The New Heaven and New Earth are God's Plan

Regarding the scriptures in this chapter, my summary is: Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, like destruction from the Almighty. In our generation, there are many troubling things. I once read a book called Transformation. This female prophet, XD, wrote a book called Transformation, and the topics she discussed caused me some confusion. She wants to transform the nations, but I have never found the transformation of nations in the Bible. What I see is the destruction of nations, all the way to Israel. I see no room for construction in this world; God is going to completely destroy the old world and then build a new world. Therefore, the new heaven and new earth are God's plan.

On this old foundation, God has no room to build; it is a complete demolition. What exactly should we Christians do? Is our responsibility as Christians to transform this world, or to happily pave the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus, or to allow this world to be completely destroyed? What I read in the Bible is destruction. The day of the Lord Jesus' return is the day of the Lord's approach, which means the day of the Lord's approach is a day of destruction. What does the Bible say? The day of the Lord Jesus' return is like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, like the days of Noah, which were days of destruction.

We must have a concept in our minds: God is going to destroy this world and then bring His people out of destruction. When we see the scene predicted in the Bible, we must be very clear about what the responsibility of Christians is. Our responsibility as Christians is to pave the way for the Lord Jesus' return. I am beginning to accept the idea that God's church will become more and more glorious, and this world will become more and more corrupt. The days of Sodom and Gomorrah were very corrupt. As Christians, should we fight against the homosexual movement? I will not. What is the point of me fighting this? I just need to bring God's people into God's kingdom.

I really do not want to transform this world. I long for the Lord's new heaven and new earth to come among us. Therefore, throughout the entire Bible, you must know God's will. What can you do with this world? Can you really transform it? I don't think I can. This world is full of violence, full of injustice, and this world is very evil. Whether you place your hope in this world determines whether your life is built on rock or built on sand.

Do Not Place Hope in This Present Life

If a Christian places all his hopes in this present life, he is more miserable than the people of the world; you do not know the Almighty God. We must know that it is not a matter of whether we are willing or not; whether I am willing or unwilling, this world will be destroyed. But what God says in the Bible, we must know what God's will is. God never intended to build His kingdom on something old. The foundation of this world has been destroyed; you cannot build on this world. God is going to build a new foundation.

Therefore, we Christians must be very clear about what the Bible says in this passage: Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. (Isaiah 13:6) If you have a heart of indignation, you will criticize God for being too unloving. Look at what He says:

Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. (Isaiah 13:15-16)

Is there still fairness? Is there still justice? Who did this? Isn't this God's punishment coming upon this world? If you love this world, your end will be like this. Our brothers and sisters must begin to come out of the concept of loving the world. Whether you love this world or not, it will be destroyed by God in the future! Of course, you ask me where I read this? I read it in the Bible.

In fact, it is as it says in Revelation. If you really understand Revelation, I will give you a little concept: this world probably does not have many years left. Even if you become a famous businessman or entrepreneur twenty years from now, it will not be for many years. The world may be destroyed just as you become famous. What will become of your property? We must know that if you build all your hopes on the foundation of this world, and the foundation of this world is to be destroyed, you will be destroyed along with it. People in this world boast about the things of this world.

God Punishes the Arrogant

I would like to test everyone with a question. What exactly caused the Titanic to sink? Was it an iceberg? Or what? It was pride! Someone once said that even God could not sink this ship. God sank this ship. What are you arguing with God about? What are you challenging God with? What is man? Do you know how big God is? Do you know how small that ship is in God's eyes? What we humans build is, at best, a ship. God cannot sink this ship? You are too arrogant.

God can even sink Babylon. Therefore, nations are raised up, and then dynasty after dynasty is replaced. God is at work in these dynasties. If you are arrogant, God will destroy you, and after the destruction, wild dogs and wolves will live there. People cannot live there, and it becomes a cursed place. When Isaiah wrote this passage, Babylon had not yet been raised up. At that time, it was still the Assyrian Empire. History is like this: The Assyrian Empire was raised up and destroyed Israel because the Israelites worshipped idols. God used Assyria to punish Israel. Babylon rose up and destroyed Assyria, and also destroyed the kingdom of Judah, which was the country where Isaiah was. Babylon was then destroyed by Persia. Persia rose up and there was a king named Cyrus. King Cyrus greatly revered God. This was more than a hundred years after Isaiah.

King Cyrus read in the Book of Isaiah that his name was mentioned, and personally spoke the words:

Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who shall not care for silver nor delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. (Isaiah 13:17-19)

The Medes were the Persians. The Persians destroyed Babylon. Later, the Persian King Cyrus sent the Israelites back to build Jerusalem, to build the temple and the walls. This is that period of history.

When Isaiah wrote these words, these things had not yet happened. Isaiah prophesied through the prophets and recorded this in the Book of Isaiah. Later, when the Persian King Cyrus read these words, he knew that he was an instrument used by God. Persia was an empire favored by God because it blessed Jerusalem. We must know what is being said in this passage:

Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy the sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pride of the ruthless. (Isaiah 13:9-11)

God punishes the arrogant! When we face this world, we see with our own eyes the results of arrogance. If he is the king of Babylon, he is qualified to be arrogant. If you are just a farmer, what do you have to be arrogant about? God hates arrogance very much, but people in this world regard the things of this world as the root of arrogance. When the day of the Lord comes, it will be like destruction from the Almighty. We must keep this sentence in our hearts: this world is to be destroyed by God. God is going to destroy this world. Do not build your hopes on this world.

The Day of the Lord's Coming is Near

From the concept of Revelation, how many years are left for this world? Actually, there are not many years left, really not many years left. If you see World War III break out, the time that the world will remain until it is destroyed and the Lord Jesus returns is probably only a few years. So everyone, start paying attention to what God is doing. When we see God doing these things, you must know that the number of people who are saved is very small.

I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. (Isaiah 13:12)

The remaining people are very few. In Revelation, a number is recorded, called one hundred and forty-four thousand. Compared to the global population of six billion, one hundred and forty-four thousand is a very, very small remnant. God will seal one hundred and forty-four thousand people with a seal.

You know I have a confidence in my heart: I believe I am one of them. Do you also believe that you are one of them? I believe I must be sealed with God's seal. Do you know what will happen after being sealed with God's seal? When World War III breaks out, nothing can harm you. You must know that people say this about World War III: after World War I, I knew what would happen; after World War II, I knew what would happen; after World War III, people will return to the Stone Age. It will be completely destroyed. It really reaches a very desolate situation because it is a nuclear war. That description of the war in Revelation, Chapters 8 and 9, describes the scene of World War III as entirely nuclear warfare.

You must know that the day of the Lord's coming is a day of destruction. In fact, what we are doing is just removing some people who are not suitable to remain in the church from the flock, and then there are voices of indignation. If God causes these things to happen: Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. (Isaiah 13:15-16) What will you think? Do not be indignant. Do not think that these things come upon people for no reason. I must tell everyone: do not be indignant for those pitiful people; it is the result of their own choices.

I also encourage those who have malignant diseases, such as malignant tumors and other malignant diseases, must turn away from sin and turn away from your bad habits. Because in the past, you were either extremely angry or extremely jealous. Anyway, you were very miserable inside, and then you got malignant diseases. It was very hard. You may say, Pastor, I don't have it! If you don't have it, probably your heart is not a very big heart; it should be smaller and narrower. So know that people reap what they sow, and don't be indignant for these people. Don't think that God is unfair. God is fair. God is both righteous and fair.

When you feel that they should not experience these things, and then you feel that God is unfair to them, you are at enmity with God. If I do some things that you cannot agree with, how can you agree with what God does? You may think that what I am saying is a bit contradictory. I am a visible and tangible person. The way I treat some people is based on my own judgment. What I do is far, far worse than what God does. I am not the Almighty. The day I come only means driving these people out of the flock. I just very gently remove them from the flock. If you want to come back, you can still come back, but if you want to come back to make trouble, then I am really sorry!

God Provides a Way Out for His People

I think this is a day when the Almighty comes with great power. Throughout this process, we begin to know that God is the one who destroys the earth, yet God provides a way out for His people.

For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. (Isaiah 14:1-2)

What does this passage record? It records the re-establishment of Israel in 1948.

Let me tell you another short story. Do you know what happened when World War I ended in 1917? Britain became the victor. The British Empire became the strongest nation in the world, occupying the Palestinian territories. What was the first thing Britain declared? That Jews could return to live there, they could return to Palestine to reside. As a result, the Jews lived very comfortably in Europe and did not want to return. Later, a wealthy Jewish businessman who returned to Israel bought a large piece of land from the Arabs and cultivated it. Strangely, it began to rain on the land this Jewish businessman cultivated. It hadn't rained before; it used to be a place where wild dogs lived, where jackals howled.

That place began to receive rain on time, and the fruits that grew were the most popular fruits in Arab countries. Arab countries loved to eat Israeli fruits. Israel is a country very rich in fruits. If you go to a hotel in Israel, you will see the table full of fruits for breakfast, a long table full of fruits. The dates are especially delicious, the melons are very sweet, everything is particularly delicious. But when this Jewish businessman tried to buy more land from the Arabs, they refused to sell. The strange thing is that the land in the hands of the Arabs no longer rained and remained barren, but they would not sell it.

God wants to raise up the Israelites to return to this land, but they refuse to return. During World War II, Hitler killed six million Jews. The Jews wanted to return to Palestine but could not, and as a result, they drifted at sea as Jewish refugees. We Chinese took in many Jews, and we were the country that took in the most Jews. In 1948, at the first United Nations meeting, it was decided that Israel could be re-established, which is the State of Israel today.

What is this passage talking about? The British helping the Jews, the Americans helping the Jews. After the end of World War II, the United States led the United Nations and began the re-establishment of the Jewish state. At this time, what is the situation? It is the beginning of the end of the world. I'm not talking nonsense, it is interpreted according to the Bible. I hope to have the opportunity to show you the Gospel of Matthew. After the re-establishment of the Jewish state until today, the Jewish state is still one of the strongest military powers. The Jewish military is very strong. Israel has universal conscription.

When I went to Israel in 1996 and stayed in a hotel, wow! A group of soldiers rushed in wearing helmets. After standing at attention, they began to take off their helmets, and they were all women. They are very formidable. Israeli female soldiers are very formidable, universal conscription, men and women all serve in the military. What is this passage talking about? God's hope for people. You must know that Christians, through faith in Jesus, belong to the name of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We belong to the name of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are actually spiritual Jews, and God has opened up a new path for us. On the one hand, God will punish the nations; on the other hand, God will prepare a way for His people.

What was Noah like? God was going to punish the world, but He prepared the ark for Noah, preparing salvation. In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, God was going to punish Sodom and Gomorrah, but He brought Lot out of it. Why? Because he was related to Abraham. In our generation, you either be an Abraham, having nothing to do with destruction, or you be like Abraham, a very close person. God will also bring them out of destruction because of you. So, in chapter 14, verse 22, it begins to talk about God destroying Babylon, in verse 24, God destroying Assyria, and from verse 28 onwards, God destroying Philistia. These are all worldly nations. So, we must have a spiritual vision: God does not want to transform this world; God wants to destroy this world.

Our Responsibility is to Build a Glorious Church

What is our responsibility? Our responsibility is to build God's glorious church, to build God's glorious church, to bring people under the name of Jacob, under the name of Abraham, and then through Abraham to have a connection with Jesus Christ. This is the church. To build God's glorious church, the church becomes the salvation of people. In the time of Noah, that ark actually symbolized the church, entering the ark is entering the church.

Do not ever think that you will be okay through slow cultivation on your own, it won't work. The church is the place to be saved. You must build the ark, building the ark is building the church. We begin to have such a Mingding Destiny, to build God's glorious church. When the time comes, we enter the ark, and the world will be destroyed. Everyone has such a vision, we will not mention these details for the time being. From chapter 14, verses 3 to 21, it talks about the King of Babylon, the King of Babylon being brought down to the underworld. In fact, what does the King of Babylon represent? It represents those arrogant and oppressive kings. If someone is arrogant, they are probably a portrait of the King of Babylon. The end of the King of Babylon is the end of those arrogant kings.

We must begin to understand all that we have received, understand the work of God, and never think that God wants to fix this world. God does not want to fix this world, and we do not need to try to fix this world. I only want to do one thing: before the Almighty God comes, to build God's glorious church well. Let us briefly summarize chapters 13 and 14. When I think of what God will do in the last days, you must not fall into the ranks of those who will be destroyed.

Summary

The Day of the Lord is coming, like destruction from the Almighty. God is going to destroy this world and bring His people out of destruction. The people of this world boast in worldly things, placing all their hopes on the foundation of the world. The world is going to be destroyed, and you will be destroyed along with it. We must be very clear about what the responsibility of Christians is. The responsibility of us Christians is to pave the way for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. If a Christian puts all his hopes in this life, then he is more pitiful than the world, he does not know our God. God is the God who destroys the earth, yet God leaves a way out for His people. We must be spiritual Israelites, and our responsibility is to build a glorious church!