Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000086
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00:21 Hello, friends, and welcome
00:22 to another Wednesday night Bible study here 00:24 at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:26 It's nice and warm here in Southern Illinois. 00:30 Chances are if you're in the northern hemisphere, 00:33 it's kind of warm, maybe wherever you are. 00:35 But because of the warmth here tonight, 00:36 our people wanna welcome you with a hearty amen. 00:38 Can we say amen? Amen! 00:40 And we are ready to open our Bibles and open our hearts, 00:44 and so thank you for tuning in to spend this thoughtful hour 00:48 studying the topic about heaven. 00:50 We've been covering that. 00:52 And I'll tell you in just a moment 00:53 where you get a copy of that lesson. 00:55 But before we do anything, 00:56 just get your friends and families 00:58 if you're joining us from a church 00:59 we thank you for tuning in. 01:01 But wherever you're joining us from, 01:03 this is gonna be a dynamic topic tonight. 01:05 If we're planning to go to heaven, 01:07 we need to know something about it. 01:09 Isn't that right? 01:10 So tonight we're gonna be continuing our study 01:12 and transitioning to some more wonderful facts 01:15 about the glorious city 01:17 that Jesus has gone to prepare for us. 01:19 But before we sing our theme song, 01:21 let's begin with a word of prayer. 01:24 Gracious Father in heaven, we thank You, Lord, 01:26 tonight that we can open our hearts 01:28 as well as open Your Word. 01:30 And we pray that Your Word will be a lamp unto our feet, 01:33 and a light unto our paths that as we study, 01:38 we will be drawn into a closer relationship with You. 01:42 So bless us now, Father, 01:43 through the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 01:45 In Jesus' name we pray. 01:47 Amen. 01:49 Now, if you'd like a copy of the lesson, 01:51 which is entitled 01:52 "The Truth about Heaven and the New Earth," 01:54 we're gonna be transitioning to the New Earth 01:56 in the upcoming studies, 01:57 but we're gonna be winding up hopefully tonight 01:59 on The Truth about Heaven. 02:01 Go to this following website asf.3abn.org 02:07 and download lesson number 26, 02:10 The Truth about Heaven and the New Earth, 02:12 and there should be 25 questions there. 02:15 That lets you know 02:16 that we've added one on since last week 02:17 so somebody may say I already did last week. 02:20 Get the new copy tonight. 02:21 And we will go ahead 02:23 and you'll be able to participate 02:25 with the full study in hand. 02:27 Are you ready for our theme song tonight? 02:30 Are you ready for our theme song? 02:31 Let's sing our theme song tonight 02:33 "Victory in Jesus." 02:44 I heard an old, old story 02:48 How the Savior came from glory 02:51 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:55 To save a wretch like me 02:59 I heard about His groaning 03:03 Of His precious blood's atoning 03:06 Then I repented of my sin 03:10 And won the victory 03:13 Together. 03:14 O victory in Jesus 03:18 My Savior forever 03:22 He sought me and bought me 03:25 With His redeeming blood 03:29 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:33 And all my love is due Him 03:37 He plunged me to victory 03:41 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:44 I heard about a mansion 03:48 He has built for me in glory 03:52 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:56 Beyond the crystal sea 04:00 About the angels singing 04:03 And the old redemption story 04:07 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 04:11 The song of victory 04:13 Key change. 04:15 O victory in Jesus 04:18 My Savior forever 04:22 He sought me and bought me 04:26 With His redeeming blood 04:30 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:33 And all my love is due Him 04:37 He plunged me to victory 04:41 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:45 He plunged me to victory 04:49 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:55 Amen? 04:57 That is our theme song. 04:58 And wherever we go, people say, I'm singing with you. 05:03 There's a pastor in California that said, 05:06 "On Wednesday night, 05:07 I can't forget the phrase key change." 05:10 And I thought wow, 05:11 what about all the other lyrics, 05:13 but we're glad that you're tuning in. 05:14 And there are those tuning in from the Virgin Islands 05:17 from Down Under in Australia and all over the United States. 05:21 And when we travel, 05:23 we get a chance to meet those individuals. 05:24 And they say, 05:25 "We enjoy A Sharper Focus." 05:28 Now just a bit of information 05:29 before we begin the lesson tonight. 05:31 On the website, 05:33 and if they could put that address up one more time, 05:34 I wanna give you a little bit of information about that. 05:37 On the website asf.3abn.org, 05:41 all the lessons that we've covered 05:43 thus far are listed there under the studies tab. 05:46 But if you click to the right, there's a videos tab, 05:49 which means all the videos we've done 05:51 ever since we began are included there. 05:54 So if you missed any of the prior broadcast, 05:57 you can go to that broadcast. 05:59 And at the very beginning, 06:01 it tells you what lesson it's associated with, 06:03 download the lesson and have your own study group. 06:06 We appreciate that very much. 06:08 Well, the topic tonight 06:09 is The Truth about Heaven and the New Earth. 06:12 The Truth about Heaven and the, what? 06:14 And the New Earth. 06:16 Now there are lots of things that are being said 06:19 about the new earth and about heaven 06:22 that I've discovered in my studies 06:23 are really not true. 06:25 I don't wanna pop anybody's bubble. 06:27 But I just discovered, 06:29 I didn't say just discovered I've known for a while, 06:32 we have to be able to separate 06:36 what is actually gonna be in heaven, 06:38 from what is not going to be in heaven, 06:41 not just who's gonna be in heaven and who's not, 06:44 but what and what is not going to be in heaven. 06:47 Now, as we prepared for the study of the new earth, 06:50 I just wanna kind of give you this little crumb that is 06:54 there will be animals in the new earth. 06:59 There won't be animals in heaven. 07:02 There'll be animals in the new earth. 07:06 There are not gonna be animals in heaven, 07:09 not in the New Jerusalem. 07:10 The Bible doesn't speak of that anywhere, 07:12 but they are gonna be in the new earth. 07:15 When you read Revelation, 07:17 the only time the word dog is mentioned 07:19 is in it says for outside of the dogs 07:21 and sorcerers and whoremongers. 07:23 And we know there the word dog 07:25 is not indicative to the animal. 07:27 But when Isaiah talks about the earth 07:29 where we're gonna plant, and build, and have house, 07:32 we're gonna build houses and inhabit them. 07:34 That's all in the new earth. 07:36 "The meek shall inherit the earth." 07:39 The meek shall inherit the earth, the earth. 07:42 And so those are things 07:43 that we have to keep in perspective 07:45 because once a little boy asked me, said, 07:47 "Pastor, is my puppy gonna be in heaven?" 07:49 And, you know, 07:50 people ask those questions, children ask those questions. 07:53 I ponder the thought one day when we lost our puppy, 07:56 snuggles years ago, 07:58 and I discovered, as I studied the Bible, 08:00 that there not gonna be pets in heaven. 08:02 There not gonna be horses, and elephants, and tigers, 08:05 and lions, and bears, and snakes in heaven. 08:07 That's all in the new earth. 08:08 Because here's the key, 08:11 after the sin problem is dealt with, 08:16 then there will be a new heaven and the new earth. 08:20 And in the new earth, 08:21 those lions that bite you now won't bite you then. 08:24 Can you say amen to that? 08:26 So we have to separate what's gonna be in heaven 08:28 from what's not gonna be there, 08:29 that may come like a light bulb moment 08:31 in somebody's mind. 08:33 But we wanted to be clear 08:34 that the heavens that we're going to, 08:37 there's not gonna be a cow stall, 08:40 you know, down Golden Lane, or Diamond Boulevard, 08:43 or Amethyst freeway, 08:46 that's not gonna be in heaven 08:48 because we're gonna be there for 1000 years 08:50 for a particular purpose. 08:52 Now, when we studied the lesson last, 08:56 I wanna begin tonight with a promise. 08:57 Let's go to John Chapter 14. 08:59 Let's begin with a promise. 09:01 Let's begin with one of the most wonderful promises 09:03 that Jesus has ever made. 09:05 You know, what gets me, 09:08 it seems that there are so many things in the earth 09:10 that gets people's attention. 09:12 Like for example, amusements, vacation resorts, 09:16 a lot of things on earth 09:18 that causes our eyes and minds to dazzle, 09:20 our pulse to raise, 09:22 our hearts to speed up when we see these things. 09:26 And we get excited about going to different parts of the earth 09:28 to enjoy the sights and sounds that are there 09:31 and the amenities in the resorts 09:33 and all those things. 09:34 And that's not bad. 09:36 But I think we need to get even more excited. 09:38 I'm gonna slow down and say this, 09:40 we need to get more excited about heaven 09:43 than anything on earth. 09:45 What do you say? 09:46 Because what's on earth 09:47 can't compare to what's in heaven. 09:51 I would love one evening, 09:52 I'm not really qualified to do this. 09:54 But I would love just for one program 09:55 to do a slideshow on what I've seen about stars, 10:00 and planets, and constellations, 10:02 and nebulas. 10:03 And just to give you an idea, 10:05 that according to what astronomers say 10:07 that there are billions of galaxies, 10:10 and that's only what their eyes and their telescopes 10:13 have been able to discover. 10:15 So think, if that's God's playground, 10:18 and the earth is ours, 10:22 God has a whole lot more. 10:24 Come on, say amen to that. 10:26 God has a whole lot more that we have never seen. 10:29 And we're gonna have access to that. 10:31 Because if we are inheriting, and He's our heavenly Father, 10:35 everything that belongs to Him 10:36 will one day will be accessible to us. 10:40 But look at the promise that Jesus made. 10:44 John Chapter 14, 10:45 and I'm gonna just read this together, 10:47 I think many of us know this by heart. 10:49 "Let not your heart be troubled. 10:51 You believe in God, believe also in Me. 10:54 In My Father's house are many," what? 10:56 "Mansions, 10:57 if it were not so, I would have told you. 11:01 I go to," do what? 11:03 "Prepare a place for you. 11:06 And if I go and prepare a place for you, 11:09 I will come again and receive you to Myself, 11:13 that where I am, there you may be," what? 11:16 "Also." 11:18 You know, the word you is in there so many times, 11:20 but not your heart. 11:22 You believe in God, I have, I would have told you, 11:26 I go to prepare a place for you. 11:29 If I prepare a place for you, I will come again. 11:31 This promise that the Lord has made is not general, 11:33 it's personal. 11:35 So I'm looking forward to heaven 11:36 not just because of everybody else 11:38 is gonna be saved. 11:39 But I wanna tell you, regardless of all the names 11:42 that are gonna be on the books of life, 11:45 my name, to me is the most important. 11:49 Anybody else feels that way? 11:51 Terry, his name to him is the most important, 11:55 am I right, Terry? 11:56 So all the names they're gonna be there, 11:58 your name is the most important to you. 12:02 So the point of the matter is 12:03 we don't want anybody else to miss out on heaven. 12:06 But more than that, 12:07 we don't wanna miss out on heaven. 12:09 Because the promise that the Lord has made is to us, 12:12 "Let not your heart be troubled." 12:14 Don't be concerned about it. 12:16 And here's one of the keys. 12:17 We talked about the Second Coming of Christ. 12:18 That's been a theme throughout our camp meeting, 12:21 which is just a few weeks old. 12:24 But the key to get to heaven 12:26 is He's going to come again to receive us. 12:29 Nobody dies and jets off to heaven 12:32 ahead of anyone else. 12:34 Ain't that right? 12:35 We gonna all go to heaven together. 12:39 How we're gonna go? 12:40 Together. 12:42 It's gonna be the best trip 12:44 that the saints of all the ages have taken together. 12:47 We're all going how? 12:48 Together. 12:50 Go with me to 1 Thessalonians. 12:51 I wanna give you just a little bit of extra 12:52 before we go to the question number 16. 12:55 Wanna show you 1 Thessalonians. 12:57 We talked about the Lord coming back, 12:59 but let's show you Him coming back. 13:01 Let's show you Him coming back. 13:03 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4. 13:06 Look at this verse. 13:09 Okay, verse 16. 13:13 He said, I'm coming back. 13:14 Well, let's read 13:15 how He's going to come back. 13:17 The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 13:22 "For the Lord Himself..." 13:26 He's not sending anybody else He's coming himself, 13:29 "For the Lord Himself will," do what? 13:32 "Descend from heaven with a shout, 13:35 with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God. 13:38 And the dead in Christ will," do what? 13:40 "Rise first." 13:41 That's the resurrection. 13:43 They're not leaving the earth first. 13:44 They rise from their graves first. 13:47 Where did dead people get placed? 13:50 In their graves, right? 13:51 So they rise from their graves first, 13:53 then look what else happens. 13:54 The very next verse. 13:56 Verse 17, 13:57 "Then we who are alive and remain 14:00 shall be caught up," what's the next word? 14:03 "Together with them in the clouds to," do what? 14:09 "Meet the Lord in the air." 14:11 He's not coming back to touch the earth. 14:14 The Lord is not coming back 14:15 to set up an earthly millennial kingdom, 14:17 He's not coming back to touch the earth. 14:20 He's not coming back to walk in Manhattan, 14:22 or in the Middle East 14:23 or in any of these cities on earth. 14:25 He's gone to prepare for us a city, 14:27 He's not coming back to walk on earth. 14:30 So we're not getting the world ready for Him, 14:32 He's getting the kingdom ready for us. 14:34 Amen. 14:36 He says, 14:37 "We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, 14:39 to meet the Lord in the air. 14:43 And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 14:46 All right, so make that clear. 14:48 He's coming back to get us. 14:49 When He comes back, 14:51 resurrection of the righteous dead, 14:52 the righteous living together, they are caught up together, 14:56 and they meet the Lord. 14:58 So if you have a loved one that's died 15:00 and you are Christian, and they are Christian, 15:02 you both are gonna meet the Lord together, 15:04 I wanna make it very clear, ain't that clear? 15:06 There's nobody in heaven now. 15:07 And frankly, I'm getting ill. 15:10 Every time somebody dies, they're instantly in heaven. 15:16 These deceptive phrases, they're in a better place. 15:22 How many times have you heard that, 15:24 they're in a better place, they're looking down on us. 15:29 They are my angel, they are watching over me. 15:33 Or God needed or God took them. 15:37 These are all, 15:38 these are all disqualified statements. 15:41 And none of them are supported by the Bible. 15:43 God is not a taker of human life. 15:48 And people are not being whisked off to heaven 15:50 ahead of anyone else. 15:52 So the beauty of the Second Coming of the Lord, 15:54 the beauty of going to heaven is, 15:56 we gonna all go together. 15:57 What word did I just say? 15:59 Together. 16:00 Man! 16:01 It's amazing. 16:03 Can you imagine you all going to Dubai, let's just say Dubai, 16:08 that word is come to my mind. 16:09 And we're gonna go as a church trip. 16:12 Will we all go on 37 different airplanes? 16:16 Wouldn't be nice if we all go together? 16:18 Because we wanna all experience it together. 16:21 The Lord has made it clear 16:23 that no one's going ahead of anyone else. 16:25 We're all going how? 16:26 Together. 16:28 Let's look at question number 16. 16:29 Because last week, when we ended, 16:31 we talked about 16:32 and this was quite a somber discussion last week, 16:35 the categories recovered with the categories 16:38 of those who would not be in heaven. 16:40 Now we're gonna begin on a more positive note 16:42 about those who will be in heaven, 16:45 those who will be in heaven. 16:48 Question number 16. Here it is. 16:52 What is the condition of those 16:54 that are allowed into the Kingdom? 16:58 What is the condition of those 17:00 that are allowed into the Kingdom? 17:02 Let's go to Psalms Chapter 24. 17:05 And we're gonna look at verse 3-4, first. 17:08 Psalms 24:3-4. 17:14 You know, whenever you decide to move somewhere, 17:17 I know nowadays people are getting 17:19 very, very stringent about 17:21 who fits into a particular community. 17:23 You know, sometimes they look at your income. 17:26 And nowadays you can't do anything 17:28 without a credit history. 17:29 They look at your credit rating, 17:31 and they determine whether or not 17:32 you could afford to be in this kingdom. 17:34 Whether or not you, sorry, 17:35 could afford to be in this community. 17:37 Well, the Lord has some standards. 17:41 The Lord has met... 17:43 Well, if you move into Magic Kingdom 17:44 that's one thing. 17:45 But the Lord has standards also about those He allow in heaven. 17:48 Amen for that. 17:50 Here's the answer. 17:51 What is the condition of those 17:53 that are allowed into the kingdom? 17:54 Psalms 24:3-4. 17:56 The Bible says, "Who may," what? 17:59 "Ascend," notice how we get in there. 18:01 "Ascend into the hill of the Lord? 18:04 Or who may," what else? 18:06 "Stand in His holy place?" 18:10 Let's read this part together. 18:11 "He who has," what? 18:13 "Clean hands and a," what else? 18:16 "Pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, 18:21 nor sworn deceitfully." 18:25 That means He said, "Yes." 18:27 And He meant Yes. 18:28 He said, "That's not true." 18:30 And He meant that's not true and it was not true. 18:33 He meant that's true and that was true. 18:35 Now, I wanna spend a little bit of time on this because, 18:38 you know, when you think about this, 18:39 let's just peek back, 18:41 he who has clean hands and a pure heart, 18:44 clean hands and a pure heart. 18:45 You know, when you talk about that? 18:47 There are some people that may they publicly, 18:50 their hands look physically clean, 18:52 but their hearts are corrupt. 18:56 So what we see on the outside is what the man judges. 19:00 What God is saying, 19:03 clean hands, pure heart. 19:06 Man looks on the outward appearance 19:08 but God looks at the heart. 19:09 God does not see. 19:11 You want to say something? 19:12 I really know, a lot of people around the country that say, 19:14 "Well, God just judges you by your heart." 19:17 So they ignore the clean hands. 19:19 There you go. 19:20 So God doesn't just judge by hands, 19:22 He judges by what else? 19:23 Heart, 19:24 outside and inside makes a difference. 19:27 But notice what else He says, 19:29 "Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol." 19:32 Now whatever that idol may be, 19:34 some people worship all kinds of things 19:37 in countries where images are worshiped 19:39 or statues are worshiped, that's one thing, 19:41 but idols are farther, far greater than that." 19:45 American Idol." 19:48 Okay. 19:49 Let's think American idolatry, 19:52 and our motto in America is life, liberty, 19:55 and the pursuit of happiness. 19:58 We just wanna be happy. 20:00 Can we all just get along? 20:03 Oh, it's got to be better than that. 20:04 And then the other thing about it, 20:05 don't put your hand, 20:07 don't put your signature to a document. 20:08 If, you know, that that's not true. 20:11 You know, whenever you fill out forms, you said, 20:13 is all this information declared correct? 20:16 You cannot swear deceitfully. 20:18 That's why when you stand in court, what do they say? 20:21 Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth? 20:24 The whole truth and nothing. 20:27 On that standard, 20:28 there'll be a lot of pastors out of jobs today. 20:32 God is saying to ministers, 20:34 do you solemnly swear to preach the truth? 20:38 The whole truth and nothing but the truth. 20:41 You know, how many churches will disappear just like that, 20:44 will be vaporized from the earth 20:46 because it's about idols. 20:47 Money is an idol 20:49 that many pastors are in the business for. 20:52 Notoriety, cars, hotels, bling, 20:56 many of them are there for the materialism, 20:58 for the materialism, 21:00 not for the preaching of the straight truth. 21:02 That's why when you turn to 3ABN, 21:04 you're gonna get the truth, 21:05 the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 21:07 Can you say amen to that? 21:08 We're not in for the bling I mean, you can tell. 21:11 You may have seen this shirt many times. 21:13 I am not in for the bling. 21:14 I wanna be in it for the city. 21:16 Come on say amen some body? 21:17 I'm heading there, and I'll make sure 21:19 my life needs to be in harmony. 21:20 But what else does it say? 21:21 Look at the very next verse, Revelation 22:14. 21:25 Don't be in it for the wrong reason 21:27 'cause some people don't want the truth 21:29 because it requires an alignment of life 21:31 with what the Bible says. 21:33 It also requires giving up certain things. 21:35 And there are those individuals 21:37 that are so connected to their idols. 21:39 Oh, man, there's a text that just came to my mind. 21:44 The name will come to me in just a moment. 21:45 But one of the reasons 21:46 why the Lord rejected him is because the Lord says 21:48 he is joined to his idols. 21:52 He is joined to his idols. 21:53 There are some people that can't leave their television 21:55 to come to Wednesday night Bible study. 21:58 There are some people 21:59 that can't leave their favorite program, 22:01 or their most comfortable recliner, 22:04 to come to Bible studies. 22:05 This is amazing to me. 22:06 So this idolatry is far greater than just people 22:08 that are outside the church. 22:10 Idolatry is a huge category. 22:13 Look at Revelation 22:14, what else is the qualification? 22:16 "Blessed are those that do His," what?" 22:18 Commandments, 22:20 that they may have right to the tree of life, 22:21 and may enter through the gates into the," what? 22:24 "Into the city." 22:25 You cannot today consciously know about God's commandments 22:29 and say, I don't want to keep them. 22:31 But I'm going to heaven any way. 22:33 Based on this text, you're not going. 22:36 If the Lord reveals His commandments to you, 22:38 preacher, parishioner, 22:41 whatever category you may be, 22:42 and you may say, you know, I love the Lord, 22:44 the commandments are not that important. 22:46 Well, based on what I just read here, 22:48 if you live in harmony with His commandments, 22:50 you have a right. 22:52 You have access to the tree of life. 22:54 God is not giving commandment violators 22:58 access to a tree of life 23:00 any more than He gave Adam and Eve 23:02 access to the tree after they sinned. 23:04 Did you notice that? 23:05 When they sinned, 23:06 what was the first thing He did? 23:09 Cut off access to the tree of life. 23:13 This is the comparison. 23:14 They lost access because of disobedience. 23:17 You're not gonna gain access 23:19 because of willing disobedience. 23:21 So it says, if you willing to keep the commandments... 23:24 Go with me to Isaiah 1, Isaiah Chapter 1, 23:27 write the answer down. 23:29 You must be a commandment keeper. 23:31 If you know about it, you can't ignore it and say, 23:34 "Well, you know, I've been a member for 35 years." 23:36 It doesn't matter. 23:37 "I've been in church for 62 years." 23:40 It doesn't matter. 23:42 If the Lord reveals truth to your heart, and, you say, 23:44 I know what the Bible says, but I'm not gonna do it anyway. 23:48 Well, that doesn't please the Lord. 23:50 And He says, "Hey, I've revealed it to you." 23:53 One person said to me, 23:54 "You know, I've been a member for my church 23:56 for many, many years. 23:57 I really love the Lord." 23:59 We're going to Isaiah Chapter 1. 24:00 He says, "I love the Lord." 24:04 And I don't think that particular teaching 24:07 is gonna bar me from the kingdom. 24:11 And that was in essence to Sabbath, truth had come. 24:14 And I said, you know, you ought to be saying, 24:16 Lord, You love me so much, 24:18 that You have revealed this truth to me 24:20 because of Your love for me, 24:23 am I proclaimed love for You. 24:26 See, if a person really love somebody, 24:28 and you reveal something to them, 24:29 it doesn't become a burden. 24:30 It becomes a delight, ain't that right, Yannick? 24:33 Here's what the Bible says, look, 24:35 Isaiah Chapter 1. Isaiah Chapter 1. 24:38 Look at this promise. 24:40 Look at this promise, verse 19. 24:44 "If you are," what's the word? 24:47 "Willing and," what else? 24:49 "Obedient, 24:51 you shall eat the good of the land." 24:55 But look at verse 20. 24:57 "But if you refuse and rebel, 25:00 you shall be devoured by the sword," 25:03 on whose word is that? 25:05 "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 25:08 Is that clear? 25:09 So people may say, 25:11 "Are you telling me 25:12 that I can't make it to heaven?" 25:13 No. 25:15 Matter of fact, I don't mind if you be there, 25:16 but you got to get past God. 25:18 He's the one that sets the standards, 25:19 ain't that right? 25:21 Right, Terry? 25:22 He says, "Here's why you're not going 25:24 because you're unwilling and you're disobedient." 25:27 And I'm not having anybody like that 25:29 mess up my city again. 25:30 Not again. 25:32 So the answers are clean hands, pure heart, 25:35 and secondly, obedience to God's commandments. 25:40 Okay. 25:41 Number 17. 25:45 Number 17. 25:47 Okay. 25:49 What is the invitation that Jesus makes 25:53 for those that desire Heaven? 25:56 He extends an invitation. 25:58 What is the invitation? 25:59 Revelation 22:17, 26:01 He extends an invitation. 26:02 And by the way, you know what? 26:04 Anybody that's alive today could be saved. 26:08 Amen to that. 26:09 God does not say, Ah, ah, ah, no, no, no, 26:14 I only want certain classes, certain races, 26:17 certain financial brackets, certain ethnicities there. 26:20 He doesn't say that at all. 26:22 Look at what He says. 26:23 Revelation 22:17. 26:26 "And the Spirit and the bride says," what? 26:31 "'Come!' 26:32 And let him who hears say," together, "Come!' 26:36 And let him who thirsts," together, "come. 26:40 And whoever desires, 26:43 let him take up the water of life," how? 26:46 "Freely.'" 26:48 So is this invitation exclusive? 26:50 What's the answer? 26:51 Absolutely not. 26:52 Matter of fact, go... 26:54 So here's the answer. 26:55 What is the invitation that Jesus makes 26:56 for those who desire? 26:58 What's the invitation? 27:01 What's the invitation, come on say together? 27:02 Come, if you want to come, 27:04 He doesn't want anybody to be left out. 27:08 Matter of fact, our favorite text, 27:10 "For God so loved the world 27:12 that He gave His only begotten Son, 27:14 that whosoever believeth in Him 27:18 should not perish." 27:20 He's made room for whosoever. 27:23 But look at this next beautiful passage. 27:26 John 6:37. 27:30 John 6:37. 27:35 Wow! 27:36 Some people think that I'm too bad to make it. 27:38 You know what? 27:40 Let me tell you something, God's goodness 27:41 is better than all of our badness. 27:43 Come on, somebody say amen. 27:44 You could be bad, somebody say what? 27:46 I mean, is there anything? 27:48 What crime can I commit, that I cannot be forgiven for? 27:53 If you confess your sin, 1 John 1:9, 27:55 He's faithful and just to forgive you of your sin 27:57 and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. 28:01 There's nothing you can do that God can't forgive you of. 28:04 The one thing that you won't be forgiven of, 28:07 is the refusal of the invitation. 28:09 'Cause I'm not gonna drag you in. 28:12 Can you imagine that? 28:13 Can you imagine being in heaven, 28:15 if that's not where you wanna be? 28:18 It's like some people. 28:19 You mentioned church to them, it's okay, 28:21 I'll catch you when you come back. 28:25 It's like, we wanna take them to a place 28:27 where they get beheaded. 28:29 This is the place that you enter 28:31 into a corporate relationship with brothers and sisters 28:33 that are preparing for this eternal city. 28:36 And this is the place where you get to know God, 28:38 with all of those that are there worshiping Him. 28:41 Look at John 6:37. 28:43 Beautiful passage, here it is. 28:45 "All that the Father gives Me will," do what? 28:49 "Come to Me," notice the invitation come, 28:50 but "All that the Father gives to Me 28:52 will come to Me, 28:53 and the one who comes to Me," 28:56 let's read this together, 28:57 "I will by no means cast out." 29:02 Isn't that a glorious passage? 29:04 He said, first of all, the Father is drawing them. 29:08 And the Father says to the Son, 29:11 here's another one. 29:13 In the sense that who is it? 29:17 It's Mark. 29:19 Okay. 29:20 Mark, if you come, I will, by no means 29:22 cast you out. 29:24 And, you know the context of this story is 29:26 that in Matthew Chapter 25, 29:28 there was a wedding feast held, and there was a man 29:32 who came in that did not have on a wedding garment, 29:35 and he was cast out. 29:36 You know why? 29:38 Because he didn't come in 29:39 with the righteousness of Christ. 29:41 He came in and he thought his merits 29:42 were good enough to be there. 29:44 And the Lord says, 29:45 "How did you come in here without a wedding garment?" 29:47 We've got to have on His righteousness 29:50 to make the kingdom, ain't then right? 29:53 But if that's the case, and you come to the Father, 29:55 through Christ, 29:57 and the Father gifts you to Jesus, 29:59 He says, I'm not gonna cast you, 30:01 I'm not gonna put you away. 30:02 Come on in as you are. 30:04 But you won't be the same way. 30:06 When we come to Christ, He accepts us as we are. 30:09 But He gets us ready for the kingdom 30:10 that we are going to inhabit. 30:12 Not gonna be any snuff sniffers in heaven. 30:16 Nobody gonna be chewing tobacco, 30:18 spitting on the streets of heaven. 30:20 Amen for that. 30:21 People say, "Well, Lord loves me." 30:22 He loves you. 30:24 That big old stack of chewing tobacco, 30:26 He loves you. 30:27 But He's gonna say get that out. 30:29 Because nothing is gonna enter that defiles the city. 30:31 Ain't that right? 30:32 Can you imagine cigarette butts on the golden streets, 30:35 graffiti on the clear walls, 30:38 rap, hip, rock, country, 30:40 any, all that corrupt music in heaven? 30:43 Angel will be closing ears, what is that? 30:46 See, the beautiful theme of salvation is this, 30:49 that Jesus' blood 30:51 is sufficient to save all of us. 30:54 And the reason why 30:57 this great controversy has to play itself out 31:00 it's because I can imagine the angels that did not rebel 31:03 must have some apprehension mark 31:06 about the outcome of this thing called 31:08 the great controversy 31:09 because they know that Lucifer got kicked out. 31:12 Now Satan polluted the entire world 31:15 with all of his fallen angels, 31:16 all these corrupt sinners down here 31:19 that are gonna get more and more corrupt 31:20 as we get closer to the end. 31:22 And they're saying to Jesus, you're letting them in? 31:30 You gonna let them in. 31:32 Are you sure? 31:34 Well, He's not gonna let us in until we all are like Him. 31:37 Amen. 31:39 So this whole thing about obedience. 31:41 I'm amazed 31:42 I listen to so many of these preachers 31:44 on television, sometimes, I'll take a little Roku box 31:47 where we listened to 3ABN and Adventist channel 31:50 and Hope all those channels we have on there, 31:52 praise God for that. 31:53 And I would listen to some of the other preachers. 31:55 And I'm amazed 31:56 how righteousness is not talked about very much. 32:00 It's like, I heard one guy, I heard one guy, 32:03 I ran into one preacher talking about 32:05 the need to give away sin. 32:08 And I said to my wife, praise the Lord, 32:10 there's still somebody out there preaching 32:12 that we need to abandon sin, 32:15 in order to be ready for the kingdom of God. 32:18 But notice what He says, 32:19 "If you come to me, I won't cast you out." 32:21 I won't cast you out. 32:22 So what's the answer there? 32:24 Did you write them down? 32:25 Wonderful. 32:27 Let's go to question number 18. 32:28 Let's go to question number 18. 32:33 Question number 18. 32:35 Wow! 32:37 How do we know that we have a home 32:40 other than this earth? 32:44 How do we know that we have a home 32:46 other than this earth? 32:48 Go to Hebrews Chapter 11. 32:50 And I'm glad you know, 32:52 all of our participants know this, 32:54 the text is gonna be on the screen. 32:56 The wonderful thing about having your Bibles 32:57 is you could highlight and write on your own Bible. 32:59 Thank you for bringing your Bibles with you. 33:01 Hebrews Chapter 11. 33:04 And that's the Book of the Faithful. 33:06 That's the Chapter of the Faithful. 33:08 And, but if you wanna find the Book of Faith, 33:13 it's amazing that Hebrews is followed by James. 33:16 James is the Book of Faith. 33:18 Hebrews Chapter 11 is the Chapter of Faith, 33:21 but notice Hebrews Chapter 11. 33:23 Here's the answer. 33:24 And we're looking at verse 16. 33:26 How do we know that we have a home 33:27 other than this earth? 33:28 Here's the answer. 33:30 Here's the answer. 33:31 "But now," that is the faithful, 33:34 "desire a better, that is, a, "what kind of country?" 33:38 Heavenly country. 33:40 Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, 33:45 for He has," done what? 33:47 "Prepared a city for them." 33:51 Now this city is in what kind of a country? 33:55 Say it again. 33:56 A heavenly country. 33:58 Now, that means, it's not on earth 34:00 'cause you can travel from north to south, 34:02 to east to west, tirelessly, Bill, 34:05 and you won't find a heavenly country 34:07 on this planet. 34:09 There's not a country on this planet 34:10 without sickness, or death, or illness, or suffering, 34:13 or some kind of breakdown in society 34:16 or some kind of corruption. 34:18 There's not a heavenly country on this earth. 34:20 So if there's no heavenly country, 34:22 there is no heavenly, what? 34:24 City, 34:25 you got to have the country 34:26 and then the city within it. 34:28 So how do we know that? 34:29 Look at verse 10 in Hebrews Chapter 11. 34:32 Look at verse 10. 34:34 Okay, they look for a better that is a heavenly country. 34:37 In other words, 34:40 Abraham and his wife Sarah knew that it wasn't down here. 34:43 So they kept on moving looking for this heavenly country. 34:47 But look at verse 10. 34:49 Speaking about Abraham and his wife, 34:51 "For he waited for the city which has foundations, 34:56 whose builder and maker is," together, "God." 35:01 So if it's on earth, chances are 35:03 God didn't build it. 35:07 Now, I'm a native New Yorker. 35:09 I go to New York when I go, when I leave. 35:12 Sometimes I get a little town blues 35:14 I wanna be very candid about that. 35:16 Sometimes I wanna hear a car door slam. 35:22 And, but all I'm hearing is raccoons 35:24 crawling up the porch. 35:26 Or sometimes a possum and a raccoon 35:28 having it out over some black oilseeds, 35:31 or I'm afraid to open the backyard door 35:33 because any number of the 2000 species of bugs will come in 35:38 and probably eat me alive. 35:39 Sometimes I wanna kind of get a glimpse of New York 35:42 and I go back there maybe a week 35:44 or 10 days and say, okay, okay, enough. 35:46 I want my quietness again, right honey? 35:48 I want my quietness so I can sit on our right there 35:52 in our kitchen and open the backyard door 35:54 and listen to the breeze and hear the water go by 35:58 and watch the birds being fed 36:01 because after about, 36:03 right after about two or three days 36:04 in that hustling City of New York, 36:06 you kind of, or any city for that matter. 36:07 I don't wanna make it sound like 36:09 New York is the worst out of all, 36:10 but any of those major cities 36:12 because I've honestly forgotten what a traffic jam is. 36:16 You go to Manhattan, you learn right away 36:18 what a traffic jam is. 36:20 You go to Los Angeles, you go to Chicago, 36:22 any major city, go to St. Louis, 36:25 any major city, you know, go to Miami, any major city, 36:29 you know, right away 36:30 that this is not what God intended. 36:32 Ain't that right? 36:34 Because we're looking for what kind of a country, a what? 36:37 Better, a heavenly country, 36:40 a better city. 36:41 Praise Lord for that. 36:43 So the answer to that, how do we know that 36:44 we have a home other than this earth? 36:47 We're looking for heavenly country. 36:49 A heavenly country. 36:51 All right. 36:53 Okay. 36:54 Let's go now to number 19. 36:56 I think we might be able, 36:59 if we move at a good pace, 37:01 we might be able to do it, Bill. 37:02 We could do it. 37:04 I think we could. 37:06 Okay. 37:08 What is the location of this city 37:13 that God has prepared for us? 37:16 What is the location of this city 37:19 that God has prepared for us? 37:22 Go to Revelation Chapter 21. 37:25 Revelation Chapter 21. 37:28 All right. 37:31 And we're gonna look at verse 2, 37:33 we'll backtrack to verse 1 in just a moment. 37:35 But we need to know where the city is. 37:37 And the reason why this is important. 37:40 After having traveled to more than 52 countries, 37:43 and by God's grace me, 37:45 we may add more of those before the Lord comes. 37:50 We have discovered that 37:52 the difference between being able to get somewhere 37:55 or not get somewhere simply money. 37:57 Right? 37:58 If you can't make it to Dubai, chances are 38:00 it's because you don't have enough money for the ticket. 38:03 But if you have money on earth, if you are wealthy, 38:05 you can pretty much go anywhere. 38:07 The wealthier you are, the more exclusive the circles, 38:10 you can go on. 38:11 Mark, haven't come from Las Vegas, you know, 38:13 you could get to places in Las Vegas 38:16 that poor people may walk the streets of Las Vegas, 38:19 but they're not getting into certain places 38:21 because what's the difference? 38:23 Money is the difference and influence 38:25 and people that you know. 38:26 And so when you think about 38:28 what is gonna be the criteria for us, 38:30 to getting into the kingdom of God. 38:32 Some people say, it's not what you know, 38:35 but it is who you know. 38:37 You see, that's why the Bible says 38:39 and this is life eternal, that you know, 38:43 Christ Jesus, 38:45 that you know that you do what? 38:47 Know Him. 38:49 It's on the basis of knowing Him. 38:50 But look at this wonderful passage. 38:52 Look at this wonderful passage. 38:53 What is the location of the city? 38:55 We're gonna make it in 38:56 because we have a relationship with Jesus, 38:58 not just because we have head knowledge, 38:59 but because we have a relationship with Him. 39:01 John says, "Then I, John, saw 39:05 the holy city," 39:07 what is it called? 39:08 "New Jerusalem, 39:11 coming down out of heaven from God, 39:14 prepared as a bride," what? 39:16 "Adorned for her husband." 39:18 So today, where is that city? 39:21 Say it again. 39:23 It's in heaven 39:24 because one day it's gonna come down 39:26 out of heaven. 39:27 Now, can I shock you a little bit? 39:31 If the city comes down out of heaven, 39:34 is heaven still there? 39:36 Yes, it is. 39:37 Which means that the city is in heaven, 39:41 but the city is not heaven in total. 39:44 The city is a part of heaven, 39:46 but the city itself is not the complete picture of heaven. 39:49 Because when the city comes down 39:51 to the new earth, heaven is still there. 39:56 And you'll find that 39:58 I'm not gonna jump ahead of myself. 39:59 But there's a reason I just planted that seed 40:00 because as we go further, 40:02 you'll see why I brought that point up. 40:04 You see exactly why I brought that point up. 40:06 So the answer very quickly is, 40:08 what is the location of the city 40:10 that God has prepared for us? 40:11 What's the location? Together once again. 40:13 Heaven. 40:15 That's where this city right now is. 40:17 In other words, heaven is the construction site 40:22 for the holy city, the New Jerusalem. 40:26 And you know, the holy city, 40:28 the New Jerusalem 40:31 is described in other ways. 40:33 Let me go ahead and show you Revelation 21:9. 40:37 I want to go ahead and show you Revelation 21:9. 40:42 All right. 40:44 It's not only called 40:47 the New Jerusalem, 40:50 but it's also called something else. 40:52 Revelation 21:9, 40:56 "Then one of the seven angels 40:57 who had the seven bowls, 40:59 filled with the seven last plagues came 41:02 to me and talked with me saying, 41:05 'Come, I will show you the," what's the next word? 41:09 "The bride, the lamb's wife.'" 41:12 This is powerful. 41:14 "And he carried me away in the spirit 41:17 to a great and high mountain 41:20 and showed me the great city, 41:23 the" what? 41:24 "Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." 41:30 So it's not just called the New Jerusalem. 41:33 It's called, what else? 41:35 Holy Jerusalem. 41:38 Now the reason I mentioned 41:39 that is because we've never been to Jerusalem. 41:42 We're planning by God's grace, 41:44 in the near future to go to Jerusalem. 41:48 But even though it's called the holy city, 41:50 it's not really the holy city. 41:52 The holy city is where? 41:55 The New Jerusalem. 41:58 This is the historical, this is the Bible lands 42:00 and lot of people call it the Holy Land. 42:02 I don't want to sound offensive at all 42:05 but I call the Middle East the Bible lands. 42:09 But this is the Holy Land. 42:14 Holy, what makes something holy? 42:16 Somebody tell me, what makes something holy. 42:20 Say it again. 42:21 God's presence. 42:23 God's presence and when the Lord said, 42:27 years ago, to those that rejected Him, 42:29 He said, "Your house is left unto you desolate, 42:33 it ceased to be holy, and became historical." 42:37 Now I do want to see where you know, 42:39 the crucifixion take place, 42:40 and the churches there in Turkey 42:42 and all the historical sites. 42:45 But that's not the end of our journey. 42:46 Our journey, our plans for our journey, 42:49 is that we make it to the holy Jerusalem. 42:52 Amen to that. 42:53 So here's the answer. 42:55 What is the location of that? 42:56 And we just read that, and by verse 9 and 10, 42:58 we're in addition to that. 43:00 Now, let's go to question number 20. 43:03 Question number 20. 43:05 I think we're moving at a good pace, 43:06 we might be able to finish this tonight. 43:09 Okay, let's look at this one. 43:11 What are the architectural measurements 43:13 of the New Jerusalem? 43:16 What are the architectural measurements 43:18 of the New Jerusalem? 43:25 We will stay in Revelation Chapter 21. 43:27 Let's start with the size of the city. 43:31 Let's start with the what? 43:32 Size of the city. 43:36 Okay. 43:40 Revelation Chapter 21. 43:41 Let's start with verse 16. 43:44 Okay. 43:46 The Bible says, speaking of the size, 43:49 "The city is laid out as a," what? 43:53 "Square, its length 43:56 is as great as its breadth, 43:59 and the measurement of the city 44:03 and he measured the city with the reed 12,000," what? 44:08 "Furlongs." 44:10 Now, if you want to put the size, 44:13 the size of the city. 44:15 First of all, what fact do we get about the city? 44:17 What fact do we get? 44:19 It's square. 44:21 Whoa, ain't that wonderful? 44:22 Let's go to the next verse, 44:23 "Its length, breadth and height are," what? 44:27 "Are equal." 44:28 Its length, breadth and height are equal. 44:32 That means it is all in proportion. 44:36 It's a cube. 44:37 Its length, breadth and height are equal. 44:41 But now let's look at some interesting facts about this. 44:43 When the Bible talks about 12,000 furlongs, 44:48 that's roughly, we don't speak in furlongs nowadays. 44:52 We surely don't. 44:53 That's an old measurement. 44:55 That's roughly about... 44:59 Yeah, or, if you were to square that off, 45:02 about 375 miles on either side, 45:07 about 375 miles on either side, 45:10 you add that up. 45:11 375 and 375, 750, 750 and 750 is what? 45:15 1500. 45:17 So now, if you think of a city wall, 45:20 that's 375 miles long, 45:24 that's a long wall. 45:25 We'll find out more, 45:27 we don't want to run ahead of ourselves. 45:28 This city is 1500 miles in, 45:33 what's the word circumference? 45:34 Circumference. 45:36 Those of you who build houses, 45:37 Mike, help me out, circumference. 45:39 Exactly. 45:40 Thank you so much. 45:42 Add it all up. 45:43 Now, how many cities you know are that large? 45:48 What city do you know? 45:51 Say it again? One, that's it. 45:52 There is no city on earth that has a wall 375 miles long. 45:58 Matter of fact, I didn't know how small Manhattan was. 46:01 Manhattan is... 46:02 It looks big because of the size of the buildings, 46:04 but it's fairly a small city. 46:06 It's really a pretty small city 46:09 but 375 miles 375, 375, 46:13 north, south, east, west, 1500 miles. 46:17 But let's keep going. 46:19 So put the size here, 1500 miles around, 46:22 or 375 times four. 46:26 375 times four. 46:30 Okay. 46:31 Now, that's the height of the city. 46:34 But this city has walls. 46:36 It has walls. 46:37 When you think of that, when you think of a city 46:39 that's somebody once said to me, 46:41 how can a city be that big? 46:43 Who's making it? 46:45 Who's making it? God's making it. 46:47 He can make it whatever size He wants to. 46:49 He is making it to fit 46:51 all the redeemed of all the ages in that city. 46:55 But it has walls. 46:56 Now, the city structures on the inside, 46:59 but it has walls around it. 47:00 Let's find out about the walls. 47:02 Look at the very next verse, Revelation 21:17. 47:05 Okay, here it is, the walls of the city. 47:08 "Then he measured its walls, 47:12 144 cubits, 47:15 according to the measure of a man, 47:17 that is, of an angel." 47:20 So now, 47:21 if you look that in today's language, 47:23 that's about 217 feet high. 47:28 That's how tall the wall is, not the city, the wall. 47:31 You got to get past the wall to get into the city. 47:35 So 375 mile long wall 47:40 surrounding that city, 47:42 and that wall was 217 feet high. 47:46 That's an approximation. 47:48 Is that huge? 47:50 Would that take your breath away? 47:53 As that's why you guys are speechless. 47:55 It's hard to imagine that 47:56 because we've not seen anything like that. 47:58 One of the most fascinating things we saw was 48:00 when we went to India and saw the Taj Mahal. 48:03 We saw the Taj Mahal. 48:04 We walked through this, it was as if it was framed. 48:08 There was an archway that you walk through 48:11 to begin to walk towards the Taj Mahal 48:14 and if you stood in the archway, 48:15 it looked like the Taj Mahal was right there 48:17 within arm's length. 48:18 But the moment we walk through the arch, 48:20 it's like the Taj Mahal just fell all the way, 48:23 way back in the distance. 48:25 But if you're looking at it from a perspective, 48:28 whatever that, yeah, perspective, 48:30 it looked like it was right there 48:31 right beyond the wall, and I thought to myself, 48:33 wow, and they say it was 48:35 that's probably one of the most architecturally 48:39 perfect buildings built on earth. 48:42 But it's small. 48:44 It didn't have walls 48:45 that are 375 miles on either side. 48:49 And it sure doesn't have a 217 foot high wall. 48:53 So write that down. 48:55 Walls, 217 feet high, 48:58 wow. 48:59 But let's go to the next part. 49:00 The construction of the walls, 49:03 the construction of the walls, 49:05 verse 18, 49:06 "The construction of its walls 49:09 was of," what? 49:12 It's on the screen, was what? 49:14 "Jasper, and the city," now this is crazy, 49:19 "the city was pure," what? 49:21 "Gold, like clear glass." 49:25 Can you imagine that? 49:27 I've seen 14 karat gold, 49:28 18 karat gold, 24 karat gold 49:31 but, Dan, have you ever seen clear gold? 49:34 Gold so pure that it's transparent like glass? 49:40 I liked that. He said not yet. 49:42 That's a future statement. 49:43 That's right. I like that. 49:44 He didn't say no, he said not yet. 49:47 In other words, I plan on seeing it, huh? 49:50 Yeah, you know, you get in the Sears Tower, 49:52 they have this walkway 49:55 that people step out on 49:57 and I heard, I don't know, it was about a month ago, 50:00 that they said that the casing 50:01 of this thing shattered 50:04 while people were standing on it, 50:05 the glass shattered. 50:07 Thankfully, it wasn't the platform they stood on 50:09 because that's a long way down. 50:11 That's a really, you know, that's a long goodbye. 50:15 But if you think of the city, 50:17 if you think of the city in heaven, 50:19 I mean, the construction of its walls, 50:21 write that down, 50:22 write the most amazing part down, 50:24 the wall was of Jasper 50:28 and the city was pure gold, 50:31 like clear glass. 50:34 Now, I want to put some perspective to this 50:35 because when I was down in California 50:37 a number of years ago, 50:39 I was kind of upset about the idea that 50:42 they had all these limousines down there 50:43 I think was the Kodak Theater 50:45 and it was obviously some awards thing going on. 50:47 My wife and I had gone down to visit not to the award show. 50:50 We just so happen to make a turn 50:52 and there were, 50:53 Kodak Theater, red carpet, 50:55 limousines in abundance, 50:57 but all of the glass on the limousines were what? 51:01 Black, couldn't see in. 51:04 And on our way home back to Northern California 51:06 when we lived out west, 51:07 I was kind of upset about that, man, we don't even know 51:10 who's in those, we can't even in. 51:12 But what? 51:14 On the way, the Lord said to me, 51:16 don't worry about who's in there. 51:19 One day, when you're in the New Jerusalem, 51:22 I'm going to make sure they see you 51:24 through those clear walls. 51:25 Come on, say amen somebody. 51:27 So while you're upset about what they have, 51:30 if the tables are turned, 51:32 one day, they're going to be looking at what you have. 51:34 We're going to get something far better than a limousine. 51:37 We're going to get a mansion, amen? 51:39 In that gorgeous, wonderful city 51:42 that the Lord is building for us. 51:44 Let's now go to the... 51:45 Let's go to the foundations of the city. 51:48 The foundations of the city. 51:51 Okay, "The foundations of the wall of the city 51:56 were adorned with all kinds of precious stones." 52:00 Pause, that's why God doesn't want us 52:04 to wear jewels down here. 52:05 One day we're going to walk on jewels. 52:07 Can you imagine folk that haven't overcome that, 52:10 cop to heaven with their pickaxe? 52:13 And they want a Jasper necklace while they're in heaven. 52:15 God said, "No, no, 52:17 you're not gonna be breaking up my city." 52:19 And that's, what people don't understand 52:21 is that the asphalt in heaven 52:23 is made of all precious stones. 52:27 So the choices, wear it or walk on it. 52:31 Come on, which one would you choose? 52:33 Let's keep going. Walk on it. 52:35 "The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned 52:37 with all kinds of precious stones. 52:40 The first foundation was," what? 52:42 "Jasper, the second sapphire, 52:45 the third chalcedony, 52:47 the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, 52:51 the six starius, 52:54 the seventh chrysolite, 52:56 the eighth, beryl, the ninth topaz, 53:00 the tenth chrysoprase, 53:02 the eleventh jacinth 53:04 and the twelfth," what? 53:06 "Amethyst." 53:07 Now some of these, 53:08 I have no clue what they look like. 53:11 I think I stopped at gold and silver. 53:14 Some of these I think jasper, 53:16 topaz, I think I've seen that. 53:18 But most of these I don't know, 53:19 but all of them are considered precious stones in God's sight. 53:25 Right, colors of the rainbow. 53:27 That's wonderful in the streaming, 53:28 that's a beautiful way of thinking about it, 53:30 all the colors of the rainbow 53:33 from one hue perfectly blending into the other. 53:36 That's just like God, God can do that. 53:38 Because the rainbow is an indication 53:40 of the promise of God. 53:42 It's unfortunate that it means something different 53:44 in our world today. 53:46 Okay, the foundations. 53:47 So for the foundations put what? 53:50 Twelve precious stones. 53:54 Twelve precious stones for the foundations. 53:59 Wow. 54:00 Now this one's gonna blow your mind. 54:02 We got the size, the walls, 54:04 the construction of the walls, 54:06 the foundations 54:08 but now let's check this one out, 54:09 the gates and streets, 54:12 the gates and streets. 54:17 This will blow you away. 54:19 Because the first question I ask myself 54:21 is what oyster did he get it from? 54:24 "The twelve gates were," What? 54:27 "Twelve pearls, 54:29 each individual gate was of," what? 54:35 "One pearl." 54:37 Loraine, don't lose sleep over that one. 54:39 But it's hard. 54:41 It's hard to think of one gate made of one pearl. 54:45 Lord, have mercy. 54:48 And how tall is that gate gonna be? 54:51 At least about two, it could be 217. 54:53 Have you ever seen a 217 foot high pearl? 54:58 I would imagine the size of that oyster. 55:00 But God doesn't need an oyster. 55:02 God doesn't need an oyster, right? 55:05 To create a pearl because He's just God. 55:06 That's the bottom line. 55:08 But each individual gate was of one pearl 55:12 and some people tripping over going to Paris. 55:16 Man, you can keep Paris while they want... 55:22 They rather wear the pearls and anyway. 55:25 "And the streets of the city was," what? 55:29 "Pure gold like," what? 55:31 "Transparent glass." 55:33 This has blown me away. 55:36 This is just amazing. 55:37 So we got the size, the walls, the construction of the walls, 55:41 the foundations, the gates in the streets. 55:43 Wow, 55:45 what an amazing description of this glorious city, 55:50 that one day is going to be on earth. 55:53 Because you read in Revelation 21 55:55 that it's gonna one day descend from God out of heaven, 55:59 it's going to come down to this earth. 56:00 One day this earth is going to be the place 56:03 where this New Jerusalem is going to be housed. 56:06 But let's get one more one if we can. 56:08 Question number 21. 56:10 Question number 21. 56:12 How does the Bible describe the source of the city's light? 56:17 How does the Bible describe the source of the city's light? 56:23 Let's go to Revelation 21:22-23. 56:27 Revelation 21:22-23. 56:29 Let's look at it very quickly. 56:31 Here it is. 56:33 "But I saw no temple in it, 56:35 for the Lord God Almighty, 56:38 and the Lamb are its temple. 56:42 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it," 56:47 let's read this together with some strength, 56:49 "for the glory of God illuminated it. 56:54 The Lamb is its light." 56:57 Amen to that? 56:58 So here we're gonna be in the city, 57:00 now you gotta get this. 57:02 I'm gonna suggest you, it's not gonna be a dim light. 57:05 It's not gonna be 120 lumens. 57:08 You got to know about lumens. 57:11 The glory of God is bright. 57:13 The glory of the Lamb is bright, unspeakable. 57:17 All this pure gold, all these precious stones, 57:22 do you think that a mortal 57:25 can handle that kind of brightness? 57:29 There's nobody up there right now in heaven 57:31 walking around on these golden streets. 57:33 When that time comes, we're going to be able 57:35 to abide in the glory 57:37 of the light of the God Almighty, 57:40 and the Lamb Christ Jesus. 57:42 Amen somebody? 57:43 What a glorious place is going to be, walls, construction, 57:47 foundations, gates, 57:49 all these precious and beautiful stones 57:52 are nothing in comparison 57:54 to the beauty of God and of the Lamb. 57:56 So keep on trusting, 57:57 keep on giving your heart to Christ 58:00 'cause one day if it doesn't make sense, 58:02 it will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-07-12