Fear didn't get a chance to get into David when he faced the giant. He was already irritated. His brothers irritated him, first of all. And what are you doing? You've come to see the battle, which he could have said, what battle?

You guys over here petrified. There's no battle going on. He doesn't say that, of course.

He probably clocked upside his head. But I want to take this part out of 1 Samuel 17. So it was when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. It was on, man. There was no backing down. There was no time for fear. He was so focused on what he was going to do that fear never had a chance.

Like Teflon, just right off of him. So to further dig into facing fear, nobly as a Christian, I turn to Philippians 4. We know, be anxious for nothing, but in all things with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Well, Philippians 4.7 follows up and says, and the peace of God surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I think there's a separate. The Christian that physically trembles, but spiritually keeps their mind on the Lord is the one that is fulfilling these verses. I cannot control everything about me, but I can control what I believe. And so I want to spend a lot of time here in verse three, where he says here in verse three, you will keep him in perfect peace. The Hebrew is peace, peace, shalom, shalom. And the translators have said, well, you know, if we write peace, peace, we might lose the point. And so they have opted in some cases to put in a perfected peace and to sympathize.

It's a superlative. It's not a bad call on their part. I wouldn't have much to say about it if they had done it the way I'm telling you.

I wouldn't be able to tell it. Anyhow, of course, it's Romans 5.1, which is the flagship for peace. And there we read, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But we don't have peace with sin. As far as dealing with us and us with it, there's that war, the flesh versus the spirit. We don't have peace with others. There are things in life that you can't sit outside in the summertime or spring and not have some insect mess with you. It's crazy. I don't think in New York, there was one insect not counting the roaches.

He was killed, and that was that. But in more rural areas, I mean, they're all over the place anyway. Keeping one's mind on the Lord is lifetime challenged, and we're up to this. We are built for this, whether you feel it or not. Many foes march against our peace because we want good things and bad things are coming against them.

Could be a loved one, could be hell, whatever it is. Faith includes thinking, and thinking produces inspiration, feelings. When you feel a surge of inspiration, it's because you've processed it.

Now, sometimes people do their process feelings based on bad data and go do something dumb. But other times, ideally speaking, when we sing songs of joy to the Lord, it's because we have fought through who He is based on how He has revealed Himself to us. And so they work together, the heart and the head. When you separate one from the other, you're going to have problems.

I think I have more fear of the person who thinks with their feelings than I do with the person who's just kind of dry. But they both can be a problem if we're the one guilty of functioning that way in Christ. Well, consider persecuted Christians. I mean, they didn't feel good about what was happening to them physically, spiritually. They were in the zone.

Many of them, again, burned at the stake singing hymns to Christ. And so what is a perfect peace? Well, it's trust. It's trust in the Prince of Peace. I'm simplifying it because it is simple. Christ didn't say, you know what, now I'm going to lay out some heavy doctrine. You're going to take years to get this. No, this is basic Christianity.

It's deep enough. Stephen died preaching while he was stoning him. He didn't see, well, you know, when I say he does see the stones, of course he saw them physically, but he didn't see them as an impediment to preaching. He continued preaching. Probably didn't even duck.

I would have been trying to catch him and throw him back. So like, I'm taking somebody with me. That's the flesh. So another one guilty with me.

Thank you. This kind of trust, the difference between the courage of the world and the courage of the Christian is ours is born out of love, agape love that comes from God directly. It is born out of worship. Stephen felt Christ was worth dying for. That life was not worth it if it meant renouncing Christ. And it is a full faith. Peace is relative to faith for the believer. And that's why Paul said they'll keep you in perfect peace. Now, of course, when Paul writes that to the Philippians, he's already suffered so much. He's already had shipwrecks and beatings. And so when he writes, he'll keep you in perfect peace. You can't say, well, what do you know about being terrorized?

I rewrote the manual on it. Same with John. They're in the Isle of Patmos. Now, when you wrote 1 John, he had suffered already as a Christian. Just think of what he suffered watching Christ go through what he went through. I mean, just to live through that. You know, the high calling of being named the disciple of Christ and then have to go through all that when he's the one we love him so much and then they get to murder him.

How are you going to deal with that? Well, Thomas is shattered in love and Christ rebuilt him. 1 John, but he did sting him, did he not? It's better to believe, oh man. 1 John 4, he writes, there is no fear in love.

Now, ideal, this is the ideal. But perfect love casts out fear. Well, that's what Isaiah is saying. Paul said, he's not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and power, a sound mind. He says, because fear involves torment, but he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Doesn't mean he's not loved, doesn't mean he's not loving. It's just still some work. And coming from these men, we say, okay, this is that upper level of Christianity that I never want to lose sight of. I mean, what is the alternative? To offer a cheaper version of courage than the world has? That wasn't for these men. They suffered as true believers, setting the example for us all. And agape love is only from faith in Christ according to the Bible. That is what we mean when we talk about, Peter, do you agape me?

Do you have that highest love for me? And Peter was man enough to tell God Almighty, I don't have that much. And the Lord loves him nonetheless. Used him, sent him out to shepherd the flock.

I mean, what was the end result? Christ said, I want you to take care of my sheep, my lands, I want you to teach them. The man who had courage enough to say, I don't have what it takes, is the one God said, I'm using you.

Then you're not going to find this anywhere else, only in Christ. And sometimes this perfect love struggles with you. This perfect love struggles, we've seen it on display in Gethsemane. That perfect love, casting out fear, beating it down there in the garden, because it remained in the Father's will. When the smoke settled and the dust cleared, or the dust cleared and the smoke settled, whichever way it goes, Christ was in the will of his Father. And the Father had to take it too. And as a parent, you know what it's like to be sick, imagine that whole thing, the whole thing, since the foundations of the world. And so in the midst of unparalleled troubles, and that's what the cross was, an unparalleled trouble.

Nothing could match it, nothing ever will. The physical side is such an insignificant part of it. When you factor in or make it relative to what was going on spiritually, what would make the Son of God say, why have you forsaken me? Well, of course, there's whole sermons on that. He's bearing, he bore our sin, he became sin for me in 2 Corinthians 5. He's reconciling man to God by becoming sin, taking our sin on him. This from one that was perfect. Anyway, there the passion of peace evidenced itself like sweat, like drops of blood.

Those are like machine gun casings popping out, you know, just taking hell out. Hell couldn't stop him from going to the cross. It tried to do it subtly with Peter, you know, at Caesarea Philippi. It ain't so, Lord, you ain't going to die for us. And Jesus put that down and Jesus said, now my soul is troubled. And it came to him and said, sir, we wish to see Jesus. And we don't know if Jesus granted the audience or not, but we know that Andrew told Jesus and Jesus said, my soul is troubled, what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose, I have come to this hour.

I'm not backing down. That's perfect love. That's the peace that surpasses understanding. This is the one that is saying that you will keep him in perfect peace.

And shalom, shalom, whose mind has stayed on you. How different from the world, James points this out. He says, you know, when we talk about love and wisdom, he says, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure. Well, the world doesn't have that philosophy.

They have it on paper, but still with them, the end justifies the means. He continues, he says, the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable. Peace comes after.

Purity is first. Blessed are the pure in heart. They shall see God. Then blessed are the peacemakers.

They shall be called the sons of God. That order does not, you cannot upset it. You cannot, well, peace comes before purity. There's no purity if the peace of God is compromised. Well, it continues, James does, gentle, willing to yield. Some of us need to work on that gentleness more than others, full of mercy and good fruit. Mercy does not have retaliation in its heart. It may have to retaliate, but it's not with glee.

He says, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, without hypocrisy, no favoritism, no nepotism. Oh, well, it's my kid, they get a pass. We've seen this in Christianity. We've seen people rail against sins in the Bible, in churches, and then when their child gets caught up in the sin, all of a sudden, they don't want to do that anymore. All of a sudden, they don't want to hear it.

And that is move of the devil, and may we be fortified against it. It's very easy to tell your child, I'll love you as long as I'm in this life, but I will never side with sin for you or anybody else. I don't side with sin on myself. And usually the guilty don't want to hear that. The guilty just want to be accepted.

When you tell a homosexual advocate that, well, we love the sinner, we hate the sin. They don't want to hear. They don't care about that. Oh, that's deep.

They get angry. Yeah, but you're still against me is the bottom line. There may be exception here and there, but overall, I'm right and you know it, and I like it that way. But anyhow, well, I got a pastor, he doesn't like being right. You need to go to another church.

You got one that really likes being right. But anyway, coming back to this, Stephen, again, died in the perfect peace. The cast out fear.

He exhibited that. Paul again, Philippians chapter one. For to you, it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.

Huh? Listen, the more God blesses me, the more comfortable I get. God said to Israel, Jerushim has grown fat.

You've been blessed so much in the land of milk and honey. You just don't want to move now. Now you're wasting it. Paul faced the uncertain, the uncertain from notoriously violent Jerusalem. So to face the uncertain.

So this is one of the scares of death. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference Radio is a ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of new editions of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Isaiah with Pastor Rick right here on Cross Reference Radio.