¤
00:00:02.03\00:00:10.37
[ "Holy, Holy, Holy" begins ]
00:00:14.14\00:00:17.71
¤
00:00:17.81\00:00:27.69
¤
00:00:27.79\00:00:37.67
¤
00:00:37.77\00:00:47.64
¤
00:00:47.74\00:00:57.45
¤
00:01:45.03\00:01:50.34
[ "Joyful, Joyful,
00:02:35.92\00:02:38.32
We Adore Thee" begins ]
00:02:38.42\00:02:40.39
¤
00:02:40.49\00:02:46.73
¤
00:02:46.83\00:02:52.87
¤
00:04:25.83\00:04:33.74
¤
00:04:33.84\00:04:41.84
>> Amen.
00:04:41.94\00:04:42.88
[ "He is Exalted" begins ]
00:04:45.41\00:04:47.98
¤
00:04:48.08\00:04:55.19
¤
00:04:55.29\00:05:02.23
>> Amen.
00:07:20.97\00:07:22.04
>> Amen.
00:07:22.14\00:07:23.51
[ "Holy Spirit Rain Down"
00:07:23.61\00:07:26.84
begins ]
00:07:26.94\00:07:30.08
>> Amen.
00:12:07.46\00:12:08.22
>> After hearing such
00:12:11.39\00:12:13.53
heavenly music in first service,
00:12:13.63\00:12:17.10
I began my sermon by saying
00:12:17.20\00:12:20.10
that a wiser person
00:12:20.20\00:12:21.10
would just sit down
00:12:21.20\00:12:22.04
and have the benediction.
00:12:22.14\00:12:25.57
But then, someone said, "Amen."
00:12:25.67\00:12:27.61
[ Laughter ]
00:12:27.71\00:12:29.98
So I'm not going to say
00:12:30.08\00:12:31.08
that at the beginning
00:12:31.18\00:12:32.35
of second service sermon.
00:12:32.45\00:12:35.32
But I will say, praise the Lord
00:12:35.42\00:12:36.52
for the beautiful music
00:12:36.62\00:12:37.39
that we heard this morning.
00:12:37.49\00:12:37.92
Amen?
00:12:38.02\00:12:38.52
>> Amen.
00:12:38.62\00:12:39.65
>> Just a wonderful job to our
00:12:39.75\00:12:42.09
AU chorale and symphony
00:12:42.19\00:12:43.96
orchestra.
00:12:44.06\00:12:45.76
Many thanks to Dr. Zork
00:12:45.86\00:12:47.13
and Dr. Elysée.
00:12:47.23\00:12:48.33
We appreciate very much
00:12:48.43\00:12:49.33
their leadership in leading us
00:12:49.43\00:12:51.03
in worship here at Pioneer.
00:12:51.13\00:12:54.60
If you have a Bible,
00:12:54.70\00:12:55.57
would you please open it
00:12:55.67\00:12:56.74
to 1 Corinthians 2:9.
00:12:56.84\00:13:00.88
1 Corinthians 2:9.
00:13:00.98\00:13:02.84
Dr. Faehner read this to us
00:13:02.94\00:13:04.01
very ably just a few moments
00:13:04.11\00:13:05.41
ago, but I'd like you to look
00:13:05.51\00:13:06.18
at it again.
00:13:06.28\00:13:07.65
1 Corinthians 2:9.
00:13:07.75\00:13:12.29
Famous text oft repeated,
00:13:12.39\00:13:14.76
perhaps not often enough.
00:13:14.86\00:13:18.39
Verse 9, it says, "However,
00:13:18.49\00:13:19.66
as it is written,
00:13:19.76\00:13:21.46
'No eye has seen,
00:13:21.56\00:13:24.00
no ear has heard,
00:13:24.10\00:13:26.43
no mind has conceived
00:13:26.53\00:13:28.90
what God has prepared
00:13:29.00\00:13:30.87
for those who love Him.'"
00:13:30.97\00:13:33.78
No eye has seen,
00:13:33.88\00:13:34.64
no ear has heard,
00:13:34.74\00:13:35.51
no mind has conceived
00:13:35.61\00:13:37.25
what God has prepared
00:13:37.35\00:13:38.65
for those who love Him.
00:13:38.75\00:13:40.18
Now, most scholars would agree
00:13:40.28\00:13:43.35
that this is speaking of Heaven.
00:13:43.45\00:13:47.19
Paul here
00:13:47.29\00:13:48.46
is looking to the future,
00:13:48.56\00:13:50.03
and as he sees the future,
00:13:50.13\00:13:51.33
the place that comes after this
00:13:51.43\00:13:52.69
one, for those who love the
00:13:52.79\00:13:53.93
Lord, he says, "No eye has seen,
00:13:54.00\00:13:56.16
no ear has heard,
00:13:56.26\00:13:57.70
even into the mind of man,
00:13:57.80\00:13:59.20
it has not entered what God
00:13:59.30\00:14:01.34
has prepared for His people."
00:14:01.44\00:14:03.14
That is one of
00:14:03.24\00:14:04.91
his descriptions of Heaven.
00:14:05.01\00:14:06.34
And if that is true,
00:14:06.44\00:14:09.04
then I would conclude
00:14:09.14\00:14:10.65
at least two things.
00:14:10.75\00:14:12.61
Number one,
00:14:12.71\00:14:14.22
when it comes to Heaven,
00:14:14.32\00:14:15.78
we are going to have
00:14:15.88\00:14:17.12
to use our imaginations.
00:14:17.22\00:14:20.69
You say, why would
00:14:20.79\00:14:22.02
we have to use our imagination?
00:14:22.12\00:14:23.19
Because no eye has seen
00:14:23.29\00:14:25.39
and no ear has heard and never
00:14:25.49\00:14:26.76
has entered into our minds
00:14:26.86\00:14:28.16
exactly, precisely what it is
00:14:28.26\00:14:29.46
that God has in store for us.
00:14:29.56\00:14:30.50
So we need to use
00:14:30.60\00:14:32.00
our imaginations.
00:14:32.10\00:14:33.13
This is why, if you go online
00:14:33.23\00:14:35.14
and maybe you go to iStock
00:14:35.24\00:14:36.77
or something like that, and you
00:14:36.87\00:14:37.74
type in the word "Heaven."
00:14:37.84\00:14:40.51
You will go on
00:14:40.61\00:14:42.18
an imagination journey.
00:14:42.28\00:14:43.81
This is one that came up here,
00:14:43.91\00:14:45.01
this gate and these doves flying
00:14:45.11\00:14:46.28
through it.
00:14:46.38\00:14:47.25
I assume those are doves and not
00:14:47.35\00:14:48.45
wild turkeys or something.
00:14:48.55\00:14:49.52
But there's this arch that is
00:14:49.62\00:14:51.09
here, and it's up in the clouds,
00:14:51.19\00:14:52.49
and that's kind of it.
00:14:52.59\00:14:53.66
We say, well, it's not entirely
00:14:53.76\00:14:55.16
theologically correct,
00:14:55.26\00:14:56.42
but there is some imagination
00:14:56.52\00:14:57.56
shown here.
00:14:57.66\00:14:58.83
How about this one?
00:14:58.93\00:15:00.10
This is a little bit more
00:15:00.20\00:15:01.10
correct.
00:15:01.20\00:15:01.83
This city here.
00:15:01.93\00:15:02.80
And indeed it talks
00:15:02.90\00:15:03.80
about this city up there.
00:15:03.90\00:15:05.17
There's the doves again that are
00:15:05.27\00:15:06.27
flying into this frame, as well.
00:15:06.37\00:15:08.40
Imagination is required
00:15:08.50\00:15:12.74
if we are going to get
00:15:12.84\00:15:14.14
a glimpse of the specifics
00:15:14.24\00:15:16.21
that God has placed in His Word,
00:15:16.31\00:15:18.05
speaking of Heaven.
00:15:18.15\00:15:18.98
That's the first thing.
00:15:19.08\00:15:20.72
The second conclusion that
00:15:20.82\00:15:21.88
I draw is this -- wherever our
00:15:21.98\00:15:23.79
sanctified imaginations take us,
00:15:23.89\00:15:26.55
they must always lead us
00:15:26.65\00:15:29.56
to conclude
00:15:29.66\00:15:31.76
that Heaven will be better.
00:15:31.86\00:15:36.70
What word did I say?
00:15:36.80\00:15:37.83
>> Better.
00:15:37.93\00:15:38.60
>> Better.
00:15:38.70\00:15:40.10
You say, better than what?
00:15:40.20\00:15:41.37
Everything. Anything good
00:15:41.47\00:15:44.01
that you experience right now,
00:15:44.11\00:15:45.54
it will be better, assuming
00:15:45.64\00:15:47.58
that it is righteous and good
00:15:47.68\00:15:48.81
that which you are experiencing.
00:15:48.91\00:15:50.21
It will be better in Heaven.
00:15:50.31\00:15:52.18
In fact, to help drive
00:15:52.28\00:15:53.55
this point home, that it will
00:15:53.65\00:15:54.88
be better in Heaven,
00:15:54.98\00:15:56.62
I need your help.
00:15:56.72\00:15:58.02
Every time during the next few
00:15:58.12\00:15:59.89
minutes here that we were
00:16:00.06\00:16:01.02
together, every time that I cup
00:16:01.12\00:16:02.62
my hand to my ear like this,
00:16:02.72\00:16:04.26
I would like you to say
00:16:04.36\00:16:05.53
the word "better."
00:16:05.63\00:16:06.83
Let's try this -- 1, 2, 3.
00:16:06.93\00:16:08.43
>> Better.
00:16:08.53\00:16:09.66
>> Okay. 1, 2, 3.
00:16:09.76\00:16:11.33
>> Better.
00:16:11.43\00:16:12.67
>> Okay. Now...
00:16:12.77\00:16:17.01
We just started the sermon,
00:16:17.11\00:16:18.67
and you're already not
00:16:18.77\00:16:19.64
following.
00:16:19.74\00:16:20.48
What's going on here?
00:16:20.58\00:16:21.74
All right, so let's try that
00:16:21.84\00:16:22.81
again.
00:16:22.91\00:16:23.65
1, 2, 3.
00:16:23.75\00:16:25.38
>> Better.
00:16:25.48\00:16:26.45
>> Aha. Very good. Yes.
00:16:26.55\00:16:28.05
When the hand comes up here,
00:16:28.15\00:16:29.52
you will know that that is your
00:16:29.62\00:16:31.32
cue, all right?
00:16:31.42\00:16:32.25
So let's be clear.
00:16:32.35\00:16:34.39
What is coming in heaven is...
00:16:34.49\00:16:36.73
>> Better.
00:16:36.83\00:16:37.59
>> ...than what we currently
00:16:37.69\00:16:38.46
have.
00:16:38.56\00:16:39.13
What is coming in Heaven
00:16:39.23\00:16:40.20
will be...
00:16:40.30\00:16:40.83
>> Better.
00:16:40.93\00:16:41.80
>> ...than anything that we can
00:16:41.90\00:16:43.03
experience here.
00:16:43.13\00:16:45.20
And with that in mind,
00:16:45.30\00:16:46.27
I would like us to do
00:16:46.37\00:16:47.24
a brief trip through
00:16:47.34\00:16:48.84
Scripture using our
00:16:48.94\00:16:50.21
sanctified imagination,
00:16:50.31\00:16:51.41
guided by God's Word,
00:16:51.51\00:16:52.77
and learn about the...
00:16:52.87\00:16:53.81
>> Better.
00:16:53.91\00:16:54.78
>> ...that is just around
00:16:54.88\00:16:55.94
the corner.
00:16:56.04\00:16:56.95
Turn in your Bibles, please,
00:16:57.05\00:16:58.01
again, 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
00:16:58.11\00:17:01.88
2 Corinthians, the 12th chapter,
00:17:01.98\00:17:04.09
beginning with verse one.
00:17:04.19\00:17:08.06
To the best of our knowledge,
00:17:08.16\00:17:08.86
this is the second letter,
00:17:08.96\00:17:10.09
at least, certainly, that we
00:17:10.19\00:17:11.36
have extant, that Paul wrote
00:17:11.46\00:17:12.56
here to the Corinthians.
00:17:12.66\00:17:13.63
The Corinthian church
00:17:13.73\00:17:14.46
was quite an interesting
00:17:14.56\00:17:16.10
and energetic place.
00:17:16.20\00:17:17.13
Paul had to deal
00:17:17.23\00:17:18.23
with a number of issues there,
00:17:18.33\00:17:19.43
but he's rounding out -- at
00:17:19.53\00:17:20.84
least his published
00:17:20.94\00:17:21.94
communication --
00:17:22.04\00:17:23.04
with some information
00:17:23.14\00:17:25.31
about the very place we want
00:17:25.41\00:17:27.34
to know more of, about Heaven.
00:17:27.44\00:17:28.84
Let's see what he says.
00:17:28.94\00:17:29.74
2 Corinthians 12:1
00:17:29.84\00:17:31.98
Paul says, "I must go on
00:17:32.08\00:17:32.91
boasting.
00:17:33.01\00:17:33.82
Although there is nothing to be
00:17:33.92\00:17:35.22
gained, I will go on to visions
00:17:35.32\00:17:37.62
and revelations from the Lord.
00:17:37.72\00:17:40.22
I know a man in Christ
00:17:40.32\00:17:43.19
who, 14 years ago, was caught up
00:17:43.29\00:17:45.46
to the third heaven."
00:17:45.56\00:17:47.30
Now pause for just a moment.
00:17:47.40\00:17:48.80
The Apostle Paul here,
00:17:48.90\00:17:49.70
we're not entirely sure
00:17:49.80\00:17:51.30
exactly what he's referring
00:17:51.40\00:17:52.50
to here with the third heaven.
00:17:52.60\00:17:53.67
Some people say that, well,
00:17:53.77\00:17:55.17
Paul had this cosmology
00:17:55.27\00:17:56.77
that was in common with the Jews
00:17:56.87\00:17:57.61
at that time,
00:17:57.71\00:17:58.34
seven levels of heaven,
00:17:58.44\00:17:59.27
but that wouldn't fit
00:17:59.37\00:17:59.87
with this third one.
00:18:00.04\00:18:00.81
Others say, well, there were
00:18:00.91\00:18:02.04
three heavens.
00:18:02.14\00:18:02.91
There was the air we breathe.
00:18:03.01\00:18:04.71
There were the stars at night.
00:18:04.81\00:18:06.08
That's the second heaven.
00:18:06.18\00:18:07.02
And then, the place
00:18:07.12\00:18:07.85
where God dwells.
00:18:07.95\00:18:10.09
That would be the third heaven.
00:18:10.19\00:18:11.29
Whatever the case, it's clear
00:18:11.39\00:18:13.22
that Paul is speaking
00:18:13.32\00:18:14.92
about the dwelling place of God.
00:18:15.02\00:18:16.83
This is what he's speaking of.
00:18:16.93\00:18:18.19
And it is he himself
00:18:18.29\00:18:21.03
that has experienced this.
00:18:21.13\00:18:22.06
He is graciously speaking
00:18:22.16\00:18:23.33
of himself in the third person.
00:18:23.43\00:18:24.60
But nonetheless,
00:18:24.70\00:18:25.40
if we were to read,
00:18:25.50\00:18:26.20
it's very clear Paul is speaking
00:18:26.30\00:18:28.14
of his own personal experience.
00:18:28.24\00:18:29.57
So let's see what he says.
00:18:29.67\00:18:31.57
Verse three.
00:18:31.67\00:18:33.81
"And I know that this man --
00:18:33.91\00:18:35.21
whether in the body or apart
00:18:35.31\00:18:36.71
from the body, I do not know,
00:18:36.81\00:18:37.75
But God knows --
00:18:37.85\00:18:39.05
he was caught up to"...
00:18:39.15\00:18:41.12
What's that next word? Paradise.
00:18:41.22\00:18:43.22
Ah, interesting.
00:18:43.32\00:18:45.09
"He heard inexpressible things,
00:18:45.19\00:18:48.09
things that a man is not
00:18:48.19\00:18:49.32
permitted to tell."
00:18:49.42\00:18:53.29
Well, that was a waste of time,
00:18:53.40\00:18:54.66
wasn't it?
00:18:54.76\00:18:55.70
Here we'd like to know about
00:18:55.80\00:18:57.33
Heaven, and we get there, and
00:18:57.43\00:18:59.00
Paul goes, he has this vision
00:18:59.10\00:19:00.70
about it, he's risen up to it,
00:19:00.80\00:19:02.20
whatever it is.
00:19:02.30\00:19:03.34
And then, he says, "Sorry.
00:19:03.44\00:19:04.87
Not only do words not -- are
00:19:04.97\00:19:06.14
they not able to express what I
00:19:06.24\00:19:07.48
saw, but I don't have permission
00:19:07.58\00:19:08.54
to tell you."
00:19:08.64\00:19:09.84
Blessedly, Paul does drop us
00:19:14.35\00:19:17.15
a clue
00:19:17.25\00:19:18.85
about what Heaven will be like.
00:19:18.95\00:19:20.36
He used that word "paradise."
00:19:20.46\00:19:23.93
Paradise.
00:19:24.03\00:19:25.53
Now, that's actually a Persian
00:19:25.63\00:19:27.60
word, also occurs in Sanskrit.
00:19:27.73\00:19:28.93
There's a few other places
00:19:29.03\00:19:29.76
that it comes from,
00:19:29.86\00:19:30.53
but mostly Persian is where
00:19:30.63\00:19:31.57
we tend to draw that word from.
00:19:31.67\00:19:33.30
Paul borrows it here, and Paul
00:19:33.40\00:19:34.97
was generally quite particular
00:19:35.07\00:19:36.57
about the words that he chose,
00:19:36.67\00:19:37.97
as with all the other Bible
00:19:38.07\00:19:38.81
writers.
00:19:38.91\00:19:39.64
He chose paradise.
00:19:39.74\00:19:40.98
Well, what does the Persian
00:19:41.08\00:19:42.21
word "paradise" mean?
00:19:42.31\00:19:43.55
It means...
00:19:43.65\00:19:45.98
park.
00:19:46.08\00:19:50.42
So what is it? Heaven's a park.
00:19:50.52\00:19:53.72
Well, apparently so.
00:19:53.82\00:19:56.09
And we must remember then,
00:19:56.19\00:19:57.46
immediately, if Heaven is a
00:19:57.56\00:19:58.89
park, we must remember that
00:19:58.99\00:20:00.43
all of Heaven will be...
00:20:00.53\00:20:01.40
>> Better.
00:20:01.50\00:20:02.80
>> ...than anything that we
00:20:02.90\00:20:04.10
have here on Earth, including
00:20:04.20\00:20:05.13
our parks.
00:20:05.23\00:20:06.07
Now, I have been to a few nice
00:20:06.17\00:20:06.80
parks.
00:20:06.90\00:20:07.60
Let me just put some things here
00:20:07.70\00:20:08.60
on the screen for you.
00:20:08.70\00:20:09.40
Where is this at?
00:20:09.50\00:20:11.87
Grand Canyon. That's right.
00:20:11.97\00:20:13.38
The Grand Canyon there.
00:20:13.48\00:20:14.21
When I was a kid,
00:20:14.31\00:20:14.98
I remember the first time
00:20:15.08\00:20:15.91
that I went to the Grand Canyon.
00:20:16.01\00:20:16.78
We were traveling
00:20:16.88\00:20:17.45
for the summer.
00:20:17.55\00:20:18.11
I was with my dad, my
00:20:18.21\00:20:19.01
stepmother, et cetera.
00:20:19.11\00:20:20.12
And we got out,
00:20:20.22\00:20:21.28
and I got out of the van,
00:20:21.38\00:20:22.58
and you could kind of see,
00:20:22.68\00:20:23.62
like, over the parking lot,
00:20:23.72\00:20:24.79
a little bit of the horizon.
00:20:24.89\00:20:25.79
It looked mostly like desert.
00:20:25.89\00:20:27.32
I went up to the edge...
00:20:27.42\00:20:30.89
and I knew immediately
00:20:30.99\00:20:32.03
why they called it grand.
00:20:32.13\00:20:33.86
I mean, just incredible.
00:20:33.96\00:20:35.06
It's not just a gigantic hole --
00:20:35.16\00:20:36.53
Well, it is a gigantic hole in
00:20:36.63\00:20:37.73
the ground, but it's this
00:20:37.83\00:20:38.60
incredible --
00:20:38.70\00:20:39.40
The grandeur of it all,
00:20:39.50\00:20:40.74
the scope, the strata that you
00:20:40.84\00:20:42.54
can see illustrated here,
00:20:42.64\00:20:43.67
the water and the way
00:20:43.77\00:20:45.27
the erosion has taken place.
00:20:45.37\00:20:46.54
And sometimes, there's even
00:20:46.64\00:20:47.74
greenery, depending on where
00:20:47.84\00:20:49.01
you're at, Zion, et cetera,
00:20:49.11\00:20:50.05
the colors that are there.
00:20:50.15\00:20:51.01
It is incredible.
00:20:51.11\00:20:53.28
But heaven will be...
00:20:53.38\00:20:54.32
>> Better.
00:20:54.42\00:20:55.32
>> ...than the Grand Canyon.
00:20:55.42\00:20:56.92
And it's also going to be better
00:20:57.02\00:20:58.29
than Yellowstone National Park.
00:20:58.39\00:21:00.46
Now, I've been to Yellowstone
00:21:00.56\00:21:01.69
a number of times, as well.
00:21:01.79\00:21:02.76
It's one of my favorite places
00:21:02.86\00:21:03.56
to visit.
00:21:03.66\00:21:04.46
It's just a beautiful place,
00:21:04.56\00:21:06.13
the breadth and the depth
00:21:06.23\00:21:07.56
of the ecosystems that are found
00:21:07.66\00:21:09.40
just inside of Yellowstone.
00:21:09.50\00:21:11.30
It's an amazing place to be.
00:21:11.40\00:21:12.97
And of course, there's always an
00:21:13.07\00:21:14.07
element of danger, isn't there?
00:21:14.17\00:21:15.70
You don't know if you're
00:21:15.80\00:21:16.57
going to fall into some sort of,
00:21:16.67\00:21:17.44
you know, fountain
00:21:17.54\00:21:18.41
that comes out of the ground.
00:21:18.51\00:21:19.24
There'll be a bear
00:21:19.34\00:21:19.84
that will find you.
00:21:19.94\00:21:20.84
It's this incredible,
00:21:20.94\00:21:21.94
exciting place to be.
00:21:22.04\00:21:24.01
But Heaven will be...
00:21:24.11\00:21:25.38
>> Better.
00:21:25.48\00:21:26.21
>> ...than Yellowstone.
00:21:26.31\00:21:27.35
In fact, it will even be
00:21:27.45\00:21:28.42
better than this place.
00:21:28.52\00:21:29.72
Where's this?
00:21:29.82\00:21:30.95
Grand Tetons.
00:21:31.05\00:21:32.35
Now, that's interesting.
00:21:32.45\00:21:33.12
More of you knew that it was
00:21:33.22\00:21:34.06
the Tetons than Yellowstone.
00:21:34.16\00:21:35.19
Did you know they're like two
00:21:35.29\00:21:36.09
minutes apart from each other?
00:21:36.19\00:21:37.63
You should stop by sometime
00:21:37.73\00:21:38.66
because the Tetons
00:21:38.76\00:21:39.76
is an incredible place.
00:21:39.86\00:21:41.23
Mother Earth decided
00:21:41.33\00:21:42.70
that she had indigestion,
00:21:42.80\00:21:44.00
and one day -- fmmp! --
00:21:44.10\00:21:45.13
these things came up.
00:21:45.23\00:21:46.74
I mean, they just come straight
00:21:46.84\00:21:48.04
up from the desert soil there.
00:21:48.14\00:21:49.40
It's incredible.
00:21:49.50\00:21:50.44
They're so stark in their
00:21:50.54\00:21:51.41
beauty.
00:21:51.51\00:21:52.31
A few years ago,
00:21:52.41\00:21:53.81
my wife's side of the family,
00:21:53.91\00:21:54.64
we got together there
00:21:54.74\00:21:55.68
at the Grand Tetons, and we
00:21:55.78\00:21:57.85
bicycles, we rented bicycles,
00:21:57.95\00:21:59.71
and we went along
00:21:59.81\00:22:01.18
this bicycle path
00:22:01.28\00:22:02.82
that goes along the Tetons.
00:22:02.92\00:22:04.45
I think it's one of the most
00:22:04.55\00:22:05.49
dangerous bicycle paths
00:22:05.59\00:22:07.09
in the world.
00:22:07.19\00:22:08.99
Not because the terrain
00:22:09.09\00:22:10.69
is treacherous,
00:22:10.79\00:22:12.16
but because you're constantly
00:22:12.26\00:22:13.13
doing this, you know?
00:22:13.23\00:22:15.36
You're looking up and you're
00:22:15.46\00:22:16.13
going to run into somebody
00:22:16.23\00:22:17.20
and make a scene and whatnot.
00:22:17.30\00:22:18.30
But it is absolutely gorgeous.
00:22:18.40\00:22:20.34
The water is there.
00:22:20.44\00:22:21.54
This is not an anomaly.
00:22:21.64\00:22:22.87
There are bodies of water
00:22:22.97\00:22:23.74
right there, lakes.
00:22:23.84\00:22:24.41
And the river
00:22:24.51\00:22:25.07
runs by through there.
00:22:25.17\00:22:26.14
It is absolutely incredible.
00:22:26.24\00:22:28.48
But Heaven will be...
00:22:28.58\00:22:29.74
>> Better.
00:22:29.84\00:22:30.75
>> ...than anything
00:22:30.85\00:22:31.61
the Tetons could ever do,
00:22:31.71\00:22:32.85
even on their best day.
00:22:32.95\00:22:34.32
And notice this.
00:22:34.42\00:22:36.45
This is Kepirohi Falls
00:22:36.55\00:22:37.72
in Pohnpei.
00:22:37.82\00:22:39.55
I did not know today
00:22:39.65\00:22:40.62
that our children's story
00:22:40.72\00:22:41.49
was actually going to feature
00:22:41.59\00:22:42.29
the island of Pohnpei.
00:22:42.39\00:22:43.22
I was a student missionary
00:22:43.32\00:22:44.39
there as well. I've met --
00:22:44.49\00:22:46.39
There's actually four of us,
00:22:46.49\00:22:47.60
at least, that went to Pohn--
00:22:47.66\00:22:49.33
Raise your hand if you went to
00:22:49.43\00:22:50.37
Pohnpei as a student missionary.
00:22:50.47\00:22:52.80
Okay. Still just four of us.
00:22:52.90\00:22:53.87
But we're glad that you're here.
00:22:53.97\00:22:54.90
Yes. And on Pohnpei, I wish I
00:22:55.00\00:22:58.14
had a picture of this falls.
00:22:58.24\00:23:00.11
I was there back
00:23:00.21\00:23:01.14
in the last millennium,
00:23:01.24\00:23:02.21
in the dark ages of photography.
00:23:02.31\00:23:04.11
And, so, I did not carry with
00:23:04.21\00:23:05.38
me --
00:23:05.48\00:23:06.25
You know, no phones in those
00:23:06.35\00:23:07.38
days to take pictures with, and
00:23:07.48\00:23:08.78
I did not take many pictures.
00:23:08.88\00:23:10.19
So this is Kepirohi Falls
00:23:10.29\00:23:11.49
just to give you a little hint
00:23:11.59\00:23:12.62
of what it was.
00:23:12.72\00:23:13.99
I am guessing that this was
00:23:14.09\00:23:16.29
the seven waterfalls trail.
00:23:16.39\00:23:18.33
I don't know for sure.
00:23:18.43\00:23:19.79
We walked out into the jungle.
00:23:19.89\00:23:22.36
We did not get lost.
00:23:22.46\00:23:24.17
No offense, Kayla.
00:23:24.27\00:23:25.53
We did not get lost.
00:23:25.63\00:23:27.54
And when we -- The jungle
00:23:27.64\00:23:28.97
kind of opened up,
00:23:29.07\00:23:30.24
and I looked to my left.
00:23:30.34\00:23:31.41
I could still see it clear as
00:23:31.51\00:23:32.27
a bell.
00:23:32.37\00:23:33.07
It was absolutely astonishing.
00:23:33.17\00:23:35.48
I have never seen such beauty
00:23:35.58\00:23:37.21
any other place on planet Earth.
00:23:37.31\00:23:39.18
It was a series of three
00:23:39.28\00:23:40.25
waterfalls going down and
00:23:40.35\00:23:42.58
they went off into the distance.
00:23:42.68\00:23:43.42
I'm going to guess
00:23:43.52\00:23:44.32
it was probably 1,000 feet.
00:23:44.42\00:23:45.82
So, I mean, this is not a small
00:23:45.92\00:23:47.62
amount of distance here.
00:23:47.72\00:23:48.96
There was a little bit of mist
00:23:49.06\00:23:49.69
in the jungle,
00:23:49.79\00:23:50.56
and the sides of the jungle
00:23:50.66\00:23:51.53
went straight up
00:23:51.63\00:23:52.36
from the water's edge.
00:23:52.46\00:23:53.66
There was no sandy beach
00:23:53.76\00:23:55.03
or anything like that.
00:23:55.13\00:23:56.30
The greenery came right down
00:23:56.40\00:23:57.63
to the water.
00:23:57.73\00:23:58.50
And it went over one waterfall.
00:23:58.60\00:24:00.07
And then, you could look
00:24:00.17\00:24:00.90
in the distance a little bit,
00:24:01.00\00:24:01.70
went over the next one, and you
00:24:01.80\00:24:02.64
looked down a little bit, it
00:24:02.74\00:24:03.54
went down the other one.
00:24:03.64\00:24:04.51
These beautiful crystal clear
00:24:04.61\00:24:05.14
waters.
00:24:05.24\00:24:06.34
You could see some flowers
00:24:06.44\00:24:07.51
in the trees there.
00:24:07.61\00:24:08.78
No telephone poles,
00:24:08.88\00:24:10.08
no power lines, no traffic,
00:24:10.18\00:24:11.88
no skyscrapers, no other people.
00:24:11.98\00:24:13.52
Just us and God's garden.
00:24:13.62\00:24:16.55
It was absolutely astonishing.
00:24:16.65\00:24:19.55
It was one of those places,
00:24:19.65\00:24:21.26
when me and the other SMs
00:24:21.36\00:24:22.76
came out there,
00:24:22.86\00:24:24.16
everybody was just quiet.
00:24:24.26\00:24:27.03
Because it took your breath
00:24:27.13\00:24:28.86
away how beautiful God's
00:24:28.96\00:24:31.93
creation could be.
00:24:32.03\00:24:34.27
And yet...
00:24:38.01\00:24:40.48
Heaven will be...
00:24:40.58\00:24:43.28
>> Better.
00:24:43.38\00:24:44.98
>> ...than anything that
00:24:45.08\00:24:46.68
Pohnpei, on its best day,
00:24:46.78\00:24:48.28
could ever offer.
00:24:48.38\00:24:50.09
Now...
00:24:50.19\00:24:53.89
It's not only the parks
00:24:53.99\00:24:55.92
that will be better.
00:24:56.02\00:24:59.26
How many of you like
00:24:59.36\00:25:03.40
your particular usual
00:25:03.50\00:25:06.47
form of transportation?
00:25:06.57\00:25:12.11
Yeah, I appreciate the honesty
00:25:12.21\00:25:13.48
of the 10 of you that raised
00:25:13.58\00:25:14.68
your hands because they're like,
00:25:14.78\00:25:15.71
"Does he mean my car?"
00:25:15.81\00:25:16.91
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:25:17.01\00:25:18.21
I mean, your car. Okay, right.
00:25:18.31\00:25:19.28
Or your bicycle
00:25:19.38\00:25:20.48
or whatever it is.
00:25:20.58\00:25:21.65
You know, custom car culture,
00:25:21.75\00:25:23.12
we love our automobiles so much
00:25:23.22\00:25:25.69
that the aftermarket
00:25:25.79\00:25:27.19
for the automobile industry
00:25:27.29\00:25:28.32
is a is a multi-multi-multi-
00:25:28.42\00:25:29.79
multi-million dollar industry.
00:25:29.89\00:25:31.49
We love our things.
00:25:31.59\00:25:32.19
We give them names.
00:25:32.29\00:25:33.19
My mother named our Peugeot 405,
00:25:33.29\00:25:36.97
she named it Betsy.
00:25:37.07\00:25:39.13
And every time --
00:25:39.23\00:25:40.04
The car didn't have a lot of
00:25:40.14\00:25:41.14
guts and there was a lot of
00:25:41.24\00:25:42.27
hills where we lived, and so, we
00:25:42.37\00:25:43.27
would go up there.
00:25:43.37\00:25:44.17
"Come on, Betsy, come on,
00:25:44.27\00:25:45.77
Betsy," right?
00:25:45.87\00:25:47.21
And we do this because we kind
00:25:47.31\00:25:48.71
of develop this relationship
00:25:48.81\00:25:49.81
with it.
00:25:49.91\00:25:50.55
My oldest daughter
00:25:50.65\00:25:51.91
was a student missionary
00:25:52.01\00:25:53.31
in Bolivia this last year.
00:25:53.42\00:25:54.52
And we went down there
00:25:54.62\00:25:55.05
to visit her.
00:25:55.15\00:25:56.22
One of the towns that's
00:25:56.32\00:25:57.12
nearby there, they have
00:25:57.22\00:25:58.49
these things called toritos,
00:25:58.59\00:26:00.29
and a torito is a cab
00:26:00.39\00:26:02.19
that's kind of a motorcycle
00:26:02.29\00:26:03.32
that's got a, you know,
00:26:03.43\00:26:04.33
a kind of a dome thing on it.
00:26:04.43\00:26:06.06
There's not a single one
00:26:06.16\00:26:07.03
of those things that's alike.
00:26:07.13\00:26:08.56
They're all customized.
00:26:08.66\00:26:09.56
It's got pictures and names and
00:26:09.66\00:26:10.87
stickers and things
00:26:10.97\00:26:11.97
hanging from it or whatnot.
00:26:12.07\00:26:13.23
We all do these things.
00:26:13.34\00:26:14.90
A friend of mine,
00:26:15.00\00:26:16.84
when I was in high school,
00:26:16.94\00:26:19.01
he had one of these.
00:26:19.11\00:26:21.64
This is a Renault what?
00:26:21.74\00:26:24.51
Anybody know?
00:26:24.61\00:26:25.78
Ah.
00:26:25.88\00:26:26.85
You're showing your age well.
00:26:26.95\00:26:28.15
Yes. All right.
00:26:28.25\00:26:28.88
This is alumni weekend,
00:26:28.98\00:26:29.98
so I figured there'd be somebody
00:26:30.09\00:26:30.89
that would know, right.
00:26:30.99\00:26:31.92
So a Renault Le Car.
00:26:32.02\00:26:33.46
This is a French car.
00:26:33.56\00:26:34.82
And my friend bought one.
00:26:34.92\00:26:35.92
His was yellow and it had one
00:26:36.02\00:26:37.29
of these rollback ragtops.
00:26:37.39\00:26:38.96
Okay. It's like a sardine
00:26:39.06\00:26:40.16
can, just kind of rolls back,
00:26:40.26\00:26:41.30
and you got instant convertible.
00:26:41.40\00:26:42.76
It was such a cool car.
00:26:42.86\00:26:44.03
Very, very French, right?
00:26:44.13\00:26:45.23
The design and the flow
00:26:45.33\00:26:46.23
and whatnot.
00:26:46.33\00:26:47.37
Not terribly big.
00:26:47.47\00:26:48.97
My friend would say, "Hey, let's
00:26:49.07\00:26:49.90
go somewhere after school."
00:26:50.01\00:26:51.01
And if I drove, we'd roll the
00:26:51.11\00:26:52.67
top back, and I could drive it
00:26:52.77\00:26:54.08
looking over the top of the car.
00:26:54.18\00:26:55.74
Okay?
00:26:55.84\00:26:57.38
I mean, it was cool.
00:26:57.48\00:26:58.25
We like our forms of
00:26:58.35\00:26:59.78
transportation,
00:26:59.88\00:27:01.18
whether it's a car or a plane
00:27:01.28\00:27:02.85
or a boat or a skateboard,
00:27:02.95\00:27:04.42
whatever it might be.
00:27:04.52\00:27:05.25
We like those things.
00:27:05.35\00:27:08.19
But my Bible tells me
00:27:08.29\00:27:09.89
that Heaven will be...
00:27:09.99\00:27:11.06
>> Better.
00:27:11.16\00:27:12.13
>> ...even when it comes to
00:27:12.23\00:27:13.19
transportation.
00:27:13.29\00:27:14.13
You say, well, what on Earth
00:27:14.23\00:27:15.10
do you mean?
00:27:15.20\00:27:15.86
Take your Bibles, please,
00:27:15.96\00:27:16.97
and take a look at Acts 8:36.
00:27:17.07\00:27:19.97
Acts chapter 8,
00:27:20.07\00:27:22.30
beginning with the 36th verse.
00:27:22.40\00:27:26.14
The story that we're going to
00:27:26.24\00:27:27.18
jump into the middle of here
00:27:27.28\00:27:28.58
is often referred to
00:27:28.68\00:27:29.51
as the story of Philip
00:27:29.61\00:27:30.58
and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
00:27:30.68\00:27:31.78
And if you're not familiar
00:27:31.88\00:27:32.91
with the story,
00:27:33.01\00:27:33.68
let me bring you up to speed.
00:27:33.78\00:27:35.32
Jesus has died, been lain
00:27:35.42\00:27:37.22
in the grave, He's risen again.
00:27:37.32\00:27:38.15
He's returned to Heaven.
00:27:38.25\00:27:39.09
The Christian church has begun
00:27:39.19\00:27:40.22
in earnest, and it's begun
00:27:40.32\00:27:41.82
to spread dramatically, well
00:27:41.92\00:27:43.46
outside of Jerusalem.
00:27:43.56\00:27:44.96
Well, this official,
00:27:45.06\00:27:46.70
this Ethiopian eunuch,
00:27:46.80\00:27:47.86
he was a high official
00:27:47.96\00:27:49.06
in the Ethiopian government,
00:27:49.16\00:27:50.57
and apparently he had been
00:27:50.67\00:27:52.13
practicing some form
00:27:52.23\00:27:53.60
of Judaism for quite some time.
00:27:53.70\00:27:55.40
He was returning from Jerusalem
00:27:55.50\00:27:56.84
from the festival.
00:27:56.94\00:27:58.34
And so he'd been a long time
00:27:58.44\00:27:59.17
Bible study student.
00:27:59.27\00:28:00.14
But he was confused
00:28:00.24\00:28:01.31
by the things that he had
00:28:01.41\00:28:02.04
recently read in
00:28:02.14\00:28:03.31
the Book of Isaiah, coupled with
00:28:03.41\00:28:04.95
the events in Jerusalem.
00:28:05.05\00:28:06.38
And he wondered, just wondered,
00:28:06.48\00:28:07.38
maybe, could it be
00:28:07.48\00:28:09.05
that the Messiah has come?
00:28:09.15\00:28:11.29
Well, through a series of rather
00:28:11.39\00:28:12.52
miraculous circumstances,
00:28:12.62\00:28:13.66
Philip is brought
00:28:13.76\00:28:14.62
into contact -- Philip,
00:28:14.72\00:28:16.19
the disciple of Christ --
00:28:16.29\00:28:17.49
is brought into close
00:28:17.59\00:28:18.73
physical contact
00:28:18.83\00:28:19.56
with the chariot
00:28:19.66\00:28:20.66
of the Ethiopian eunuch.
00:28:20.76\00:28:21.66
The eunuch invites him up.
00:28:21.76\00:28:23.03
Philip explains
00:28:23.13\00:28:24.40
the verses in Isaiah.
00:28:24.50\00:28:26.97
The Ethiopian eunuch is
00:28:27.07\00:28:28.30
convicted and this is what
00:28:28.40\00:28:29.77
happens next -- verse 36.
00:28:29.87\00:28:31.21
"As they traveled along the
00:28:31.31\00:28:32.34
road, they came to some water,
00:28:32.44\00:28:33.54
and the eunuch said, 'Look,
00:28:33.64\00:28:35.11
here is water.
00:28:35.21\00:28:36.54
Why shouldn't I be baptized?'
00:28:36.64\00:28:38.85
And he gave orders to stop
00:28:38.95\00:28:39.75
the chariot.
00:28:39.85\00:28:41.28
Then both Philip and the eunuch
00:28:41.38\00:28:42.55
went down into the water,
00:28:42.65\00:28:43.95
and Philip baptized him."
00:28:44.05\00:28:47.92
Now, usually at this point in a
00:28:48.02\00:28:49.42
sermon that's talking about
00:28:49.52\00:28:50.86
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch,
00:28:50.96\00:28:52.43
the point that is made is what
00:28:52.53\00:28:53.96
a tremendous decision for the
00:28:54.03\00:28:55.33
Lord, and not just for the
00:28:55.43\00:28:56.73
eunuch, because we know, from
00:28:56.83\00:28:58.50
history, that the seventh day
00:28:58.60\00:29:00.24
Sabbath, Friday sundown to
00:29:00.34\00:29:01.84
Saturday sundown, the true
00:29:01.94\00:29:03.51
biblical Sabbath, is found in
00:29:03.61\00:29:04.54
the Fourth Commandment,
00:29:04.64\00:29:05.87
Exodus 20, et cetera,
00:29:05.97\00:29:07.31
it was kept much more faithfully
00:29:07.41\00:29:09.34
in Ethiopia for many,
00:29:09.44\00:29:11.11
many years longer than many
00:29:11.21\00:29:12.51
other portions of the world.
00:29:12.61\00:29:14.25
Some have speculated that it
00:29:14.35\00:29:15.55
all started right there
00:29:15.65\00:29:17.92
with that one Ethiopian convert,
00:29:18.02\00:29:20.09
that he took the seventh day
00:29:20.19\00:29:20.89
Sabbath back with him,
00:29:20.99\00:29:22.09
and that that led to
00:29:22.19\00:29:23.59
this greater permanency
00:29:23.69\00:29:25.53
to the seventh day Sabbath
00:29:25.63\00:29:26.36
in Ethiopia.
00:29:26.46\00:29:27.36
It's a wonderful point.
00:29:27.46\00:29:28.36
Praise the Lord for all of
00:29:28.46\00:29:29.56
that decision and whatever
00:29:29.66\00:29:30.37
consequences there were.
00:29:30.47\00:29:32.80
For our purposes
00:29:32.90\00:29:34.04
this morning though,
00:29:34.14\00:29:35.27
let's keep reading.
00:29:35.37\00:29:36.81
Verse 39.
00:29:36.91\00:29:38.54
"When they came up out
00:29:38.64\00:29:39.77
of the water,
00:29:39.87\00:29:41.24
the spirit of the Lord
00:29:41.34\00:29:42.81
suddenly took Philip away,
00:29:42.91\00:29:45.05
and the eunuch
00:29:45.15\00:29:45.85
did not see him again,
00:29:45.95\00:29:47.38
but went on his way rejoicing."
00:29:47.48\00:29:48.82
Verse 40. "Philip, however,
00:29:48.92\00:29:50.75
appeared" -- bing! -- "at Azotus
00:29:50.85\00:29:52.85
and traveled about preaching
00:29:52.95\00:29:54.42
the gospel in all the towns
00:29:54.52\00:29:56.19
until he reached Caesarea."
00:29:56.29\00:29:59.39
Now that, my friends,
00:29:59.49\00:30:00.40
is first class transportation.
00:30:00.50\00:30:04.50
Because Azotus was 15
00:30:04.60\00:30:06.27
to 20 miles away
00:30:06.37\00:30:08.40
from where that baptism probably
00:30:08.50\00:30:09.70
took place.
00:30:09.80\00:30:10.97
15 to 20 miles away.
00:30:11.07\00:30:12.84
Boom. Just like that.
00:30:12.94\00:30:14.64
Heaven's transportation system
00:30:14.74\00:30:16.11
kicks in.
00:30:16.21\00:30:17.11
Which makes me wonder
00:30:17.21\00:30:18.41
about Heaven.
00:30:18.51\00:30:19.61
Hmm.
00:30:19.71\00:30:22.25
To be clear, to my knowledge,
00:30:22.35\00:30:23.89
there is
00:30:23.99\00:30:24.75
no specific text in the Bible
00:30:24.85\00:30:25.92
that describes precisely
00:30:26.02\00:30:27.16
what our transportation options
00:30:27.26\00:30:28.26
in Heaven will be.
00:30:28.36\00:30:30.09
But we must remember, we know at
00:30:30.19\00:30:31.19
least this much.
00:30:31.29\00:30:32.03
Heaven will be...
00:30:32.13\00:30:32.69
>> Better.
00:30:32.79\00:30:33.63
>> ...than what we have here on
00:30:33.73\00:30:34.50
Earth.
00:30:34.60\00:30:35.00
So let's get
00:30:35.10\00:30:35.86
very practical about this.
00:30:35.96\00:30:37.13
Currently, the fastest any human
00:30:37.23\00:30:39.50
has gone is 24,816.1 miles per
00:30:39.60\00:30:43.97
hour.
00:30:44.07\00:30:45.47
This was set
00:30:45.57\00:30:46.61
by a seminary student
00:30:46.71\00:30:47.88
that heard that there was
00:30:47.98\00:30:49.11
an open house reception
00:30:49.21\00:30:50.45
at the nursing program building.
00:30:50.55\00:30:52.21
[ Laughter ]
00:30:52.31\00:30:55.35
So he made haste. Okay?
00:30:55.45\00:30:59.22
That's actually not true.
00:30:59.32\00:31:00.39
I'm sorry. It was actually --
00:31:00.49\00:31:01.69
It's 24,816.1 miles per hour.
00:31:01.79\00:31:04.53
That is an actual speed.
00:31:04.63\00:31:06.56
The record was set
00:31:06.66\00:31:07.30
by Apollo 10.
00:31:07.40\00:31:09.76
It's in the US space program.
00:31:09.86\00:31:11.17
On their way back from the moon,
00:31:11.27\00:31:12.57
they went that fast.
00:31:12.67\00:31:14.00
That is 36,397 feet per second.
00:31:14.10\00:31:20.51
That is fast.
00:31:20.61\00:31:23.81
And Heaven will be...
00:31:23.91\00:31:24.98
>> Better.
00:31:25.08\00:31:26.05
>> So what does that mean?
00:31:26.15\00:31:27.42
Well, we will be traveling
00:31:27.52\00:31:28.38
faster.
00:31:28.48\00:31:29.18
And you say, "Well, how would we
00:31:29.28\00:31:30.39
go about traveling faster if
00:31:30.49\00:31:31.59
we're going to go faster than
00:31:31.69\00:31:32.35
that?"
00:31:32.45\00:31:33.19
Well, again, we don't know for
00:31:33.29\00:31:34.62
sure, but we have some pretty
00:31:34.72\00:31:35.99
strong hints from the Bible
00:31:36.09\00:31:37.26
that the mode of transport
00:31:37.36\00:31:38.66
we will be using
00:31:38.76\00:31:39.76
will include a fair amount
00:31:39.86\00:31:43.10
of flying.
00:31:43.20\00:31:47.04
Now, do any of you dream
00:31:47.14\00:31:49.87
about flying?
00:31:49.97\00:31:52.31
Okay. All right.
00:31:52.41\00:31:53.74
I'm not talking about those
00:31:53.84\00:31:54.58
of you in the flight program.
00:31:54.68\00:31:55.51
I mean, just like you flying
00:31:55.61\00:31:57.71
without assistance. Okay?
00:31:57.81\00:31:58.91
That happens to me frequently.
00:31:59.01\00:32:00.12
I heard it say that if you dream
00:32:00.22\00:32:01.68
about flying, that you
00:32:01.78\00:32:02.72
are genius level in your IQ.
00:32:02.82\00:32:04.22
I'm not sure if that's true
00:32:04.32\00:32:04.79
or not, but...
00:32:04.89\00:32:06.19
So this flying thing,
00:32:06.29\00:32:07.56
the idea is, sometimes I think
00:32:07.66\00:32:08.99
we just give this to the kids,
00:32:09.09\00:32:10.79
you know, our children.
00:32:10.89\00:32:11.93
Oh, you know, isn't it great
00:32:12.03\00:32:12.73
to think about flying in Heaven?
00:32:12.83\00:32:13.83
Man, I cannot wait. And you say,
00:32:13.93\00:32:16.90
"Well, how do you know that
00:32:17.00\00:32:18.10
this is going to be a thing?"
00:32:18.20\00:32:19.03
Well, follow me carefully here.
00:32:19.13\00:32:20.67
Jesus himself literally
00:32:20.77\00:32:23.74
rose up from Earth into Heaven.
00:32:23.84\00:32:26.24
He was a human like us.
00:32:26.34\00:32:27.64
100% God, 100% human.
00:32:27.74\00:32:28.88
Acts chapter 1.
00:32:28.98\00:32:29.88
When he goes to Heaven,
00:32:29.98\00:32:31.21
he doesn't just blink of an eye.
00:32:31.31\00:32:32.71
He goes up. He flies.
00:32:32.81\00:32:35.35
Elijah, in 2 Kings chapter 2,
00:32:35.45\00:32:36.72
flies to Heaven
00:32:36.82\00:32:38.52
in a fiery chariot
00:32:38.62\00:32:40.32
on the "chariots and horsemen
00:32:40.42\00:32:41.99
of Israel."
00:32:42.09\00:32:43.66
Perhaps earthly fire, which
00:32:43.76\00:32:45.13
kills and destroys here on
00:32:45.23\00:32:46.63
Earth, will, in Heaven, simply
00:32:46.73\00:32:48.16
be one more way to fly the
00:32:48.26\00:32:49.43
friendly skies.
00:32:49.53\00:32:50.77
We further know that the Bible
00:32:50.87\00:32:52.73
says, in Job chapter 1 and 2,
00:32:52.83\00:32:54.67
that, "the sons of God gathered
00:32:54.77\00:32:56.64
in heavenly assembly with God
00:32:56.74\00:32:58.74
to discuss important matters."
00:32:58.84\00:33:00.78
The Bible also refers
00:33:00.88\00:33:02.31
to followers of Christ
00:33:02.41\00:33:03.95
as sons and daughters of God,
00:33:04.05\00:33:05.58
children of God.
00:33:05.68\00:33:06.95
Well, the fact that the sons of
00:33:07.05\00:33:08.75
God in Job 1 and 2 gathered,
00:33:08.85\00:33:10.52
that word "gathered" strongly
00:33:10.62\00:33:12.22
implies that they traveled
00:33:12.32\00:33:14.16
to get there from various posts
00:33:14.26\00:33:16.06
and part of the universe,
00:33:16.16\00:33:17.39
and I doubt they took a bus.
00:33:17.49\00:33:21.03
The fact of the matter is
00:33:21.13\00:33:22.96
that 1 Thessalonians chapter 4
00:33:23.06\00:33:24.13
is very crystal clear.
00:33:24.23\00:33:25.73
We will be caught up
00:33:25.83\00:33:27.17
in the what?
00:33:27.27\00:33:27.94
>> Air.
00:33:28.04\00:33:28.94
>> In the air -- that's right --
00:33:29.04\00:33:30.17
to meet Jesus when he returns.
00:33:30.27\00:33:31.84
Perhaps our first taste
00:33:31.94\00:33:33.44
of a life of many,
00:33:33.54\00:33:34.88
many flights to come.
00:33:34.98\00:33:36.71
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:33:36.81\00:33:37.51
transportation in Heaven
00:33:37.61\00:33:38.58
will be...
00:33:38.68\00:33:39.51
>> Better.
00:33:39.61\00:33:40.65
>> And you understand
00:33:40.75\00:33:41.58
the possibilities
00:33:41.68\00:33:42.55
that that opens up.
00:33:42.65\00:33:43.59
This is absolutely astonishing.
00:33:43.69\00:33:45.59
Can you imagine
00:33:45.69\00:33:46.55
where we will be able to go?
00:33:46.65\00:33:48.29
You know, Einstein, his special
00:33:48.39\00:33:49.39
theory of relativity in 1905,
00:33:49.49\00:33:51.16
general theory of relativity,
00:33:51.26\00:33:52.09
1915.
00:33:52.19\00:33:53.40
He told us that it was
00:33:53.50\00:33:54.36
impossible for a physical object
00:33:54.46\00:33:55.96
to travel
00:33:56.06\00:33:56.77
faster than the speed of light.
00:33:56.87\00:33:57.87
We are going to blow right
00:33:57.97\00:33:59.17
through that speed limit.
00:33:59.27\00:34:01.14
What you see on a cloudless sky
00:34:01.24\00:34:03.10
in the night is going to be
00:34:03.20\00:34:05.21
your playground in Heaven.
00:34:05.31\00:34:07.38
You will be able to travel
00:34:07.48\00:34:08.31
to places and see worlds
00:34:08.41\00:34:09.74
and beings and speak with them
00:34:09.84\00:34:11.41
and talk with them in ways
00:34:11.51\00:34:12.88
that you could not possibly
00:34:12.98\00:34:14.28
do here on Earth.
00:34:14.38\00:34:16.45
God is going to finally entrust
00:34:16.55\00:34:18.19
his people with the mode
00:34:18.29\00:34:19.59
of transportation we were
00:34:19.69\00:34:21.32
intended to have all along.
00:34:21.42\00:34:23.76
What a blessing it will be.
00:34:23.86\00:34:24.89
Praise the Lord that even
00:34:24.99\00:34:25.99
transportation in heaven
00:34:26.09\00:34:27.13
will be...
00:34:27.23\00:34:27.93
>> Better.
00:34:28.00\00:34:29.03
>> ...than anything we have
00:34:29.13\00:34:30.50
right here.
00:34:30.60\00:34:33.23
Now, again, speaking of better,
00:34:33.34\00:34:37.34
how many of you
00:34:37.44\00:34:39.27
have been to a family reunion?
00:34:39.37\00:34:40.31
Show of hands, family reunion?
00:34:40.41\00:34:41.31
Anybody? Okay.
00:34:41.41\00:34:42.91
Okay, another question.
00:34:43.01\00:34:44.75
How many of you have enjoyed
00:34:44.85\00:34:46.95
that experience?
00:34:47.05\00:34:49.35
Okay. All right.
00:34:49.45\00:34:50.92
That's pretty good. All right.
00:34:51.02\00:34:53.05
Now, the next natural question
00:34:53.15\00:34:54.52
in the sermon would be, how many
00:34:54.62\00:34:55.66
of you did not enjoy the last
00:34:55.76\00:34:57.86
time you went to family reunion?
00:34:57.96\00:34:58.93
But this is alumni weekend,
00:34:59.03\00:35:00.46
and your uncle and aunt
00:35:00.56\00:35:01.16
are probably
00:35:01.26\00:35:01.90
sitting on the other side
00:35:02.00\00:35:03.00
looking to see what you're going
00:35:03.10\00:35:03.80
to do with your hand
00:35:03.90\00:35:04.77
if I ask that question.
00:35:04.87\00:35:05.50
All right?
00:35:05.60\00:35:06.50
So I'm not going to ask you,
00:35:06.60\00:35:08.54
but I'll just tell you
00:35:08.64\00:35:09.24
from personal experience.
00:35:09.34\00:35:11.61
On my dad's side of the family,
00:35:11.71\00:35:14.58
there are not many Adventists.
00:35:14.68\00:35:17.21
In fact, I tell people,
00:35:17.31\00:35:18.61
if they say, "Well, I know
00:35:18.71\00:35:19.65
So-and-so Anderson.
00:35:19.75\00:35:20.72
Is that a relative of yours?"
00:35:20.82\00:35:21.82
if they are male
00:35:21.92\00:35:23.32
and their last name is Anderson
00:35:23.42\00:35:25.12
and they're Adventist,
00:35:25.22\00:35:27.52
they are not related to me.
00:35:27.62\00:35:30.39
Okay. There's very few of us on
00:35:30.49\00:35:31.59
that side of the family tree.
00:35:31.69\00:35:32.86
Now, I have some wonderful
00:35:32.96\00:35:33.66
relatives on that side.
00:35:33.76\00:35:34.73
I also have some
00:35:34.83\00:35:36.43
that have no interest in God,
00:35:36.53\00:35:38.10
no interest in religion,
00:35:38.20\00:35:39.30
and even less interest
00:35:39.40\00:35:40.97
in somebody who is interested in
00:35:41.07\00:35:43.07
both of those things, like me.
00:35:43.17\00:35:44.31
Right? So I'm
00:35:44.41\00:35:45.61
the white sheep of the family.
00:35:45.71\00:35:46.74
And when I go to a family
00:35:46.84\00:35:47.74
reunion -- I remember
00:35:47.84\00:35:48.61
the last one that I went to.
00:35:48.71\00:35:50.31
They had all these tables
00:35:50.41\00:35:51.05
set up, as they often
00:35:51.15\00:35:51.95
do at family reunions,
00:35:52.05\00:35:52.91
and there was this
00:35:53.01\00:35:54.15
big table with all kinds of
00:35:54.25\00:35:55.25
spread and carnivorous paradise
00:35:55.35\00:35:57.42
type of thing that was there.
00:35:57.52\00:35:58.52
Lots of beer and wine,
00:35:58.62\00:35:59.82
and blessedly,
00:35:59.92\00:36:00.69
there was salad and soda.
00:36:00.79\00:36:02.52
So I got some of that
00:36:02.62\00:36:03.73
and I scanned the seating area
00:36:03.83\00:36:05.03
and I said, "Okay,
00:36:05.13\00:36:06.36
there's some cousins
00:36:06.46\00:36:07.50
that I don't know real well.
00:36:07.60\00:36:08.70
I will go and sit with them."
00:36:08.80\00:36:10.83
And, so, I went down to the
00:36:10.93\00:36:12.10
table, and they'd finished
00:36:12.20\00:36:13.03
eating.
00:36:13.13\00:36:13.87
They all had beer in their hand.
00:36:13.97\00:36:15.44
I sat down and I kid you not.
00:36:15.54\00:36:18.27
They lasted about 15 seconds
00:36:18.37\00:36:20.31
or so, took a swig or two, stood
00:36:20.41\00:36:23.11
up, and left without saying a
00:36:23.21\00:36:25.85
word.
00:36:25.95\00:36:27.25
All right? But they did say
00:36:27.35\00:36:29.02
quite a bit, didn't they?
00:36:29.12\00:36:30.22
I mean, they made an impression
00:36:30.32\00:36:32.79
that this was not a conversation
00:36:32.89\00:36:34.19
that they were interested
00:36:34.29\00:36:35.12
in being in.
00:36:35.22\00:36:36.26
That family reunion
00:36:36.36\00:36:37.73
was not terribly good.
00:36:37.83\00:36:41.86
One more reason to praise
00:36:41.96\00:36:43.80
the Lord that Heaven will be...
00:36:43.90\00:36:46.10
>> Better.
00:36:46.20\00:36:47.67
>> ...when it comes to family
00:36:47.77\00:36:48.74
reunions because, in Heaven,
00:36:48.84\00:36:49.80
there will be no one
00:36:49.90\00:36:50.61
to make you feel excluded,
00:36:50.71\00:36:52.04
no one there that doesn't want
00:36:52.14\00:36:53.51
to see or talk with you.
00:36:53.61\00:36:55.21
And who will these people be?
00:36:55.31\00:36:57.11
Ah. The Bible gives us
00:36:57.21\00:36:58.71
some really good information
00:36:58.81\00:36:59.88
on this -- Hebrews 12:1.
00:37:00.05\00:37:01.98
Paul says, "Therefore,
00:37:02.08\00:37:02.78
since we are surrounded by such
00:37:02.88\00:37:04.15
a great cloud of witnesses" --
00:37:04.25\00:37:05.52
ah, the great cloud of
00:37:05.62\00:37:06.79
witnesses -- "let us throw off
00:37:06.89\00:37:08.29
everything that hinders and the
00:37:08.39\00:37:09.79
sin that so easily entangles,
00:37:09.89\00:37:11.26
and let us run with perseverance
00:37:11.36\00:37:12.69
the race marked out for us."
00:37:12.79\00:37:14.00
This cloud of witnesses.
00:37:14.10\00:37:16.00
Who is included in that?
00:37:16.10\00:37:17.00
Well, if we read earlier,
00:37:17.10\00:37:19.07
in chapter 11, there
00:37:19.17\00:37:20.84
we would find that
00:37:20.94\00:37:21.80
the Apostle Paul is writing
00:37:21.90\00:37:23.47
about this laundry list
00:37:23.57\00:37:24.77
of the heroes of the faith.
00:37:24.87\00:37:26.64
Those are the ones that are in
00:37:26.74\00:37:27.61
the cloud of witnesses,
00:37:27.71\00:37:29.41
and they are the very people
00:37:29.51\00:37:30.68
that are going to be in Heaven.
00:37:30.78\00:37:32.18
And we might even add a few
00:37:32.28\00:37:33.68
other names from the Bible
00:37:33.78\00:37:34.75
to that list.
00:37:34.85\00:37:36.42
You say, who's going to be there
00:37:36.52\00:37:37.35
when we get to Heaven?
00:37:37.45\00:37:38.29
Well, Abel, Enoch,
00:37:38.39\00:37:40.32
Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
00:37:40.42\00:37:41.72
Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
00:37:41.82\00:37:43.02
Moses' parents, Rahab,
00:37:43.12\00:37:44.53
Gideon, Deborah, Barak, Samson,
00:37:44.63\00:37:45.86
Jephthah, David, Samuel,
00:37:45.96\00:37:47.23
"the prophets," Daniel,
00:37:47.30\00:37:48.76
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
00:37:48.86\00:37:50.20
Esther, those who have been
00:37:50.30\00:37:51.37
persecuted for their faith,
00:37:51.47\00:37:52.63
martyrs for God's cause
00:37:52.73\00:37:53.87
by the thousands.
00:37:53.97\00:37:54.77
They're all going to be there.
00:37:54.87\00:37:56.97
Could it be that we will also
00:37:57.07\00:37:57.81
see the reformers?
00:37:57.91\00:37:59.71
John Knox, Martin Luther,
00:37:59.81\00:38:01.01
Jan Hus, Hugh Latimer,
00:38:01.11\00:38:02.14
Ulrich von Hutten, Karlstadt,
00:38:02.24\00:38:03.24
et cetera, et cetera.
00:38:03.35\00:38:05.45
And what a joy it would be
00:38:05.55\00:38:06.72
to see our own luminaries --
00:38:06.82\00:38:09.35
James and Ellen White,
00:38:09.45\00:38:10.42
Joseph Bates, Le Roy Froom,
00:38:10.52\00:38:11.82
Spalding, our own
00:38:11.92\00:38:13.09
John Nevins Andrews,
00:38:13.19\00:38:14.49
and so many more.
00:38:14.59\00:38:17.73
And can you imagine,
00:38:17.83\00:38:18.93
when we get to Heaven,
00:38:19.03\00:38:19.86
the conversations that you
00:38:19.96\00:38:21.16
will be able to have? Okay.
00:38:21.26\00:38:24.40
You see, there'll be people
00:38:24.50\00:38:25.47
there that you've only read
00:38:25.57\00:38:26.37
about at this point,
00:38:26.47\00:38:27.74
and you've only been able
00:38:27.84\00:38:28.40
to use your imagination
00:38:28.50\00:38:29.50
up to this point.
00:38:29.60\00:38:30.57
But now they'll be right there.
00:38:30.67\00:38:31.67
You'll be able to ask Joshua,
00:38:31.77\00:38:32.71
"Joshua, what was it like?
00:38:32.81\00:38:34.14
Moses dies and you're put
00:38:34.24\00:38:35.28
in charge.
00:38:35.38\00:38:35.91
What was that like?"
00:38:36.01\00:38:37.85
You'll able to look at Jacob
00:38:37.95\00:38:38.81
and sit down with Jacob and say,
00:38:38.91\00:38:39.68
"What was it like to wrestle
00:38:39.78\00:38:40.45
with God?
00:38:40.55\00:38:41.35
I mean, how do you even do that?
00:38:41.45\00:38:42.32
How do you wrestle with God?
00:38:42.42\00:38:43.99
What was it like?"
00:38:44.09\00:38:46.32
Go to Malchus and say,
00:38:46.42\00:38:47.39
"Well, what was it like after
00:38:47.49\00:38:48.62
you had surgery on your ear?"
00:38:48.72\00:38:52.86
And on and on the list can go.
00:38:52.96\00:38:56.16
And you see, because we're there
00:38:56.26\00:38:57.10
for a thousand years
00:38:57.20\00:38:59.00
and because we have memories
00:38:59.10\00:39:00.14
that will not fade,
00:39:00.24\00:39:01.17
unlike here on Earth,
00:39:01.27\00:39:03.10
we will remember every fact
00:39:03.20\00:39:05.01
of every conversation,
00:39:05.11\00:39:07.34
and we will learn more about
00:39:07.44\00:39:08.84
Jesus and more about salvation
00:39:08.94\00:39:10.88
than we could ever have dreamed
00:39:10.98\00:39:12.15
of learning here on Earth.
00:39:12.25\00:39:14.25
You see, one of the reasons
00:39:14.35\00:39:15.22
that we have a thousand years
00:39:15.32\00:39:15.88
in Heaven
00:39:15.98\00:39:16.65
before we come back to Earth
00:39:16.75\00:39:18.02
is that we have to be trained
00:39:18.12\00:39:18.82
to become citizens
00:39:18.92\00:39:19.69
of God's universe.
00:39:19.79\00:39:21.36
And talk about teaching staff.
00:39:21.46\00:39:23.16
Wow.
00:39:23.26\00:39:26.13
What a reunion that will be.
00:39:26.23\00:39:27.66
But even that
00:39:27.76\00:39:28.96
doesn't do it justice.
00:39:29.06\00:39:31.80
Because there's one other
00:39:31.90\00:39:32.93
component to this reunion
00:39:33.03\00:39:34.30
that's really, really important.
00:39:34.40\00:39:37.27
On that day, when Jesus
00:39:37.37\00:39:38.61
returns to this planet,
00:39:38.71\00:39:40.14
which I believe
00:39:40.24\00:39:40.78
is going to be soon,
00:39:40.88\00:39:42.94
those graves are going
00:39:43.04\00:39:43.78
to open up and those that
00:39:43.88\00:39:46.05
we have loved and cherished,
00:39:46.15\00:39:47.55
but we have lost to death,
00:39:47.65\00:39:49.55
those that have trusted in Jesus
00:39:49.65\00:39:50.82
will be raised back to life,
00:39:50.92\00:39:53.42
not in sickness or in illness,
00:39:53.52\00:39:54.66
but in fresh flesh
00:39:54.76\00:39:56.83
that will never see decay.
00:39:56.93\00:39:58.13
You know, we know
00:39:58.23\00:39:59.83
the truth, don't we?
00:39:59.93\00:40:01.50
If you live long enough, for any
00:40:01.60\00:40:03.13
length of time on this planet,
00:40:03.23\00:40:04.57
there will come a day when,
00:40:04.67\00:40:05.83
sadly, you will be in a cemetery
00:40:05.93\00:40:08.57
and you will be laying flowers
00:40:08.67\00:40:09.70
on someone's casket
00:40:09.80\00:40:13.34
that you wish very much
00:40:13.44\00:40:14.34
you did not have to.
00:40:14.44\00:40:17.48
Praise the Lord
00:40:17.58\00:40:19.85
that, when that trumpet sounds
00:40:19.95\00:40:21.62
and the sky pulls back
00:40:21.72\00:40:23.69
and the clouds roll up like
00:40:23.79\00:40:24.59
a scroll
00:40:24.69\00:40:25.92
and those myriads of myriads,
00:40:26.02\00:40:27.36
10,000 times 10,000 angels
00:40:27.46\00:40:29.39
descend, and the trumpet call of
00:40:29.49\00:40:30.83
God comes so strong
00:40:30.93\00:40:31.99
that it even wakes the dead,
00:40:32.09\00:40:33.70
your mother, your father,
00:40:33.80\00:40:35.06
your brother, your sister,
00:40:35.16\00:40:36.60
your friend, your family
00:40:36.70\00:40:38.17
that trusted in Jesus
00:40:38.27\00:40:39.60
will be raised back to new life.
00:40:39.70\00:40:41.84
What a reunion that will be.
00:40:41.94\00:40:44.11
No wonder they say
00:40:44.21\00:40:45.54
that the reunions in Heaven
00:40:45.64\00:40:46.51
will be...
00:40:46.61\00:40:47.31
>> Better.
00:40:47.41\00:40:48.31
>> ...than anything
00:40:48.41\00:40:49.81
we can find here on this planet.
00:40:49.91\00:40:52.95
Huh.
00:40:53.05\00:40:57.49
It will be such a better place.
00:40:57.59\00:41:00.29
The environment will be better.
00:41:00.39\00:41:01.86
The parks and scenery
00:41:01.96\00:41:02.86
and places,
00:41:02.96\00:41:03.63
all of that will be better.
00:41:03.73\00:41:05.19
Our transportation
00:41:05.29\00:41:06.06
will be better.
00:41:06.16\00:41:06.86
Moving at an unimaginable speed,
00:41:06.96\00:41:08.30
seeing the universe.
00:41:08.40\00:41:09.53
The company we'll be able to
00:41:09.63\00:41:10.77
keep, our resurrected loved
00:41:10.87\00:41:12.00
ones, the heroes of the faith
00:41:12.10\00:41:13.13
from millennia past.
00:41:13.23\00:41:14.20
All will be better in Heaven
00:41:14.30\00:41:15.84
and on the new Earth.
00:41:15.94\00:41:17.27
All of which leads us to an
00:41:17.37\00:41:18.81
incredible future that right now
00:41:18.91\00:41:22.08
we can only imagine.
00:41:22.18\00:41:25.58
But that every last one of us
00:41:25.68\00:41:26.95
can share in if we wish.
00:41:27.05\00:41:33.09
I want to do something that I do
00:41:33.19\00:41:34.09
not normally do in a sermon.
00:41:34.19\00:41:37.56
I want to read to you a --
00:41:37.66\00:41:39.16
It's not terribly long,
00:41:39.26\00:41:40.06
it's an extended
00:41:40.16\00:41:41.43
excerpt here from the book
00:41:41.53\00:41:42.56
"Great Controversy," beginning
00:41:42.66\00:41:45.13
on page 674 through page 678.
00:41:45.23\00:41:47.70
I'm just going to read
00:41:47.80\00:41:48.70
some excerpts, I'm not
00:41:48.80\00:41:49.77
going to read all that's here.
00:41:49.87\00:41:51.17
I'm going to put some pictures
00:41:51.27\00:41:51.97
on the screen,
00:41:52.07\00:41:52.81
if you want your imagination
00:41:52.91\00:41:54.44
to kind of follow along there.
00:41:54.54\00:41:55.64
You're welcome
00:41:55.74\00:41:56.38
to close your eyes, as well,
00:41:56.48\00:41:57.68
if you're like me and sometimes
00:41:57.78\00:41:58.68
you just like to picture
00:41:58.78\00:41:59.68
what it's going to be like.
00:41:59.78\00:42:01.52
Here's what the prophet
00:42:01.62\00:42:02.35
has to say.
00:42:02.45\00:42:04.59
She says, "A fear of making
00:42:04.69\00:42:06.72
the future inheritance" --
00:42:06.82\00:42:08.26
so she's talking about Heaven --
00:42:08.36\00:42:10.13
"seem too material has led many
00:42:10.23\00:42:14.00
to spiritualize away
00:42:14.10\00:42:15.76
the very truths which lead us
00:42:15.86\00:42:17.83
to look upon it as our home.
00:42:17.93\00:42:20.67
Christ assured His disciples
00:42:20.77\00:42:22.30
that He went to prepare mansions
00:42:22.40\00:42:24.01
for them in the Father's house.
00:42:24.11\00:42:25.94
Those who accept the teachings
00:42:26.04\00:42:26.94
of God's Word
00:42:27.04\00:42:27.98
will not be wholly ignorant
00:42:28.08\00:42:29.11
concerning the heavenly abode.
00:42:29.21\00:42:31.28
And yet eye hath not seen,
00:42:31.38\00:42:32.68
nor ear heard,
00:42:32.78\00:42:33.55
neither have entered
00:42:33.65\00:42:34.52
into the heart of man the things
00:42:34.62\00:42:35.78
which God has prepared for them
00:42:35.88\00:42:36.79
that love Him.
00:42:36.89\00:42:37.62
1 Corinthians 2:9.
00:42:37.72\00:42:40.02
Human language is inadequate
00:42:40.12\00:42:41.62
to describe the reward
00:42:41.72\00:42:42.86
of the righteous.
00:42:42.96\00:42:44.29
It will be known only to those
00:42:44.39\00:42:45.13
who behold it.
00:42:45.23\00:42:46.53
No finite mind can comprehend
00:42:46.63\00:42:48.00
the glory of the paradise
00:42:48.10\00:42:49.13
of God.
00:42:49.23\00:42:50.87
In the Bible, the inheritance of
00:42:50.97\00:42:52.73
the saved is called a country.
00:42:52.83\00:42:54.70
Hebrews 11:14-16.
00:42:54.80\00:42:57.37
There the heavenly shepherd
00:42:57.47\00:42:58.41
leads his flock
00:42:58.51\00:42:59.84
to fountains of living waters.
00:42:59.94\00:43:02.04
The tree of life yields
00:43:02.14\00:43:02.98
its fruit every month,
00:43:03.08\00:43:03.98
and the leaves of the tree are
00:43:04.08\00:43:05.31
for the service of the nations.
00:43:05.41\00:43:07.15
There are ever flowing streams,
00:43:07.25\00:43:08.45
clear as crystal,
00:43:08.55\00:43:09.55
and beside them, waving trees
00:43:09.65\00:43:10.79
cast their shadows
00:43:10.89\00:43:11.82
upon the paths prepared
00:43:11.92\00:43:13.09
for the ransomed of the Lord.
00:43:13.19\00:43:15.06
There the wide spreading plains
00:43:15.16\00:43:16.69
swell into hills of beauty,
00:43:16.79\00:43:18.59
and the mountains of God
00:43:18.69\00:43:19.86
rear their lofty summits.
00:43:19.96\00:43:21.76
On those peaceful plains
00:43:21.86\00:43:23.30
beside those living streams,
00:43:23.40\00:43:25.00
God's people, so long pilgrims
00:43:25.10\00:43:27.00
and wanderers, shall find a
00:43:27.10\00:43:28.77
home.
00:43:28.87\00:43:30.37
Pain cannot exist
00:43:30.47\00:43:31.47
in the atmosphere of Heaven.
00:43:31.57\00:43:33.01
There will be no more tears,
00:43:33.11\00:43:34.11
no funeral trains,
00:43:34.21\00:43:35.28
no badges of mourning.
00:43:35.38\00:43:36.95
There shall be no more death,
00:43:37.05\00:43:37.85
neither sorrow nor crying,
00:43:37.95\00:43:38.71
for the former
00:43:38.81\00:43:39.58
things are passed away.
00:43:39.68\00:43:41.15
The inhabitants shall not say,
00:43:41.25\00:43:42.42
"I am sick."
00:43:42.52\00:43:43.75
The people that dwell therein
00:43:43.85\00:43:44.82
shall be forgiven their
00:43:44.92\00:43:45.39
iniquity.
00:43:45.49\00:43:46.12
Revelation 21.
00:43:46.22\00:43:47.56
Isaiah 33:24.
00:43:47.66\00:43:50.23
Their immortal minds
00:43:50.33\00:43:51.59
will contemplate
00:43:51.69\00:43:52.96
with never failing delight
00:43:53.06\00:43:55.06
the wonders of creative power,
00:43:55.16\00:43:56.67
the mysteries of redeeming love.
00:43:56.77\00:43:58.43
There will be no cruel,
00:43:58.53\00:43:59.30
deceiving foe to tempt
00:43:59.40\00:44:00.90
to forgetfulness of God.
00:44:01.00\00:44:02.87
Every faculty will be developed,
00:44:02.97\00:44:04.41
every capacity increased.
00:44:04.51\00:44:06.24
The acquirement of knowledge
00:44:06.34\00:44:07.31
will not weary the mind
00:44:07.41\00:44:08.51
or exhaust the energies.
00:44:08.61\00:44:10.11
There the grandest enterprises
00:44:10.21\00:44:12.55
may be carried forward,
00:44:12.65\00:44:14.15
the loftiest aspiration reached,
00:44:14.25\00:44:16.45
the highest ambitions realized.
00:44:16.55\00:44:18.99
And there will arise new heights
00:44:19.09\00:44:19.89
to surmount,
00:44:19.99\00:44:20.92
new wonders to admire,
00:44:21.02\00:44:22.36
new truths to comprehend,
00:44:22.46\00:44:23.93
fresh objects to call forth
00:44:24.03\00:44:25.53
the powers of mind and soul
00:44:25.63\00:44:27.23
and body.
00:44:27.36\00:44:29.23
All the treasures
00:44:29.33\00:44:30.20
of the universe will be open
00:44:30.30\00:44:31.47
to the study of God's redeemed.
00:44:31.57\00:44:33.37
Unfettered by mortality,
00:44:33.47\00:44:35.20
they wing their tireless flights
00:44:35.30\00:44:37.07
to worlds afar, worlds that,
00:44:37.17\00:44:39.31
thrilled with sorrow at the
00:44:39.41\00:44:40.68
spectacle of human woe and rang
00:44:40.78\00:44:42.28
with songs of gladness at the
00:44:42.38\00:44:44.25
tidings of a ransomed soul.
00:44:44.35\00:44:46.08
With unutterable delight,
00:44:46.18\00:44:47.92
The children of Earth enter
00:44:48.02\00:44:48.98
into the joy and the wisdom
00:44:49.08\00:44:50.02
of unfallen beings.
00:44:50.12\00:44:52.02
They share the treasures
00:44:52.12\00:44:52.95
of knowledge and understanding
00:44:53.05\00:44:54.12
gained through ages upon ages
00:44:54.22\00:44:55.26
in contemplation
00:44:55.36\00:44:56.09
of God's handiwork.
00:44:56.19\00:44:57.69
With undimmed vision, they gaze
00:44:57.79\00:44:59.89
upon the glory of creation,
00:45:00.06\00:45:01.46
suns and stars and systems
00:45:01.56\00:45:03.37
all in their appointed order,
00:45:03.47\00:45:04.83
circling the throne of deity.
00:45:04.93\00:45:06.90
Upon all things,
00:45:07.00\00:45:08.24
from the least to the greatest,
00:45:08.34\00:45:09.54
the creator's name is written,
00:45:09.64\00:45:11.04
and in all are the riches
00:45:11.14\00:45:12.17
of his power displayed.
00:45:12.27\00:45:14.64
And the years of eternity,
00:45:14.74\00:45:16.14
as they roll,
00:45:16.24\00:45:17.75
will bring richer and still
00:45:17.85\00:45:19.15
more glorious revelations
00:45:19.25\00:45:20.42
of God and of Christ.
00:45:20.52\00:45:22.22
As knowledge is progressive,
00:45:22.32\00:45:23.59
so will love, reverence,
00:45:23.69\00:45:25.32
and happiness increase.
00:45:25.42\00:45:27.86
The great controversy is ended.
00:45:27.96\00:45:30.63
Sin and sinners are no more.
00:45:30.73\00:45:33.90
The entire universe is clean.
00:45:34.00\00:45:36.13
One pulse of harmony
00:45:36.23\00:45:37.50
and gladness beats through
00:45:37.60\00:45:39.53
the vast creation.
00:45:39.63\00:45:40.97
From Him who created all flow
00:45:41.07\00:45:42.60
life and light
00:45:42.70\00:45:43.94
and gladness throughout
00:45:44.04\00:45:45.41
the realms of illimitable space.
00:45:45.51\00:45:47.71
From the minutest atom
00:45:47.81\00:45:49.44
to the greatest world,
00:45:49.54\00:45:51.01
all things, animate
00:45:51.11\00:45:52.51
and inanimate,
00:45:52.61\00:45:53.92
in their unshadowed beauty
00:45:54.02\00:45:55.82
and perfect joy, declare
00:45:55.92\00:45:58.35
that God is love.
00:45:58.45\00:46:01.59
>> Amen.
00:46:01.69\00:46:04.46
>> Heaven will be...
00:46:04.56\00:46:06.06
>> Better.
00:46:06.16\00:46:07.50
>> ...than anything that we have
00:46:07.60\00:46:08.80
here.
00:46:08.90\00:46:10.87
I'd like to invite the musicians
00:46:10.97\00:46:12.33
that will be part of our final
00:46:12.43\00:46:13.64
song here to come onto
00:46:13.74\00:46:14.54
the stage.
00:46:14.64\00:46:16.44
And as they do, I would like
00:46:16.54\00:46:18.64
to share with you two things.
00:46:18.74\00:46:20.71
Number one.
00:46:20.81\00:46:22.58
This is alumni weekend.
00:46:22.68\00:46:24.41
I'm so glad that you're here.
00:46:24.51\00:46:26.55
Some of you maybe come to
00:46:26.65\00:46:27.85
alumni weekend most every year.
00:46:27.95\00:46:29.22
And so this is not new for you.
00:46:29.32\00:46:30.85
Some of you may be back for the
00:46:30.95\00:46:32.52
first time in a very long time.
00:46:32.62\00:46:35.16
And it may be that you find
00:46:35.26\00:46:36.42
yourself in a spiritual place
00:46:36.52\00:46:38.73
that you know is not
00:46:38.83\00:46:40.20
the best place for you to be.
00:46:40.30\00:46:41.93
Maybe while you were here
00:46:42.03\00:46:42.76
at Andrews, you were
00:46:42.86\00:46:43.63
very active in the Lord.
00:46:43.73\00:46:44.67
You served in ministry
00:46:44.77\00:46:46.07
of some sort, but you've drifted
00:46:46.17\00:46:47.07
away over those years.
00:46:47.17\00:46:49.20
I want you to know how glad I am
00:46:49.30\00:46:50.51
that you are here and how glad
00:46:50.61\00:46:51.61
Jesus is that you are here.
00:46:51.71\00:46:53.64
Jesus loves you.
00:46:53.74\00:46:55.31
Jesus died for you.
00:46:55.41\00:46:56.88
He would have given his life
00:46:56.98\00:46:57.95
for you if you were the only
00:46:58.05\00:46:59.41
person alive on planet Earth.
00:46:59.51\00:47:02.28
And today, as he sees you here,
00:47:02.38\00:47:03.72
he is longing for you to be able
00:47:03.82\00:47:05.55
to participate in this
00:47:05.65\00:47:07.12
great Heaven that is coming.
00:47:07.22\00:47:08.62
He wants you to be there.
00:47:08.72\00:47:09.96
That's why he gave his life.
00:47:10.06\00:47:12.79
If you would like to make a
00:47:12.89\00:47:14.73
turn, if you would like to come
00:47:14.83\00:47:16.70
back, Jesus specializes in
00:47:16.80\00:47:18.23
reversals.
00:47:18.33\00:47:19.67
He knows exactly how to do it,
00:47:19.77\00:47:21.37
and he can take you exactly
00:47:21.47\00:47:22.74
right where you are right now
00:47:22.84\00:47:25.11
and bring you into Himself.
00:47:25.21\00:47:28.64
That where He is,
00:47:28.74\00:47:30.31
you may one day be also.
00:47:30.41\00:47:33.01
If that's your desire,
00:47:33.11\00:47:34.45
if you'd like to make
00:47:34.55\00:47:35.52
that decision for Jesus,
00:47:35.62\00:47:36.65
at the closing prayer
00:47:36.75\00:47:37.65
after our closing song here,
00:47:37.75\00:47:39.42
I'm going to have some space
00:47:39.52\00:47:40.49
in that prayer where you can
00:47:40.59\00:47:41.36
just share with the Lord
00:47:41.46\00:47:42.56
the desires of your heart.
00:47:42.66\00:47:43.96
We're going to pray for you
00:47:44.06\00:47:44.79
at that time, too.
00:47:44.89\00:47:46.83
And secondly,
00:47:46.93\00:47:49.63
for those of you maybe
00:47:49.73\00:47:51.00
you have a walk with the Lord
00:47:51.10\00:47:52.30
and you're strong in Him,
00:47:52.40\00:47:55.34
but you have been tempted
00:47:55.44\00:47:56.27
to despair because of what
00:47:56.37\00:47:57.41
you see happening around you.
00:47:57.51\00:47:58.91
You know, all you have to do
00:47:59.01\00:48:00.61
is watch a few newscasts or news
00:48:00.71\00:48:02.38
feeds on your iPad or phone or
00:48:02.48\00:48:04.08
whatever it is you use for news.
00:48:04.18\00:48:05.81
It is easy to see the darkness
00:48:05.91\00:48:07.48
in the world, is it not?
00:48:07.58\00:48:09.55
And many times, even Christians
00:48:09.65\00:48:12.05
can look around at this darkness
00:48:12.15\00:48:13.59
and become depressed.
00:48:13.69\00:48:14.96
We can be tempted to despair.
00:48:15.06\00:48:17.16
And if you find yourself
00:48:17.26\00:48:18.29
in that place this morning,
00:48:18.39\00:48:19.49
I just want to remind you,
00:48:19.59\00:48:21.46
this world is not our home.
00:48:21.56\00:48:25.43
We are just a-passin' through.
00:48:25.53\00:48:27.90
And by God's grace,
00:48:28.00\00:48:29.47
a better day is coming that will
00:48:29.57\00:48:32.34
take us out of this darkness.
00:48:32.44\00:48:34.18
So do not give up.
00:48:34.28\00:48:35.74
Do not despair.
00:48:35.84\00:48:37.15
Do not stop serving the Lord.
00:48:37.25\00:48:38.48
Redouble your efforts.
00:48:38.58\00:48:39.31
Follow him
00:48:39.41\00:48:40.08
with all of your heart
00:48:40.18\00:48:41.02
and your soul and your mind
00:48:41.12\00:48:42.38
because a better day is coming.
00:48:42.48\00:48:44.45
Heaven will be...
00:48:44.55\00:48:45.55
>> Better.
00:48:45.65\00:48:46.69
>> ...than anything that you
00:48:46.79\00:48:48.62
have here, and it will dwarf the
00:48:48.72\00:48:50.66
troubles that you are being
00:48:50.76\00:48:52.53
tempted right now to give in to.
00:48:52.63\00:48:54.56
Do not give up. Jesus is coming.
00:48:54.66\00:48:56.93
Heaven is on its way.
00:48:57.03\00:48:59.43
It is so good
00:48:59.53\00:49:01.37
that we can only imagine
00:49:01.47\00:49:03.17
just how blessed it will be.
00:49:03.27\00:49:06.31
>> Amen.
00:49:06.41\00:49:08.24
[ Guitar tuning ]
00:49:14.62\00:49:17.25
[ "I Can Only Imagine" begins ]
00:49:26.43\00:49:28.63
¤
00:49:28.73\00:49:35.07
¤
00:50:51.78\00:51:00.92
[ Applause ]
00:53:53.23\00:53:56.06
>> Let us pray.
00:54:05.84\00:54:07.01
Jesus, we thank you for the gift
00:54:10.75\00:54:12.15
of Your word and the clues,
00:54:12.25\00:54:14.72
the hints, that tell us about
00:54:14.82\00:54:17.05
that great gettin' up day when
00:54:17.15\00:54:20.32
we will at last be with You
00:54:20.42\00:54:23.36
in Your home and ours.
00:54:23.46\00:54:25.73
Lord, there may be some here
00:54:25.83\00:54:27.36
right now that realize that they
00:54:27.46\00:54:28.76
are not yet ready for that day.
00:54:28.86\00:54:30.80
Perhaps they have drifted away.
00:54:30.90\00:54:31.80
Perhaps they have not known
00:54:31.90\00:54:32.67
You before, Lord.
00:54:32.77\00:54:34.57
Lord, as I pause here in just a
00:54:34.67\00:54:35.97
moment in a silence, I pray,
00:54:36.07\00:54:37.41
Lord, that if it be their desire
00:54:37.51\00:54:38.94
that just between You and them,
00:54:39.04\00:54:40.18
that they would lift their
00:54:40.28\00:54:40.98
prayer to you and say, "Yes,
00:54:41.08\00:54:41.91
Lord, I'm back,"
00:54:42.01\00:54:44.81
or, "Yes, Lord, please take me.
00:54:44.91\00:54:46.28
Bring me into your kingdom."
00:54:46.38\00:54:47.82
Hear their prayers now.
00:54:47.92\00:54:49.28
Thank you, Lord, for hearing
00:55:08.17\00:55:08.97
those prayers.
00:55:09.07\00:55:10.21
Bless them.
00:55:10.31\00:55:11.57
Bring each one to You.
00:55:11.67\00:55:14.14
And, Lord, for all of us,
00:55:14.24\00:55:16.95
may we never forget, no matter
00:55:17.05\00:55:18.58
how cloudy the day may be,
00:55:18.68\00:55:21.15
to imagine, to remember afresh
00:55:21.25\00:55:25.19
the better day that is coming,
00:55:25.29\00:55:27.06
the blessing of Heaven
00:55:27.16\00:55:28.66
and how good, how good it
00:55:28.76\00:55:30.49
will be to one day soon be home.
00:55:30.59\00:55:34.10
May we draw strength from this,
00:55:34.20\00:55:35.83
for we ask it in Your name.
00:55:35.93\00:55:37.00
>> Amen.
00:55:37.10\00:55:37.83
>> Amen.
00:55:37.93\00:55:38.37
>> What is it about
00:55:40.77\00:55:41.40
the holiday season
00:55:41.50\00:55:43.04
that gives you the greatest joy?
00:55:43.14\00:55:45.74
Is it the time spent cutting
00:55:45.84\00:55:47.14
down the family Christmas tree
00:55:47.24\00:55:48.38
at the local farm?
00:55:48.48\00:55:49.84
Or if you're south
00:55:49.94\00:55:50.51
of the equator,
00:55:50.61\00:55:51.75
maybe it's the time spent
00:55:51.85\00:55:53.01
with friends under palm trees
00:55:53.11\00:55:54.25
at the beach.
00:55:54.35\00:55:55.95
Perhaps you find joy
00:55:56.05\00:55:57.52
in contemplating the profound
00:55:57.62\00:55:59.12
meaning of the carols
00:55:59.22\00:55:59.92
that we sing.
00:56:00.09\00:56:01.66
Or maybe Christmas joy for you
00:56:01.76\00:56:03.76
is found in the spirit of giving
00:56:03.86\00:56:05.56
that surrounds this season.
00:56:05.66\00:56:08.06
As we reflect on these joys,
00:56:08.16\00:56:09.63
let's always remember
00:56:09.73\00:56:11.07
the great light who guides us --
00:56:11.17\00:56:12.80
the source of joy
00:56:12.90\00:56:13.90
and meaning in life,
00:56:14.00\00:56:15.07
the loving Father
00:56:15.17\00:56:16.04
who is at the heart
00:56:16.14\00:56:17.41
of all treasured relationships,
00:56:17.51\00:56:19.41
and the wonderful God
00:56:19.51\00:56:20.84
who gave the ultimate gift
00:56:20.94\00:56:22.34
in a newborn child.
00:56:22.44\00:56:25.18
Some of my joy this season
00:56:25.28\00:56:26.51
comes in part from your letters
00:56:26.61\00:56:27.95
and e-mails, your prayers,
00:56:28.05\00:56:29.52
and your faithful giving of
00:56:29.62\00:56:30.69
support for this ministry,
00:56:30.79\00:56:32.72
which literally reaches
00:56:32.82\00:56:33.59
around the world.
00:56:33.69\00:56:35.29
If you've been blessed
00:56:35.39\00:56:35.96
this year,
00:56:36.06\00:56:37.03
I'd like to ask you to join
00:56:37.13\00:56:38.39
the many people who financially
00:56:38.49\00:56:39.96
support Pioneer's media
00:56:40.06\00:56:41.50
ministry, which brings you this
00:56:41.60\00:56:42.96
program.
00:56:43.06\00:56:44.40
It's simple to do.
00:56:44.50\00:56:46.00
Just call our toll-free number,
00:56:46.10\00:56:47.47
877-HIS-WILL.
00:56:47.57\00:56:50.74
One of our friendly operators
00:56:50.84\00:56:51.77
will be happy to help you.
00:56:51.87\00:56:53.51
You can also click the Donate
00:56:53.61\00:56:55.38
link at the top of our website,
00:56:55.48\00:56:57.45
pmchurch.org, and look for the
00:56:57.55\00:56:59.65
Media Ministry option.
00:56:59.75\00:57:02.12
Truly, no gift is too small
00:57:02.22\00:57:03.85
for God to use to spread
00:57:03.95\00:57:05.19
the good news of His love,
00:57:05.29\00:57:06.76
His sacrifice, and His future
00:57:06.86\00:57:08.46
plans for our happiness.
00:57:08.56\00:57:10.49
Every gift is entirely invested
00:57:10.59\00:57:12.89
in our mission to communicate
00:57:12.99\00:57:14.66
God's good news to a generation
00:57:14.76\00:57:16.53
who needs the hope found in
00:57:16.63\00:57:18.63
Jesus, who alone can bring them
00:57:18.73\00:57:20.54
true joy in life.
00:57:20.64\00:57:22.90
Once again, our website
00:57:23.00\00:57:24.37
is pmchurch.org.
00:57:24.47\00:57:27.21
This season, know that our
00:57:27.31\00:57:28.94
Pioneer family is praying for
00:57:29.04\00:57:30.91
you and that our greatest wish
00:57:31.01\00:57:32.65
is that Emmanuel, Jesus Christ
00:57:32.75\00:57:35.32
in the flesh and in your heart,
00:57:35.42\00:57:37.35
will be at the center
00:57:37.45\00:57:38.19
of the best memories made
00:57:38.29\00:57:39.89
with your family and friends.
00:57:39.99\00:57:41.86
[ "Silent Night" plays ]
00:57:41.96\00:57:44.69
¤
00:57:44.79\00:57:51.47
¤
00:57:51.57\00:57:58.04
¤
00:58:01.21\00:58:10.05
¤
00:58:10.15\00:58:19.03
¤
00:58:19.13\00:58:27.70