Participants: Pr. Brian McMahon
Series Code: RSH
Program Code: RSH000022
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00:09 The escalation of global terrorism, crime, immorality
00:12 and natural disasters, seems to indicate our world 00:15 is spiraling towards its ultimate hour with destiny. 00:18 Who, if anyone, will survive Earth's final events? 00:21 Discover what Bible prophecy reveals about the rapture, 00:24 the mark of the beast, and Armageddon. 00:26 Though shrouded in mystery for centuries, 00:28 the book of Revelation can be understood today. 00:32 Peer into the future, and see what wonderful things 00:35 God has planned for His people. 00:38 And now, Pastor Brian McMahon presents the powerful 00:41 Bible seminar "Revelation Speaks Hope". 00:48 Our subject for this evening: [text on screen] 00:52 Growing up in the family that I did, I was very, very blessed. 00:56 We had very good physical health, and we had very little, 01:00 if no, personal tragedies that so sadly mark other families 01:04 that we knew about. So we felt very blessed 01:08 of the Lord, and that's why it was such a shock to me 01:11 when 6 years ago I got a phone call from my oldest 01:14 brother that his wife, Elizabeth, who we effectually 01:18 called Libby, had cancer. This set off a chain of events 01:22 that we had never experienced before, we hardly knew 01:24 how to deal with it. But even though she tried 01:27 so valiantly to fight against this enemy called cancer, 01:30 eventually she grew weaker and weaker, and in her final 01:34 days I flew up to be close to her, I went to see her 01:36 in the hospital, and I noticed that as her physical body 01:40 was withering away, it seemed her spirit grew closer 01:43 and closer to God, and we were very thankful for that. 01:47 In her last days it seemed like all she was concerned about 01:50 was not for herself, but for others, and I was very much 01:54 encouraged and blessed myself as I could see her great 01:56 faith, I knew that when she passed away, which she 01:59 eventually did not long after I saw her, that heaven was 02:02 going to be her home. But when you see someone 02:05 you love suffer as she suffered and go through the kind 02:09 of experience she experienced, it makes you long for 02:12 a better land, whether it's someone you love, or someone 02:16 you are just acquainted with, or someone you don't even 02:19 know, but you just hear about, it makes you long for a land 02:22 where you won't see suffering any more. 02:24 In 1 Corinthians 15:19 these words are given to us, 02:29 and they're to be an encouragement to us when we 02:32 live in a world that has run rampant with materialism. 02:35 These words come from the apostle Paul and they say this: 02:38 [text on screen] 02:45 That's truth, dear friends. If we're only living for what 02:48 we can get out of this present world, if we're trying 02:51 to measure success by what the worldling measures success, 02:56 then we are to be pitied because the whole purpose 02:59 of this life, the whole reason we have this time as we do 03:03 is to prepare our self for the next life; 03:07 it's to prepare our self for the world that's coming. 03:09 What has God prepared for His people? 03:12 What did God promise His patriarchs and His prophets, 03:15 and what has He promised tonight? 03:18 Let's take a look at it in the book of Hebrews 11:16, 03:21 and this is God's promise to us. It says here in Scripture: 03:25 [text on screen] 03:38 God has prepared a city. Millions of people are coming 03:41 to the conclusion that time is running out for this present 03:44 world. Since God first gave it to man 03:47 in its perfect condition in the garden of Eden, man has not 03:51 treated it very well, in fact, we've polluted the air, 03:54 and we've polluted the water, we polluted the land, there's 03:57 nothing that man hasn't polluted, and it doesn't look 04:00 like it originally looked like. So some people come to the idea, 04:04 they say "Well, maybe we'll just learn from our mistakes," 04:07 "maybe we'll blast off in space, and we'll start a planet" 04:11 "somewhere where we can get it right the second time." 04:15 "We'll start where we can transfer the technology" 04:20 "from this world, and we'll take it over into another world" 04:25 "and we'll just start all over, and there we'll be free" 04:28 "from the problems we've had here, we'll be free from" 04:30 "the stresses and the disease, and all the things we've" 04:34 "suffered here", but is that really true? 04:37 If we could use technology as we have it, and even if we 04:41 could go off into outer space, and there in outer space 04:45 pick some planet that we thought would be a likely experimental 04:49 type place, and start all over again, we'd never really 04:53 escape the problems that we have because if we could start 04:56 all over again, eventually the problems that we have here, 04:58 we'd simply transfer them over there, wouldn't we? 05:01 I mean, if we had death here we would eventually have 05:04 death there, if we have disappointments here, eventually 05:07 we'd have disappointments there on some new space colony, 05:10 if we have disease here, eventually we'd have disease 05:13 over there, and if we have selfishness here, and this 05:16 is the main point, we'd eventually have selfishness 05:19 there because man's greatest problem is himself. 05:24 It's our carnal nature, and we can't escape from it, 05:27 so wherever we go, wherever we would rebuild, 05:30 we'd eventually transfer the same exact problems that we 05:33 were experiencing now to that planet. 05:35 God has an answer here, and He says God has prepared for His 05:40 people a city. When most people think of 05:43 a city, they think negatively. When you think of cities today 05:48 you think of pollution, sirens, accidents, crime, violence, 05:57 all of those kinds of things in these major cities. 06:00 Cities reflect the architects and the engineers that build 06:04 them, and of course, because most people in this world 06:07 are unconverted, cities will naturally reflect that kind 06:10 of character, but God's city is different, God's city is 06:14 different than the cities of this world because the cities 06:17 of this world are made up of sinners, unconverted people, 06:20 and when you get a high concentration of sinners, 06:23 you're going to get a high concentration of sin. 06:26 But God is different in that He's the architect of His city, 06:29 God is the builder, God is the designer, God is of a different 06:33 order, so God's city is going to reflect that, God's city 06:37 is going to be free from all the mistakes that we have here. 06:41 In Hebrews 11:10 it says: [text on screen] 06:51 I'm looking for the world that God planned, where He is 06:54 the builder, because that's where our real citizenship is, 06:58 that's where we really belong, what's where God intended us 07:00 to live out eternity. In Revelation 3:12 God has 07:07 a name for this city that awaits the faithful, and here's what 07:11 it says, in Revelation 3:12 the Bible says: [text on screen] 07:21 Aren't you glad that God calls this city the New Jerusalem? 07:24 Because when you think of the present earthly Jerusalem, 07:27 the present earthly Jerusalem is going to go down as one of the 07:30 most violent, bloodshed cities in all the time of history. 07:39 As you go to Jerusalem today, even tonight, it's not a 07:42 peaceful place, "Jerusalem" means "city of peace", but this 07:45 earthly Jerusalem has been anything but a city of peace. 07:48 So God is making sure that we don't confuse the 2 by telling 07:51 us that this Jerusalem is called the New Jerusalem, and then in 07:55 Revelation 21:2 it says: [text on screen] 08:03 So God is eventually going to transport this New Jerusalem 08:07 from where it presently is down here, and it tells us 08:10 that this city is so beautiful, it is [text on screen] 08:13 You know, that's got to be lovely. 08:16 Just in case you happen to miss this and weren't here 08:19 on this night of the seminar, we're told that there is going 08:21 to be a thousand years after Jesus returns and takes His 08:24 church back to heaven, it's like a 1000 year honeymoon 08:27 in heaven with the Lord, and that is going to start the first 08:30 resurrection, and then we have this 1000 years, and at the end 08:33 of the 1000 years, then the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is going 08:38 to come down from heaven where it presently is, down to this 08:42 earth. A lot of people will wonder: 08:44 "Well that city, is it really going to be big enough for all" 08:49 "of the saved to be in it?" The Bible tells us that it's 08:53 going to be big, it's going to be about the size of the state 08:55 of Oregon, and it's not going to be just a single level, 08:58 it tells us it's just as high as it is wide and long, but people 09:01 still wonder "is it going to be big enough for everybody?" 09:04 "There's going to be millions and millions of people saved." 09:07 When you look at a national map of the US, and you see 09:10 where New York city is, on a national map it doesn't look 09:13 that big, it's still just a dot on the map, and yet millions 09:16 and millions of people live in that dot. 09:20 Think about it, when God has a city, most of the area of 09:25 this world is covered by water, about 75%, and of the 25% that's 09:29 left that's land, most of it is unusable, it's not liveable, 09:33 it's either too high, or too low, too wet, too dry, 09:36 too hot, too cold, too steep, or something like that, but in 09:41 God's city every single part of it is going to be liveable, 09:46 it's going to be perfect. And we're not going to need 09:49 space for a lot of the things that we have space for in our 09:51 cities today, we're not going to have hospitals, we're not going 09:54 to have fire departments, we're not going to have police 09:57 stations, we're not going to have so many of the kinds 09:59 of things that take up space. The real question we should 10:02 be asking is not "does God have room in His city for us?", 10:05 the real question is "do we have room in our hearts for God?" 10:08 - [Audience] Amen. - And if we have room in our 10:10 hearts for God, believe me, He will have plenty of room 10:13 for us, but the question is asked "Is heaven really real?" 10:17 It's asked on the covers of a lot of magazines today, 10:20 does heaven really exist? What is so amazing to me 10:23 is that when you go through the checkout line at some of 10:26 these supermarkets, and you look at the tabloids that are sold 10:29 there, they have no problem convincing millions of people, 10:32 that that trash is real; I mean, people buy it, 10:36 millions of people do, so obviously they must have some 10:38 kind of belief in it. 10:42 Sadly, when it comes to heaven, a lot of people question it, 10:46 and they say "Is heaven really real?" 10:49 If you ask the average person "Excuse me, tell me about" 10:52 "heaven", and they would say "Well, I don't know what there" 10:55 "is to tell, it's up there somewhere", and if you ask 11:00 them to describe it, they would have a very hard time. 11:03 If most people described heaven, what would they 11:06 describe it like? They'd probably say "Well, it's" 11:09 "up where the clouds are, and when you go to heaven you sit" 11:12 "around on a puffy white cloud strumming a harp." 11:14 Heaven is a real place, and in heaven we're going to be 11:18 real people, we're going to be doing real activities, we are 11:22 going to be very busy people, but joyful at the same time. 11:28 Because so many people have a very vague understanding of what 11:33 heaven is, they're not willing to give up very much 11:36 to be there, because what we think of heaven as will factor 11:43 directly into what we're willing to sacrifice here that we 11:46 could be there, so it's very important that we do a good 11:49 study on it so that we look forward for it. 11:53 God holds out heaven to us as a reward, so what kind of people 11:57 are we going to be there? What kind of bodies are we 11:59 going to have? Let's take a look at it 12:02 in Scripture, the Bible tells us in Philippians 3:20, 21 12:10 here's what we read, the apostle Paul says: [text on screen] 12:19 "vile body" - that means our present, mortal body, 12:23 [text on screen] 12:29 So we're told that we are going to have our physical bodies 12:34 transformed like unto the Lord's body, now what kind of body 12:37 did Jesus have after He resurrected, well let's take 12:41 a look on Luke 24:39, here's what Jesus said to His disciples 12:46 after He resurrected with His glorified body. 12:49 He said to His disciples: [text on screen] 12:59 So did Jesus have a real body? [Audience] Yes. 13:02 Yes He did, He had a real body, and friends, we too will 13:05 have real bodies there in heaven, and I'm looking forward 13:09 to that, I'm looking forward to having more than just 13:12 a spirit body, floating around with no substance to it, 13:14 I'm glad that we're going to have real bodies, aren't you? 13:17 - [Audience] Amen. - Because real people with real 13:20 bodies do real things, and I want to do real things 13:23 in heaven. In 1 Corinthians 2:9, 13:25 won't you please turn there in your Bibles? 13:28 [text on screen] 13:41 The first great misconception about heaven is that heaven 13:44 is going to be a joyful place because of all the material 13:47 things there, it's got streets of gold, it's got mansions, 13:50 it's got wonderful fruit to eat, it's got beautiful angels there, 13:54 they think heaven is going to be heaven because of the glory 13:57 of the place. And the other misconception 14:01 is going to be that somehow it's going to be some kind of 14:03 boring place with nothing to do. There is a verse in 14:06 Psalm 16:11, that says this: [text on screen] 14:20 Can you get any more full than full? 14:23 Full is the top, so we're told that when when we're in God's 14:26 presence, there is going to be fullness of joy, 14:31 and pleasures forever more. Not pleasures for a time 14:34 and a season, pleasures forever more, so if there are 14:37 people that think that heaven is going to be made up of 14:39 material things and that's where the joy is going to come from, 14:42 they need to spend more time at the foot of the cross getting 14:45 to know Jesus, because He's going to be the ultimate joy. 14:48 If there are people that are of the misconception that 14:51 heaven is going to be a boring place, well I think my answer 14:54 to that is they just need to do more research on the place, 14:57 and that's what we're doing tonight, we're going to do 15:00 some research on heaven, so we're going to look 15:02 forward to it. So yes, there can be no denying 15:05 that we have life here, but we don't have ultimate life here, 15:08 and we have joy here, but we don't have fullness of joy here. 15:12 We have peace here, after a matter, but we don't have 15:15 ultimate peace because the truth is that the ultimate joy, 15:20 the ultimate happiness, the ultimate peace, the ultimate 15:23 of life is going to be when we are in God's presence. 15:27 - [Audience] Amen. - That's what we're told 15:29 in Scripture, it's true that God gives us the ability to have 15:32 some peace in a panic stricken world, God gives us the ability 15:36 to have some light in a spiritually dark world, 15:39 God gives us the ability to have some joy in a very, very 15:42 sad world because He does it so we can go on from day 15:46 to day and not crumple in despair by all the things 15:49 that go on, but once again, the ultimate in life is going to be 15:52 found in the earth made new. Let's put it in perspective 15:55 though, in Revelation 21:2,3, here's what we read. 16:00 Go to Revelation please, we're going to be there some tonight, 16:02 Revelation 21:2,3, it says here: [text on screen] 16:13 "the tabernacle of God is with men", that means "the dwelling" 16:16 "place of God is with men", [continues to read] 16:25 We could say "Oh, I'm looking forward to heaven because" 16:28 "I just want to have that mansion that God has prepared", 16:31 or "I'm looking forward to heaven because the streets" 16:33 "are paved with gold", or "I'm looking forward to heaven" 16:36 "because I want to be able to pet lion without getting bit", 16:39 and we start talking about the material things there. 16:42 But isn't it true that we're really looking forward to heaven 16:45 because that's where our Saviour Jesus is, and we want 16:47 to be with Him. In the book of Job we're told 16:50 this, it said: [text on screen] 16:59 Job served the Lord not because of what he could get from God, 17:03 but because of who God was, he served Him because of who 17:06 He was. Let's look at John 14, 17:11 Jesus said to His disciples: [text on screen] 17:33 I want you to look at several things here, when Jesus says 17:37 "you believe in God, believe also in me", what is He 17:40 saying here? Jesus is telling them 17:43 "make a connection between God and Myself". 17:46 If you asked the Jews in Jesus day "do you believe in God?" 17:49 They would say "Yes, we believe in God", so they had a belief 17:52 in God, but they did not know God, and Jesus is saying 17:56 "if you believe in God, then you should believe in Me" 17:59 "because I've come to show you what God is like." 18:02 Then He goes on and He says [text on screen] 18:11 Now what is Jesus saying to us here? 18:14 He's saying to us in a very personal way, and I want you 18:17 to note how personal Jesus is in this passage, He's saying 18:19 "I'm going to prepare a place", why? 18:22 "Because I want you to be with Me, I want to be with" 18:25 "you, I want you to be with Me, heaven is about us being" 18:28 "together for eternity", that's what Jesus is saying, it's all 18:32 about being together with the Lord. 18:36 I want you to use your imaginations, think about it 18:39 with me, just try really hard to follow me along with this; 18:43 I want you all, in your mind's eye, to think of the most 18:48 beautiful dwelling place you could ever want. 18:51 It's going to be different from one person to the next, 18:54 but just think about the place that you have always wanted 18:56 to build, just for you, according to your own 18:59 personality and desires, picture that in your mind right now. 19:02 When you get that in your mind, I want you to furnish it with 19:05 everything you could possibly want, every appliance, every 19:08 piece of of furniture, you just put it in there right now in 19:12 your mind's eye, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, 19:15 whatever you want, it's all there. 19:17 Now put all the food in there you want, pack the fridge, 19:21 the freezer, I don't care, anything you want, you put 19:24 it in that house, if that's what you want, you put it in there 19:27 in your mind's eye. Now I want you to put a car 19:29 port on there, as big as you want it, as many cars as 19:32 you want, you can put 10 cars in there, all different, you can 19:36 put 10 of the same kind if you like that too, and you just put 19:39 it right there, you doing it? You following along so far? 19:42 Now once you get your house and you've got your garage 19:45 and car port, you've got it all furnished exactly as you 19:48 would like it, now put it anywhere in the world you want, 19:53 you can put it on some South Pacific Island, you can put it 19:56 in New Zealand if that's where you always wanted to be, 19:59 you can put it up in British Columbia, 20:02 you can put it in Sacramento, alright, put it anywhere 20:06 you want. Have you got it there? 20:08 If someone said "I will give this entire package to you" 20:13 "for free", would you take it? You can say "yes". 20:17 - [Audience] Yes. - ...because it's what you 20:20 always wanted, right? It'll be different for you 20:22 from the person next to you, they say "I'll give it to you" 20:25 "for free, but there is 1 catch, the catch is if you take it" 20:30 "you have to live there by yourself, alone, forever." 20:35 Now would you take it? [Audience] No. 20:38 If someone said "you can have it all, but you have to be" 20:41 "there by yourself, no one could visit you, and you can't visit" 20:44 "anybody else, you have to be there alone", if that was 20:47 the catch you would turn it down. 20:50 God wants to be face to face with us just as He was face 20:54 to face with Adam and Eve, God doesn't like the separation 21:04 that sin has caused, and God is looking forward to being with us 21:07 once again. Turn back to Revelation if 21:10 you've moved from there, and go to Revelation 22:2, 21:17 it says this: [text on screen] 21:31 The tree of life is mentioned in the book of Genesis, 21:35 and strangely enough, the tree of life is mysteriously absent 21:39 all the way through the rest of the Bible, and all of a sudden 21:42 in Revelation the tree of life appears again, so the tree of 21:45 life is in the beginning of the Bible, it's absent throughout 21:48 the Bible, and then it's there in the last book of the Bible. 21:52 What God is telling is that His whole priority for us is 21:56 restoration that we can get back to the position we were 21:59 in the beginning, that we can eat of the fruit of the tree 22:02 of life, so God is showing us that He's restoring all things. 22:06 He wants to bring us back to the perfection that we had before, 22:10 and everything in the Word of God is done in the context 22:13 of restoring the kingdom back to us once again. 22:16 God is going to heat the world up with the lake of fire, 22:19 and if you want to purify it, you sterilize something, 22:22 you heat it up, isn't that true? 22:24 After it's gone through its sterilization program, then 22:27 out of that the Lord is going to do something beautiful, 22:31 and here we find it in Isaiah 65:17, here's what 22:34 the Bible says: [text on screen] 22:44 That's in Isaiah, let's go see what 2 Peter has to say 22:48 in 2 Peter 3:13: [text on screen] 22:57 I love the way Peter adds that at the end "wherein dwelleth" 23:00 "righteousness". When God remakes this world 23:03 He's not only going to remake the world itself, but even 23:05 the atmosphere is going to be brand new, isn't that 23:08 marvelous? Well, when He remakes it, 23:11 then what's going to happen? Back to Isaiah 65:21,22: 23:16 it says: [text on screen] 23:34 You know what I like about this about this friends? 23:37 Not only are we going to have a mansion in the city, but God 23:40 is going to allow us a country dwelling too, we're going to be 23:42 able to fashion it exactly as we like it, we can build it, 23:45 and the Bible says we're going to be able to inhabit it 23:48 and nobody's going to take it from us. 23:51 Can you imagine living in a place where there's no 23:53 locks because everybody's honest? 23:56 No keys, because you don't need them, everything's open 23:58 because it's free to have, and furthermore, if you want it, 24:03 it either grows from the ground, or people are so generous 24:06 they're trying to give it away anyway? 24:09 I long for a place like that. You can plant whatever you want, 24:12 you have a favorite fruit? You can plant it, I like grapes, 24:15 I like all fruit, I like every kind of fruit, but I like 24:18 grapes, I'm going to plant a lot of grapes, I'm going 24:21 to plant green grapes, and purple grapes, black grapes, 24:23 red grapes, maybe different colored grapes we don't 24:26 have here, I'm going to plant them, and when I plan those 24:29 grapes I'm going to cultivate them, and if they had big grapes 24:32 in the land of Canaan, it's going to be nothing next to my 24:35 grapes when I'm done. [Audience laughs] 24:37 I want to have grapes the size of bowling balls 24:40 [Audience laughs], and I can have you over to my house 24:43 and after they get big and ripe I'll gave you over, and I'll 24:46 carve you a slice of grape. [Audience laughs] 24:48 Oh, it's going to be good. Again, my daughter, Cara, 24:51 children go through this stage when they learn how to talk, 24:54 and they learn the fact that when they talk and ask you 24:56 a question, they can get an answer back, and they start 24:59 to think pretty good about that, so they start firing questions 25:02 really quickly, and when my daughter, Cara, my Kelly 25:04 went through this too, but not as much as Cara did, 25:07 and she was asking me questions so rapid fire, I just couldn't 25:12 keep up with answers, "Daddy, who? Daddy, what?" 25:14 "Daddy, where? Daddy, how? Daddy, why?", everything was 25:17 "Daddy, daddy", and I thought "Oh boy, this child...", 25:20 I love answering questions, but I couldn't keep up with her. 25:22 There are some times she was asking me questions so fast 25:25 I finally had to say "Time out, I just need to give my brain" 25:28 "a rest for a second", but when we come face to face with God, 25:32 dear friends, listen, we'll never tire the mind of God. 25:36 We'll be able to ask God everything we want, 25:39 any question we want, and God says "It's okay, don't worry" 25:42 "about it all, we've got all eternity to spend together." 25:47 "We don't have to rush it." I'll tell you, that's going to 25:50 be a great and fantastic thing. God has promised that this world 25:54 is going to go to those who are overcomers, and can you 25:57 imagine the treasures that await us there, I don't know how many 26:00 of you are thrill seekers, but I'm looking forward to some 26:03 thrills in heaven, we are going to be able to go out into 26:06 the outer reaches of this universe, ride a solar flare, 26:10 explore distant galaxies, and as we do these kinds of things, 26:13 visit certain suns, and find out what they're made of, 26:16 and as we do this, we will never exhaust all the knowledge that 26:20 God wants to give us, because God created the human mind 26:24 to acquire knowledge, and be interested in knowledge, that's 26:27 why we are often attracted to the evening news, because 26:30 we are interested in what is going on, but when God shares 26:34 the knowledge of the universe with us, it's going to be 26:37 thrilling, friends. We're going to say "Lord," 26:40 "share with us more", we're going to be fascinated by 26:43 everything, just like we're fascinated by the latest 26:45 technological advances that we have here, God has all kinds 26:49 of things to share, He's going to share how the atom is 26:51 made up, and how distant suns cast their light, and fantastic 26:55 things, I'm looking forward to riding rainbows through the sky. 27:00 Any other rainbow riders here? I don't know, but it can happen. 27:05 We're going to be able to see things that we have never 27:08 seen before in those galaxies. Can you imagine the joy 27:12 that's going to come to people that have never experienced 27:16 even what we've experienced here for the most part? 27:20 In Isaiah 35:5 it says: [text on screen] 27:28 Some people have never experienced sight in this world, 27:32 can you imagine when God opens up their eyes and the first 27:34 thing they see is Jesus? And the joy of those people 27:38 when they finally say "I can see", I was born with a very 27:43 defective left eye, and I'm legally blind in my left eye, 27:47 I can't see very much, I have basically all my sight in this 27:50 eye right here, but I see just enough in my left eye that it 27:54 throws off the sight of my right eye. I can't explain it, 27:58 I've never been able to explain it properly, but my eyes do not 28:01 function together very well and see 1 image, so this eye, 28:04 because it's stronger, sees my nose here, and this eye 28:09 it kind of throws off what this eye's doing, and so 28:11 I have a very messed up eye sight, but it's okay, 28:14 Nr.1- because I was born that way, and it's always been 28:17 that way, so I'm used to it, and Nr.2- I'm very appreciative 28:20 for the eye sight I do have. 28:23 But I am looking forward to the time when I can see like 28:25 regular people see, and both my eyes look forward and they see 28:28 one thing, and not my nose over here. [Audience laughs] 28:32 So I've got that to look forward to, but you could 28:34 imagine someone that never has seen, what an amazing thing 28:38 that's going to be, and then it says "the ears of the deaf" 28:41 "shall be unstopped", can you imagine when God opens up 28:43 the deaf on the resurrection day, and the first thing 28:46 they will hear is angelic singing? 28:49 I'm telling you, what a thing to look forward to. 28:52 Isaiah goes on, and it says in verse 6: [text on screen] 28:57 "an hart" means "as a deer", [continues to read] 29:01 Isn't singing a wonderful thing? We're going to sing tonight 29:04 some before we're through. But when it says the lame 29:07 shall leap as the deer, can you imagine someone who has been 29:10 in a wheelchair all their life, or maybe born not being 29:13 able to walk, or have gone through a tragic accident, 29:16 and they're there without any use of their limbs, and they're 29:19 going to be able to leap once again, the joy that will thrill 29:22 their beings. Friends, in Isaiah 40:31 29:28 it tells us this, Isaiah 40:31: [text on screen] 29:35 Anyone here getting a little up in age and you're getting 29:38 weary at times? And you look around at 29:41 the youthful people running here and running there, 29:43 and you remember ages ago when you could do that, 29:46 and you're saying "Oh boy, I want to run again and not" 29:49 "tire out. I want to walk and not be faint." 29:51 It's something to look forward to, isn't it? 29:54 Anyone with a bad back, like me? 29:57 When you're saying "Oh, my, I want to get my back" 29:59 "where it can bend again, and not have those kind of pains", 30:02 well it's going to happen by God's grace. 30:05 It goes on, and it says: "Then they that shall wait upon" 30:07 "the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up" 30:10 "with wings as eagles". Friends, we're going to have 30:13 a renewed strength and it's not going to be strength even 30:15 as we have had it before, it's going to be an immortal 30:17 strength. What an incredible thing 30:20 that is to look forward to. Isaiah has a lot to say, 30:23 in Isaiah 33:24 it says: [text on screen] 30:31 Can you imagine a time, you will never ever hear those words 30:38 "I don't feel well". We hear it a lot now, don't we? 30:42 You'll never hear that in heaven, you'll never hear 30:45 someone say "Oh, I've got a migraine", "I've got a pain" 30:47 "in the head", you'll never hear that, you'll never hear 30:51 someone say "Oh, I have a stomach ache", "Oh, I've got" 30:55 "a backache", you'll never hear it. 30:57 In Isaiah 11:6 the Bible says: [text on screen] 31:10 You know, you let children run around today, and if you 31:13 have children at all, you always have a little bit of fear 31:16 in your heart that something might happen to them, you have 31:19 a fearful foreboding that because we live in a wicked 31:22 world, that it's not safe for these children, but not so 31:25 in heaven. As long as they are children, and we don't know how 31:27 long it will take till the grow up to the perfect maturity 31:30 that God has intended for us there, but as long as there 31:33 are children there we're not going to have to worry. 31:36 Children will not so much as even fall down and skin 31:39 their knee there. They're going to be perfectly 31:41 safe. It tells us in Isaiah 66:25: 31:44 [text on screen] 31:50 I'm looking forward to a time when we are going to be able 31:54 to go out and no matter where we travel, no matter where we go 31:59 we are going to be perfectly safe, animals are not going 32:02 to kill people, people are not going to kill animals, it is 32:06 going to be absolute paradise. Can you imagine a time when 32:14 there will be no more tears? I've cried a lot of tears 32:19 in my life, and I think this world has cried an ocean 32:22 of tears, don't you? [Audience] Amen. 32:25 But the Bible tells us that there's coming a time when 32:27 there is going to be no more tears. 32:30 Revelation 21:4, please turn there with me, it says this: 32:40 [text on screen] 32:56 Are there certain things in your life that you wish you 32:58 could forget? Are there certain things 33:01 that bother you and plague you at night? 33:03 Maybe you even have nightmares of them? 33:06 Not so there, God'll say: "Those things that have" 33:09 "bothered you, those things that have plagued you," 33:11 "they're all going to be passed away", there will be certain 33:14 things that we'll remember, we'll always remember what 33:17 Jesus did for us, we're going to remember each other, and I'll 33:19 get to that more in just a moment, but those things 33:22 that really have caused us the greatest of heartaches 33:24 they're eventually going to be passed away; 33:27 not more pain, no more tears. People cry for a lot of reasons, 33:30 don't they? People cry because of murders, 33:32 and they cry because of kidnappings, they cry because 33:35 of child abuses, they cry because of accidents, 33:38 they cry because of all kinds of things, and a thousand 33:40 other things, crime, and violence, the pains of this 33:43 world, people cry. But there's going to be 33:45 no more crying, friends, listen, there are not going 33:48 to be any more tragedies, there aren't going to be 33:51 any more natural disasters, no more earthquakes, 33:53 no more fires, no more floods, no more tornadoes, amen? 33:57 No more traffic accidents, how about that one? 34:00 There aren't going to be any wars to devastate, 34:03 there aren't going to be any diseases to annihilate people, 34:05 all of that is passed away, no more airplane crashes; 34:09 what a place it's going to be, there aren't going to be 34:12 any more funerals, how about that to consider? 34:15 No more memorial services to go to, no more cemeteries 34:19 to have to visit, no more AIDS, not more cancers, 34:23 no more of a thousand things that cause us heartache 34:26 and pain right here, no more surgeries, how about that? 34:31 No more expensive drugs to have to take, no more pharmacies 34:35 to have to visit, no more pain, no more tears; all of that's 34:42 passed away. We go to Revelation 21:25, 34:53 it tells us this, speaking of the New Jerusalem: 34:56 [text on screen] 35:05 You see, ancient cities had gates for a reason, they had 35:08 gates because at night marauders would come in if 35:11 they didn't have gates and take over, and do all kinds 35:14 of havoc inside the city, gates were for protection, 35:16 but by the fact that the gates are not going to be shut, 35:19 God is saying that nothing is going to come against this city, 35:22 it's going to be eternally safe, you're not going to have to 35:25 fear at all when you're with this city. 35:28 Notice, as we look at the description of this city, 35:31 we're told that streets are going to be of gold, and you 35:34 look at Revelation 21 and all the wonderful building 35:37 materials that are there, wood is not mentioned there 35:40 there for a reason because not even a tree is going to die 35:43 in God's eternal city, but it has lots of beautiful materials, 35:46 and when you look at those materials, and God's glory 35:48 is going to shine out from His throne room and it's going 35:51 to ricocheted off of all those various materials there, 35:54 friends, we're not even going to need artificial lighting 35:56 because God is going to light that city with His glory, 35:59 isn't that something to consider? What a time 36:02 that's going to be. We are now living in a time 36:05 when things left to itself are naturally going to deteriorate, 36:08 that's called the second law of science, things left 36:11 to itself with no outside interference are going 36:13 to deteriorate over time. But not so in God's city, 36:16 in God's city it's always going to be in a perfect state 36:19 of newness, always invigorating. The climate itself, I don't 36:23 think that we have smelled air as it really should be, we go 36:27 outside and we say "Oh, it's a fresh day", and so on, and we 36:30 breathe in the air, but it's going to be even better in God's 36:33 city, don't you think? We're going to take oxygen 36:35 from God's climate into our lungs, and we're going to say 36:38 "Oh, that's how air's really supposed to smell." 36:41 I'm looking forward to that too. We are going to see trees, 36:46 majestic and perfect, and symmetrical, and even 36:50 the animals are going to be like that, and they're going 36:52 to be friendly, and we're going to go up and we're going 36:55 to get to know them, and we're going to have them as close 36:58 friends, something we can't do now. 37:01 Something else we're going to be able to do in that time, 37:03 do you know that we're going to have a privilege that Adam 37:07 and Eve never had? See, when Adam and Eve came 37:10 to life everything was already made for them, wasn't it? 37:13 It was all there, all they had to do was enjoy it. 37:15 We are going to have a privilege that they never had 37:18 because from the walls of the New Jerusalem, after God has 37:21 done His sterilization program, God is going to say 37:26 "let there again be light over the earth", and there'll 37:29 be light, and then He's going to say "and let there be" 37:32 "grass carpeting the ground", and there'll be, we can watch 37:35 it take place folks. He's going to speak and trees 37:37 will come into existence once again, and flowers will carpet 37:40 the gardens, and then He's going to speak again, 37:42 and animals will appear on the land, and birds in the sky, 37:45 and fish in the streams, and God is going to do it all right 37:48 in front of us, and that is a privilege, don't you think? 37:52 That's something that Adam and Eve never got to see, 37:55 but we can see it, by God's grace. 37:57 Not only are we going to see that, I often get asked 38:00 the question: "are we going to see others in heaven that" 38:03 "we know?" That's one of the most common 38:06 questions I get up here, they say "Will we recognize each" 38:08 "other in heaven?" Do you know that one of the joys 38:11 of heaven is going to be that we can continue on relationships 38:14 that we've started right here. I'm going to know who you are, 38:16 by God's grace I'll be there, and you'll know who I am, 38:19 we're not going to have the signs of sin that we have now, 38:22 we're not going to have the greying of hair, we're not 38:24 going to have the eye glasses, or the hearing aids, and some 38:27 other things that we have because we live in a sinful 38:30 world, but we're not only going to have heightened knowledge, 38:33 we're going to have heightened discernment. 38:35 So yes, we're going to know who each other are, and we can 38:38 be filled with joy with the fact that we can be there 38:41 and have known each other here, but not only are we going 38:43 to recognize each other, we're going to recognize 38:46 some of the great patriarchs and prophets of the Bible, 38:48 did you know that? We're going to be able 38:51 to recognize men like Abraham, men like Isaac, men like Jacob, 38:54 and we're going to be able to go up to them and ask them 38:56 questions that we've always wondered about. 38:59 You could go up to Abraham in the new heavens and new 39:01 earth and you could say "Abraham, what was it really" 39:05 "like when God asked you to go offer your son, Isaac," 39:07 "on Mount Moriah, that 3 day journey you took, what was" 39:10 "going through your mind?" And Abraham's going to say 39:14 "Wow, let me tell you about it, it was really something...". 39:17 We're going to be able to go up to Noah, there's going 39:21 to be a long line for Noah, I just know it [Audience laughs]. 39:25 So after they've all gone, eventually I'll get there 39:28 and we're going to be able to say "Noah, tell me, what was" 39:31 "it like for those months in that ark with all those smelly" 39:35 "animals?" [Audience laughs] "Really, tell us the inside" 39:38 "story here, what was it like?" And Noah's going to say 39:41 "I'll tell you, it was an experience and a half", 39:44 and I'm sure Noah's going to have to take people by the group 39:46 because he's going to have so many. 39:48 We're going to be able to go up to Daniel, he's another guy 39:52 with another long line I'm sure, and we're going to say 39:54 "Daniel, what was it like to have gone down into that" 39:58 "lion's den? I read about it, we told the stories to our" 40:01 "kids, we even sang about it, but Daniel, I want to hear" 40:04 "about it from you." Isn't that going to be great? 40:08 You're going to be able to go up to Mary, the earthly 40:11 mother of Jesus, and say "Mary, what was it like to raise" 40:15 "the Son of God? The Bible doesn't tell us" 40:18 "very much about that 30 years before Jesus started" 40:22 "His active ministry, but you knew about it, what was" 40:24 "it like? What was Jesus like as a young person?" 40:27 and Mary's going to be able to tell us about it. 40:30 But most of all, in heaven we're going to be able to see 40:32 Jesus. 40:34 Would you turn with me to the book of Romans 8. 40:41 Before we read this verse let me say that so many people 40:45 think that the Christian life is life of hardship, they think 40:48 the Christian life is a life of denial, a life of suffering. 40:53 Yes, there can be some of those things, but what does the Word 40:55 of God tell us in Romans 8:18? Here's what the Word 40:59 of God says, Paul says: [text on screen] 41:13 Can you grasp that verse folks? 41:16 Paul suffered a lot, beaten and stoned, and ship wrecked, 41:21 and mocked, I'm sure his body didn't feel very good, 41:25 I bet you he had a lot of physical problems beyond 41:28 what we read about, but he says the sufferings of this present 41:32 world, it can't even be compared, what God is going 41:37 to give us is so immeasurably a disproportionate reward 41:43 to what we go through here, Paul says "You can't even" 41:46 "compare it". 41:50 If we could see heaven for just 5 minutes, it would do a whole 41:55 lot for us in terms of our faith, but Jesus said 41:59 "you can't see it now, but blessed are those that believe" 42:03 "without seeing." Believe it even though 42:06 you can't see it, see with the spiritual eye that which you 42:10 can't see with the naked eye, and believe; and Jesus says 42:14 "you will be rewarded for it". Now let's go to another one, 42:16 another one very much like that, go to 2 Corinthians 4:17,18, 42:20 Paul says: [text on screen] 42:39 So here, once again, Paul says "I want you to be able," 42:42 "through the reality of faith, see what you can't see" 42:45 "with the naked eye." Paul, as he's writing these 42:49 things down, he sees all of this, because he was taken 42:51 right there, he did see it with the naked eye, 42:54 and then he's writing about it, or at least through a vision 42:57 he saw it, and he's writing about it and he's says 43:00 God has for us an eternal weight of glory, and then before 43:06 he's through he says "no, no, that isn't it, that's not" 43:10 "enough", as he's writing down he says "it's an exceeding" 43:14 "eternal weight of glory", and then as he reflects upon it 43:18 he says "no, that doesn't even describe it", he says 43:21 "it is a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory", 43:24 and then finally he says "no, I can't even leave it at that", 43:28 he says "It is a far more exceeding and eternal" 43:33 "weight of glory". He says "okay, put that down", 43:37 "that's a little bit closer to it." 43:40 In Revelation 14:4 we read these words, speaking of 43:46 the 144,000, it says: [text on screen] 43:59 It says they are virgins, it means they had a pure faith, 44:03 "they weren't defiled with women", that means they didn't 44:05 associate with the fallen churches of Babylon, and then 44:08 it says "they followed the Lamb whithersoever He goeth". 44:12 Friends, the only way we're going to be able to follow 44:14 the Lamb whithersoever He goeth there is to learn how to follow 44:17 the Lamb wherever He leads us here. 44:20 How do we know that? It's through the Word. 44:22 So as we are willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads us 44:25 through the Word here, Jesus says "that's okay, that's what" 44:28 "I'm looking for, you'll be able to follow Me there." 44:31 Friends, I'm looking forward to that moment of following Jesus, 44:34 aren't you, in heaven? We live tonight 44:36 in what I call an "insurance rich" society. 44:40 Today in order to survive people get health insurance. 44:44 and the get car insurance, and they get house insurance, 44:48 and they get life insurance, and all these other insurances, 44:52 as we call it, but isn't it true that what we really 44:55 need is eternal insurance? And the Bible offers us 44:59 eternal insurance, and it's found only in Jesus, 45:01 and the good news is you don't have to pay the premium 45:04 because Jesus already paid the price. 45:06 So Jesus says "you follow Me and I'll give you that eternal" 45:09 "insurance", and how do we do that? 45:11 The Bible actually gives us the success formula for how 45:15 to do that, it's found in 1 John 1:7, and here's 45:19 how it reads, it says here: [text on screen] 45:37 So what's the insurance plan? Walk in the light, 45:41 even as He is in the light, and when we do that 45:44 Jesus' blood will cleanse us of all defilement. 45:49 But is it really true? Is it pie in the sky, by and by? 45:53 Is heaven really real to us? Well, before God closed 45:57 the canon of Scripture, in the last book of the Bible, 46:00 and the second to the last chapter of the Bible, 46:03 in Revelation 21:5 God gives us 1 more assurance here, 46:07 He says through the prophet John, He says: [text on screen] 46:18 "these words" - the words of Scripture, the words of Jesus, 46:23 the words of the book of Revelation that promises 46:26 this heaven, it says: [text on screen] 46:33 Are you looking forward to the heaven to come? 46:37 Are you looking forward to the time when the saints go 46:40 marching in? You can study about heaven, 46:42 you can talk about heaven, but I like to sing about heaven, 46:45 don't you? Before we're through tonight 46:48 I'm going to ask if Heidi would come on out, 46:51 and with some people, they are going to help sing with her, 46:53 and Jodie's going to step to the piano, and we're going 46:56 to have a little sing-song here, and I'm going to invite 46:59 you to sing out with all your heart, we've picked some songs 47:01 that I hope will be a blessing to you, and I think most of you 47:04 already know all these words anyway, so sing them out 47:07 with all your heart, and let's end by singing about this 47:10 glorious land called heaven. 47:17 We have this hope that burns within our hearts, 47:25 Hope in the coming of the Lord. 47:33 We have this faith that Christ alone imparts, 47:42 Faith in the promise of His Word. 47:50 We believe the time is here, When the nations far and near 47:58 Shall awake, and shout and sing Hallelujah! Christ is King! 48:10 We have this hope that burns within our hearts, 48:19 Hope in the coming of the Lord. 48:30 Let us sing a song that will Cheer us by the way, 48:35 In a little while we're going home; 48:39 For the night will end in the everlasting day, 48:44 In a little while we're going home. 48:49 In a little while, In a little while, 48:53 We shall cross the billow's foam; We shall meet at last, 49:01 When the stormy winds are past, 49:06 In a little while we're going home. 49:12 There's a rest beyond, There's relief from every care, 49:17 In a little while we're going home; 49:21 And no tears shall fall in That city bright and fair, 49:26 In a little while we're going home. 49:31 In a little while, In a little while, 49:35 We shall cross the billow's foam; We shall meet at last, 49:43 When the stormy winds are past, 49:48 In a little while we're going home. 49:57 Lift up the trumpet, and loud let it ring: 50:02 Jesus is coming again! 50:07 Cheer up, ye pilgrims, be joyful and sing: 50:13 Jesus is coming again! 50:18 Coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming again! 50:30 Nations are angry -by this we do know 50:35 Jesus is coming again! 50:40 Knowledge increases; men run to and fro; 50:46 Jesus is coming again! 50:52 Coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming again! 51:05 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, 51:08 and time shall be no more, And the morning breaks, 51:12 eternal, bright and fair; 51:16 When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, 51:21 And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. 51:25 When the roll is called up yonder, 51:31 When the roll is called up yonder, 51:36 When the roll is called up yonder, 51:43 When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. 51:49 On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead 51:52 in Christ shall rise, And the glory of His resurrection share; 51:59 When His chosen ones shall gather over on the other shore, 52:04 And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. 52:09 When the roll is called up yonder, 52:14 When the roll is called up yonder, 52:19 When the roll is called up yonder, 52:26 When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. 52:35 Oh, when the saints go marching in, 52:40 Oh, when the saints go marching in, 52:45 Lord how I want to be in that number 52:50 When the saints go marching in. 52:55 And when the Revelation comes, 52:59 Oh, when the Revelation comes, 53:04 Lord how I want to be in that number 53:09 When the Revelation comes. 53:13 And when they crown Him King of kings, 53:18 Oh, when they crown Him King of kings, 53:23 Lord how I want to be in that number 53:27 When they crown Him King of kings, 53:36 Soon and very soon We are going to see the King. 53:43 Soon and very soon We are going to see the King. 53:50 Soon and very soon We are going to see the King. 53:56 Hallelujah! Halleluhjah! we are going to see the King. 54:03 No more crying there We are going to see the King. 54:10 No more crying there We are going to see the King. 54:16 No more crying there We are going to see the King. 54:23 Hallelujah! Halleluhjah! we are going to see the King. 54:30 No more dying there We are going to see the King. 54:36 No more dying there We are going to see the King. 54:43 No more dying there We are going to see the King. 54:49 Hallelujah! Halleluhjah! we are going to see the King. 55:00 Mine eyes have seen the glory Of the coming of the Lord; 55:06 He is trampling out the vintage 55:09 Where the grapes of wrath are stored; 55:12 He hath loos'd the fateful lightning 55:14 Of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on. 55:24 Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! 55:35 Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on. 55:46 He has sounded forth the trumpet That shall never call retreat; 55:51 He is sifting out the hearts of men 55:54 Before His judgment seat. 55:57 Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! 56:00 Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. 56:09 Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! 56:20 Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on. 56:31 Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! 56:43 Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on. 56:53 His truth is marching on. 57:07 [Audience] Glory! Amen! [Audience claps] 57:15 And all God's church said... [Audience] Amen. 57:18 I want to tell you as we close tonight that I feel very 57:21 privileged to be able to come here and share this time 57:24 with you, thank you for allowing me to have a little part 57:27 of your life, thank you for allowing me to come and present 57:30 this seminar, I appreciate you as Bible students, but I also 57:34 appreciate you as friends. I want to tell you how blessed 57:38 I am to have been able to have this interaction with you 57:42 over these last 4 weeks. |
Revised 2014-12-17