We left you thinking
about this New Jerusalem
00:00:01.36\00:00:03.30
going 375 miles up into,
not just the stratosphere,
00:00:03.50\00:00:09.64
but the thermosphere.
00:00:09.67\00:00:11.07
I mean this is up where you can
put a satellite, so to speak.
00:00:11.37\00:00:14.44
I mean, this is amazing.
00:00:14.48\00:00:16.54
I flew into a place
not long ago where they had
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the world's tallest building.
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You could see it
sticking up there.
00:00:20.45\00:00:21.78
But this is beyond imagination,
as I've said before.
00:00:21.82\00:00:26.62
375 miles.
00:00:26.65\00:00:29.02
Now if you've got a
30,000 foot mountain,
00:00:29.06\00:00:32.16
about like Mount Everest,
00:00:32.39\00:00:33.73
a little taller
than Mount Everest,
00:00:33.76\00:00:35.23
and you had just flat plains
so there was no obstructions,
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the information I have is
that you could see that mountain
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from 800 miles away.
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That's quite a bit.
00:00:47.74\00:00:49.08
Now I don't know, I
haven't done the calculations,
00:00:49.11\00:00:50.98
but my guess is that you
can see the new Jerusalem
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at least from half the earth.
00:00:54.18\00:00:56.15
I guess if you get
around on the other side
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it might be tough to
see it, but just think,
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you're not going to
miss the New Jerusalem
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in all of its glory as
it begins to build, build
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up toward space.
00:01:07.23\00:01:09.36
So the streets of this New
Jerusalem is something else.
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I mean, we think
of streets, we put tar
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on our streets, of course.
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We're glad to have
cement and tar because
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we're glad to be out of the mud.
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I've been in places
in the states here where,
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you know, they
didn't have paved roads.
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And it can get really muddy and
dusty, all that kind of thing.
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Not the New Jerusalem.
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They're not paving it
with cement; no, no, no, no.
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The Bible says that it's paved
with something that looks like
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crystallized gold.
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Again, I don't know
what that looks like,
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but can you imagine
walking down those streets
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and they're just reflecting
the beauty and the glory
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of everything
that's all around us?
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I mean, it's just hard to
grasp what that's going to be.
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You just don't want to
miss it. That is for sure.
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Now the Bible says that
it doesn't need the sun,
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it doesn't need the
moon, this New Jerusalem.
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Because this is going
to become God's throne.
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This is going to become
the place of the headquarters
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of the universe.
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Think of that for a moment.
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The
headquarters of the universe,
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the residents of
the Lord God Himself
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and the Lord Jesus
are going to be there.
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And the Bible says they're
going to be the light of it.
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They're going to
make it so glorious,
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and we won't need the sun.
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And from that throne of
God, and maybe that throne
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sets at that pinnacle,
375 miles above the earth,
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and above this
beautiful New Jerusalem.
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But we do know that as
the glory of God shines,
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that people are going
to rejoice in that glory.
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And it's going
to be peace and joy.
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And from the
throne of God flows life.
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Now the Bible talks
about a tree of life
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and a river of life.
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And here's Revelation 22:1-2.
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It says, "And he showed me
a pure river of water of life,
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clear as crystal."
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John uses this word,
"crystal," quite a bit
00:03:04.31\00:03:06.21
because it
demonstrates a reflection.
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It demonstrates a clarity.
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It demonstrates the purity.
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So there's not
going to be any pollution.
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No pollution in this river.
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You can drink it, you can
swim in it, you can enjoy it.
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And it's got a
life-giving quality to it.
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And it says,
"...proceeding from the throne
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of God and from the Lamb."
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And he goes on to say,
"In the middle of its street,
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and on either side of the
river, was the tree of life..."
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Now we don't know
exactly how that works, but
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I was talking to
somebody not too long ago,
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and they talked
about cutting down a tree,
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two trees that
had grown together
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and actually not just
intertwined, but had actually
00:03:44.49\00:03:46.69
grown together, two trunks.
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So maybe it's going to
be something like that.
00:03:48.69\00:03:50.29
Two big trunks on each
side crosses the river,
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spreads out on
each side of the river,
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this tree of life.
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You know, Adam and
Eve had a tree of life
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in the Garden of Eden.
00:04:01.24\00:04:03.04
And when sin came in,
God cut them off from it.
00:04:03.44\00:04:06.78
Because God is responsible.
00:04:06.81\00:04:08.84
God is not going to
be responsible for sin
00:04:08.88\00:04:13.92
and giving people
life while they can sin.
00:04:14.18\00:04:17.25
Because it's
destructive to the universe.
00:04:17.29\00:04:19.75
And so, they didn't have access
any longer to the tree of life.
00:04:19.79\00:04:23.32
But thankfully,
we're going to have access
00:04:23.66\00:04:25.59
to the tree of life again.
00:04:25.63\00:04:27.10
And it goes on to say,
00:04:27.13\00:04:29.03
"... which bore
twelve different fruits..."
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Now that's an amazing
agricultural feat in itself.
00:04:30.83\00:04:34.04
And it does this every month.
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And then it says this,
the fruits of the tree was
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for the healing of the nations.
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And I think that's why
we'll never see any decay.
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Everybody will be able
to go there and partake
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of the tree of life.
00:04:46.88\00:04:48.22
We're going to look
forward every month to getting
00:04:48.25\00:04:51.59
our fruit, that life-giving
fruit from the tree of life
00:04:51.62\00:04:57.56
as we gather together.
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We're going to talk about that.
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So there flows that river,
glimmering and shimmering,
00:05:00.33\00:05:03.33
from the throne of God.
00:05:03.37\00:05:04.90
And then that tree of life
and its leaves, the Bible says,
00:05:05.00\00:05:09.14
for the healing of the nations.
00:05:09.17\00:05:11.11
Again, this tree
has qualities about it
00:05:11.14\00:05:13.78
that keep life eternal for us.
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It never runs down.
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No curse, no decay, like we
see all around us everywhere.
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Now it's not just the
new city that's there.
00:05:23.18\00:05:25.62
The Bible says that
there's a new earth.
00:05:26.32\00:05:28.66
And we want to talk about this
new earth just a little bit.
00:05:28.69\00:05:31.53
In fact, Isaiah 65 is a
prediction of what Israel
00:05:31.73\00:05:35.46
would have become
had they been faithful.
00:05:35.50\00:05:38.03
But it gives us some glimpses
into what the new earth will be
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and what it will be like.
00:05:42.84\00:05:44.17
And so Isaiah 65:21-22 says,
"And they will build houses
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and inhabit them.
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They shall plant
vineyards and eat their fruit.
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They shall not
build and another inhabit;
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they shall not
plant and another eat."
00:06:00.69\00:06:04.09
So we are going to be able to
own property in the new earth.
00:06:04.29\00:06:08.40
Isn't that going to be nice?
00:06:08.43\00:06:09.86
Everybody is going to
be the owner of property.
00:06:09.90\00:06:13.34
And you'll also be
able to build homes.
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Now I don't know what kind
of homes we'll build there.
00:06:15.34\00:06:19.14
It might be far different
than anything we're use to here.
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After all, the
weather and all that
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is not going to be the problem.
00:06:25.18\00:06:26.51
We may not have to
build sealed houses.
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Maybe we're going to
build homes out of vegetation.
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I don't know.
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You can kind of
let your imagination...
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Just think about
the architectural
00:06:36.12\00:06:37.46
opportunities involved here.
00:06:37.49\00:06:39.33
It's just amazing.
00:06:39.36\00:06:41.16
And there's going to, of course,
be no selling of real estate.
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No selling. Think of that.
00:06:46.00\00:06:47.44
When you get the deed to
your inheritance when Jesus
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breaks those seven
seals and delivers the deed,
00:06:51.41\00:06:54.81
when He gives you the
deed to your inheritance,
00:06:54.84\00:06:57.45
it's a forever deed.
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It's a deed that no one
will ever take from you.
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And you'll never
be willing to sell it.
00:07:02.45\00:07:04.02
There's not going to be buying
and selling of real estate.
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That home is yours.
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It's going to
be home sweet home.
00:07:08.72\00:07:12.46
Home sweet home forever.
00:07:12.86\00:07:15.66
Even if you travel, uninhibited
by the limits of lifetime,
00:07:15.70\00:07:21.10
if you travel out the universe
and you visit other worlds,
00:07:21.14\00:07:24.44
when you come home
it will be your home.
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Your home sweet home.
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And of course, there's
going to be agriculture there.
00:07:30.61\00:07:32.55
They're going to plant vineyards
and eat the fruit of them.
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That's going to be exciting.
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Think what it's going to be
like to be a gardener in heaven.
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It's going to be
far different than here.
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Here, you know,
I like to garden.
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But gardening can have some back
breaking work to it sometimes.
00:07:41.92\00:07:45.43
But it's not going to be that.
It's going to be so pleasant.
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It's going to be so wonderful.
00:07:48.00\00:07:49.76
What a place that's going to be.
00:07:49.86\00:07:52.53
So it's going to be a
lot of agriculture there.
00:07:52.57\00:07:54.40
Now we're also
going to get together.
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There's going to be
fellowship in heaven.
00:07:56.94\00:07:59.07
We're going to get
together with friends.
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We're not just going
to be isolated on our
00:08:01.94\00:08:03.65
little plot of land.
00:08:03.68\00:08:05.68
Not little plot of land.
00:08:05.71\00:08:07.05
On our estate out
there with our gardens,
00:08:07.08\00:08:09.18
and all that kind of thing.
00:08:09.22\00:08:10.55
No, we're not just
going to be loners in heaven.
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We're going to get
together with people.
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It's going to be so pleasant.
00:08:14.12\00:08:15.89
We're just going to enjoy
so much each other's company.
00:08:16.02\00:08:20.33
And God has provided for
us to be able to not only
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get together with each other,
but we're going to get together
00:08:22.70\00:08:26.43
with Him and the Lord Jesus.
00:08:27.00\00:08:29.64
Listen to what the Bible
says here in Isaiah 66:23.
00:08:29.67\00:08:35.14
"And it shall come to
pass that from one New Moon
00:08:35.24\00:08:38.71
to another, and from
one Sabbath to another,
00:08:38.75\00:08:42.28
all flesh shall come
and worship before Me."
00:08:42.38\00:08:45.55
So we're going to
meet every Sabbath
00:08:45.72\00:08:47.72
with our heavenly Father,
with the precious Savior,
00:08:47.76\00:08:51.09
and the Holy Spirit will
be there, unseen of course.
00:08:51.13\00:08:54.50
But He's going to be there doing
all kinds of marvelous things.
00:08:54.53\00:08:57.70
But we're going to
see our precious Savior.
00:08:57.73\00:08:59.63
The only thing that will
remind us of this old world
00:08:59.73\00:09:02.64
will be the nail
prints in His hand;
00:09:02.67\00:09:05.07
the scars from
what He went through
00:09:05.54\00:09:09.44
to give us all of that.
00:09:09.48\00:09:11.15
And there will be
our heavenly Father,
00:09:11.18\00:09:12.81
who loves His Son so very
much, but He gave Him to us.
00:09:12.85\00:09:16.99
You know, Jesus is a
gift to the human race.
00:09:17.55\00:09:20.26
A gift.
00:09:21.22\00:09:22.56
I had a professor one
time, and I loved what he said.
00:09:22.59\00:09:24.73
He said, "You know,
we're going to be walking
00:09:24.83\00:09:26.16
down the streets
of the New Jerusalem."
00:09:26.19\00:09:27.93
And he said, "We'll be walking
beside one of the angels.
00:09:28.36\00:09:30.73
And Jesus will
be up ahead of us."
00:09:30.77\00:09:32.80
And of course, he's
using some imagination here.
00:09:32.83\00:09:34.90
"We'll kind of
nudge the angel and say,
00:09:35.10\00:09:37.81
'You see Him?
00:09:38.01\00:09:39.34
Do you see Him?
00:09:39.44\00:09:40.78
He is one of us.'"
00:09:41.04\00:09:44.41
Jesus; the Father's
gift to the human race.
00:09:44.88\00:09:49.72
It will be wonderful
to have Him as our pastor
00:09:50.62\00:09:52.85
and preacher
every Sabbath, won't it?
00:09:52.89\00:09:54.82
Just think about that.
00:09:55.12\00:09:56.46
Think of what it means
to sit at the feet of Jesus.
00:09:56.49\00:09:58.23
One of my
mother's favorite songs is,
00:09:58.33\00:10:00.10
in the old
Adventist hymnal, it says,
00:10:00.40\00:10:02.70
"Sitting at the feet of Jesus."
00:10:02.73\00:10:05.53
Sitting there listening to Him.
00:10:06.33\00:10:08.20
So it's going to
be a wonderful place.
00:10:08.90\00:10:11.47
Now the animal world is
also going to be in harmony.
00:10:11.51\00:10:14.68
Now this is an incredible
statement from Isaiah 65:25.
00:10:14.71\00:10:19.35
"The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together,
00:10:19.51\00:10:21.98
the lion shall eat
straw like the ox..."
00:10:22.02\00:10:24.45
How about that?
00:10:24.49\00:10:25.82
"...the dust shall
be the serpent's food."
00:10:25.89\00:10:27.42
No more poisonous snakes.
00:10:27.46\00:10:29.12
"They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all My holy mountain."
00:10:29.29\00:10:32.03
The lions are
going to get a new diet.
00:10:32.06\00:10:34.53
They're not going
to be killing stuff.
00:10:34.56\00:10:36.46
They're going to
eat straw like an ox.
00:10:36.50\00:10:39.33
So that means, I
think, that all these animals
00:10:40.10\00:10:43.61
that are so vicious
nowadays that we see
00:10:43.64\00:10:45.91
in preying on one another,
it's all going to go away.
00:10:45.94\00:10:49.08
There's going to be great
harmony among the animals.
00:10:49.11\00:10:52.21
And they're all going to
become vegetarian, by the way.
00:10:52.41\00:10:55.55
Nobody is going to
be eating each other.
00:10:55.75\00:10:58.75
I love what the Lord
says, "There shall be no,"
00:10:58.95\00:11:03.46
I'm putting my own
words, "no fighting."
00:11:03.49\00:11:06.39
They're not going to hurt
one another in the new earth.
00:11:06.56\00:11:10.10
Isn't that
going to be wonderful?
00:11:10.13\00:11:11.47
You can walk out in the
woods, you can walk anywhere.
00:11:11.50\00:11:13.13
You're not going to
be afraid of animals.
00:11:13.17\00:11:14.97
No, they're going
to be your friends.
00:11:15.17\00:11:17.04
And it's going to be a
different world because,
00:11:17.07\00:11:19.27
as people manage the animals
in the kingdom of heaven,
00:11:19.31\00:11:21.91
it's not going to
be like they do here.
00:11:21.94\00:11:23.38
It's going to be
a sweet relationship
00:11:23.48\00:11:25.51
between the animal
kingdom and the human beings
00:11:25.55\00:11:28.72
who oversee them.
00:11:28.78\00:11:30.39
In fact, we probably
can't even imagine what that's
00:11:30.52\00:11:32.69
going to be like to be there.
00:11:32.72\00:11:34.76
Will we know each other?
00:11:34.86\00:11:36.46
Well the Bible says this
in 1 Corinthians 13:12...
00:11:36.56\00:11:39.79
Even though we're
going to get new bodies,
00:11:40.00\00:11:42.00
we're going to be
wonderfully made new.
00:11:42.30\00:11:44.10
But the Bible says, "For now
we see in a mirror," Paul says,
00:11:44.13\00:11:47.50
"dimly, but then face to face."
00:11:47.54\00:11:50.24
And he says, "Now I know
in part, but then I shall know
00:11:50.41\00:11:55.18
even as I am also known."
00:11:55.21\00:11:57.48
So we'll know each other
in the kingdom of heaven.
00:11:57.51\00:12:01.05
Matthew 17:3 says, when
the glory of Jesus was revealed
00:12:01.48\00:12:05.99
on the mount of transfiguration
00:12:06.02\00:12:07.62
that Moses and
Elijah appeared to Him.
00:12:07.66\00:12:09.79
So they knew each other.
00:12:09.82\00:12:11.76
They knew each other.
00:12:11.86\00:12:13.26
So Jesus is the architect
and the builder of this.
00:12:13.53\00:12:16.80
I mean, He says, "I'm gone.
00:12:16.83\00:12:18.63
I'm up there right
now getting ready for you.
00:12:18.67\00:12:21.77
I'm preparing you."
00:12:21.80\00:12:23.24
Paul says it has not
even entered your mind
00:12:23.27\00:12:25.81
what God has prepared
for those who love Him.
00:12:25.84\00:12:29.24
And it's going to be a place
where righteousness dwells.
00:12:29.28\00:12:32.28
Think of that.
00:12:32.31\00:12:33.65
What is righteousness?
00:12:33.68\00:12:35.32
The Bible says that God is love.
00:12:35.42\00:12:37.95
It says that the
Ten Commandments,
00:12:37.99\00:12:39.85
that they are righteous.
00:12:39.95\00:12:42.12
So there's never going to
be any end to the horizons.
00:12:42.99\00:12:48.46
People say, "Will I
get bored in heaven?"
00:12:48.50\00:12:49.83
You'll never get bored.
00:12:49.86\00:12:51.20
You're never going to get...
00:12:51.33\00:12:52.67
You're going to be surrounded
with people who are filled with
00:12:52.70\00:12:54.77
unselfish love who aren't
thinking about themselves,
00:12:54.80\00:12:58.21
but they're just thinking
about what they can do to be a
00:12:58.24\00:13:00.81
blessing and to
minister to other people.
00:13:00.84\00:13:03.75
And Jesus is the
way, He's the truth,
00:13:04.25\00:13:07.82
and He's the life.
00:13:07.92\00:13:09.65
I want to end with
this beautiful statement
00:13:09.68\00:13:12.82
from the book,
Great Controversy.
00:13:12.85\00:13:15.42
It's a beautiful statement
that just describes this.
00:13:15.96\00:13:18.53
It says, "The great
controversy is ended.
00:13:18.56\00:13:21.80
Sin and sinners are no more.
00:13:21.83\00:13:24.07
The entire universe is clean.
00:13:24.10\00:13:26.67
One pulse of harmony
beats through the vast creation.
00:13:26.90\00:13:31.74
From Him who created all
flow life and light and gladness
00:13:32.44\00:13:38.31
and life throughout the
realms of illimitable space.
00:13:38.35\00:13:42.15
From the minutest
atom to the greatest world,
00:13:42.48\00:13:46.19
all things, animate
and inanimate, in their
00:13:46.22\00:13:49.72
unshadowed
beauty and perfect joy,
00:13:49.76\00:13:53.36
declare this; that God is love."
00:13:53.76\00:13:59.10